Memorial Day is a solemn day for me. I have known my share of friends and acquaintances who died in service to our country. Some were lost in Vietnam. Others in the Cold War. Still others due to terrorism. People I knew in high school, people with whom I shared the rigors of the U.S. Air Force Academy, people with whom I served during my time in the Air Force. 

Veterans Day in November honors those living who have served in the military. The lesser celebrated Armed Forces Day, also in May, celebrates those currently on active duty in our armed services. As the United States Census Bureau states, "Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who died in service to their country." In fact this is only partially true. 

Memorial Day honors service men and women who died serving our country and also civilians who actively worked in support of the military. But there are others not in uniform on the front lines who lose their lives defending our nation. Memorial Day does not honor diplomats, CIA agents, and others who die in the line of duty. For example, between the Vietnam War and the Gulf War, the United States lost more diplomats in the line of duty than those in our military. The U.S. Department of State has one day, Foreign Affairs Day, to honor active diplomats, retired officers, and those who have fallen. The CIA also has a separate memorial day. 

From a firefight in the jungles of Vietnam to a downed plane in its skies, to terrorist bombings, to events never made public, we are fortunate to have brave men and women willing to put their lives on the line to preserve our nation and our freedoms. Memorial Day is a day to remember. 
_______________________
 
Image by Charles Thompson.  Obtained from https://pixabay.com/photos/veteran-cemetery-flag-memorial-1885567/
 
© John Ballard, PhD,  2023. All rights reserved.

Fear can be an obstacle to being an effective leader. We all have fears of different types, at different times. Confronting fears that debilitate us and overcoming them is part of growing as a leader. Fred Stuvek, Jr., asked me and 14 others to contribute chapters to his book The Experience of Leadership. One of the things I wrote about in my chapter is confronting your fears. I share part of my chapter here: 

In the fourth grade I decided I wanted to be an architect and attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. By the seventh grade I wanted to be a pilot and that year I learned there was a West Point for the Air Force, the USAF Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado. Attending the Air Force Academy became my dream, my goal. I knew it was physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding but I thought I could survive. Only one thing truly disturbed me. I saw a film of cadets jumping from a 10-meter platform into the swimming pool. It looked so high. I knew sometime as a cadet I would be required to jump from that 10-meter diving platform into the water below. The thought of having to make that jump frightened me. It was my biggest fear. 
 
I was fortunate and received a Congressional appointment to the Air Force Academy. That first summer was basic training, grueling, difficult, and demanding beyond anything I could have imagined. We just tried to survive from hour to hour, to get through the day. The only free time was a few hours on Sunday afternoons. 
 
I knew what I had to do. So on that first Sunday I went to the Athletic Center, to the Natatorium with its Olympic-size pool, to my nemesis, the 10-meter platform. It looked so much higher than its 33 feet. Several upperclassmen (i.e., sophomores, juniors, seniors) were taking turns jumping from the top of the tower. I watched for probably half an hour, then approaching one of them. 
 
“Sir, what do I need to know to jump off the tower safely?”
 
“The main thing is to jump away from the platform, cross your legs, try to enter the water as upright as you can. You going to do it?”
 
“Yes, Sir.”
 
Slowly I climbed the stairs, occasionally looking down at the water.  With each step fear in me grew. I arrived at the top scared, alone, the water far below. My heart pounded, my body weak, my breathing labored. I walked to the edge. I did not look down. I stepped off away from the platform and crossed my legs.  1.4 seconds later at 35 mph I hit the water just slightly off center. For two days my body was sore but my mind was at peace. I had done it. I had conquered my biggest fear. I knew when the time came when I would be required to make that jump that I could do it. The fear of that tower was behind me. 
 
Later at the Academy I had to make that jump surrounded by my classmates. Some jumped with no problem, a few even enjoyed. But some were clearly scared. I was not. I had dealt with my fear privately. My demeanor was that of a leader -- calm, assured. 
_______________________

Ballard, J. A. (2021). Be prepared to lead. In F. Stuvek, Jr., The experience of leadership: Proven examples from successful leaders (pp. 79-94).Triumvirate.  
 
Image from video by Joe Lesar used with permission. Obtained from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ldNJBj-q_s
 
© John Ballard, PhD,  2023. 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.

Why are some people more successful than others at work, home, life? All things being equal, much success comes from within ourselves. There are psychological characteristics that are related to being successful.
 
Two stalwarts of psychology addressed this topic in the September 2017 issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science: Angela Duckworth, known for her work on grit, and Martin Seligman, known for his work on learned helplessness. Their article focused on the importance of self-control but it summarizes concisely three psychological factors affecting success:

• self-control – “the capacity to regulate attention, emotion, and behavior in the presence of temptation.”
• grit – “passion and perseverance for long-term goals.”
• conscientiousness - being careful, being thorough; desiring to do a task well (one of the Big Five personality factors). 

Duckworth and Seligman discuss the pros and cons of lumping these together in studying success versus studying separately. The bottomline is both lumping and splitting help understand the differences and underlying dynamics. Here are some insights I noted:

• Self-control is important to outcomes in life, including income, finances, health, and “occupational prestige.”
• Conscientiousness includes self-control and is highly related to longevity, wealth, and health.
• In middle school students, self-control equaled intelligence measure in predicting grades and test scores but exceeded intelligence measures on predicting absences, procrastination, and time watching TV.
• Being able to delay gratification of “ill-timed or inappropriate impulses” is a hallmark of self-control and develops early in life, according to Freud.
• Gritty people have a “single-minded, sustained commitment” to “enduring goals of superordinate personal significance.”
• “A gritty person cannot be gritty about everything.”

My take-aways:
 
1. Many factors contribute to success. Your definition of success may be very different from another’s. I knew a local rock band that were truly outstanding, but when given the opportunity for national, even international exposure, they declined. Making music was a joy – not a lifestyle calling. Being a “rock star” was not part of their individual definitions of success. What does success mean to you?
 
2.  I see self-control and grit as important factors for individual success in any part of life. I have written about grit here previously. But grit is not necessarily predictive of organizational success unless the enduring goal is somehow tied to the organization. Given headlines about sexual harassment in the workplace, we can probably agree that self-control should have a greater emphasis in our training and conduct. Just how long can you go without looking at your smartphone?
 
3. On the other hand, conscientiousness is of great organizational and personal significance. We can measure conscientiousness, correlate with organizational outcomes, and design into selection systems. As I have written previously, it is the most important trait affecting health and success that you may have never considered.
 
4. Lumped or separated, these three factors offer a good self-assessment as to your success.

• How is your self-control?
• ​Do you have an enduring goal that you are pursuing with passion?
• Are you thorough in your work, striving for good outcomes in the various parts of your life? 

Duckworth, A. L., & Seligman, M. E. P.  (2017).  The science and practice of self-control. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(5), 715-718.
 
Image by Pfüderi. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/photos/rockclimbing-success-mountain-2040824/
 
Modified from my blog, 10/31/2023. © John Ballard, PhD,  2023. 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 noticed any changes in the businesses you’ve dealt with lately?” queried a friend. 
“Actually I have. Since the pandemic customer service doesn't seem to be as good.”
“Exactly,” he replied. 
 
I think customer service may get worse. One reason is that we are in the early stages of an AI revolution. Sure AI has impacted many areas in past years. I recall a 2019 convention of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology where it seemed that most of the exhibits were about AI products for human resources. In conference sessions presenters debated the pros and cons of AI. Some argued that AI was screening out job applicants who in previous times would have been hired and made good employees. 
 
In a recent Wall Street Journal article headlined, “AI Comes to the Office. It’s Bossy, Efficient, & Dehumanizing,” Lisa Bannon wrote, “A new generation of artificial intelligence is rolling out across American workplaces and it is prompting a power struggle between humans and machines.” More jobs will be automated. More employees will be impacted by AI used for efficiencies. The pendulum that swings between a people-orientation in the workplace and one that is technology-oriented is swinging strongly away from people. 
 
Customer value is often seen as a perceived tradeoff between the benefits and the sacrifices associated with a product or service. Many businesses fall short in understanding the benefits and sacrifices perceived by the customer. Unless you know your customers, talk with your customers, listen to your customers, you may not know. Just because you sell a product or service does not necessarily mean you really know it from a customer perspective. 
 
I would argue that missing in this understanding of customer value for most businesses is one factor suggested in my favorite book on customer value, Know Your Customer by Robert Woodruff and Sarah Gardial. A better equation: 
 
Customer Value = Benefits – Sacrifices x Relationships
 
Think about the people, the businesses with which you engage. It is the employees that make or break a business, all things being equal. As a customer I want personable, knowledgeable interactions. I have yet to have a chatbot who gets me, understands my question. Why do we often seek to do business with people we have done business with before? Business is about relationships. I have seen no evidence thus far that AI will build relationships. 

• Understand the value of relationships in customer value. 
• Get to know your customers. 
• Deploy AI in the workplace carefully and with consideration for the people who are the backbone of your company. 

 
Bannon, L. (2023, Feb 18-19). “AI comes to the office. It’s bossy, efficient, & dehumanizing. The Wall Street Journal. 
Woodruff, R., and Gardial, S. (1996). Know your customer. Wiley. 
 
Image, “Customer Service,” obtained from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/customer-service-care-call-support-4482159/​
​
© John Ballard, PhD, 2023. All rights reserved.
 _________________________
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. ​​

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?
_______________________
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.
 _______________________

 Image, my photo. 
​
© John Ballard, PhD, 2023. All rights reserved.
 _________________________
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/​
​
© 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/
​
© 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.