The Boss is based on true stories gathered by the author over many years. The book tells a story about the impact of work on the human spirit.

Lauren Johnson is a talented marketing professional in her thirties who changes jobs to escape the torment of a horrid manager. But her dream job turns sour due to the erratic behaviour of the dysfunctional executive team. Lauren just wants to do her job, but is constantly obstructed by the intimidating tactics of some managers, or the compliant behaviour of others, until finally she has to respond or have her spirit crushed.

Underpinning the story are two leadership concepts. The first is our hardwired instincts as humans (see Hardwired Humans for the 9 instincts) and the second is the leadership model from Human Synergistics: the boss characters are either constructive, passive or aggressive managers.