National Boss Day

This past Tuesday October 16th, was National Boss Day.  The "holiday" was created in 1958 by Patricia Bays Haroski , then an employee at State Farm Insurance.  It is a day for employees to commend their bosses on their great leadership.  However, as recent studies show, although most employees have a lot to say to their superiors, none of those things involve the word thanks.

There is no such thing as a perfect employee and thus no such thing as a perfect boss.  Yet, let’s face it; as far as leadership goes many bosses leave much to be desired.  An article written by Ruth Mantell for MarketWatch.com outlines five types of bad bosses.  From the boss that has no personal life, to the one with poor communication skills, to the micro manager and the one who avoids risks at all costs to finally, the one who is an emotional wreck-  chances are we have all had one or more of these bosses before.

So what exactly is the problem?  Why are so many of our bosses lacking?  Experts offer several reasons.  Mantell, for example, sites specific organizational issues such as budget cuts that have resulted in decreased management training.  In addition, she discusses the shift to “flat” organizations in which the lines that separate managers and subordinates have become less clear.

Others focus on the traits of the individuals themselves.  An article written by Eric Jaffe for Psychology Today (The Reasons Your Boss Sucks), sites research indicating that some bosses become bullies due to a mix of power and self-perceived feelings of incompetence.  Many  people with organizational power, i.e bosses, supervisors, managers etc., put pressure on themselves to be competent yet lack self confidence and thus become defensive when their own performance is not up to par.

In his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey takes a different approach by distinguishing between leadership and management.  As per Covey, one cannot be a good manager without being a good leader.   Whereas management is about accomplishing things, leadership poses the question:  “What are the things I want to accomplish?”.   In other words, a manager focuses on control, efficiency and rules but a leader focuses on direction and purpose.   Management is about climbing the ladder of success- leadership makes sure that that ladder is leaned in the right place.  Thus for a boss to be successful, leadership must come first, management second.

Mantell sites a poll which states that more than six out of 10 employees would be happier at work if they had a better boss.  That is more employees than those who would be happier with a pay raise (four out of 10).  Yet as per Covey, it takes a lot of skill to be a boss- and even more so to be a good boss.   So for all the good bosses out there Happy belated boss day!  For the bad ones, well, there's always room for improvement.

Marissa Mayer's Career Advice

As a professional, Yahoo CEO and President Marissa Mayer, is someone to definitely look up to.  Among other accomplishments, she has been listed in Fortune Magazine's annual 50 Most Powerful Women in Business for five consecutive years.  In addition, She holds the title of the youngest CEO, Male or Female, to ever be named in the Fortune 500.

Bellow is a very brief but powerful article on Mayer's best career advice:

View article

The Quest for Meaning

I recently got the opportunity to visit the Anne Frank Museum in the Netherlands.  While navigating through the secret annex where the Franks hid for two years during the holocaust, I felt a plethora of emotions:  sadness for the victims and their fate, horror at how far hate can go and surprisingly pride.  I was proud of the girl, because at the end of it all she accomplished what she set out for from the beginning of her persecution- for her story to be heard.

Later, while reflecting, I thought of Viktor Frankl.  Frankl was a neurologist, psychiatrist and a Holocaust survivor.  He is credited with founding Logotherapy, a branch of psychotherapy that focuses on finding meaning in life as the main driving force of humans.  The basic principles of logotherapy are as follows (About Logotherapy):

• Life has meaning under all circumstances, even the most miserable ones
• Our main motivation for living is finding meaning in life
• We have the freedom to find meaning in what we do and experience because of our freedom to choose how we respond to circumstances

Frankl tested these principles during his time in the holocaust.  In fact, he credited this exact theory with helping him survive at Auschwitz Concentration camp (more on this can be read in Frankl’s book “Man’s search for Meaning”).

At the Anne Frank museum, Anne Frank’s childhood friend can be heard recalling a conversation she had with Anne before she perished.  Anne had just found out that her mother and sister were dead and since she did not know the fate of her father she felt completely desolate. She confided in her friend that she had no one left.  Anne’s friend recalled that Anne died from Typhus just a month before liberation; she then suggested that if Anne knew that her father was alive, she might not have died.   Therefore, it can be argued that since Anne felt alone, with no reason to live, she regarded her life as no longer having meaning- thus she saw no reason to keep fighting for life.

The search for meaning, as per Frankl, is not necessarily synonymous with the search for a higher/supernatural being.  He lists’ three different ways in which one can discover the meaning of life:

• By experiencing something or encountering someone
• By the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering- everything  can be taken from a man except the freedom to choose his/her attitude in any given set of circumstances
• Disclaimer  It must be noted that although one can find meaning in life through suffering, this should only be the case when the suffering is inevitable, i.e. the other two options are not available.  One should not allow oneself to suffer unnecessarily.
• By creating a work or doing a deed

As a student of Industrial/Organizational psychology, I cannot help but resonate with Frankl’s idea that meaning of life can be found by creating work.  I do not mean work in the conventional sense that is routine for most of us, and I do not believe that this is what Frankl meant either.   I mean work as in the kind that allows you to leave your mark behind.   This work may or may not be your career, but I believe that it is very possible for it to be.

It has been argued time and time again that your career should not be the sole purpose of your life (Article published on Psychology Today about why your career should not be your identity).  However, even so, you can find meaning in it.  Frankl chronicled that everybody has his or her own specific vocation in life and everybody must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment.   This specific vocation can be found anywhere and today, it is more possible than ever to find it through your career.

Whether you are a social worker who is genuinely driven by helping others, a business person whose innovations contribute to the betterment of the community or someone in the fashion industry whose creative eye inspires generations- your work can have meaning.  Furthermore, this meaning is not just limited to the work desk; it can transcend above and beyond to every aspect of your life.

Organizational PC

  

 If you have yet to read Stephen F. Covey’s “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, I suggest you pick up a copy today. Self help books, I realize, may not be for everyone. However, the concepts outlined in this particular book, in my opinion, are definitely worth a read.

The book has sold over 25 million copies worldwide since it was first published in 1989 and has been cited by many acclaimed leaders.  At the book’s core is the idea that there should be more of a focus on character ethic, what you are, rather than on personality ethic, what you portray to be.  According to Covey, character ethic is the real foundation for success.

Early in the book, Covey introduces what he calls Organizational PC.  The premise of Organizational PC is basically that every organization should treat its employees in exactly the same way that they expect their employees to treat the organization’s best customers.
 

Go back and read that again:  Treat your employees as you want them to treat your best customer.
 

What a simple concept, huh?  Yet how often is this concept violated in organizations?
 

In order to explicate Organizational PC, Covey first defines the P.  The P symbolizes Production.  In the case of Organizations, P = good/ethical/desired work.

PC symbolizes Production Capacity, or in the case of organizations, the employees, as they are the ones capable of producing the desired work.

  An example, as used by Covey in the book, is the story of the Goose that laid the golden eggs.  You remember that fable don’t you?  There was once a farmer who owned a goose that magically laid golden eggs.   The farmer was content at first, but then became greedy and instead of waiting for the goose to naturally lay the eggs he killed the goose in an attempt to obtain all the eggs at once.  The plan backfired as the farmer found that there were no golden eggs inside the goose but even more now there was no goose at all.

In this story- the P is the golden eggs; the PC is of course, the goose.

Covey argues that there has to be a balance between the P and the PC.  In other words, the farmer’s focus should have been not just on the eggs but on the goose as well.  Effectiveness is the focus of both the P and the PC.  The only way to optimize the P is to optimize the PC: One cannot get the best of the P (the most golden of eggs) if one does not bring out the best of the PC (a happy live Goose) and vice versa.

Thus for an organization to get maximum productivity from their employee, they should not just focus on the wellbeing of the product but on the wellbeing of the people with the capability to produce - the employees.

Now think about how effective your organization would be if this simple rule was always put into effect…

References:  Covey, S.R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Simon and Schuster