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. 
​_____________________________
Image of Steve Jobs by waldryano. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/steve-jobs-technology-illustration-1249665/
​
© John Ballard, PhD, 2024. All rights reserved.

Modified from my blog, 8/29/2012. 
 _________________________
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.

​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.

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, 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 2023 the book that affected me most was The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, a simply-written book that reflected a positive attitude toward trimming one’s possessions. It caused me to think about my collections and where they might be when I have moved on from this physical body. Who would want my collection of turtle figurines, my collection of art by Bernard Gantner, my library, my music? The book even spurred me to have ChatGPT give me some planning options.   

Another book I valued this year was by Edward Hoffman, Visions of Innocence: Spiritual and Inspirational Experiences of Childhood. Hoffman collected stories, anecdotes from adults who had vivid memories of unique childhood experiences, many of which could be categorized as psychic or mystical phenomena, e.g., near-death experiences, out-of-the-body experiences, reincarnation, apparitions, feelings of oneness, cosmic awareness, and so forth. It reminded me of an early formative book for me, Hidden Channels of the Mind by Lousia E. Rhine. 
 
I should also mention another book by Hoffman, The Wisdom of Carl Jung, newly reprinted. Steven Joseph summed it up very well: “A brilliantly arranged selection of brief, accessible citations from the formal writings and personal letters of C. G. Jung. The short excerpts…convey a direct ‘feel’ of Jung’s style and experiential way of engaging the realities of the psyche…far and away the best available introduction to Jung’s life-enhancing wisdom.” It reminded me of one of my favorite books, The Thoughts of Thoreau by Edwin Teale. Both are the type of books you can open to any page for a short meaningful read. 
 
Finally I should mention a book that has often been in my hands throughout the year, Eclipse Bulletin: Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 April 08 by Fred Espenak and Jay Anderson. This will be my third total solar eclipse and will cross the United States from Texas to Maine. On April 8 the shadow of the moon will fall on my home. No climbing Mauna Loa. No travels to western Nebraska. If you can, on April 8, be in the shadow of the moon, look up, and be amazed. 

As we begin 2024, here are a few of the books I am reading or that are on my reading list:

• The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder by Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao
• C. J. Jung Speaking: Interviews and Encounters edited by William McGuire and R. F. C. Hull
• Masala Memsahib: Recipes and Stories from My Culinary Adventures in India by Karen Anand
• Watership Down: The Graphic Novel by Richard Adams, adapted and illustrated by James Sturm and Joe Sutphin
• The Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien: The Places that Inspired Middle-Earth by John Garth
• Narrow Road to the Interior and Other Writings by Matsuo Bashō translated by Sam Hamill
• Death as an Altered State of Consciousness by Imants Barušs
• The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron
• The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism by Daniel Matt
• Thoughts on War by Phillip Meilinger
• The Drive for Self: Alfred Adler and the Founding of Individual Psychology by Edward Hoffman

“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?
 _______________________

 Image, my photo. 
​
© John Ballard, PhD, 2024. 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. ​​

Among the interviews for the PBS Special, An Immigrant's Gift, was an interview with Steve Jobs. The interview occurred on December 19, 1991, in Redwood City, California. During the interview Jobs addressed the question, "why is it done this way?" often answered with "that's the way we do it here" or "that's the way it has always been done." Here is that part of the interview, now part of the archives at Nova Southeastern University. A video of the complete interview can be found here:
​________________________________________________________________________
STEVE JOBS:    In most companies, if you're new and you ask, you know, why is it done this way? The answer is: because that's the way we do it here. Or because that's the way it's always been done. 

And, in my opinion, the largest contribution of much of this quality thinking is to approach these ways of doing things, these processes, scientifically, where there is a theory behind why we do them. There is a description of what we do. And most importantly, there is an opportunity to always question what we do. And this is a radically different approach to business processes than the traditional one: because it's always done this way. And that single shift is everything, in my opinion. 

Because, in that shift is a tremendous optimistic point of view about the people that work in a company. It says, these people are very smart. They're not pawns. They're very smart. And, if given the opportunity to change and improve, they will. They will improve the processes, if there is a mechanism for it. And that optimistic humanism I find very appealing.
__________________________________________________________________________
My take-aways:

1. “Because that’s the way we do it here” or “because that's the way it's always been done” are not answers but starting points for discussion, clarifications, and improvements. It is possible that the way things have and are being done has proven to be best – if so, why? Juran's counterpart, W. Edwards Deming would argue the possibility for improvement is always there, even if it be ever so small. Questioning policies, procedures, ways of doing business are at the heart of continuous improvement.

2. Jobs echoes the last two assumptions of Douglas McGregor’s Theory Y from The Human Side of Enterprise (1960, p. 48):

“The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity, and creativity in the solution of organizational problems is widely, not narrowly, distributed in the population.”

“Under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potentialities of the average human being are only partially utilized.”

I agree with Jobs and McGregor. Most people could contribute much more to organizations if given a chance. I think this takes (1) a culture supportive of employee contributions and (2) leadership that values employees as assets, not costs.  
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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, 2023. All rights reserved.

Modified from my blog, 10/25/2012. 
 _________________________
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? Polls would suggest that on election day in November 2024 in the U.S., most likely one candidate for President will be 81 and the other 78. Age and leadership is not frequently discussed except occasionally around U.S. presidential elections. 

Are there differences in how we view older leaders versus younger leaders? To consider age in personnel actions is usually discriminatory. But how do we think about leaders and age?

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

• 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). 

Exploration requires searching the dynamics of the environment whereas exploitation is about stability and finding best practices.

In three 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 throughout 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 leaders 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.

AI-generated image by KaterinaVeneto. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ai-generated-man-adult-gentleman-8320131/
​
© John Ballard, PhD, 2023. All rights reserved.

Modified from my blog, 10/21/2014. 
 _________________________
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.

I usually carried a mask before the COVID pandemic. I have a sensitivity to various chemicals, such as artificial fragrances. Surveys suggest 12-20% of the population have multiple chemical sensitivities. How do fragrances affect me? 

I walked into my bank and immediately I had trouble breathing and my head ached. A scent that most would find pleasant filled the air. I put on a mask to help manage my situation and conducted my business as quickly as possible.

I walked into the post office and immediately my eyes burned and I had trouble breathing. A scent that most would find pleasant filled the air. I put on a mask to help manage my situation and conducted my business as quickly as possible.
 
I could go on and on with other examples. The post office, the bank, and others all used “air fresheners.” The managers were unaware of the potential health issues for some of their employees and customers. 
 
Dr. Anne Steinemann of the University of Melbourne has studied and warned about the “unintended effects and risks for the indoor environment and human health” from air fresheners. She equates the problem of air fresheners to second-hand smoke. Managers and human resource professionals should become familiar with her work.
 
In a 2017 article in the journal Building and Environment, she posed and answered ten questions about air fresheners. Much of the article details the technical results of chemical analyses. I will share the questions and brief answers here. I recommend the full article for more information and details.
 
1. “What are air fresheners?” 

• “Consumer products that emit a fragrance to provide an aroma to a space, to mask an odor, or both . . . designed to impart an aromatic fragrance or a masking fragrance into the air. . . “
• Includes many forms such as plug-ins, solids, wick diffusers, and even scented candles.

2. “Where are air fresheners used?”

• “Throughout society, by individuals, industries, and institutions.”
• Global market “exceeds US $10 billion."

3. “What do air fresheners emit?”

• “Over 100 different chemicals, including volatile organic compounds.”
• Fragrance mixture more important than delivery method.

4. “How do air fresheners affect the indoor environment?”

• “Contribute to indoor hazardous air pollutants, both through direct emissions and secondary reaction products.”
• Emit high concentrations of odorless chemicals, such as formaldehyde.

5. “How do air fresheners affect human health?”

• “Air freshener exposure, even at low levels, have been associated with a range of adverse health effects, which include migraine headaches, asthma attacks, breathing difficulties, respiratory difficulties” and so forth.
• 20.4% of U.S. population “report health problems when exposed to air fresheners and deodorizers.”
• Specific chemicals “emitted from air fresheners have been associated with adverse effects to the neurological, cardiovascular, respiratory, reproductive, immune, and endocrine systems, and with cancer.”
• Acetaldehyde is “classified as a carcinogenic hazardous air pollutant in US.”

6. “Do air fresheners disclose their ingredients?”

• The industry is not required to “and typically do not.”
• No law “requires disclosure of all ingredients in air fresheners.”
• “Striking differences exist between chemicals listed and chemicals emitted.“
• In one analysis, an air freshener emitted four compounds, not listed, for which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states “no safe threshold of exposure.”

7. “Do emissions from ‘green’ air fresheners differ from regular air fresheners?” 

• No regulatory definition of what is a green air freshener.
• In tests, found no significant differences.

8. “What about involuntary exposure to air fresheners within indoor environments?”

• “Individuals may experience adverse effects without their awareness or agreement.”
• People with medically documented adverse chemical sensitivities may request accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Surveys indicate majority of populations prefer scent-free environments in public places, workplaces, hotels, airplanes, and such.

9. “What are possible solutions or alternatives?”

• Fragrance-free policies in the “workplaces, schools, hospitals, and other indoor environments.”
• Once air fresheners are removed, compounds absorbed into room furnishings may be reemitted.
• Question: “Whether perceived benefits are outweighed by the potential costs to personal and public health, and profits.”
• “The use of an air freshener can pose potential liability, if it triggers adverse or potentially disabling health effects in individuals.”

10. “What are research directions needed for science, health, and policy?”

• Here Steinemann lists 10 questions for researchers, such as “What is the public awareness of air freshener emissions?”

 
My take-aways:
 
Steinemann’s research is critically important. There is little awareness of the health implications of air fresheners and fragrances. My guess is fragrance-free workplaces probably have higher productivity, but that is just a hypothesis. Examples of fragrance-free policies can be found online, such as this one suggested by the American Lung Association.
 
Steinemann, A. (2017). Ten questions concerning air fresheners and indoor built environments. Building and Environment, 1(1): 279-284.
 
Image, "Close-up of a yellow rose and other flowers," by Petr Kratochvil. Obtained from http://www.freestockphotos.biz/stockphoto/6122
Public domain. https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
​
© John Ballard, PhD, 2023. All rights reserved.

Modified from my blog, 2/26/2018. 
 _________________________
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.

Burnout is chronic stress on steroids. It can affect our work, our relationships, our health, even our brain structures. So what does it mean to be burnt out? Complete emotional exhaustion and an attitude of cynicism. Burnt-out employees feel “I don’t have anything else to give.” They develop negative attitudes toward themselves and those with whom they work. Burnout is especially prevalent in work settings where involvement with others is intense. Healthcare settings are frequently used as examples (e.g., physicians, nurses) but burnout can occur anywhere.
 
In the February 2016 issue of the Association for Psychological Science’s Observer, Alexandra Michel discussed burnout research and the effect of burnout on the brain. Here are highlights from Michel’s article:

• Burnout characteristics: “extreme fatigue, loss of passion, and intensifying cynicism and negativity” (p. 28)
• 2013 survey of human resource managers in the United Kingdom – 30% reported burnout widespread in their organizations
• All demanding jobs with long hours do not lead to burnout
• Burnt-out employees may have “crisis in feelings of professional competence”
• “Ultimately, burnout results when the balance of deadlines, demands, working hours, and other stressors outstrips rewards, recognition, and relaxation” (p. 28)
• Major contributors: work overload, lack of autonomy (too much control over work by others), few healthy relationships in the workplace, perceived unfairness (lack of trust, openness), incompatibility between individual values and company values.
• Burnout accelerates the normal thinning of the frontal cortex (cognitive functioning).
• Burnout negatively impacts “creativity, problem solving, and working memory” (p.29)

 
My take-aways:

1.  Burnout is an issue for leaders. They should be aware of their own potential for burnout, but more important, they should understand their role in mitigating burnout among those they lead. There are clearly individual differences toward burnout but it is also clear that organizational culture and climate are major players. The leader sets the tone. Be open. Be trusting. Set healthy norms about work hours. Insure those leaders who work for you do the same.
 
2.  Know your people well enough to recognize possible burnout. How does your organization help those suffering from burnout? Are those who make use of HR policies concerning burnout viewed negatively?
 
3. It is possible to be burnt-out and not know that you are. Others will often recognize the change in your attitudes, the negativity, before you do. Be open to feedback. Recognize we are all human and have limits. We are not supermen and superwomen.
 
4. Manage your stress before it becomes chronic and debilitating. Find ways to relax. Exercise, exercise, exercise. I agree with Abraham Maslow that we all have much potential. Sometimes we just have to work harder to take care of ourselves.
 
Michel, A. (February 2016). Burnout and the brain. Observer, 29 (2), 27-31.
 
Gaither, C. (October 14, 2014). “6 Job Mismatches that Cause Burnout.” Retrieved from http://www.clarkgaither.com/6-job-mismatches-that-cause-burnout/

Image by Geralt. https://pixabay.com/illustrations/stress-man-hand-flames-burn-fire-864141/

Modified from my blog, 2/20/2016. © 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.

Should employees be treated equally? In my consulting experience the manager who treated everyone equally was usually a poor leader. Equal opportunity and equal treatment are not the same. The key is to treat people equitably, to treat people fairly. As one manager told me, “Why should I treat people equally. They don’t perform equally.” The employee who is more productive probably deserves more rewards. Good managers reward performance.

Peggy Drexler discussed this in a 2013 Wall Street Journal article, “The Upside of Favoritism.” Drexler gives examples of two types of “favoritism”. One type is simply treating people equitably based on their performance. As one manager stated, “I rewarded good work on its own . . .”  You do better work than your peers, you reap greater rewards, or should. This is not favoritism. Just good management. The caveat is the manager needs to be sure everyone who wants opportunities to excel have them, that is, equal opportunities.

But Drexler’s other type is clearly favoritism and not good. She described a manager who did not use work-related criteria for rewarding subordinates. Rather the manager rewarded based on friendship, common interests, etc. Drexler noted that  this type of favoritism can “be damaging to morale and productivity."

In some cases favoritism may be illegal. Lisa Guerin, J.D., in an online article states, “If favoritism is rooted in discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, however, it crosses the line from poor management to illegal behavior”(para 2).

In 2012 Forbes article Jacquelyn Smith cited several consultants who indicated favoritism was common in the workplace. However they differentiated the “teacher’s pet” syndrome from “performance recognition." But one source suggested not treating people equally could sow seeds of unrest and demotivate. So how to resolve? 

My take-away:
 
I think the key is transparency. How can one be a transparent leader?  According to Collen Payne-Nabors:

• Share information
• Convey your principles and belief
• Be trustworthy and reliable
• Listen to your inner voice
• Admit when you are wrong and learn from it

 
For a discussion of these suggestions, see an earlier blog.

Favoritism? Be transparent, treat people fairly, provide equal opportunities
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​Image by geralt. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/woman-stairs-career-business-woman-6583628/
 
Modified from my blog, 6/10/2013. © 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.

What behaviors are typical of ineffective managers? In a classic Harvard Business Review article in 1977, Wickham Skinner and W. Earl Sasser discussed behaviors characteristic of less effective managers. Almost 50 years later their observations are still valid. Here are a few of the behaviors of an ineffective manager that they identified: 

• accepts conventional company wisdom without question; for example, “we always promote from within”  
• acts too slowly when changes are needed now
• tolerates subordinates who are ineffective, hinting at improvements needed instead of taking decisive action
• doesn’t challenge the way things are done, for example, this is “the way we have always done it”
• doesn’t handle priorities
• doesn’t takes calculated risks, lack of  “boldness, nerve, and self-confidence”
• doesn’t ask for help or advice when needed
• doesn’t recognize own weaknesses 

A pretty good instrument to measure the effectiveness of managers could be made from this list. Let me address one area: handling priorities. 

We live in workplaces where increasingly we have to do more with less. Technologies sometimes increase workload where one might think workload should decrease. Organizations downsize but the work remains. Is it any wonder that in this environment our days are filled with the busywork of staying afloat?

As a young manager I found my days fully occupied with solving problems, making decisions, communicating, and so forth. But one evening I was reading Peter Drucker’s Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices and I realized I was not doing my job. Nobody noticed and probably no one would ever notice – but I was not thinking about where I wanted to lead my part of the organization. The next day when I came to work, I asked my secretary to hold all calls. I spent the day in my office letting the busywork pileup while I drank coffee, Dr. Peppers, and thought about what we were really about. I came up with direction, a vision of where I wanted us to go, and how we might get there. At our next meeting I bounced the ideas off my teams and they agreed. Over the next year we focused more on effective, meaningful training. With better skill sets came more success at our primary mission. Together we made an impact. 

I had not been handling my real priorities, leading and visioning. It was hard to find time at first and only got harder as I climbed the ladder. When it was impossible to take a day during my work week, I made it a Saturday. After one Saturday thinking about the organization and after having conversation with my teams, I presented our ideas to my boss.  He liked them but was amazed, “How on earth did you find time to do this?” 
 
If you understand your priorities, you make time -- at work and in life. 
 _____________________
Skinner, W., & Sasser, W. E. (1977). Managers with impact: verstile and inconsistent. Harvard Business Review, 55(6), 140-8.

​Image by Mohamed_hassan. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/vectors/overthink-question-doubtful-7185863/
 
Modified from my blog, 10/29/2012. © 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.