To be a good boss, first and foremost you must be competent in your job duties. Secondly, you must maintain the respect of those who work for you. Without respect, you will undoubtedly be undermined even in earnest efforts to improve the work-lives of your employees. Managing employees can be a difficult task, and as in any challenging occupation, it is best to be informed by those who have made a successful living in the same manner. The following books are must-reads for any man or woman interested in excelling in a management capacity:Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis Yes, this book is about baseball, which may not seem relevant, but it’s about oh so much more than that. At its core, the book is about taking advantage of unique talents and achieving desired results while on a fixed budget, practical lessons for any manager.The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell By helping to make clear the exact moment at which major changes occur, or the “tipping point,” Gladwell helps managers to make decisions while taking advantage of trends and timeliness that might go unnoticed by those with a more focused, narrow-minded frame of reference. The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson It may take more than a mere 60 seconds to read, but within its pages lie practical techniques to improve communication, employee relations, leadership objectives and the facets in between, all proven to work in the business world.Somehow I Manage by Michael Scott (in progress) Dunder-Mifflin’s most famous regional manager offers his personal tricks of the trade. Ok, so don’t watch The Office for real-life management advice, but it’s still perfectly good entertainment, and hey, every good boss should have a sense of humor.