The book
The Best Boss Effect
Become the Positive Leader People Never Forget
Diane Scott, PCC | Aaron Bujnowski, DSc.
Published by Morgan James Publishing.
Available 2027. Pre-order today!
About the book
Almost everyone can name the best boss they ever had. A few cannot name anyone.
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That gap is the starting point for The Best Boss Effect. Drawing on nearly a thousand firsthand accounts of unforgettably positive leaders, executive coach Diane Scott, PCC, and former strategy chief Aaron Bujnowski, DSc, set out to answer two questions:
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What, exactly, did those best bosses do? And how did they achieve such a remarkable effect on their people?
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The answer isn't charisma, a particular personality, or a formula for success. Best Bosses put people first as a principle, harmonizing the tensions every manager faces rather than choosing one side over another. This combination builds deep trust. The results follow, and they last.
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Importantly, you can learn to become a Best Boss.
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The Best Boss Effect helps you turn those patterns into practice. Each chapter closes with "I get it. Now, what do I do?" and a set of actions you can take this week.
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Case notes from leaders at Microsoft, GM, and Costco sit beside stories of everyday leaders from nursing units, maintenance hangars, and sales floors. An online leadership assessment shows where each reader naturally leans, helping them identify areas for growth. Our companion app helps you put your learning into practice, either alone or with a mentor or coach.
Somewhere, someone is still telling the story of their Best Boss. The Best Boss Effect shows you how to become the boss in that story.
Why this book is different
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Built on original research: 971 firsthand accounts of "the best boss I ever had," across industries and levels, not a single author's anecdotes.
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A distinctive framework: six leadership tensions that unforgettable bosses harmonize rather than solve.
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Personally applicable: every chapter ends with "I get it. Now, what do I do?" giving you concrete actions for that week, which makes the book a practical guide.
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Measurable: includes access to the Best Boss Leadership Assessmentâ„¢, an online diagnostic showing your natural leadership tendencies.
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Told in real voices: more than two dozen case notes and hundreds of direct quotes from the people who were led, alongside stories of nationally renowned leaders.
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Written for you, the everyday boss, not the celebrity CEO: Best Boss behaviors are learnable skills, and frontline supervisors get the same tools as executives.
What comes with the book?
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The Best Boss Leadership Assessment. Find out where you lean before you start reading, so you know which chapters are yours.
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A year of the app. Every copy unlocks a year of Full Access: the seventeen-page Leadership Development Report, the practices from each chapter, the 30-day cycles, and your private journal. Pre-order now and your year begins on launch day.
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One mentoring connection. Mentor someone, or ask a leader you admire to mentor you. They get a month of the full report so the first conversation starts with something real.
Inside the book
Chapter 1
What Makes a Boss the Best?
Almost everyone can name the best boss they ever had, yet those leaders are rare. This chapter draws on nearly 1,000 firsthand accounts to show what sets them apart: They put people first as a principle, harmonizing the tensions of leadership rather than choosing one side over another. Strong outcomes follow. It closes with the case that becoming a best boss is learnable.
Chapter 2
Seeing the Unseen
Your people carry potential they often cannot see in themselves. Best Bosses spot it early, say it out loud, and challenge people to grow into it, as Diane's boss did with a single sentence: "You know much more than you think you do." The chapter covers developing a vision for potential, mastering talent discovery, amplifying belief, and testing what you see.
Chapter 3
Accepting the Present and Unlocking Potential
Meeting people exactly where they are is not the same as leaving them there. Best Bosses diagnose reality with clarity but without judgment, then build a bridge of clear next steps, tight checkpoints, and support that feels like scaffolding rather than rescue. Standards stay high while the temperature stays low, and hard conversations become the moments that strengthen a relationship.
Chapter 4
Mastering Empowerment and Control
This chapter shows how Best Bosses pair freedom with standards: setting direction through commander's intent, transferring real authority, and drawing smart boundaries that tell people where the edges are without dictating how to fill the space. Done well, clear control is freeing for both leader and employee.
Chapter 5
Demonstrating Warmth and Competence
People follow leaders who are both exceptionally capable and genuinely caring, and they rarely tolerate one without the other for long. The chapter explains emotional intelligence as the foundation of warmth, the Warmth Paradox, and the credibility bank that competence builds. It also makes the case that clarity is kindness: the kindest leaders are often the most demanding.
Chapter 6
Having Humility and a Healthy Ego
Best Bosses acknowledge their limits without losing conviction, which makes the people around them braver. Yet they also have an unmistakable confidence built on a healthy ego, which gives them appropriate boldness. The chapter walks through authentic humility, healthy confidence, and the integrated impact called "humbition."
Chapter 7
Defending Your Team and Expecting Responsibility
High-performing teams need protection from the noise, politics, and busywork that pull attention from the work, and best bosses provide it: buffering outside pressure, giving credit away in public, and shielding everyone evenly. The same leaders are explicit about outcomes, guardrails, and who decides, because clear standards are how trust becomes real. The chapter shows how to hold both at once: defend the whole person, expect whole performance.
Chapter 8
Best Boss Versus Servant Leaders: What's the Difference?
Best Bosses share many traits with servant leaders, but they are not the same thing. Where servant leadership can drift into submissive service, best bosses serve courageously: they provide the human touch and the clear direction, often in the same moment. The chapter draws the distinction through dynamic leadership, productive tension, and strategic service.
Chapter 9
Outcomes of the Best Boss
The effect of a Best Boss doesn't end when the job does. This chapter explores three lasting outcomes: legacy, the enduring impact on organizations; ripple, the influence that spreads through the people they develop; and performance, the substantial and sustainable results of putting people first. Together, they reveal why the Best Boss effect lasts long after a leader moves on.
Chapter 10
Become Someone's Best Boss
The final chapter turns the research into a personal plan. It brings the six tensions together into one leadership model, examines trust, power, and influence, and lays out practices you can begin this week. Somewhere, someone is still telling the story of their best boss; this is how you become the boss in that story.
Advance praise
"For decades, I've taught that exceptional performance begins with exceptional leadership, and The Best Boss Effect brings that principle to life with clarity and conviction. Diane Scott and Aaron Bujnowski reveal the people-first behaviors that differentiate forgettable managers from truly unforgettable leaders. Their framework is practical, actionable, and grounded in what actually works."
Britt Berrett, PhD, co-author of Patients Come Second; former hospital CEO and health system senior executive
"When leaders prioritize people first, performance follows. This book is a powerful and practical guide for leaders who want to achieve more by becoming more human."
Amer Kaissi, PhD, author of Humbitious and Positive Intent
"The Best Boss Effect reinforces a vital truth for today's organizations: Leadership effectiveness is rooted in trust, relationships, and the human capacity to do meaningful work. This book is a compelling and timely resource for leaders seeking to build organizations where both people and outcomes flourish."
Katherine A. Meese, PhD, co-author of The Human Margin and Genfluence
"The Best Boss Effect is a thoughtful and honest examination of what it means to lead in that way. It invites the reader to slow down, to reflect, and to choose service over ego. This is not a book to skim, but one to live with."
Chad Lewis, retired Philadelphia Eagles tight end; author of Surround Yourself With Greatness
"What The Best Boss Effect captures with striking precision is what the best leaders consistently do differently: They put people first without sacrificing results. This book doesn't romanticize leadership. It operationalizes it."
Jamey Cummings, former Navy SEAL; partner at JM Search
"The Best Boss Effect bridges what too often remains disconnected in leadership literature: Care for people and accountability for results. The Best Boss Effect leaves patterns to follow, not footprints in the sand."
John McWhorter, DSc, Chief Operating Officer, OhioHealth; Adjunct Professor of Leadership, The University of Alabama at Birmingham
"The Best Boss Effect is a fantastic read for leaders at all levels. I particularly enjoyed the research that highlighted the differences between being a Best Boss and a servant leader."
Jim Dunn, PhD, President and CEO, LD Human Capital Consulting; author of 101 Lessons in Leading with Laughter
"Where some books focus on what to avoid, Diane Scott and Aaron Bujnowski show leaders what to build, day by day, interaction by interaction. This book belongs on the desk of anyone serious about becoming the leader people choose to follow."
Anna Minto, executive advisor; author of How to Spot and Outsmart Corporate Narcissists