Between deftly handling the politics of corporate America and raising her sons, Santa Barbara author Lynn Taylor drew a comparison between the two enterprises: managers act like toddlers. This revelation then took a seven-year journey from its conception to Taylor’s latest book, “Tame your Terrible Office Tyrant.”

While unpacking some boxes in 2002, Taylor found a note she had written to herself commenting that “managers act like third-graders.” She set it aside for the time being, but it lingered in her thoughts and she began to see more and more resemblances between the two.

In the end, she decided to take the humor route with the book, giving advice on how to cope with tyrannical bosses and coworkers who are “ruled rather than inspired by their inner child.” Each chapter covers a common trait of “Terrible Office Tyrants” — or TOTs — and toddlers and then offers tips on how to diffuse situations.

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