BOOK REVIEW
Book Title: Getting Along: How To Work With Anyone (Even Difficult People)
Author: Amy Gallo
Publisher: Harvard Business Review
List Price: $30.00
Format: Hardcover, 284 pages
Publication Date: 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64782-106-7
Reviewer: Krystal Blackwell
Review Date: August 2023
Introduction
In Getting Along: How To Work With Anyone, Amy Gallo, shares with us the 8 types of personalities you will encounter throughout your life and in the workplace, as well as 9 principles to follow that will build your interpersonal resilience. Once we learn to identity the archetypes and how to apply the principles, she teaches to each, we will be better prepared to have productive and engaging conversations with not only our coworkers, but anyone life may throw at you. Gallo’s book is divided into 3 parts.
- Laying the Groundwork for Getting Along
- The Archetypes
- Protecting Yourself
Overview of Book’s Structure
Part 1: Laying the Groundwork for Getting Along
- Chapter 1: Why Working Relationships Are Worth the Trouble
- Chapter 2: Your Brain on Conflict
Part 2: The Archetypes
- Chapter 3: The Insecure Boss
- Chapter 4: The Pessimist
- Chapter 5: The Victim
- Chapter 6: The Passive-Agrgressive Peer
- Chapter 7: The Know-It-All
- Chapter 8: The Tormentor
- Chapter 9: The Biased Coworker
- Chapter 10: The Political Operator
- Chapter 11: Nine Principles for Getting Along with Anyone
Part 3: Protecting Yourself
- Chapter 12: When All Else Fails
- Chapter 13: Approaches That Rarely Work
- Chapter 14: Taking Care
Highlights
In Part 1, Gallo lays the groundwork by sharing stories of what prompted her to write this book, when she encountered working with a difficult coworker. In Part 2, Gallo introduces us to each of the most common “diffcult people” we could encounter throughout our life and different tactics to use in order to make each encounter successful and productive. In Part 3, Gallo offers her final words of wisdom on how to protect yourself when you have exhausted all your options.
Highlights: What I liked!
I really enjoyed reading about the authors experiences and how she engaged with different coworkers and situations. She was very relatable and personable. I have always felt like her, that I can get along with everyone…. until you meet that one person. You try and try to think of different approaches to make a connection and communicate and continue to fail. In reading Gallos book, she was able to better help me identify the complexity of identifying what type of person I was communicating with and what their best communication style was. I really enjoyed that even if the conversation didn’t go the way I planned, to control what I can and listen and participate with empathy, as we don’t know what trials and tribulations folks are currently going through in all aspects of their life.
More…
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How to cite this work: Blackwell, K. (2023). Getting Along: How To Work With Anyone (Even Difficult People), book review, PM World Journal, Vol XII, Issue X, October. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/pmwj134-Oct2023-Blackwell-Getting-Along-book-review.pdf
About the Reviewer
Krystal Blackwell
Grapevine, Texas, USA
Krystal Blackwell is the proud wife of Michael for 11 years and mother of two children, Logan and MacKynzee. Krystal is a Project Manager in the telecommunications industry. She is a telecom kid, as her parents worked in telecom for 30 years, and now Krystal is following in their footsteps, with 13 years down, 17 to go! Krystal has an Associates of Arts Degree from Tarrant County College, as well as a Bachelors of Arts in English Literature with a minor in History from the University of Texas at Arlington. She also holds an MBA in Computer Information Systems from Ashford University. In March 2022, she earned her PMP Certification through PMI and is currently studying for the PMI-ACP certification.
Clifton Strengths: CONSISTENCY | CONTEXT | LEARNER | RESTORATIVE | ACHIEVER
Email address: krystal@blackwell.fun
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