Stress is a normal part of most workplaces. A little stress can be good but stress can easily become dysfunctional and cost time, money, and energy. Estimates for the annual cost of dysfunctional stress in U.S. organizations range as high as $300 billion. Managers play a big role in determining the amount of stress is in the workplace. If you are a manager,  how well do you help reduce stress in the workplace? Or do you unnecessarily increase stress in the workplace? Here are six questions for managers to reflect on.  

1.  Do I inadvertently support stress-inducing norms? Every workplace has formal and informal rules. Some informal rules or norms become well established even though they may be dysfunctional. 

• Do employees work long hours beyond what is really necessary? 
• How long is the workday really? 
• Is time off for vacations encouraged or seen as behavior of those less loyal?

2. Do I consider the potential negative impact of my behaviors on others? Some managers behave inconsistently such that employees are not sure what to expect. A manager gives instructions on Monday, changes them on Wednesday, and changes them again on Friday. Others assign work to be done at the last minute and expect immediate results.

3. What information do I provide to my employees? Often managers tell employees what employees need to know but not necessarily what employees want to know. They may not need to know the context of a decision but where that context can be provided, it may be helpful. It is also good to avoid surprises. As soon as possible, stop rumors, especially those that may have a negative impact.

4. Am I really a good listener or do I just think that I am? I am continually surprised by the number of managers who think they are great listeners but aren’t. 

• Can you actively listen? 
• What is going on in your mind when someone is talking with you? 
• Are you thinking about answers to questions or formulating questions, or are you truly listening to the words, emotions, and body language of the other. 
• Worse yet, are you multi-tasking, for example, working on your computer? 

One key to helping employees manage workplace stress is recognizing it. Actively listening helps.

5. Do I support my employees? Easy to answer “sure” but do you?

• How easy is it for employees to come to you with requests or questions?
• How often do you ask, “Is there anything where you need my help?”
• Do you know your direct reports well enough to know what rewards they value the most?
• Can you identify recent actions on your part that demonstrate you support your people?

6. Am I a good role model? The leader sets the example. 

• Do you stay in the office until your boss is gone? 
• Do you manage your stress? Do you take time to exercise? 
• Do you meditate, do yoga, or engage in other activities that reduce your stress?Do you encourage use of any company policies that encourage wellness?

Stress impacts the bottom-line through health care costs and lost productivity. If you are a manager, assess your impact on stress in the workplace and adjust as best you can. For those not in managerial positions, think about your supervisors. How would you size them up on these questions? 

Modified from my original article published online, September 2, 2015, in the American Management Association's Playbook and modified from my blog 3/11/2019. © John Ballard, PhD,  2024. All rights reserved.

Image, "stress-management", by Mohamed Hassan. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/angry-businesswoman-conflict-3233158/
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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.

Does the age of a leader affect our perceptions of that leader’s effectiveness? Are there differences in how we view older leaders versus younger leaders?  Age and leadership is a subject not often surfaced except occasionally around U.S. presidential elections. To consider age in personnel actions is usually discriminatory. But how do we, admittedly or not, think about leaders and age?

Spisak, Grabo, Arvey, and van Vugt addressed this question in The Leadership Quarterly in 2014. They discussed two functions of leadership that may be seen as age-related: exploration and exploitation. 

• Exploration strategies encourage “risk-taking and innovation to remain adaptive and competitive in changing environments” (p. 806). 
• Exploitation strategies “create stability and minimize negative costs associated with uncertainty by refinement and execution of preexisting systems” (p. 806). 

The authors argued that groups need both. Exploration requires searching the dynamics of the environment whereas exploitation is about stability and finding best practices.

In three interesting experiments, the researchers examined preferences for leadership in different business-related situations. The participants were undergraduates at VU University Amsterdam. Participants were given scenarios and shown faces of older and younger people. In two of the experiments researchers used software to morph young faces to older faces.  Spisak et al. designed each experiment to assess preferences for change leadership versus stability as associated with older and younger faces.  

Across all three experiments the results supported their hypothesis: 

• “Younger leadership is preferred when followers are looking for a leader in times of exploratory change” (p. 812).
•   “When followers are focused on the need for stable exploitation. they look to older leaders.” (p. 812).

My take-aways:

1.  Spisak et al. used an evolutionary perspective to suggest human groups have developed these preferences from our experiences over history – a preference for youth when new opportunities and exploration are needed, a preference for older leadership when things are going well and incremental change is fine. The authors argued these are not stereotypes.

2.  Regardless of theoretical orientation, their results point to possible biases in how we think about leaders, both on the large stage and in organizations. Do we really prefer younger leaders where change is imperative? Are we inclined toward older workers where things are going well and change is not imperative? Spisak et al.’s participants (university undergraduates) may limit how much we can conclude from their report. Even so they raise interesting questions about how we may view  age and leadership in different situations. 


Spisak, B. R., Grabo, A. E., Arvey, R. D., & van Vugt, M. (2014). The age of exploration and exploitation: Younger-looking leaders endorsed for change and older-looking leaders endorsed for stability. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(5), 805-816.

Image of "businessman" by PaliGraficas. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/vectors/elegant-businessman-manager-3176410/

Image of "strong man" by TheAZShow. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/man-strong-man-masculine-serious-8308094/
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Modified from my blog 10/21/2014. © John Ballard, PhD,  2024. All rights reserved.
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A life-long amateur astronomer, I imagined I would become an eclipse chaser, researching and traveling to parts of the world where I could stand in the shadow of the moon during total solar eclipses. But life brought different priorities. In July of 1991 I backpacked up Mauna Loa on The Big Island of Hawaii with my friend Richard Bilodeau. On July 11 I experienced my first total solar eclipse in a volcanic wilderness. Richard and I wrote a Kindle e-story based on Richard’s experience. The beginning of that story is told here. I described my experience of that eclipse in this blog many years later. I experienced my second total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017, the first of two Great American eclipses. My wife and I ventured to western Nebraska. The story of that eclipse is told here. 
 
For seven years it was with great anticipation I awaited April 8, 2024. Once again a Great American Eclipse would sweep the nation, this time southwest to northeast. Significantly for my wife and me this time fate offered a special gift. On the afternoon of April 8 the shadow of the moon would pass over our house in Beavercreek, Ohio. We could observe the eclipse from our yard. 2 minutes of totality. However the shadow would also pass over Greenfield, Indiana, where dear friends had invited us to observe with them. Almost 4 minutes of totality. View from our home or view with special friends? We chose Indiana. From our friends’ backyard we watched as the sky grew darker, night lights came on, birds ceased to chirp and sing. Suddenly the diamond ring appeared and there was the silver corona. Two solar prominences glowed red. Venus shone below and west of the Moon/Sun. Jupiter above and to the east. For almost four minutes we shared this wondrous celestial event. For our friends it was their first total solar eclipse experience, an experience mystical and moving. For the third time in this lifetime, as I stood in the shadow of the moon, tears formed in my eyes. 
 
Nothing compares with a total solar eclipse. Even if the sun is 99.9% covered by the moon, there is no comparison. As I once read, a partial eclipse is like riding in an airplane. A total solar eclipse is like jumping out of an airplane. Having jumped from planes in my youth, I can wholeheartedly agree with that statement. Experiencing a total solar eclipse is unique. In the year leading up to the eclipse I encouraged friends and acquaintances not to miss it, explaining how to view before, during, and after totality. In the weeks after the April 8 eclipse many people told me how it was so much more amazing than what they had expected. In this modern era it can seem somethings are overly hyped. For most people you cannot overhype a total solar eclipse. 
 
On August 2, 2027, a total solar eclipse will cross north Africa. At maximum totality the moon will cover the sun for over six minutes, the longest totality in the lifetime of those alive today. The next Great American Eclipse is August 12, 2045, a path from northern Californian to Florida. My guess is for that one I will have exited this body and be on to new adventures. 2045. If you are around, try to stand in the shadow of the moon.

Eclipse image (2017) by bdabney. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/photos/eclipse-great-american-eclipse-2017-2794194/
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© John Ballard, PhD, 2024. 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. 

Do you have a formal job description? If so, how closely does it match what you actually do? How much flexibility do you have to alter how you do your job, or what you do?  
 
Amy Wrzesniewski (Yale) and Jane Dutton (Michigan) studied people who cleaned hospital rooms. They found two groups: one did things by the book, the other added tasks or made other adjustments to their jobs that made their jobs as hospital cleaners more meaningful. Wrzesniewski & Dutton (2001) coined the term “job crafting”—“the process of employees redefining and reimagining their job designs in personally meaningful ways.” For nearly two decades they have led research on job crafting. 
 
So how do people alter their jobs? Here is a summary in a nutshell:.

• Changing tasks: adding tasks, emphasizing some tasks over others, changing how a task is done.
• Changing relationships: building new relationships, reframing an existing relationship, recrafting a relationship by helping or supporting another.
• Changing perceptions: expanding perceptions (broaden view of the job); focusing perception on most meaningful aspects of the job, linking or associating separate activities with each other to make more meaningful. 

The work of Wrzesniewski and associates suggests people who job craft have more meaning in their work and have higher job satisfaction. Given the intuitive appeal of job crafting and the need in organizations to improve employee engagement, job crafting should be of increasing interest.

My take-aways:
 
1. Early in my professional career I did work analyses across multiple locations. I learned quickly that there were significant differences between tasks and responsibilities in job descriptions and what people actually did. As Wrzesniewski and Dutton found, some people adjusted to their positions by emphasizing certain aspects over others. Intentionally or not, they made their jobs more interesting. Many times they were not aware of how they had changed their jobs.
 
2. My guess is that individual differences play a large role here. Some people are going to find ways to make their jobs more meaningful. Others are just going to do what they are assigned to do, the way they were trained to do it. We craft our jobs by the choices we make, and the choices we are allowed to make.

3. Leadership can play a role. While many employees will shape their jobs to add meaning, others will not unless it is made clear by managers that they do have some flexibility. Also, people doing the same job may do the job differently. Meetings where this information is shared may improve performance for others – or avert potential problems. Job crafting should be a topic in which leaders are well versed.
 
Berg, J. M., Dutton, J. E., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2013). Job crafting and meaningful work. In B. J. Dik, Z. S. Byrne, & M. F. Steiger (Eds.), Purpose and meaning in the workplace (pp. 81-104. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
 
Wrzesniewski, A., Berg, J. M., & Dutton, J. E. (2010). Managing yourself: Turn the job you have into the job you want. Harvard Business Review, 88(6), 114-117.
 
Wrzesniewski, A., & Dutton, J. E. (2001). Crafting a job: Revisioning employees as active crafters of their work. Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 179-201.

Graphic image by RoadLightt. USAF photo. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/remote-work-office-home-office-5491794/
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Modified from my blog 4/30/2018. © John Ballard, PhD, 2024. 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.

Last week I streamed the FIRST Robotics World Championship held in Houston, Texas. FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. It is a global non-profit stimulating interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in young people through team-based robotics competitions. I was especially impressed with the number of young women on teams at the world championship.

There is no question that women are underrepresented in STEM.  Stereotype threat may be one factor. Stereotyping by others is another. In 2006 Karen Scales, Mary Ann Edwards, and I published a study about women in IT. Several studies we reviewed addressed socio-cultural assumptions:

• Women receive less encouragement to master computer skills than men do (Smith, 2005).
• Educators are influenced by socio-cultural assumptions about IT and computer science and “steer women away” (Ray et al., 1999).
• Some teachers (17%) and guidance counselors (12%) discouraged young women from IT (Turner et al., 2002).
• To quote one director of undergraduate computer science programs, “Somehow teachers . . . are pushing the idea that this is not a field for girls” (in Grupta & Houtz, 2000).
• In Malaysia women and men pursued undergraduate computer science degrees in near equal numbers. Key CS/IT university administrators and the majority of the computer science faculties were women. Because of the prevalence of female role models and mentors, for young Malaysian women “pursuing a career in CS/IT is a normal, indeed, unremarkable option” (Othman and Latih, 2006, p.114).

What determines whether of not a woman pursues computer science or IT? To quote from our study:

• Adya and Kaiser (2005) concluded, “parents, particularly fathers, are the key influencers of girls’ choice of IT careers” (p. 230).
• Turner et al. (2002) surveyed members of Systers, a listserv for women in IT. For the 275 women who responded, fathers were cited as encouraging by 42% and high school teachers by 37%. For women who earned an undergraduate degree in IT or computer science, by far the most important influences on their career choices were family and teachers, the most frequently mentioned influence being fathers.

The Systers survey also found that only about one third of women in their IT survey had majored in computer science or IT as undergraduates. Richard Rashid, a senior vice president at Microsoft in 2005, suggested to educators, “You need to talk about the romance of the field. It’s not all about people sitting in cubicles eating pizza and typing away endless hours on a keyboard” (Foster, 2005, p. A32). We agree. We found about 90% of the women in our study perceived computer and IT careers as creative activities.

Women are underrepresented in CS/IT. But there are factors we can address individually and institutionally – assumptions about women in IT, the role of teachers, the role of fathers, the way we market computer science and IT. 

For references for the above cited studies, see Ballard, J., Scales, K., & Edwards, M. A.  (2006). Perceptions of information technology careers among women in career development transition. Information Technology, Learning, and Performance Journal, 24 (2), 1-9.  

Image from my screenshot of competition at FIRST World Championship.

© John Ballard, PhD,  2024. All rights reserved. Modified from earlier blog, 4/18/2019.
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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. 

How do you define success? How would you characterize success at work, at home, in life? All things being equal, to a large degree we determine our own success however we may define it. There are psychological factors that are related to being successful and these vary from person to person.
 
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. Grit is not necessarily predictive of organizational success unless the 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. 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. 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: My graduation from the U.S. Air Force Academy many years ago. Believe me, that achievement took grit, self-control, and conscientiousness.
 
Modified from my blogs, 10/31/2017 & 3/31/2023. © John Ballard, PhD,  2023. 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.

Steve Jobs delivered the commencement address at Stanford in 2005. Here I summarize three of his insights with a few thoughts of my own.

 "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards." Jobs described how a calligraphy class he just happened to take at Reed College, after he had dropped out, influenced the design of the Mac. You never know how your experiences and knowledge you learn today are going to shape events in your future.

In my opinion this underscores the value of life long learning and an education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences. It also underscores the importance of relationships and how one comes at the world. You never know whom you will meet again and under what circumstances. "It's a small world after all." Every experience holds within it the possibility for growth. 

"The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it." I think the key is the last sentence. True, pursue what you love, pursue what you enjoy, and let the rest follow. And it probably will -- but not always. Jobs talks about being fired from Apple but the real lesson is how he gave it meaning, embraced the "lightness of being a beginner." Jobs knew what it is like to be downsized but he continued to pursue things he loved and the rest is history. Even in positions that may not be the perfect person-job match we can find tasks, projects, activities that allow us to have moments of satisfaction, even great satisfaction. Celebrate those moments.

"Live each day as if it were your last" -- because one day it will be. Jobs discussed death and the finality of time. Make each day count. As one who has already been within hours of his last breath, I can relate. Jobs said it so well:  

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. . . Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

I would add, hug those you love. You never know when it might be the last one. 
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Image of Steve Jobs by waldryano. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/steve-jobs-technology-illustration-1249665/
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© John Ballard, PhD, 2024. All rights reserved.

Modified from my blog, 8/29/2012. 
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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.