Unboss

Unboss means the opposite of boss. Bosses work with power, unbosses with values. Bosses make decisions and issue orders, unbosses inspire people to think, decide and pursue a common purpose. Unbosses focus more on effect than on profit, but nevertheless often end up earning more than conventional bosses. Unboss refers to a person (the unboss), a philosophy (unboss), and a process (to unboss). It turns the conventional understanding of management and work on its head, and transforms limited companies into unlimited movements. It makes employees into partners, renders offices and fixed working hours superfluous, and turns customers into sales and service staff. @boetter and @kolind are out to unboss companies, associations and public-sector institutions – and nothing will ever be the same again.

UNBOSS is a book about work and leadership, unlike any you've seen before. The book questions everything you thought was obvious: Did you think that the purpose of business was to make money? No—businesses must first and foremost be useful. They must become movements that change the world. You are no longer employed by an employer, you are a partner in a team. Your manager does not have all the answers, but she can ask the right questions. You don't work to earn money for some owners you don't even know, you work for a cause. And you get a fair share of the profit you generate. You do not go to work from 9 to 5, you work where you are and when it suits you. Your company does not sell products to customers, it creates value with customers. And, if you work in the public sector, it is not the budget that counts, it is the value you create for citizens. UNBOSS was written in collaboration with 100 visionaries from around the world. They have come up with new ideas and concrete examples. It's all tied together by Jacob Bøtter and Lars Kolind. The result is a book that aims not only to create a debate. It aims to create a revolution.

Jacob Bøtter (b. 1986) is a self-taught management consultant. While in high school Bøtter started a virtual design agency, which grew to include more than 300 designers in over 50 countries. In 2005 he founded the consultancy Wemind through which he has advised more than 100 companies and two prime ministers, on how to radically improve their organizations based on what happened on the internet during the last 15 years. He wrote the bestseller NQ and is today a sought-after speaker in Denmark and abroad.