The No A**#Hole Rule, Robert I. Sutton
I've only ever recomended one business, people management book in the past. That one was PeopleWare (Demarco, Lister).
After reading through this one, I have to say this is now on the top of that list.
Over my career, I can say that I've worked alongside and for a few of them, and while you generally don't know when you come in the door that a person will be such an a**#hole, it usually manifests itself quite rapidly.
It's so simple to be civil to each other, can't really fathom why some people are, perhaps they had a bad childhood or they're just spoiled brats who quite frankly haven't grown up.
The other aspect I have with the workplace is that the first assumption is we're all adults. We all have responsibilities. So, we set goals, benchmarks, etc. Then, it's up to the individual adult to make those goals and manager's are there to faciliate their team on getting to those goals. Not to micromanage and question each and every turn. Once a manager get's in that mode, then they've changed from adult-to-adult to a more adult-to-child relationship. From there, the "child" in the relationship moves towards requiring or expecting "direction" at each turn. Or worst, just waiting around for that direction, avoiding taking initiative or action for concern that the manager would chide or object.
So, let's make it a policy to get rid of all the a**#holes in the workplace... Easier said than done I expect...