Richard N. Haass was a special assistant to President Bush and a senior director on the National Security Council
staff, where he received the Presidential Citizens Medal. Director of Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution,
he has held posts in the Departments of Defense and State, and is a consultant for NBC News.
Review
A primer . . . for pols and business managers working toward their spin doctorate."
--William Safire, The New York Times
"Government appointees and workers in nonprofit institutions can learn much from this authoritative, pithy
guide."
--Publishers Weekly
Brookings Institution Press Web Site, October, 2000
Summary
How do you figure out what to do in a job? How do you get it done? How should you deal with demanding bosses?
How can you get the most out of subordinates? What should you do to get along with difficult colleagues and handle
powerful interest groups and the media? Just how can you succeed in a world where persuasion rather than direct
command is the rule?
Using a compass as his operating metaphor--your boss is north of you, your staff is south, colleagues are east
and so on--Richard Haass provides clear, practical guidelines for setting goals and translating goals into results.
The result is a lively, useful book for the tens of millions of Americans working in complex and unruly organizations
of every sort and for students of both public administration and business.
The Bureaucratic Entrepreneur is a new and updated edition of Haass's 1994 book, The Power to Persuade. Reviews
of the earlier edition speak for themselves: "Managers will find Haass's anecdotes colorful and his advice
effective." (Fortune); "A primer...for pols and business managers working toward their spin doctorate"
William Safire (New York Times).
"This is at once an extraordinarily thoughtful (and readable) examination of personal success and failure
in the public sector and a practical 'how to' guide of the first order. I enjoyed it and was inspired by it. And,
incidentally, it holds word for word for private-sector professionals as well." Tom Peters, coauthor of In
Search of Excellence; and author of Liberation Management and Thriving on Chaos.
"A primer . . . for pols and business managers working toward their spin doctorate."
William Safire
The New York Times
"Government appointees and workers in nonprofit institutions can learn much from this authoritative, pithy
guide."
