My annual blog about the importance of reading books, modified from my previous January blogs. 

My experience is the best leaders always have a book they are reading. Reading is essential to lifelong learning, which is essential to our growth.

What role do books play in your life? In your learning? My guess is that for many, we just don’t have enough time. Making time to read books is important. I usually have several books in my study that I am working through. On long trips I enjoy audiobooks. I have friends who like audiobooks best. The audio version of my book Decoding the Workplace has been and continues to be the most popular format.

How do you nurture book reading in those who do not enjoy reading? As leaders, we lead by example. We talk about books we are reading, we share stories, we talk about how books have affected our lives. I'm often asked what book influenced me the most as a manager and consultant. Easy to answer: Peter Drucker's Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, and Practices. I came across this book as a young manager when I was first building consulting capabilities in my teams. I have returned to it for knowledge, wisdom, and ideas throughout my careers.  

In 2022 the most enjoyable book I read was Surrender by Bono, lead singer for the Irish rock band U2. I am a big U2 fan but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. With my background in psychology and management, I was also surprised how much one could learn about life and business from this memoir. As Bono makes clear, he has learned that life is about relationships. As I have often taught, business is about relationships. An immensely satisfying read.
 
Have you ever thought about changing the direction of your professional life, leaving the corporate world, leaving your current job for something yet to be found. In 2021-2022 two friends of mine and their dog did just that. In a VW van in which they lived, they visited 49 states in the USA. I thought about them as I read Paul Millerd’s The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story for Work and Life. It is a good memoir about how he stepped off the "successful" path he was on and onto a new path with unknowns and uncertainty. Very thought-provoking. 

Another highlight was reading the play Leopoldstadt by Tom Stoppard, my favorite playwright. It follows the lives of a Jewish family in Vienna from 1899 to 1955. Brilliantly written, insightful, tragic, yet with humor, I look forward to seeing Leopoldstadt performed on stage. 
 
Last I will mention what I consider to be the most important yet unheard of book of 2022, Science of Life After Death by Alexander Moreira-Almeida, Marianna de Abreu Costa, and Humberto Schubert Coelho. This thin 80 page scholarly (and expensive) book is part of the Springer Briefs in Psychology series and should be in all university, college, and public libraries. You may say, “Surely you jest, John. The science of life after death?” Actually, I do not. As stated by the authors, “Around 150 years of survival research has produced a body of evidence that is larger and stronger than most people are aware of or have even imagined being possible to attain.” This volume sums up much of that research. Highly recommend.

As we begin 2023, here are a few of the books I am reading or that are on my reading list:

• Tom Stoppard: A Life by Hermione Lee
• Mothman Apologia by Robert Wood Lynn
• Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sanction
• Napoleon: Soldier of Destiny, 1769-1805; Napoleon: The Spirit of the Age, 1805-1810; Napoleon: The Decline and Fall of an Empire, 1811-1821; three volumes by Michael Broers
• Classic Science Fiction Stories edited by Adam Roberts
• Visions of Innocence: Spiritual and Inspirational Experiences of Childhood by Edward Hoffman
• The Way of Splendor: Jewish Mysticism and Modern Psychology by Edward Hoffman
• A Song for Everyone: The Story of Creedence Clearwater Revival by John Lingman
• Encountering Mystery: Religious Experience in a Secular Age by Dale Allison, Jr.
• If I Live To Be 100: Lessons from the Centenarians by Neenah Ellis

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them," Mark Twain. 

Or as the comedian Groucho Marx said, “Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.”   
 
What are you reading?
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Bono. (2022). Surrender: 40 songs, one story. Knopf. 

Millerd, P. (2022). The pathless path: Imagining a new story for work and life. Paul Millerd, Publisher.

Moreira-Almeida, A., de Abreu Costo, M., Coelho, H. S. (2022). Science of life after death. Springer.

Stoppard, T. (2020). Leopoldstadt. Grove.
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 Image, my photo. 
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© John Ballard, PhD, 2023. All rights reserved.
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Decoding the Workplace “deals with principles and practices that are timeless . . . Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. Now also available as an audiobook and paperback. ​​

How do I spend my time? Am I getting the best rate of return on my time investment? Am I making the best use of my time? These are questions I ask myself as I sort through various professional projects and the activities of life. 

In a 2011 article, “What is an Effective Manager,” in the Canadian Manager, Mitch McCrimmon argued that we should review ourselves, our own resources, just as we might our financial resources. One of the questions he posed was:  “What is the best use of my time today?” Time is a resource of which we rarely have enough. Odd as it may seem, during my senior year in high school decades ago, our English teacher required that we write a letter to Santa. I asked Santa for only one gift: a 28-hour day. 

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey devoted a chapter to putting first things first and later developed into his book, Putting First Things First. He suggested our activities can be categorized on two dimensions: “urgent—not urgent” and “important—not important,” thus creating a matrix. Using these dimensions, we can classify our activities into one of four areas. So how do we spend our time? How much time do we spend on “not urgent, not important” activities? More importantly, how much do we spend on “important, not urgent."   The importance of investing time in the “important but not urgent” is repeated in Clay Christensen’s How Will You Measure Your Life. This is the quadrant where our relationships often fall and can be too easily neglected.

My favorite, and I think the best, self-study questions for managers come from Henry Mintzberg, his 1975 Harvard Business Review (July-August) article, “The Manager’s Job: Folklore and Fact.”  His questions should be in the desk drawer or computer of every manager. Here is an example from Mintzberg’s self-study questions:

12. Do I spend too much time on current, tangible activities? Am I a slave to the action and excitement of my work, so that I am no longer able to concentrate on issues? Do key problems receive the attention they deserve? Should I spend more time reading and probing deeply into certain issues? Could I be more reflective? Should I be?

For me taking the time to reflect on my use of time is difficult. This is probably true for many of us. We are always busy. But reviewing how we use time is probably one of the best uses of our time.

McCrimmon, M. (2011). What is an effective manager. Canadian Manager, Fall. https://www.lead2xl.com/what-is-an-effective-manager​

Modified from my blog, 12/13/2012. 

Image by AbsolutVision. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/deadline-stopwatch-clock-time-2636259/​
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© John Ballard, PhD,  2022. All rights reserved.
_______________________
Decoding the Workplace “Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. Available as ebook, hardback, paperback, audiobook, and audio CD. The best-selling audiobook, and CD, are narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon.

Meetings are costly. We don’t usually think about the cost to bring people together to share information or try to work an issue but the cost is there. Keep track of how much time you spend in meetings in a week and convert to a percentage, then a percentage of your pay. Meeting costs add up quickly.
 
Unfortunately wasting time in meetings is a major complaint among managers and employees. Surveys of managers have suggested (1) 30% or more of meeting time is unproductive and (2) the majority of meetings fail to accomplish their objectives. There are great leaders and managers who do not have “how to conduct effective meetings” in their toolkit.
 
Well-run meetings make things happen. If you are leading a meeting, here are questions you need to answer.
 
1.  Is this meeting really necessary?  You are spending the company’s money to bring people together. Is it worth it? If you are mainly sharing information, there may be more efficient ways, such as intranets, email, video conferencing.
 
2.  What do I want to get accomplished at this meeting? If you’ve decided a meeting is necessary, then you should have a good handle on the purpose. You need to think through what items you need on the agenda and in what order. Then share the agenda with people coming to the meeting and give them time to prepare.
 
3.  Will the right people be at the meeting? It is hard to make decisions if the decision-makers, or the people with the information needed, are not in the room. Be sure the key players will attend.
 
4. Should smartphones, computers and other digital devices be allowed?  This can be a tough decision. Some leaders and organizations ban digital devices from important meetings. In a well-run meeting participants are engaged with each other. The fewer the distractions, the easier to focus, and perhaps the shorter the meeting.
 
5. Can I expect the group dynamics to lead to a successful meeting? Some people talk too much. Some people don’t talk enough. Few of us are good active listeners. Here are two techniques to consider when needed:
 
(1) Use the “talking stick”, only the person with the stick (pen, or pencil) can speak. Others must listen. The stick can be passed around or exchanged among participants.
 
(2) Use the Crawford Slip Method, a method to get anonymous feedback, with depth and no group dynamics. Show participants a target question, such as “How can we improve customer service?,” and have them write a one sentence answer on a post-it, turn it over, then write another, then another. No talking allowed. Continue for 7-10 minutes or until about half of the attendees are not writing. Collect the slips and after the meeting sort them into categories. These slips are data that can be fedback and used to develop action plans.
 
6. How will I get feedback about how the meeting went? Apply continuous improvement to your meetings just like any other process. It can be as simple as asking participants to give feedback about the meeting, a few anonymous sentences written at the end of the meeting on what went well, ideas to improve.

Modified from my original article published online 2014 in the American Management Association's Playbook. 

Image by Gerd Altmann. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/meeting-meet-business-people-people-1219530/
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© John Ballard, PhD,  2022. All rights reserved.
_______________________
Decoding the Workplace “Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. Available as ebook, hardback, paperback, audiobook, and audio CD. The best-selling audiobook, and CD, are narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon.

Have you known people who exude confidence, who seemed to be natural leaders? Sometimes there is just something about a person’s look or behaviors that say this person is a leader.  Perhaps it is the erect posture, or the confident tone of voice, or the way the person looks at you and others directly. Some people look and act confidently. Such people more often move into positions of leadership.

Connson Locke (London School of Economics and Political Science) and Cameron Anderson (University of California, Berkley) wondered how people who appear to be highly confident affect the behavior of others, specifically in decision-making. Does a person who appears to be highly confident “cause others to participate less, or to suppress their own ideas and opinions’ (p. 42). Studies have suggested that people who appear to be highly confident are more likely to be seen as competent -- people who know their stuff --regardless of whether this is true.

In a series of three different experimental studies Locke and Anderson examined this subject.  What did they find?

• On decision-making tasks, participants viewed the highly confident person as more competent and they participated less.
• Even when the highly confident person had incorrect opinions, participants deferred.
• When highly confident people sought others’ ideas, the participants were more likely to participate, off-setting the effect of perceived competence.

My take-aways:

1.  We often do see people as leaders, or potential leaders, who carry themselves well, speak with confidence, and look at us while talking. We also tend to select and promote these people into positions of power and leadership. Not all perhaps, but many. If we think honestly about it, we may find we have a stereotype of the leader, and it is a stereotype that many others also may have. What are the implications for those of us who do not fit the stereotype?

2.  For the leaders amongst us who appear confident to others, there is an important point here. Recognize you may be perceived as more competent or smarter than you are. You may intimidate others simply by being yourself and suppress participative decision-making. The solution: Genuinely seek others’ opinions and ideas, admitting you do not have all the answers. That is being a leader.

Locke, C. C., & Anderson, C. (2015). The downside of looking like a leader: Power, nonverbal confidence, and participative decision-making. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 58, 42-47.

Image by mohamed-hassan. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/vectors/businessman-superman-shadow-hero-6262463/​

Modified from my blog, 2/14/2015. © John Ballard, PhD,  2022. All rights reserved.
_________________________
Decoding the Workplace “Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. Available as ebook, hardback, paperback, audiobook, and audio CD. The best-selling audiobook, and CD, are narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon.

Funny how some things stick in your mind. Functional fixedness, Duncker (1945), a concept I learned decades ago in a cognitive psychology class. 

The Pearl Jam concert was over. I found my way to my car, started the engine, and headed toward the exit. One car was in front of me. But the car in front of me could not get into the exiting line. Cars from elsewhere in the parking lot continued to fill the exit line. The car in front of me was stuck.

I noticed the entrance to the parking lot was not being used. Who is going to come into an emptying parking lot after a rock concert? Besides, at some venues patrons are encouraged to exit using both the exit and entrance. So I moved around the car to exit the parking lot using the entrance lane. A policeman stood there. He halted me and the exit lane for a moment and then signaled both of us to move out into the street, directing my car to the outer lane of the street, the exit lane to the inner. I was out of the parking lot and out of the congested area within minutes.

So why did others not seen the parking lot entrance as an exit to the street? Functional fixedness. An entrance is an entrance. An exit is an exit. We see something as being used for one thing and that precludes us from seeing how it could be used in other ways.

In his classic experiments Duncker had people try to mount a candle or candles on a door. Some people had a box of candles, matches, and a box of tacks. Others were given a box of candles, matches, tacks on a table, and an empty box – and they solved the problem more often and more quickly. Why the difference? The first group perceived a box as a box, something that holds items. The second group saw the empty box as something that could be tacked to the wall to hold a candle. Because the empty box was not being used as a box, it was more easily reframed and repurposed.

Anyone who has seen the movie Apollo 13 (based on actual events) has seen the concept of functional fixedness turned on its head. Problems had to be solved. The landing module became the main cabin. Round holes had to take square pegs so carbon dioxide could be removed from the air. Things had to be used for purposes other than those intended.

My take-away:

How often do we frame something, someone, some situation in only one way? There are times when if we “let go” of seeing that one way, we might see more effective, more efficient ways. Some people have skills and abilities that do not get used because that is not how we see those people. We do not provide them opportunities to show their skills. Sometimes we need to think about the meanings we are giving, the perceptions we have formed – and perhaps see things anew.  

Duncker, K. (1945). On problem-solving (L. S. Lees, Trans.). Psychological Monographs, 58 (5, Whole No. 270). 

King, M. J. (1997). Apollo 13 creativity: In-the-box innovation. Journal of Creative Behavior, 31(4), 299-308.

Image by T. Takemoto from http://www.flickr.com/photos/nihonbunka/5817226337/
Used with permission: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en

Modified from my blog, 10/21/2013. © John Ballard, PhD,  2022. All rights reserved.
_________________________
Decoding the Workplace “Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. Available as ebook, hardback, paperback, audiobook, and audio CD. The best-selling audiobook, and CD, are narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon.

Admiral William H. McRaven gave the commencement address at the University of Texas in Austin in May 2014. A YouTube video of the Admiral’s speech has over 16 million hits. It was a powerful speech well delivered. The Admiral talked about lessons he learned in Navy SEAL training (SEa, Air, Land), an elite Navy unit.  The Wall Street Journal published part of his commencement address. 

The Admiral explained ten lessons for life using vivid examples from his experiences in SEAL training. Here is a brief summary using his words (in quotation marks) and my interpretation of what he said.

1. “If you can't do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.”
2. “You can't change the world alone—you will need some help.”
3. Nothing matters “but your will to succeed.”
4. “Sometimes, no matter how well you prepare or how well you perform”, you are not going to succeed. 
5. “You will fail. You will likely fail often. It will be painful. It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your very core.” But it will make you stronger.
6. Sometimes you must take risks.
7. Deal with obstacles as they arise.
8. Be at your best in the darkest moments.
9. Have hope and share hope
10. Persevere, don’t give up. 

In 2017 Admiral McRaven expounded on these ten lessons in his best-selling book, Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life . . . And Maybe the World.

My take-away:

Good advice. I can sum up most of these points with one word: grit. Duckworth and associates researched grit and reported their work in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2007. They defined grit as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals”, “working strenuously toward challenges, maintaining effort and interest over years despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress” (pp.1087-1088). In six studies they found grit explained a larger chunk of success than IQ. Grittier individuals achieved higher levels of education sooner, and changed jobs less often. Who gets ahead? People with grit, stick-to-it-ness, perseverance. In 2016 Duckworth published her book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.

I love what the Admiral said and how he said it. What I hear him saying is, “Have grit.” 
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Modified from my blog of 5/28/2014. © John Ballard, PhD,  2022. All rights reserved.

Image of bed by Clkr-Free-Vector-Images. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/vectors/bed-hospital-medical-health-311372/​

A special thanks to Admiral McRaven for endorsing Fred Stuvek, Jr.'s book, The Experience of Leadership, for which I provided a chapter.

Great leadership can be the catalyst to great success. In the National Basketball Association, the Golden State Warriors have earned their fourth NBA Championship in the past eight years. Steve Kerr, head coach of the Warriors, exemplifies the characteristics of leadership that could elevate  performance in many organizations.
 
In May 2017 Chris Ballard (no relation) wrote an article in Sports Illustrated, “No Coach, No Problem.” Ballard’s article provided insight into Kerr’s leadership style, illuminating ten characteristics of outstanding leaders. 

1. Respect. Great leaders earn respect and respect others. Players and other coaches respect Coach Kerr highly.
2. It’s not about you. When you make a moment about you and not the team or the organization, you start to lose them. It is always about them, about those you lead. Kerr allowed Sports Illustrated only one photo of himself.
3. Humility and compassion. Kerr: “The people to me who are the most powerful leaders are the ones who have great talent in whatever their field is, great conviction in their ability to teach it and act it, but an awareness and a humility and compassion for others” (p. 30)
4. Nurture freedom, build trust. Coach Kerr has built a culture where players are participants willing to share ideas. It’s not “my way or the highway” but the opposite. The players trust each other and the coaches and vice versa.
5. Empower. Kerr’s leadership is highly participative, not hierarchical. Regardless of minutes played, every player is part of the process, the flow, and ready to step up when called.
6. Grit. Out of high school Kerr only had one scholarship to a major college basketball program. Ballard noted that as an NBA player for 15 seasons, Kerr only started 30 games. Success goes to those who persevere.
7. Communicate. Kerr has conversations with players where as he puts it, he may “overcommunicate” and sometimes he writes notes to players. Players know where they stand; what they need to do to improve.
8. Know your people. Warrior player Draymond Green: “He knows me . . . That’s his thing. He has this feel for exactly what each player needs” (p.32).
9. Perspective: Kerr: “Take things seriously, but not yourself.”
10. Live your core values: Kerr: “What I learned from all the coaches I talked to was that your entire process has to reflect your core values” (p. 34). Kerr’s core values: joy, competition, compassion, mindfulness.

Chris Ballard summed up Kerr’s leadership as follows: "You want to lead like Kerr? Just be humble and grateful, curious and self-aware. Communicate, value family and empower others. When bad things happen, keep a broader perspective. Most of all, create something bigger than yourself . . ." (p. 35).

Ballard, C. (2017, May 29). "No coach, no problem." Sports Illustrated, 126 (15), 28-35. 
 
Image, “Steve Kerr,” by Keith Allison.
Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steve_Kerr_(16453076458)_cropped.jpg
Used with  permission:  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en 

Modified from my blog of 6/15/2017.© John Ballard, PhD,  2022. All rights reserved.
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Decoding the Workplace “Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. Available as ebook, hardback, paperback, audiobook, and audio CD. The best-selling audiobook, and CD, are narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon.

What do you bring to your job? Make a list of what you think you bring to your company. Your list might include  experience, education, attitudes, knowledge, skills, abilities. These are your inputs to the job as you perceive them. 

​What do you expect from the job? These might include company’s benefit, pay, opportunities for growth, fair treatment, good working conditions, a satisfying job. These are your valued outcomes.  While these inputs and outcomes listed may be easy to identify, others are not. For example, what did you list about your level of effort?
 
Everyone in the office marveled at Karen. If there were a superwoman, she was it. She got the toughest assignments and made them look easy. Admired by all, praised by her bosses, Karen was a wonder. Her co-workers were amazed how anyone could work so hard all the time. Karen knew how others viewed her – and she thought, “If they only knew.” Karen was a hard worker, a smart worker, with outstanding organizing skills – and while occasionally an assignment would cause her to turn up her effort, most of the time she was on cruise control with plenty of energy to spare. “If I worked as hard as I could, they would be amazed”, she thought.
 
Do you give 100% on the job? My guess is that if you do, you’re on your way to burnout. People work at different levels of effort. Some people give so much at the office there is nothing left when they get home. Others moderate their efforts so the job gets done but there is energy for other activities after work. Many of us find a happy medium that satisfies our employer and ourselves. Few people give it all each and every day.
             
So am I advocated coasting in our jobs? Of course not. Over time an employee will settle into a level of effort consistent with what’s needed to get the job done and individual factors, such as one’s need to achieve. This level will vary with each person, the job, and the situational factors of the job. But if you give your very best each and every moment of every day, there will be nothing in reserve when it is needed. There are times when we turn it on and other times when we work less hard. Employers and managers who push employees relentlessly will likely pay the price in stress-related medical costs, absenteeism, and turnover.

Revised from Decoding the Workplace, Chapter Seven, Organizational Socialization.

Image, "Superwoman", by Saydung89. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/vectors/superwoman-heroine-mother-woman-5709443/

© John Ballard, PhD, 2022. All rights reserved.
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Decoding the Workplace “Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. Available as ebook, hardback, paperback, audiobook, and audio CD. The best-selling audiobook, and CD, are narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon.
 
 

“Soft skills.” Do you, your colleagues, your organization use that term? Through study and practice we learn “hard skills”, often technical, sometimes quantitative, skills essential to accomplish job-related tasks. On the other hand, we have come to understand that success on the job, good performance, even promotions often come down to “soft” skills, those related to interacting and working with people. I agree with Jennifer Parlamis and Matthew Monnot (2019):
 
“We need to retire the term ‘soft skills.’”
 
What words come to mind when you associate to the word “soft.” Parlamis and Monnot stated that “the word ‘soft’ is often used as a pejorative term”, e.g., soft on crime, soft sciences. They noted that synonyms for soft tend to be derogatory, such as “weak”, “dull”, “wimpy.” They argue that the set of skills we refer to as “soft” be reframed with another term and suggested “CORE skills” for Competence in Organizational and Relational Effectiveness.
 
There is another reason for eliminating “soft skills” from our vocabulary. Given a list of words and asked whether a word is associated more with men or women, the word “soft” will be associated more with women. I have tried this in the classroom and both sexes, nearly 100%, associated “soft” with women. Soft is a sex-role stereotype. It can affect hiring, performance appraisals, promotions. It is time to stop using the term “soft skills.” Furthermore, there is nothing soft about them.
 
I propose we use the term “relational skills” in place of “soft skills.”
 
I have used “relational skills” for decades across all aspects of my professional life. While people will not instinctively know what CORE skills are (or are already using CORE in a different context), they will intuitively understand the meaning of “relational skills”. [For an in-depth discussion of relational practice and implications for women, I recommend Joyce Fletcher (1999). ]
 
Concluding:
 
1. Using the term “soft skills” has negative implications. “Relational skills” is more descriptive and free of those implications.
 
2. For more on unintentional sex-role stereotyping in the workplace, see this blog.
 
3. The choice of our words and phrases in our conduct can be important. As a young child our daughter asked, “Dad, why don’t you ever call me and my brother kids?” To which I replied smiling, “When you act like baby goats, I will.”
 
Fletcher, J. (1999). Disappearing acts: Gender, power, and relational practice at work. The MIT Press.
 
Parlamis, J., & Monnot, M. J. (2019). Getting to the CORE: Putting an end to the term “soft skills”. Journal of Management Inquiry, 28(2), 225-227.
 
Image, "Team", by geralt, Obtained from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/team-people-silhouettes-drawing-123085/

© John Ballard, PhD, 2022. All rights reserved.
__________________________
Decoding the Workplace “Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. Available as ebook, hardback, paperback, audiobook, and audio CD. The best-selling audiobook, and CD, are narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon.