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The Purpose of Power

Thu, 05/19/2011 - 15:43 — colinlim

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By Gary Hamel
May 11, 2011

Power has long been regarded as morally corrosive, and we often suspect the intentions of those who seek it. Indeed, the lust for dominion is so unseemly that few of us would openly admit to a craving for clout.

Hence, it might surprise you to learn that one of the world’s most distinguished management thinkers has recently produced a detailed manual for the power-hungry.

It often seems that the mendacious and egotistical have a particular talent for accumulating (and abusing) power—and at some point, most of us have probably been out-maneuvered by a more adept political infighter. But in Power: Why Some People Have it and Others Don’t, Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, gives nice guys and gals the tools they need to even the odds, by summarizing more than 30 years of research and teaching on how to get ahead.

Recently I talked with Pfeffer about why he’s written a book on power at a time when most management gurus are talking about collaboration, community and “open leadership.” Pfeffer’s argument is disarmingly simple: It takes power to get things done. Without power, you’re impotent—irrespective of your talents or the righteousness of your cause.

Pfeffer started our conversation by reminding me of a disagreeable fact: Power is largely independent of intelligence (emotional or otherwise) and job performance. All of us know individuals who are brilliant but who punch below their weight when it comes to office politics. Conversely, we all know dim bulbs who’ve somehow found their way to the top of the tree. Cunning power players can even slough off failure. Think, for example, of all those executive vice presidents and board members who dithered while the banking system burned and yet managed to hold on to their positions, or even grab better ones in the wake of the collapse. It’s not that IQ and value-added aren’t important; it’s just that they’re no substitute for power.

So what’s Pfeffer’s advice for those eager to take charge?

The Workplace Whodunit: Navigating a Culture of Blame

Thu, 05/19/2011 - 15:05 — colinlim

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By FRANCESCA DONNER
May 18, 2011

In a perfect workplace, credit would be given where credit is due, colleagues wouldn't steal others' ideas, and managers would reward staff for taking measured risks even if the outcome wasn't successful.

In reality, bosses often pass off employees' ideas as their own, employees tend to shun blame, and finger-pointing can become so rife it becomes almost impossible to determine what actually went wrong in the first place. That can erode trust and teamwork, and stifle creativity.

Ben Dattner, an organizational psychologist and founder of Dattner Consulting, believes that credit and blame lie at the psychological core of the workplace. He sees credit as a proxy for evolution, learning and adaptation and blame as a proxy for reactive, reflexive and backward-looking behavior.

Author of The Blame Game: How Hidden Rules of Credit and Blame Determine Our Success or Failure, Mr. Dattner talked to The Wall Street Journal about the importance of risk-taking, why women are more likely to be scapegoats and how managers can strategically bestow credit to everyone's advantage.

When a Job Is So Bad It Hurts

Mon, 04/11/2011 - 11:09 — colinlim

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By Sue Shellenbarger
March 29, 2011

It’s often believed that working is good for our mental health. But what if it isn’t?

Some jobs are so bad that they are actually worse for employees’ psychological well-being than not having a job at all, according to a new study in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Researchers from the Australian National University analyzed annual data over several years from 7,155 adults, evaluating links between the nature of their jobs and their mental health. They found “the mental health of those who were unemployed was comparable or superior to those in jobs of the poorest” quality.

Poor-quality jobs were defined as those with high demands, low pay and a lack of autonomy and security. Participants were asked, for example, whether a job was “more stressful than I ever imagined,” whether it was “complex and difficult,” or whether it caused them to “worry about the future.” The worse the job, the poorer the worker’s mental health, after controlling for other factors, including personality and financial hardship.

To make sure the pattern wasn’t caused by a selection effect – that is, unhappy people tending to land in bad jobs because they were already unhappy – the researchers studied what happened when the unemployed subjects finally landed work. They found those who moved into high-quality jobs showed significant improvements in mental health. But those who took poor-quality jobs showed clinically significant declines in mental well-being, compared to their own previous mind-states and to their jobless counterparts. Mental health measures included how often participants had recently felt nervous, depressed, calm or happy.

No Work-Life Balance? It’s Your Fault.

Mon, 04/11/2011 - 10:27 — colinlim

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By Rachel Emma Silverman
April 7th, 2011

I went to the South By Southwest Interactive conference last month, attending a bunch of thought-provoking discussions about the future of the workplace and evolving company culture.

A big theme that emerged over the course of the week was that employees shouldn’t wait for their managers or their company as a whole to instill a culture of work-life balance. Instead, if you want more time for other pursuits, like family, friends or exercise, you need to take matters into your own hands and set your own life-friendly practices. (Sample-–and revelatory– SXSW panel titles: Company Culture: It’s All Your Fault; Stop Working Nights / Weekends and Get a Life!; and Rehabbing Corporate Culture. )

In essence: You’ve got to carve out your own work-life balance. If you don’t, according to conference panelists, it’s your fault (at least in part.) Forget blaming your boss for bombarding you with “urgent” emails after-hours or your co-workers for pestering you in your cubicle so that you never seem to get anything done during the workday. It’s up to you to set limits and expectations — not responding to every message after you leave the office; leaving work at 5:30 PM if you’re done, even if your colleagues choose to stay until 7 for appearance’s sake; or making sure to set practices (such as noise-canceling headsets) so you’re more productive during peak work times. To paraphrase Smokey the Bear: “Only you can create work-life balance.”

Does Having Kids Dull Career Opportunities?

Mon, 04/11/2011 - 10:07 — colinlim

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By Sue Shellenbarger
April 6th, 2011

We have posted before on the high cost of expanding your family. Beyond ballet lessons and child care, having more babies also changes how mothers and fathers perceive their opportunities for advancement on the job, new research shows.

With each new child, women believe that windows of opportunity on the job are closing for them, says a new study by McKinsey & Co. But men see their career potential expanding as their families grow, says the research, presented this week at a Wall Street Journal conference on women in the economy.

Women and men are equally eager to advance before they start families, with about 82% of both sexes expressing a desire to move up to the next level, says the study last February of 1,000 and 525 women employed by big companies or professional services firms.

But women regard their opportunities as dimmer after they begin having children. While 78% of childless women believe they have the opportunity to advance to the next level, that percentage drops to 74% among women with one child, and to 70% among women with two or more children.

Defending Singapore With DSO

Thu, 02/10/2011 - 09:40 — mohamad.farhan.shah

Lim Kai Qi may be relatively new at DSO, but she is ready to play her part in stepping up Singapore’s defence with the latest warfare technological capabilities.

Contributed

Defence is more than just about weapons and assault vehicles. Keeping Singapore safe also involves a lot of man-hours put in for research and development (R&D) by the DSO National Laboratories (DSO) to keep the island state at the forefront of defence technology.

As Singapore’s national defence R&D organisation, DSO attracts and grooms top calibre undergraduates to be developed into full fledge defence scientists and engineers. Its Sponsorship for Aspiring Researchers (SOAR) programme is one such avenue.

So Now You're the Boss

Mon, 01/24/2011 - 18:01 — colinlim

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by Dennis Nishi
July 10, 2010

You finally got that promotion and now you're the new boss. Things might not feel much different in the beginning, but managing former peers requires a major adjustment on both ends. How you handle the change at the outset can affect the long-term harmony and productivity of the group.

Embrace change
Accept that your relationships with co-workers will inevitably change, say experts. This can be hard if you were friends with someone you now supervise. You don't have to give up the friendship, but you do need to have a frank discussion outlining the new parameters of your relationship in the office. "This includes what you can and can't do," says Stephen Xavier, president and CEO of Cornerstone Executive Development in Chapel Hill, N.C. "Obviously, you can't participate in workplace gossip or any negative talk about co-workers." You also can't be as chummy as you were before and you might, say, have to give up your regular lunch dates with your former peer.

Get educated
If the company doesn't provide management training, take a class, get a coach, read books and observe how other bosses handle subordinates. You want to strike a good balance of authority, says Bonnie Hagemann, CEO of Executive Development Associates in Oklahoma City, Okla. There's a tendency for new bosses to manage too harshly or be too lenient.

Bosses' Small Gestures Send Big Signals

Mon, 01/24/2011 - 11:42 — colinlim

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by Joann S. Lublin
December 2, 2010

Welcome to the executive suite. But beware: Your smallest acts can cause big consequences.

Consider Linda Parker Hudson, promoted last fall to run the U.S. arm of BAE Systems PLC, a global defense giant.

She told her top lieutenants that she expected "rapid responses" to email around the clock. To her surprise, several started sleeping beside their beeping BlackBerry so they could answer her 3 a.m. messages right away.

Ms. Hudson says she repeatedly reassured these colleagues that they could sleep at night and tried to lessen her nocturnal BlackBerry use. But "it was probably a few months before we all got used to each other,'' she concedes.

Ms. Hudson experienced "executive amplification," a widespread phenomenon that can significantly affect your career. When you land a senior post, staffers constantly will scrutinize -- and possibly misconstrue – your deeds, dress and words.

Yet power makes you "less aware that your behavior matters,'' cautions Adam Galinsky, a professor of organizational behavior at Northwestern University's business school. "That can be a career killer by demoralizing your troops.'' Even lack of eye contact with them as you walk down the hall conveys your disapproval, risking alienation.

Amplification also can work to your advantage because effective, small moves often improve employee motivation. You must recognize that "leadership is a role, and you are always on,'' says Gary Bradt, an executive coach in Summerfield, N.C. "Make sure you send the messages that you want to send.''

Employers Tread a Minefield

Mon, 01/24/2011 - 11:25 — colinlim

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by Jeanette Borzo
January 21, 2011

Firings for Alleged Social-Media Infractions Sometimes Backfire on Companies

Facebook gaffes that can cause trouble in the workplace aren't unique to drunken college students anymore. As more companies and their workers tap into the world of blogs, Twitter and Facebook, employers are tripping over legal potholes in social media.

Next week a National Labor Relations Board judge will consider whether a medical-transportation company illegally fired a worker after she criticized her boss on Facebook, in the federal agency's first complaint linked to social media.

In another case, workers sued a restaurant company when they were dismissed after managers accessed a private Myspace page the employees set up to chat about work.

Job seekers and employees have long been warned that risqué revelations on Facebook can jeopardize career prospects. But now companies are facing their own challenges for alleged blunders in dealing with social media.