Transcript Document

Announcements
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Synopses
Discussion board
Speaker?
Extra week for turning in book reports
– Five ideas
– Extend, reject, revise our views? How? Why?
– Relate to Org. Behavior topics (how people
think, feel, act in organizations)
You and Your Boss
Becoming the Boss
• Manager’s wield authority?
– Web of relationships
• Power comes from your position?
– Credibility counts
• Control your subordinates?
– Empower not control
• Treat subordinates differently?
– Equity matters; focus on team-level
I’m the Boss
• Don’t depend on formal authority
– People want more than a formal authority based relation: do you
care about me? Do you want to help me grow?
– They disagree with you
– They think other things are more important
– They don’t understand what you want: impossible to give
instructions that are so explicit as to obviate need for judgment
– Circumstances may change, robbing your directive of force.
– Many hate being bossed around.
– No compliance because of confusion
– Cannot generate genuine commitment or change or elicit others’
knowledge
– Being the sole boss places an impossible burden: now you have
to be right all the time.
Power Play
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The exercise of power:
– Mete out resources
– Shape behaviors through reward and punishment
– Advance on multiple fronts
– Surprise! Make the first move
– Co-opt antagonists
– Remove rivals
– Don’t draw unnecessary fire
– Use personal touch
– Persist
– Make important relationships work
– Make the vision compelling
Managing Your Boss: Office
Politics
• The just-world hypothesis (Melvin Lerner)
– It will catch up with them?
• Misleading books that overemphasize
authenticity and forthrightness
• It just ain’t me…
Sources of Power
• Legitimate – This comes from the belief that a
person has the right to make demands, and
expect compliance and obedience from others.
• Reward – This results from one person's ability to
compensate another for compliance.
• Expert – This is based on a person's superior skill
and knowledge.
• Referent – This is the result of a person's
perceived attractiveness, worthiness, and right to
respect from others.
• Coercive – This comes from the belief that a
person can punish others for noncompliance.
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Tasks
1. Describe the context, the players, their
motives.
2. What is going on here? Is there a
problem? What’s the nature of the
problem?
3. What is your plan of action?
 Long-term
 Short-term (i.e., in the meeting that is coming
up)
Jamie Turner
I’m the Boss
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How to use authority:
– As a two-way relationship: give and take
– Apply ethical judgment
– Use authority sparingly
– Involve others; act transparently; delegate authority
• When to use authority:
– When swiftness of decision is needed/emergencies
– When group members cannot reach agreement
– To maintain group standards and norms
– To set useful boundaries (use goals; emphasize group standards;
budgets; policies)
– To focus peoples’ attention on what’s really important
Jamie Turner: Key
Lessons
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How a lack of shared assumptions and expectations, if
not explicitly developed, can hinder effective
communication. The importance of seeing the forces
operating on the boss from the boss’s perspective.
How differences in personal managerial styles (e.g.,
Turner’s self-absorption; Cardullo’s conflict
avoidance/mercurial nature) can cause a subordinateboss relationship to degenerate.
To appreciate the importance of managing upwards
and laterally.
How to communicate: Don’t present litany of your
complaints; learn to appreciate the other’s perspective
Unexplored Assumptions
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Like two ships passing in the dark…
Turner doesn’t seem to appreciate the business and personal challenges
facing his boss… who may be in as much trouble as Turner if the
acquisition founders.
– Cardullo faces pressure from his boss/mentor, the COO Lipsky, and
from CEO Oliver. Hires Turner to relieve pressure and assumes
Turner’s marketing skills will save the acquisition.
– Cardullo signals importance of margins– the importance of accurate
cost estimates for calculating required margins for government
contracts.
– Turner: (over) confident from his past success seems mostly
concerned with his own autonomy and with boosting MLI’s market
share through higher volume and selective cost reductions. Fails to
appreciate the importance of the new context which might have led
to a clarification of how the marketing requirements at Triple S and
MLI might differ.
Unexamined Personal
Styles?
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Turner: obsessed with his own career; overly confident
in his managerial skills
– Had difficulty with Lambowland colleagues
– Worsening relations with Julie Chin (Controller) and
Richard Garcia (exec. Asst.)
– Hires Bill Cook away from Chin
– Hires Swenson who irritates Chin by questioning
the company’s cash flow position
Cardullo: Conflict avoidant/neurotic
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Ineffective Action Choices
• Many opportunities when things might
have gone differently… how might the two
have handled these situations differently?
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Jamie Turner: Key
Lessons
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How a lack of shared assumptions and expectations, if
not explicitly developed, can hinder effective
communication. The importance of seeing the forces
operating on the boss from the boss’s perspective.
How differences in personal managerial styles (e.g.,
Turner’s self-absorption; Cardullo’s conflict
avoidance/mercurial nature) can cause a subordinateboss relationship to degenerate.
To appreciate the importance of managing upwards
and laterally.
How to communicate: Don’t present litany of your
complaints; learn to appreciate the other’s perspective
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Message-Sending Habits
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When sending messages to other people, I:
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Use technical language or lingo for efficiency.
Make sure my messages are congruent with my actions.
Don’t waste time providing background detail.
Use personal pronouns such as “I” and “my” when expressing feelings.
Own up to my motives at the very beginning of a conversation.
Avoid being warm and friendly so people take me seriously.
Don’t use multiple channels of information to avoid confusion.
Ask receivers to restate their understanding of my message.
Am honest despite how complicated or personal a situation is.
Avoid looking dumb by pretending to know what I am talking about even when I don’t.
Skills for Increasing Message
Clarity
1. Use multiple channels of communication
2. Be complete– e.g., provide sufficient
background info.
3. Take responsibility– owe up to your
claims (use “I”)
4. Simplify language– avoid jargon.
My Listening Habits
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Select for each question below the answer the best reflects your listening habits:
I maintain eye contact with the speaker.
I gauge whether the speaker’s ideas are worthwhile by their appearance and delivery.
I try to understand the message from the speaker’s perspective.
I listen for specific facts rather than for the big picture.
I listen for factual content and the emotion behind the literal words.
I ask questions for clarification and understanding.
I withhold judgment for what speakers are saying until they are finished.
I make a conscious effort to evaluate the logic and consistency of what is being said.
While listening, I am often thinking about what I will be saying next.
I try to have the last word.
Feedback Style
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When giving feedback to another person, I…
Focus my comments on specific, job-related behaviors
Keep my comments descriptive rather than evaluative
Prefer to save up my comments so they can be presented and
discussed in detail during the person’s annual performance review.
• Ensure that my feedback is clearly understood.
• Supplement criticism with suggestions for what the person can do to
improve.
• Tailor the type of feedback to reflect the person’s past performance
and future potential.
Skills for Obtaining Feedback
• Take initiative and ask for feedback.
• Don’t be defensive.
• Check your understanding by offering a
summary of what you heard the other say.
• Ask questions to clarify… but don’t try to
mount a defense…
Power Play
• Power: the ability to get things done [your
way]..
• Why people shy away from power:
– The just world belief
– The (bullshit) leadership literature on
authentic leaders, etc.
– Self-handicapping
• Make your peace with power
– You need: substantive business knowledge
so you know what to do and political skills to
Cialdini’s book “Influence”
Given the propensity towards fixed action responses…
Weapons of Influence:
1.Reciprocity– e.g., the “rejection then retreat” technique.
2.Commitment (active, public, effortful) and consistency– e.g., Festinger and
Carlsmith.
3.Social proof: action correct if others are doing it.
4.Liking (attractiveness, homophily, flattery)
5.Authority
6.Scarcity
For summary of book, see: http://www.scribd.com/doc/55605801/Robert-Cialdini-s-Influence-Science-and-Practice-Chapter-Summaries
Fixed Action Patterns