Bob Sutton, Stanford professor and author of 'The Asshole Survival Guide', defines toxic workplace behavior based on its psychological impact on victims rather than intent.
“The way I define an asshole is from the receiver's standpoint, somebody who leaves you feeling demeaned, de-energized, disrespected.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading:
filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard
(the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Bob Sutton
AssertionSupported
Sutton: Emotional intelligence is only 10% as important as IQ
“EQ is one of the most overrated concepts on the planet. It's there, it matters, but if you look at the evidence, it's about, a good guess, 10% as important as old-fashioned IQ.”
Bob SuttonJan 2, 2019▶ 14:26a16z Podcast | The Asshole Survival Guide
Insight
Sutton: High emotional intelligence enables malicious manipulation of others
“People with high EQ are especially good at manipulating others to ill means. So it exists, but it's a concept that has been way over glorified.”
Bob SuttonJan 2, 2019▶ 14:59a16z Podcast | The Asshole Survival Guide
AssertionSupported
Sutton: Proximity to a toxic coworker dramatically increases job loss risk
“What this research shows is if you're within 25 feet of a toxic person, so what I would call an asshole, the chances you're gonna become toxic and lose your job go way up.”
Bob SuttonJan 2, 2019▶ 23:33a16z Podcast | The Asshole Survival Guide
Insight
Sutton: Effective toxic leaders rely on dedicated workplace toxic handlers
“If you were going to be an effective asshole, Get yourself a toxic handler. To calm people, people down to clean up the mess, to tell them that it really wasn't that bad.”
Bob SuttonJan 2, 2019▶ 29:31a16z Podcast | The Asshole Survival Guide
Insight
Sutton: Power without respect turns individuals into vindictive jerks
“In general with human beings, if you put them in a position where they have some power over people, but they don't have prestige, they're not esteemed. And it turns out that having power without having stature or respect. So you think of somebody at the DMV wh…”
Bob SuttonJan 2, 2019▶ 31:04a16z Podcast | The Asshole Survival Guide
AssertionSupported
Sutton: Baird CEO Paul Purcell enforced an explicit no asshole policy
“Paul Purcell, he was CEO for years, W.R. Baird, now called Baird Financial Services Firm. They have a no asshole role. He tells people during the interview, if I find out you're an asshole, I'm going to fire you”
Bob SuttonJan 2, 2019▶ 28:31a16z Podcast | The Asshole Survival Guide
Made with StarZero
Turn any episode into a week of clips.
This entire site, over 1,000 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable,
runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the
moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.
We use essential cookies to make the site work. With your permission we
also use analytics cookies (Google Analytics and Mixpanel) to understand
usage and improve StarZero. See our Cookie Policy.