Book Review – Industrial/Organizational Psychology: An Applied Approach (9th ed.) by Michael G. Aamodt

NOTE: I am reviewing this I-O psychology textbook from a reader’s perspective (i.e., the student’s/learner’s point of view) and not from an instructor’s perspective.

In the preface and addressing a student audience, Dr. Aamodt wrote: “The text is written at a level designed to help you [the student] understand the material rather than at a level designed to show off the author’s vocabulary” (Aamodt, 2023, p. xv). Yes, the purpose of a textbook is to get students interested in a subject so it makes sense to use a writing style that is readable.

I examined SIX topics: (1) training and development; (2) adverse impact determination in employee selection; (3) use of cognitive ability tests in personnel selection; (4) job analysis; (5) motivation; and (6) diversity & inclusion.

The first topic is training and development (Ch. 8). I love what professor Aamodt wrote in the chapter on designing and evaluating training: “the first issue to consider is whether training is the proper solution to a problem. That is, if employees already possess the necessary skills and knowledge but aren’t performing well, the problem is probably one of motivation, communication, or work design rather than a lack of training” (2023, p. 305).

The “Putting It All Together” section of Ch. 8 nicely summarizes the important factors that determine the success of a training program. Figure 8.4 on p. 306 (in the hard copy) shows a really helpful flowchart to assess a training program.

The second topic is well-covered in many I-O psychology textbooks: the four-fifths rule (or 80% rule) [in Ch. 3] used to make an adverse impact determination in employee selection. Here is Aamodt’s explanation of the four-fifths rule:

“With the four-fifths rule, the percentage of applicants hired from one group (e.g., women, Hispanic individuals) is compared to the percentage of applicants hired in the most favored group (e.g., men, White individuals). If the percentage of applicants hired in the disadvantaged group is less than 80% of the percentage for the advantaged group, adverse impact is said to have occurred” (Aamodt, 2023, p. 94).

This is an important area for I-O Psychology students to learn, and I appreciated professor Aamodt’s explanation of the four-fifths rule, using both words and a table [Table 3.2, p. 95] to help the reader understand. I especially liked that he reminded us: “It is important to keep in mind that adverse impact refers to percentages rather than raw numbers” (Aamodt, 2023, p. 94).

The third topic is cognitive ability tests (Ch. 5) in personnel selection.

Cognitive ability tests are “designed to measure the level of intelligence or the amount of knowledge possessed by an applicant” (Aamodt, 2023, p. 162). Cognitive ability tests are often used because they are excellent predictors of employee performance, easy to administer, and relatively inexpensive (Aamodt, 2023).

“Though cognitive ability tests are thought by many to be the most valid method of employee selection, especially for complex jobs, they certainly have some drawbacks. Perhaps the most crucial of these is that they result in high levels of adverse impact” (Aamodt, 2023, p. 162).

“Another drawback to cognitive ability tests is the difficulty of setting a passing score. That is, how much cognitive ability do you need to perform well in a particular job?” (Aamodt, 2023, p. 162).

The fourth topic is job analysis (Ch. 2) or “The process of identifying how a job is performed, the conditions under which it is performed, and the personal requirements it takes to perform the job” (Aamodt, 2023, p. 35).

Here, Industrial/Organizational Psychology: An Applied Approach (9th ed.) truly shines. I examined seven other I-O psychology textbooks — Cascio & Aguinis, 2019; Conte & Landy, 2019; Levy, 2017; Muchinsky & Howes, 2019; Riggio, 2018; Spector, 2017; Truxillo, Bauer, & Erdogan, 2021 — and not one of them offered a detailed, step-by-step walk-through of how to conduct a job analysis, except for Aamodt’s I-O psychology textbook (2023). In the section “Conducting a Job Analysis,” (pp. 48-55) Aamodt dedicated 7 pages to carefully walk the reader through a 5-step process of conducting a job analysis. Outstanding!

The fifth topic is motivation (Ch. 9), one of the most widely researched topics in I-O psychology. Aamodt (2023) defines motivation as “the force that drives an employee to perform well” (p. 315).

“Ability and skill determine whether a worker can do the job, but motivation determines whether the worker will do it properly” (Aamodt, 2023, p. 315).

He goes on to explain that, “measuring actual levels of motivation can be difficult. As a result, other than asking employees about their motivation levels, researchers use behaviors such as those listed in Table 9.1 (Work Behaviors That Imply Motivation) [e.g., high productivity, high quality, number of promotions, not missing work, arriving to work early, staying late at work, volunteering for extra duties, attending voluntary training, etc.] that imply high levels of motivation” (Aamodt, 2023, p. 315).

Yes, it’s crucial we communicate with students and readers that motivation is a concept that is abstract and tricky to measure. We must clearly explain (as Dr. Aamodt has done) how complex and elusive motivation is and not just that it’s interesting to study.

I especially appreciated that Aamodt stated how work motivation relates to work performance: “Actually testing the relationship between motivation and performance is also difficult, because there are various types of motivation (internal and external) and various factors that affect motivation. However, psychologists generally agree that increased worker motivation results in increased job performance” (Aamodt, 2023, pp. 316-317). Well done!

The sixth topic is diversity & inclusion. For this topic, I’m looking for coverage of diversity issues broadly as workplace diversity management. For instance, consider these excerpts from Introduction to Industrial/Organizational Psychology (7th ed.) by Dr. Ronald E. Riggio, Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Understanding the Workplace (5th ed.) by Dr. Paul E. Levy, and Psychology and Work: An Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology (2nd ed.) by Drs. Donald Truxillo, Talya Bauer, and Berrin Erdogan.

“Industrial/organizational psychologists will have to assist organizations in dealing with the challenges increasing diversity will bring. Although diversity has benefits, demographic and cultural differences can, if not carefully managed, create great difficulties in the functioning of work teams—increasing destructive conflict, inhibiting team cooperation, and impeding performance” (Riggio, 2018, p. 18).

“The diversity in the U.S. labor force is increasing at an amazing rate, and the outlook for 2016 paints a very different picture than we have been accustomed to seeing. For instance, there has been an unprecedented growth in the Latino workforce, as it fulfilled earlier projections by surpassing the African American workforce in 2006. In addition, by 2022, it is projected that women will make up almost 47% of the workforce; African Americans, 12%; and Latinos, 19%” (Levy, 2017, p. 275).

“These data trends along with the increasing globalization of organizations result in a very dynamic situation in which organizations must change at a very fast pace to keep up with the changing context in which they exist. This changing nature of the workforce necessitates new HR approaches to managing that workforce. Diversity must become a bottom-line issue if companies are going to be able to compete for—and keep—the best and the brightest. As a result, diversity management (including training) has burst onto the scene as a multibillion dollar industry” (Levy, 2017, p. 275).

“. . . the most successful companies in the world are focusing on diversity issues by emphasizing recruitment, selection, retention, and training” (Levy, 2017, p. 276).

“Today’s workforce is becoming increasingly diverse in terms of race, gender, ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation. The question is not whether the twenty-first-century workplace will be diverse — that’s a certainty. Rather, the question is how an organization can effectively manage the diversity of its workforce through its practices around recruitment and selection, training, socialization and mentoring, leadership, and teams” (Truxillo, Bauer, & Erdogan, 2021, p. 25).

Although in the “New to This Edition” section in Industrial/Organizational Psychology: An Applied Approach (both 8th and 9th editions), it stated: “More examples of diversity efforts spread throughout the text,” I did not find this to be the case. This is quite disappointing since, in the United States, in the last several years, there’s been a strong resurgence of interest in and calls for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and a general awareness that there’s increasing diversity in the U.S. workforce.

As Aamodt wrote in the 9th edition:

“Another important factor impacting I/O psychology is the changing demographic makeup of the workforce. Women are increasingly entering the workforce and taking on managerial roles; Hispanics and Latino/as are now the largest underrepresented groups in the United States; Asian Americans are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population; and an increasing number of workers, vendors, and customers have English as their second language. Thus, diversity and inclusion issues will continue to be an important factor in the workplace” (Aamodt, 2023, p. 9).

Yet, despite mentioning the importance of diversity, Dr. Aamodt did not devote any sections to talking about diversity above and beyond what was already in the 8th edition. Indeed, the “Focus on Ethics: Diversity Efforts” section (in Ch. 6) in the 9th edition is almost IDENTICAL (using almost exactly the same wording) as the 8th edition. And the Applied Case Study in Ch. 14 (“Managing Change at Carlson Restaurants”) is VERBATIM (i.e., exactly the SAME WORDS used) as the 8th edition.

Professor Aamodt does discuss diversity as it relates to affirmative action. He spends several pages in Ch. 3 under section “Affirmative Action” (pp. 102-109) talking about affirmative action. However, what I’m looking for regarding diversity (and what other I-O psychology authors, especially Dr. Paul E. Levy, have done really well) is coverage of diversity issues broadly as workplace diversity management.

In terms of workplace diversity management, what’s covered in the 9th edition is inadequate since materials (sometimes EXACTLY the SAME wording) from the 8th edition have been reused. Take for instance in Ch. 4’s “Special Recruit Populations: Increasing Applicant Diversity” section, almost the exact same wording is used throughout, with a few exceptions where “minority” or “minorities” were replaced with “underrepresented” or “underrepresented groups.” BUT, nothing else has been added. Even the research study cited from 2006 (which, in 2022, makes it 16 years ago) remains unchanged. Given the importance of diversity and the role that I-O psychologists and the field of I-O psychology play, it was a huge missed opportunity to not sufficiently cover this very important topic.

In contrast, when I looked in Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Understanding the Workplace (5th ed.) by Paul E. Levy and Introduction to Industrial/Organizational Psychology (7th ed.) by Ronald E. Riggio, I easily found sections and places (after looking at the Index) that mentioned and covered diversity, and professors Levy and Riggio both spent more time and provided more details in their coverage of diversity. In another I-O psychology textbook, Work in the 21st Century: An Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology (6th ed.), professors Jeffrey Conte and the late Frank Landy devoted an entire module to just diversity!

What I Didn’t Like: The Coverage of Complicated & Outdated Formulas

Some areas of the 9th edition were bogged down with explanations of complicated formulas and outdated models (e.g., Ch. 6: Taylor-Russell Tables, Proportion of Correct Decisions, Lawshe Tables, and Brogden-Cronbach-Gleser Utility Formula). As Truxillo, Bauer, and Erdogan (2021) succinctly explained (p. 254): 

“One of the first frameworks for utility analysis was the Taylor-Russell tables (Taylor & Russell, 1939) which were developed back before World War II. Since that time, more sophisticated systems for calculating the dollar value of using a particular selection test have been developed (Boudreau, 1983). These models are generally quite complicated and beyond the scope of this book, although we point the interested reader to more in-depth discussions of utility analysis (e.g., Boudreau, 1983; Cascio & Aguinis, 2019).”

Summary: Overall, I enjoyed Industrial/Organizational Psychology: An Applied Approach (9th ed.) by Michael G. Aamodt. The book is easy to navigate and the writing style is readable, although in some instances it veered off into coverage of outdated models and complicated formulas. The one major disappointment about the book, however, is that it’s lacking in its coverage of workplace diversity management. That disappointment aside, I am still delighted to recommend Industrial/Organizational Psychology: An Applied Approach (9th ed.) by Michael G. Aamodt.

Written By: Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
Organizational & Leadership Development Leader

References

Aamodt, M. G. (2023). Industrial/organizational psychology: An applied approach (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Boudreau, J. W. (1983). Economic considerations in estimating the utility of human resource productivity improvement programs. Personnel Psychology, 36, 551–576.

Cascio, W. F., & Aguinis, H. (2019). Applied psychology in talent management (8th ed.). Sage.

Conte, J. M., & Landy, F. J. (2019). Work in the 21st century: An introduction to industrial and organizational psychology (6th ed.). Wiley.

Levy, P. E. (2017). Industrial/organizational psychology: Understanding the workplace (5th ed.). Worth Publishers.

Muchinsky, P. M., & Howes, S. S. (2019). Psychology applied to work: An introduction to industrial and organizational psychology (12th ed.). Hypergraphic Press.

Riggio, R. E. (2018). Introduction to industrial/organizational psychology (7th ed.). Routledge.

Spector, P. E. (2017). Industrial and organizational psychology: Research and practice (7th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Taylor, H. C., & Russell, J. T. (1939). The relationship of validity coefficients to the practical effectiveness of tests in selection: Discussion and tables. Journal of Applied Psychology, 23, 565–578.

Truxillo, D. M., Bauer, T. N., & Erdogan, B. (2021). Psychology and work: An introduction to industrial and organizational psychology (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Disclosure: I received a paperback/softcover of Industrial/Organizational Psychology: An Applied Approach (9th ed.) as a complimentary gift in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review — Promotions Are So Yesterday by Julie Winkle Giulioni

“The time-honored tradition of defining career development in terms of promotions, moves, or title changes is dead.” -Julie Winkle Giulioni (Promotions Are So Yesterday)

“The stakes associated with perpetuating the old definition of career and career development are too high. The need for skillful, engaged, contributing employees becomes greater by the day. And continuing to confuse career development with attaining specific positions will only limit the growth that both employees and organizations need.” -Julie Winkle Giulioni (Promotions Are So Yesterday)

“When climbing and moving are positioned as the only way to really develop, the message that employees get is “step up or stagnate.” The result is we’ve inadvertently funneled people toward a ladder that can never accommodate them all—never mind that some of them don’t want to climb anyway.” -Julie Winkle Giulioni (Promotions Are So Yesterday)

In Promotions Are So Yesterday, Julie Winkle Giulioni argues that career development is so much more than just getting promoted. She contends that promotions are not and should not be the only option for career advancement. Through her multidimensional career framework, Giulioni shares a different perspective on career development, one that is not dependent or reliant on solely attaining a promotion. The multidimensional career framework features eight dimensions of development—contribution, competence, connection, confidence, challenge, contentment, choice, climb. However, her main focus and argument is that employees are more interested in developing through seven alternative dimensions of development—contribution, competence, connection, confidence, challenge, contentment, choice—beyond promotions and positions (i.e., the climb dimension).

“Beyond, between, and besides the upward climb toward promotions and positions, there are many other ways that employees want to grow.” -Julie Winkle Giulioni (Promotions Are So Yesterday)

“Too frequently, managers take an employee’s request for a promotion at face value. And when it’s not possible to comply (which, let’s face it, is most of the time), they try to gently close the door on the conversation. But in the process, they miss the opportunity to explore what’s motivating the interest and identify other potential ways forward” (Giulioni, 2022, p. 126).

Giulioni (2022) contends that managers can use conversations about promotions as a chance to learn more about their employees, and ask questions that get at the heart of what employees truly want—and find alternative ways to meet their needs. For example, managers can ask questions like these (p. 126):

• • What exactly is it about that role that interests you most?
  • What part of it do you look forward to doing most?
  • Which responsibilities do you believe will be the most interesting?
  • Which responsibilities might be the most challenging?
  • What will you need to be able to do to be highly effective in the role?
  • Where might there be gaps between where you are today and what would be expected of you in that role?

“These questions tease out the nature of the work and skills required from the role itself. They slow people down and inspire reflection, in order to think beneath the surface and beyond their habitual desires to keep moving up. And they offer you, as the manager, opportunities to meet an employee’s deeper needs even in the absence of the promotion they may be seeking” (Giulioni, 2022, p. 126).

In 2020, Giulioni conducted a research study of 750 working professionals to evaluate the importance of, interest in, and access to alternative dimensions of development. “When respondents were made aware of alternative ways to grow beyond advancing through promotions and new positions (the climb), they expressed greater interest in every single other dimension overall” (Giulioni, 2022, p. 6).

Here’s how professionals ranked the dimensions of development:

1. 1. Contribution: making a difference and aligning with your purpose
   2. Competence: building critical capabilities, skills, and expertise
   3. Confidence: trusting and appreciating your talents and abilities
   4. Connection: cultivating relationships and deepening your network
   5. Challenge: stretching beyond what’s known and comfortable
   6. Contentment: experiencing satisfaction, ease, and joy in your work
   7. Choice: enhancing the control and autonomy you can exercise
   8. Climb: advancing through promotions or new positions

“With just one exception, regardless of age, gender, level in the organization, or location (the United States or elsewhere), employees expressed greater interest in all the alternative development dimensions. (Except for employees in their 20s, every other group [Giulioni] studied ranked the climb dead last. The 20-somethings ranked the climb second to last.)” (Giulioni, 2022, p. 6).

“The climb is only a small part of the career development elephant. In fact, there are seven other dimensions that can be developed throughout one’s career. And when employees take off their blinders and become aware of the other viable and valuable ways they can grow, my research suggests that the climb suddenly becomes a lot less interesting.” -Julie Winkle Giulioni (Promotions Are So Yesterday)

For all the talk about career development and defining and redefining career development, I found it disappointing that Giulioni didn’t offer a definition of what exactly she meant by “career development.” However, in another book, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go, Beverly Kaye and Julie Winkle Giulioni did provide a definition: “Career development is nothing more than helping others grow. And nothing less” (2019, p. 12). Giulioni alluded to this definition several times in her Promotions Are So Yesterday book, but unfortunately she never clearly defined it.

What I Like

1. The Multidimensional Career Self-Assessment — According to Giulioni, “Your self-assessment results will reveal a landscape of dimensions in addition to and beyond the traditional focus on moving up or around the corporate ladder (which will be referred to as “climb”). These other seven dimensions are not only available for development but, according to my research, also deeply important and of genuine interest to your employees too.”

“Employees are more interested in developing through contribution, competence, connection, confidence, challenge, contentment, and choice than the climb. The possibilities associated with these alternative dimensions resonate and give them hope. Tapping into that hope is how you will effect change.” -Julie Winkle Giulioni (Promotions Are So Yesterday)

2. Real-world examples of employee needs and how to meet them — For example, in the “Contribution” dimension (Ch. 2), Giulioni shared about Heather (a financial advisor who was ready to focus on her development and position herself for additional challenges down the line) and her manager, Amina, who helped Heather have a greater impact at work by having Heather author a regular newsletter and establish a social media presence to create a more proactive communication cadence with customers. In the “Connection” dimension (Ch. 4), we heard about Marcus (who’s focused on social media on the marketing team but who was feeling isolated and worried about being overlooked due to him working remotely) and how his boss, Diedre (leader of the pharmaceuticals marketing team), helped Marcus to enhance his connections by representing the team at the monthly product marketing council meeting. In the “Challenge” dimension (Ch. 6), we learn about Randy (an analyst in a hospital system) and his desire to challenge himself more in his current role [he’d seen some redundancies and inefficiencies in a particular process and felt that he could write, test, and implement a level 1 alert in five weeks as opposed to the usual six or seven], and how his manager, Eli (the software services manager), worked with him to explore this opportunity for growth.

3. Checklists, discussion questions, tools, and templates to use with employees — These make it easier for managers and their employees to take action.

4. The “Tool” and “Pro Tip” sections — These provide actionable how-tos for supporting others’ growth in new and different ways.

What I Didn’t Like – Using Job Crafting Incorrectly

I wish Giulioni would have investigated the meaning of the word “job crafting” before using it, because what she meant was not job crafting, but rather “job enlargement” and “job enrichment.”

Job crafting is not new. It’s been around for over 20 years (Dutton & Wrzesniewski, 2020; Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001). Job crafting is “actions that employees take to shape, mold, and redefine their jobs” (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001, p. 180). Job crafting is what workers do to redefine and reimagine their job to make it more personally meaningful to them (Berg, Dutton, & Wrzesniewski, 2013).

In her book, however, Giulioni suggested that managers do the “job crafting” for their employees. I want to emphasize that this is NOT the proper use and definition of “job crafting.” Job crafting is what the employee does, NOT what the manager does.

“In most organizations, the one thing that managers have the greatest control over is the jobs that their people do. You [the manager] can take full advantage of this as a way to introduce greater contentment into individual roles as you facilitate meaningful growth and career development. And you [the manager] can do this through job crafting” (Giulioni, 2022, p. 100).

“As a manager, it’s likely well within your purview to help make this happen by customizing the role, tasks, and responsibilities to be more appealing and aligned with what will result in greater contentment—as long as you meet your team or departmental objectives” (Giulioni, 2022, pp. 100-101).

“When you [the manager] job craft, you can slice and dice job descriptions, reconfiguring them in ways that offer employees a better fit, more desirable activities, and greater opportunities for growth and development. It’s a matter of shifting tasks among employees to introduce the variety, interest, or meaning they crave” (Giulioni, 2022, p. 101).

It’s important to note that job crafting is initiated by the employee, from the bottom up, and not by the manager from the top down. “Job crafting is a way to think about job design that puts employees in the driver’s seat in cultivating meaningfulness in their work” (Berg, Dutton, & Wrzesniewski, 2013, p. 82).

Thus, when Giulioni suggests that managers can job craft their employees’ jobs, the correct terms she’s looking for are job enlargement and job enrichment — not job crafting.

Job enlargement is where managers give employees more tasks to perform at the same time. With job enlargement, employees are allowed to make more complex decisions (i.e., knowledge enlargement) and/or they are given more tasks of the same difficulty level to perform (i.e., task enlargement)(Aamodt, 2023).

Job enrichment is where managers give employees more responsibility over the tasks and decisions related to their job. And even when increased decision-making responsibilities are not possible, job enrichment ideas can still be implemented. For example, managers can arrange for employees to take part in various committees or boards, or managers can show their employees that their jobs have meaning and that they are meeting some worthwhile goal through their work (Aamodt, 2023). 

Takeaway:

Overall, Promotions Are So Yesterday by Julie Winkle Giulioni is a short, good, and useful book. There are many practical tools and pro tips with actionable how-tos for supporting others’ growth in new and different ways. There are so many different ways employees can grow (beyond just getting promoted) and Giulioni’s book does a nice job of discussing these seven alternative dimensions of development—contribution, competence, connection, confidence, challenge, contentment, choice—beyond promotions and positions (i.e., the climb dimension).

My biggest concern and issue with the book, however, is Giulioni’s incorrect suggestion that managers do the “job crafting” for their employees. Again, I want to reiterate that this is not the proper use and definition of “job crafting.” Job crafting is what the employee does, not what the manager does. If there’s a second edition of the book, my hope is that Giulioni will use the terms job enlargement and job enrichment instead of incorrectly using job crafting.

Written By: Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
Organizational & Leadership Development Leader

References

Aamodt, M. G. (2023). Industrial/organizational psychology: An applied approach (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Berg, J. M., Dutton, J. E., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2013). Job Crafting and Meaningful Work. In B. J. Dik, Z. S. Byrne & M. F. Steger (Eds.), Purpose and meaning in the workplace (pp. 81-104). American Psychological Association.

Dutton, J. E., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2020, March 12). What Job Crafting Looks Like. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2020/03/what-job-crafting-looks-like

Giulioni, J. W. (2022). Promotions Are So Yesterday: Redefine Career Development. Help Employees Thrive. ATD Press.

Kaye, B., & Giulioni, J. W. (2019). Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go (2nd ed.). Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

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.

Disclosure: I received a copy of Promotions Are So Yesterday: Redefine Career Development as a complimentary gift in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review – LEAD NOW!: A Personal Leadership Coaching Guide for Results-Driven Leaders (2nd ed.)

“Leadership is a future-oriented ability to establish direction, align people, and help others to work together. We believe a leader is one who develops a vision of the future, prepares the strategies for achieving it, and supports the execution of that vision” (Stewart & Stewart, 2021, p. 6).

“Our motivation in developing the LEAD NOW! concept was to produce a model that is practical, useful, easy to teach, easy to understand, and that smacks of common sense. The LEAD NOW! Leadership Development Model gives leaders at all levels a simple and comprehensive framework for the crit- ical areas of leading others” (Stewart & Stewart, 2021, p. 3).

The LEAD NOW! model is “built on the assumption that leaders must achieve aligned and positive results from four perspectives: 1) their people, 2) their business, 3) their marketplace (external), and 4) their organization (internal)” (Stewart & Stewart, 2021, p. 4).

It’s worth mentioning that I do NOT recommend the first edition of the LEAD NOW! book. The second edition is a substantial and significant update, both in its breadth and depth. As a matter of fact, if you were to compare the two editions, the second edition is a fresh, different, and much improved book. Whereas the first edition reads like a generic description of ideas for each competency, the second edition provides much more comprehensive, tangible, practical, and actionable steps to take.

Here’s an example of the “Customer Focus” competency in the first edition of LEAD NOW!:

• • 32. When you’ve made the sale, stop talking.
  • 36. Remember: customers complain — it’s their job.

As you can see, #32 and #36 seem incomplete, inappropriate, or just plain wrong! #32 “When you’ve made the sale, stop talking” can come across as a very transactional tip that can be interpreted as suggesting that after you’ve landed the customer, you can stop talking and interacting with them — which is not, I would assume, what the authors intended. And #36 “Remember: customers complain — it’s their job” is just awful. Customers do not complain. Some customers may complain, while others may, in fact, be very strong and loyal supporters and brand ambassadors of your company, products, and/or services. I’m astounded that the authors would include this in the first edition, which they recognized and deleted from the second edition.

Here’s an example of the “Customer Focus” competency in the second edition of LEAD NOW!:

• • 22. Treat customer complaints as a gift. What can you learn from them?
  • 23. Train and empower your team to promptly resolve or escalate customer problems, concerns, or frustrations.

It’s very evident that a lot of work have been put into improving the second edition.

• In the Dependability competency, there was a 35.48% increase in the number of Coaching Tips from the first to the second edition (from 31 to 42).
• In the Personal Integrity competency, there was a 52% increase in the number of Coaching Tips from the first to the second edition (from 25 to 38).
• In the Problem Solving competency, there was a 40% increase in the number of Coaching Tips from the first to the second edition (from 25 to 35).
• In the Change Management competency, there was a 26.32% increase in the number of Coaching Tips from the first to the second edition (from 38 to 48).
• In the Innovation competency, there was a 73.91% increase in the number of Coaching Tips from the first to the second edition (from 23 to 40).
• In the Inspiring Commitment competency, there was a 64.29% increase in the number of Coaching Tips from the first to the second edition (from 28 to 46).
• In the Organizational Savvy competency, there was a 66.67% increase in the number of Coaching Tips from the first to the second edition (from 24 to 40).

Ok, now that I got that out of the way, let’s dive into the second edition!

I want to highlight two competencies [delegating and ego management] and point out some of the features unique to the LEAD NOW! (2nd ed.) book. Refreshingly different from the first edition, the second edition of LEAD NOW! features 5 subsections for each dimension or competency:

• • What it looks like
  • What it is not
  • What it looks like when it is overused
  • Business results
  • People results

The second edition also provides subheadings, breaking down the long lists of “coaching tips” into smaller groups. For instance, for the delegating competency, under “coaching tips,” there are these headings: Preparing to Delegate, Delegating Effectively, Managing Follow-Through in Delegation, Overcoming Challenges to Delegation.

Here’s what the delegating competency chapter looks like in LEAD NOW! (2nd ed.).

What Is Delegating?
Delegating is assigning a task, communicating its objective and timeline, setting expectations, and providing resources and support to complete it. Delegating is a demonstration of trust in your people. It communicates that you believe that both of you can do more. It helps them grow and develop while freeing your time to address your pressing priorities. Successful delegation requires a conscious choice to share the workload and let others learn and prove themselves. This can be career enhancing for you and your people.

What it looks like:
• Explaining and confirming why the task is to be completed
• Allowing some autonomy in how the task is accomplished
• Removing barriers for the individual to be successful
• Using a structure of accountability to follow up on the task

What it is not:
• Believing your way is the only way to do it
• Giving a task without clear directions and outcomes
• Assigning only work that you do not want to do
• Giving a task to benefit only you, and not the other person

What it looks like when it is overused:
• Delegating tasks to those outside of your team
• Assigning core strategic assignments to others that you should own
• Adding unnecessary barriers to test others
• Assigning delegated tasks without regard for existing workload

One of the things that helps the LEAD NOW! (2nd ed.) book stand out in the coaching & development guide book category is the business results and people results sections.

“The most important aspect of being a leader is achieving results—business results and people results. Business results are all about financial, budgetary, and operational success; people results are about team dynamics, workforce engagement, the overall employee experience, career development, and feeling connected with each other. Too often, we focus only on business results; our [Stewart Leadership] research has found that a great leader needs to be able to achieve both kinds of results—the IQ-driven side of creating purpose and delivering excellence, and the EQ-driven side of developing self and others and leading change” (Stewart & Stewart, 2021, p. 17).

“Business results means being able to achieve operational success. This is the language of the boss; the leader needs to be able to speak that language well to build the relationship with the boss for success” (Stewart & Stewart, 2021, p. 17).

“People results means being able to achieve success within your team engagement development. This is the language of your direct reports; they are most interested in engagement, development, and interaction with others on the team” (Stewart & Stewart, 2021, p. 17).

When you delegate, you can drive better business and people performance. Here are some of the results you can achieve.

Business results (Stewart & Stewart, 2021, p. 92):
• Enabling focus on your strategic priorities
• On-time delivery of key assignments
• Better support of operational and strategic goals
• Improved time management and productivity

People results (Stewart & Stewart, 2021, p. 93):
• Professional development of your team
• Improved alignment of your team with corporate goals
• Leveraging your team’s strengths
• Fostering engagement and mutual trust with your team

I LOVE the business results and people results sections so much in the LEAD NOW! (2nd ed.) book!

Coaching Tips

Preparing to Delegate

#2 Match the capabilities, personality traits, relationship skills, thinking styles, and strengths and weaknesses of your employees to the tasks you’ll assign.

#6 Delegate to give your people purpose, make them feel val- ued, needed, and part of the group, and to establish an environment where everyone can grow and stretch.

Delegating Effectively

#9 Clearly communicate expectations for responsibility and accountability. Ask questions to ensure they understand the project and goals.

#15 Breathe new life into an existing project by delegating, allowing for new inspiration, outside perspective, brain-storming, problem solving, and creativity.

Managing Follow-Through in Delegation

#16 Consider the readiness and willingness of each delegate to determine the amount of support and direction you’ll provide. Have an open dialogue for maximum understanding and agreement.

Overcoming Challenges to Delegation

#23 Avoid the mindsets that you can do it better yourself, you can do it faster alone, you don’t have time to teach others, or you want to make sure that you get the credit. If you don’t delegate, you’re not an effective manager.

At the end of each competency (LEAD NOW! calls it “Dimension”) is a self-assessment with key questions to help you reflect on your current leadership skills and attitudes. There’s also an “Action-Planning Notes” section that asks “What three things in this section will help you be a better leader?”, “What would change if you started or continued doing these three things?”, and “How can you implement these changes?”

Ego Management is one competency I’ve not seen in the other coaching guides. Here’s what the ego management competency chapter looks like in LEAD NOW! (2nd ed.).

What Is Ego Management?
Ego management is having a balanced level of confidence in your own skills, tools, judgment, and experience. A strong, confident ego is needed to handle the challenges of life. Ego management combines humility and modesty with strong inner conviction and determination. Overinflated egos can hamper good decision making by shutting out the ideas of others, masking personal development needs, and generating organizational dysfunctions. And underinflated egos can deny the value you can and should add to your team and organization. The challenge is to manage your ego so it doesn’t manage you!

What it looks like:
• Giving credit where it is due
• Leading the applause for your people
• Pursuing what is best for the team
• Allowing the team freedom in how they achieve the result

What it is not:
• Demeaning or belittling others
• Allowing emotions and desire for power or control to determine actions
• Making sure everyone knows how important the leader is
• Wanting others to conform to the leader on all issues

What it looks like when it is overused:
• Believing that in the end, you are always the reason for the team’s success
• Never questioning or backing down from your own optimism
• Allowing louder or more dominant voices to always prevail
• Consistently doubting and not voicing your own ideas

When you manage your ego, you can drive better business and people performance. Here are some of the results you can achieve.

Business results:
• Fostering a culture of collaboration and new ideas
• Promoting good team decision making
• Improving problem solving
• Optimizing team engagement and productivity

People results:
• Allowing people the freedom to take risks
• Building personal resilience
• Professional development of leaders and staff
• Fostering trusting relationships

Coaching Tips

Managing Your Ego

#2 Avoid being defensive when you learn of areas where you need to improve. Do you justify or rationalize? Or do you try to understand and apply the feedback to make needed changes?

#9 Let go of the idea that you need to be the smartest person in the room. Ask a trusted associate if you appear to have a need to demonstrate to others that you’re more intelligent than they are. Be aware and resist the human tendency to add your two cents to each discussion.

Benefits of a Healthy Ego

#25 Be adaptable to change. Ego-driven people want the world to conform to them. Well-managed egos adapt to new rules, norms, and requirements.

Steps to a Healthy Ego

#30 Think what is best for the company, the customer, and the
team—not just for yourself.

#31 Look back over your successes. Honestly consider how the help you received from others contributed to your achievements.

#37 Recognize that even if you’re right, you may not be successful without other people’s involvement and ideas.

Here’s how Stewart Leadership’s LEAD NOW! (2nd ed.) book compares to several other coaching guides:

• Korn & Ferry – FYI For Your Improvement (5th edition) features 67 Competencies, 19 Career Stallers and Stoppers, and 7 Global Focus Areas.
• Korn & Ferry – FYI For Your Improvement (6th edition) features 38 Competencies, 10 Career Stallers and Stoppers.
• Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) – Compass: Your Guide for Leadership Development and Coaching contains 52 Competencies and 5 Career Derailers.
• MDA Leadership Consulting – Awaken, Align, Accelerate: A Guide to Great Leadership features 16 Competencies.
• Stewart Leadership – LEAD NOW! A Personal Leadership Coaching Guide for Results-Driven Leaders (2nd ed.) features 21 Competencies.

The LEAD NOW! book (and model) has a manageable number of competencies (21), similar to MDA Leadership Consulting’s Awaken, Align, Accelerate’s 16 Competencies.

There are some benefits to having lots of competencies (e.g., Korn & Ferry’s FYI’s 38 Competencies and CCL’s Compass’ 52 Competencies). However, to the readers/leaders, that may just be overkill. Indeed, too many competency choices may end up overwhelming the audience (i.e., leaders) this book aims to help.

That said, I was surprised and disappointed to not find a Conflict Management competency/dimension and a Confronting Direct Reports/Problem Employees competency/dimension in the LEAD NOW! book and model. Ask any first-time manager and they will tell you that, among the challenges they face in their new role, the ability to deal with and resolve conflicts and the ability to confront a problem employee rank at the very top of their list.

LEAD NOW! Model Description – 21 Leadership Dimensions

Quadrant I: Create Purpose (Externally Focused Business Results) As a leader, you are responsible for defining the group’s vision and strategy. Creating purpose identifies what the organization stands for, what it is going to do, and how it is positioned in the marketplace. This involves studying the competition, thoroughly knowing the customer, analyzing industry trends, setting strategy, and communicating effectively to others.

1: Customer Focus
2: Effective Communication
3: Presentation Skills
4: Strategic Thinking

Quadrant II: Deliver Excellence (Internally Focused Business Results) As a leader, you are responsible for delivering operational excellence—translating the strategy into day-to-day execution for the organization. This involves clear decision making, the ability to build consistent and measurable processes, continuous improvement, and behaving with integrity.

5: Decision Making
6: Delegating
7: Dependability
8: Focusing on Results
9: Personal Integrity
10: Problem Solving

Quadrant III: Develop Self & Others (Internally Focused People Results) As a leader, you must value learning for yourself and for others. This involves seeking personal improvement opportunities, building and managing team dynamics, honing technical expertise, managing one’s time, coaching and developing others, and managing one’s ego.

11: Coaching
12: Ego Management
13: Listening
14: Personal Development
15: Team Building
16: Time Management
17: Valuing Others

Quadrant IV: Lead Change (Externally Focused People Results) As a leader, you are responsible for creating and championing change efforts that will benefit the organization. This involves influencing key decision makers, sponsoring change projects, empowering stakeholders, encouraging innovation, managing resistance, and making change stick.

18: Change Management
19: Innovation
20: Inspiring Commitment
21: Organizational Savvy

About the LEAD NOW! Leadership Development Model
The LEAD NOW! Leadership Development Model was created to provide leaders with a simple and comprehensive framework for the critical areas of leading others. It is a results-oriented model geared toward achieving results in both business and people, focusing on reaching excellence within the organization, and understanding the competitive marketplace and customer needs outside the organization.

The LEAD NOW! Model is based on over 45 years of research and professional consulting and coaching experience. It has its roots in over eight thousand 360-degree assessments measuring leadership effectiveness at all levels of organizations and across dozens of industries, nonprofits, and government organizations. It also draws from thousands of interviews with leaders to distill what great leadership is all about.

The Four Critical Relationships

“At work, leaders have four critical relationships they must develop and within which they must communicate appropriately: with the boss, direct reports, peers, and customers. Each relationship is essential and deserves focused attention, but each relationship values and needs different things to be productive” (Stewart & Stewart, 2021, p. 25).

Do’s and Don’ts with Boss (Stewart & Stewart, 2021, p. 27):

Do’s and Don’ts with Direct Reports (Stewart & Stewart, 2021, p. 28):

Do’s and Don’ts with Peers (Stewart & Stewart, 2021, p. 29):

Do’s and Don’ts with Customers (Stewart & Stewart, 2021, p. 30):

How does it work?
The LEAD NOW! Model is built on the understanding that effective leaders must achieve aligned and positive results from four perspectives: 1) their people, 2) their business, 3) their marketplace, and 4) their organization. These points of view form lines, which intersect to define the four areas or quadrants of great leadership: Create Purpose, Deliver Excellence, Develop Self & Others, and Lead Change. Each of these four quadrants is supported by several key Leadership Dimensions and provides the basis for in-depth leadership development action planning.

How will it help a leader?
Leadership is critical to an organization’s performance and leaders become better through focused and supported development. The LEAD NOW! Leadership Development Model provides the foundation for any personalized leadership development effort, whether it is a coaching engagement, workshop, or larger leadership program. Using the LEAD NOW! model will help you identify and improve the behaviors needed to increase your success of leading others and achieving desired organizational results.

The 21 Leadership Dimensions within the quadrants are a buffet of different skills or competencies that a leader can then choose from to help develop themselves as a leader. The ultimate goal of the LEAD NOW! Model is to develop leadership muscle in all four of these quadrants—and especially in the people-focused side—to enable leaders to not only get a seat at the leadership table, but also remain there.

“It is unrealistic to expect large, major leaps of progress overnight. The truth is that it takes persistent, patient effort over time to see and experience gains in one’s ability to lead—one fleck at a time” (Stewart & Stewart, 2021, p. 2).

“LEAD NOW! was created to help leaders develop the tools to identify and improve their ability to lead and coach others at a moment’s notice. This book is filled with hundreds of small golden flecks—called tips—divided across twenty-one Leadership Dimensions that are designed to help any leader in any field grow in their ability to lead more effectively—one “fleck” at a time” (Stewart & Stewart, 2021, p. 2).

Summary: I was not expecting to be so impressed with LEAD NOW! (2nd ed.). In fact, I was anticipating an unremarkable coaching & development guide. But I was wrong! Despite missing two important competencies—a Conflict Management competency and a Confronting Direct Reports/Problem Employees competency—LEAD NOW!: A Personal Leadership Coaching Guide for Results-Driven Leaders (2nd ed.) is OUTSTANDING! However, you may not be able to tell from a quick glance at its exterior. This is because, compared to its coaching guide counterparts, the LEAD NOW! (2nd ed.) book is half the physical size of its competition (e.g., the FYI and Compass coaching guides) and contains far fewer competencies. Yet, it packs a big punch in a deceptively small package and delivers much more value (e.g., the helpful business & people results sections and hundreds of outstanding & practical coaching tips) at a fraction of the cost of its rivals! Indeed, it was the scores of actionable coaching tips or “flecks of gold” in LEAD NOW! (2nd ed.), with its clearly labeled subheadings to help you locate what you’re looking for, that won me over! Stellar job and well done, Stewart Leadership! LEAD NOW! (2nd ed.) has moved to the top of my “Highly Recommended Coaching & Development Guide Books List.” If you are a leader, aspiring to become a leader, or developing a future leader, you must have LEAD NOW! (2nd ed.) on your bookshelf and within arm’s reach!

Written By: Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
Leadership & Talent Development Consultant

References

Barnfield, H. C., & Lombardo, M. M. (2014). FYI: For Your Improvement – Competencies Development Guide (6th ed.). Korn Ferry.

Lombardo, M. M., & Eichinger, R. W. (2009). FYI: For Your Improvement – A Guide for Development and Coaching (5th ed.). Korn Ferry.

Nguyen, S. (2017, Dec 1). Book Review: Awaken, Align, Accelerate By Mda Leadership. https://workplacepsychology.net/2017/12/01/book-review-awaken-align-accelerate-by-mda-leadership/

Nguyen, S. (2019, Sept 9). Book Review – Compass: Your Guide For Leadership Development And Coaching. https://workplacepsychology.net/2019/09/09/book-review-compass-your-guide-for-leadership-development-and-coaching/

Scisco, P, Biech, E, & Hallenbeck, G. (2017). Compass: Your Guide for Leadership Development and Coaching. Center for Creative Leadership.

Stewart, J. P., & Stewart, D. J. (2021). LEAD NOW!: A Personal Leadership Coaching Guide for Results-Driven Leaders (2nd ed.). Page Two Press.

Disclosure: I purchased LEAD NOW!: A Personal Leadership Coaching Guide for Results-Driven Leaders (2nd ed.) on my own.

Book Review — Influence and Impact: Discover and Excel at What Your Organization Needs From You The Most by Bill Berman and George Bradt

“What we have found, again and again, is that people tend to underperform because they do what is comfortable, what is familiar, or what they desire, rather than what is most important to the organization. The majority of people we have coached believed they were doing the right things, but they did not understand the organization’s top priorities.” -Bill Berman & George Bradt (Influence and Impact, p. 11)

What Influence and Impact by Bill Berman and George Bradt Is About

Influence and Impact by Bill Berman and George Bradt is about how you can overcome the frustration and lack of satisfaction in one’s job by focusing on the job that your company and its organizational culture want you to do. On the inside front cover of the book, it states: “regardless of your formal job description, your real occupation is meeting the needs and expectations of the people around you” (Berman & Bradt, 2021). Excel in your role by discovering and excelling at what your organization needs from you the most. The key is to move beyond job descriptions and focus on the real-time needs and expectations of the people who depend on you every single day.

“. . .people lose their ability to influence others and impact the organization because they are not focused on the most essential, mission-critical business and cultural priorities. They usually do not even know what those are! Often, organizations and managers are not as explicit as they should be about the focus of their employees’ work, the culture of the organization, or their own needs and expectations” (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 2-3).

“The really great news is that despite these common challenges, you can enhance your influence and impact by focusing on the mission-critical parts of your role (the business) without anyone explicitly telling you what they are. You can be more effective by learning about and adapting to the behaviors, relationships and mores of the organization (the culture)—or you may realize, after reading the first parts of this book, that it’s just not a fit and you would flourish more in a different organization” (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 2-3).

Berman and Bradt (2021) wrote: “For a large majority of people, the struggle to have influence or impact and satisfaction in their work comes, not from external factors, but rather from something that they are able to manage and change” (p. 2).

“What has become clear to us, through our work with people from CEOs to first-line managers, and even individual contributors, is that many people are unintentionally misunderstanding critical aspects of their job. When organizations send clients to us for executive coaching or onboarding, we look carefully at how they spend their time, how they think about their job, and how they do that job” (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 2).

“Many times, we find that they are not focused on the essential elements of their job. They may be doing someone else’s job unintentionally. They may be trying to do their colleagues’ jobs, either implicitly or by making a premature power grab to take on greater scope or responsibility. Sometimes, they are only doing one part of their job—the part they like, or the part that is most familiar” (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 2).

“What is influence? What is impact? How are they different? Influence is the indirect or intangible effect you have on others, based on what you do, how you do it, how you communicate it, and who you are. Impact is the direct and observable effect you have on the entities you deal with—your manager, your team, your organization. We are particularly focused on helping you improve the effect you have on others—your influence—in ways that result in a significant or major effect on your manager, your team, and your organization—your impact. This is the key to professional success in organizations: Doing the job that is needed, in the way that is needed, consistently and effectively” (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 3).

“People work for different reasons. For some, it is simply to have enough money to live their life the way they want. For others, it is a passion, something they do to feel fulfilled. But whatever the reason, having influence on others, and an impact on the organization you work for, is going to make you feel good about what you are doing. One of the major sources of job satisfaction is feeling that you make a difference, that you have an effect on the people you work with and the organization you work for. Whether you are looking to climb the corporate ladder, or find gratification in your current job, having influence and impact on others will boost your happiness and gratitude” (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 3).

Under the heading, “What Gets in the Way?” Berman and Bradt (2021) wrote:

“So, what is the disconnect between you and what your organization needs from you most? What causes you to feel stuck, or stalled, that you aren’t having the impact you want? How can you bring more value to your company and meaning for yourself? In many situations, you are making one or two simple but consequential mistakes: You are not focused on the mission-critical parts of your responsibilities, or you are not doing them in the way that the organization can understand and embrace” (p. 11).

“What we have found, again and again, is that people tend to underperform because they do what is comfortable, what is familiar, or what they desire, rather than what is most important to the organization. The majority of people we have coached believed they were doing the right things, but they did not understand the organization’s top priorities” (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 11).

You can enhance your influence and impact by identifying and consistently focusing on the mission critical parts of your role and the essential aspects of the culture of your organization. The steps to building your influence are (Berman, 2021):

1. Start by learning about yourself – your strengths, your values, and your preferences.
2. Learn about what your job really is – by having conversations with stakeholders (including your manager) and observing yourself, your manager, and your colleagues carefully.
3. Understand the culture of your organization – by listening, observing, and reflecting on your actions and attitudes relative to others.
4. Write out your working job description – the one that others need from you, not what you think it is.
5. Decide if you want to commit to that job. If you do, then make a plan to adjust to what is really expected. If you do not, consider what alternatives there may be, in your organization or somewhere else.

Your Framework (your working job description of what’s essential to your job) Should Explain (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 60):

• What drives our work? What matters to the organization? To the owners?
• What are the norms, rules-of-the-road, and operating principles? How do people interact, make decisions, allocate resources?
• What is your manager responsible for? How are they evaluated?
• What does your manager need and expect from you? What can you expect from your manager, based on your data?
• What do your stakeholders need from you? What do you need from them?
• What is your working job title, which accurately describes your responsibilities, independent of what your organizational title is today?
• What are your essential priorities?
• What do you need from your team? What does your team need from you?

“[Y]ou may realize that you are struggling because what is expected and needed by your organization does not fit with your strengths, values, and interests. This will lead to the big decision you have to make . . . Do I stay and commit? Or do I look for something different?” (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 60).

“Part I [The Disconnect: What Your Organization Wants You to Know (But Hasn’t Told You!) (includes Chapters 1 and 2)] explains what you are doing that interferes with your influence and impact, why that is hurting your job satisfaction, and how to resolve it. We help you identify what distracts you, and why. Once you understand the disconnect between what you are doing and what the organization needs, you can commit to making the changes that will allow you to succeed, flourish and be recognized for doing important work” (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 4).

“Part II [The Solution: Discover Your Levers of Influence (includes Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6] is designed to help you sort out what your boss, your team, and your organization really need from you, both from a business and a cultural perspective” (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 4).

“Part III [Plan A: Grow Your Influence and Impact (includes Chapters 7, 8, and 9)] describes the path you take if you want the job you are in. This section takes you through the nuts and bolts of creating a Personal Strategic Plan to implement critical changes to your priorities, tone, and behavior . . .” (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 4).

“Part IV [Plan B: If You Don’t Want This Job, Find a Better Fit (includes Chapters 10, 11, and 12)] is the path you take if you realize that the real job your organization wants you to do is not what you want or can do. For some people, they really like the organization they work for, but the specific job is a bad fit, or they just can’t find a way to work happily with their manager. For others, this process helps them to realize that both the job they are doing and the context in which they work are not acceptable to them” (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 5).

Part V [Helping Others Build Their Influence and Impact (includes Chapter 13)] is “a primer for managers who want guidance on how to coach others to great influence and impact . . . . [It] is designed to help you guide your people toward what you and your organization need from them the most” (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 5).

WHAT’S OK BUT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

The “Key Takeaways” at the end of each chapter is OK but way too short. I would have liked to see a much more comprehensive summary instead of a way-too-brief 3-5 sentences paragraph.

WHAT I DISLIKED

The use of font sizes is very inconsistent and the line spacing is very poor. The font size is too small for the body text and should have been larger. The font size is too large for the chapter title (as in bizarrely large) and should have been much smaller. Also, it would have been better to reverse the font sizing and swap out the sizing use in the References section for the font size used in the body text.

As I thumbed through the physical copy of the Influence and Impact book, (I do this when I first look at a book), I noticed how tightly packed the fonts were. Although a book review should never be about the style and appearance of the words (e.g., font styles & sizes and use of spacing) on the pages of a book (i.e., its “typography”), it’s worth pointing out, however, that typography impacts readability. In Influence and Impact, the small type (or font) size and the tight line spacing combined made it challenging to read.

In fact, the book itself is quite short at 181 pages (not counting References and Index), but it feels much longer and heavier due to its tight layout, smaller font size, and poor use of spacing. I mostly find this layout and typography in college textbooks so I was quite surprised to see it used in a business book. Rather than packing everything so tightly into 206 total pages, it would have been better had the publisher and authors stretched it out to 236 pages by using a larger body text font size, better line spacing, and better layout (translation: make it look less like a college textbook). Strangely, the chapter title font size is HUGE!

This regrettable flaw — the dreadful typography — makes the reader “work” to read it, instead of making it enjoyable to read. I truly hope this will be corrected in future updates. That said, when I focus and block out the distracting layout with its small font sizing and poor line spacing, it’s actually chock-full of goodness!

Indeed, good typography can mean the difference between a visually great reading experience, a mediocre, or even a terrible one. I’ve picked up and quickly put down books before based solely on a quick glance of its layouts, spacing, and fonts — in other words, the typography.

WHAT I LIKED

I absolutely loved Chapter 13. A Primer for Managers. In four pages, Berman and Bradt provided a CliffNotes version (i.e., a short summary) to business managers and leaders on how to execute and apply the actionable insights they shared throughout the book. All business books should have a section like this!

Here are two valuable tips to help their team members improve their influence and impact:

“The first step in improving others’ influence and impact is finding out what their job really is supposed to be. If you take the time, you and your colleagues can tell them most of the information they need. Other information is best obtained by encouraging them to observe what people do, how they respond, who succeeds and who struggles. What are their essential priorities? Are they totally focused on those priorities? What do they need from their team? What does their team need from them?” (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 178).

“Help them know the business. To ensure they understand what the organization is all about, give them access to documents, including the organization’s mission, vision, and purpose, business strategies, cultural norms, and the like. It is surprising how few people pay attention to a public company’s financial statements or attend to quarterly reports. This is one of the best ways to help them think about the larger goals and objectives” (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 178).

I also liked a few, but not all, of the guest contributors sections (like Leo Flanagan, Hy Pomerance, and Joe Garbus). The stories provided by Flanagan, Pomerance, and Garbus offered real-life examples and further enhanced each of the respective chapters in which they were featured.

Here’s an example. For Chapter 10, Leo F. Flanagan, Jr., Ph.D., shared a great story about “Jim” a VP of Finance, who took a CFO job in Chicago, IL. The catch was that he and his family (including wife and 3 teenagers in high school) lived in Scotch Plain, NJ.

Jim thought he could juggle family priorities with his work priorities but soon discovered that he really struggled to do both. He wanted to be there for his kids for their sporting events and he wanted to be available to his CEO for any urgent meetings. He thought that by taking a “super-demanding job half-way across the country,” he could “still be connected to my kids.” So how did that work out for Jim? “My kids and wife feel I let them down. It turned out that for the CEO ‘getting the job done’ meant being available and focused seven days a week. It didn’t work at all—for anybody.”

After being fired from his CFO role, he had a chance to reset his priorities. “Jim took a job as controller of a pharmaceutical company 40 minutes from home. He invested in rebuilding his relationships with his wife and kids. He got to the office every morning by 7 a.m. to ensure he could leave in time for any of his kids’ events, with the blessing of his CFO and the support of his admin” (Berman & Bradt, 2021, p. 144).

OVERALL

Influence and Impact by Bill Berman and George Bradt is a FANTASTIC book that’s packed with useful and actionable insights. The tips and strategies offered throughout make this book a “must have” for leaders, managers, employees, and those about to enter the workforce. Influence and Impact is great for any professional, at any level (whether you’re an executive, manager, or frontline employee), who want to get a better understanding of what is expected and needed of them. You will gain and exert influence and impact when you’re able to focus on the most essential, mission-critical business and cultural priorities as well as meet the needs and expectations of your managers, stakeholders, coworkers, and teams! The key to your professional success in your organization is to effectively and consistently do the job that is asked of you and to do so in a manner that is needed. In tandem with this is the understanding and development of your influence (the effect you have on others) and your impact (the effect on your manager, your team, and your organization).

Written By: Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
Leadership & Talent Development Consultant

References

Berman, B. (2021, June 21). What Your Organization Really Needs from You: Influence and Impact. https://www.leadershipnow.com/leadingblog/2021/06/what_your_organization_really.html

Berman, B., & Bradt, G. B. (2021). Influence and Impact: Discover and Excel at What Your Organization Needs From You The Most. Wiley.

Disclosure: I received a hard copy of Influence and Impact as a complimentary gift in exchange for an honest review.

Book Summary & Review — Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done by Adrian Gostick & Chester Elton

According to Adrian Gostick, one of the main reasons for writing the book had to do with his (now) 25-year-old son, Anthony (Tony) Gostick, who had been struggling with anxiety since high school and had always wanted his dad to write about this topic. Tony soon realized that he wasn’t alone and that many of his peers and even his managers were also feeling anxiety.

As Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, his friend and coauthor, traveled the world talking and working with organizations and their executives, the theme that kept coming up again and again was that of anxiety in the workplace and what leaders can do to help their employees deal with anxiety — how to help (i.e., having the tips & tools) employees feel more supported and more resilient in the workplace. 

The book is organized by eight sources* of anxiety in the workplace, with a chapter for each strategy (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 26):

• Employees’ uncertainty about the organization’s strategy contending with challenges, and how it affects job for security.

• Work overload and the need for managers to help balance loads and help prioritize.

• A lack of clarity about prospects for career growth and development, as well as the need for clarity in everyday work situations.

• How perfectionism has become the enemy of getting things done.

• Fear of speaking up, contributing, and debating issues.

• Feeling marginalized as “others” for women, people of color, those on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, and religious minorities.

• Being excluded socially by team members, with the sense of alienation from working remotely an emerging variation of this problem.

• A lack of confidence and feeling undervalued.

*To get some clarity, I emailed Gostick and Elton to inquire about the citation(s) of these “eight leading sources of anxiety in the workplace.” This was Adrian Gostick’s reply: “Those 8 are our conclusions of leading sources of anxiety in the workplace based on our research and interviews. They are proprietary. It didn’t seem right to use someone else’s list as our conclusion. . .” Within each of the 8 are sources [he’s referring to the hodgepodge of sources in the “Notes” section] to back up the claims. With that said, we aren’t claiming this is an exhaustive list, but our conclusion based on experience, research and interviews.”

**Although I’m disappointed to not have received greater clarification on how these “eight leading sources of anxiety in the workplace” came to be, I do understand The Culture Works’ (a Utah-based global training and consulting company founded by Gostick & Elton) reluctance (like many other private consultancies) to disclose their research data.

At the end of each chapter is a very handy chapter summary.

Chapter 1 The Duck Syndrome – Highlights (no summary page)

“Despite a great deal of coverage in the media about rising anxiety levels, the stigma at work remains potent. Most people aren’t willing to discuss what they’re going through with anyone but their closest family and friends, and often not even with them” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 10).

“Only one in four people who suffer from anxiety say they have talked about it to their boss. The rest? They hide their symptoms. Many have been doing it since their school days” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 11). 

*This is not from the book, but I really like Arifeen Rahman’s description of the duck syndrome (below):

“At Stanford the term ‘Duck Syndrome’ describes students struggling to survive the pressures of a competitive environment while presenting the image of relaxed California chill. Imagine a calm duck gliding across a fountain. Underwater, the duck’s feet are paddling furiously – against the terrifying possibility that it may sink or even worse: be revealed as trying too hard” (Rahman, 2019).

Gostick and Elton (2021) say that this Duck Syndrome is alive and well in the workplace. They wrote that, similar to these struggling college students who appear fine, at work, “many people who might seem to be doing fine are, in reality, in danger of going under” (p. 11).

“According to a study by Stanford Graduate School of Business and Harvard Business School professors, workplace stress and anxiety may be a contributing factor in more than 120,000 deaths annually. In short, tens of billions of dollars, massive employee burnout, and the mental and physical well-being of our workforces are all at stake when considering how to mitigate anxiety” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 13).

Gostick and Elton (2021) stated: “we are not suggesting leaders should try to become therapists” (p. 20). However, they contend that, “managers must take responsibility and do what they can to alleviate some of the strains work life is placing on so many of their people” (p. 22).

“Are managers willing to be present with an employee as that person makes sense of their mental health issue? Do they know how far to help without it becoming a counseling session? This is vital knowledge for managers these days” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 22).

Good summary of Anxiety at Work:  

“The hopeful news this [Anxiety at Work] book offers is that leaders of teams can adopt a set of eight simple practices we’ve [Gostick and Elton] identified that can greatly reduce the anxiety their people are feeling. Using these practices and the lessons throughout the book will help any leader convey that they genuinely care about those they are privileged to lead—sending them home each night feeling a little more valued, listened to, and included” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 23-24).

“Working to make team members feel understood, accepted, and secure is an extraordinary team-bonding opportunity. Research leaves not the slightest doubt that it’s also a powerful productivity booster. Devoting a little extra time and attention to this new way of managing will pay off in spades, and that is a great anxiety reliever for leaders as well, many of whom are concerned with their own job security” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 28).

In today’s workplaces, the pace of change is intensifying and competition ever-present. Managers will never be able to completely stop their employees from feeling anxious, stressed, or worried. And there’s not much managers can do about the challenges that batter the workplaces (Gostick & Elton, 2021). However, “within our teams, we can go a long way to relieving tensions, providing support, inspiring enthusiasm and loyalty, and creating a safe place for people to spend their days” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 28-29).

Chapter 2 Summary – Lead through Uncertainty (p. 67)

* Uncertainty can trigger various responses in people, often with negative consequences on performance. The most common uncertainty for today’s employees is whether or not a job will last.

* Uncertainty is exacerbated when managers don’t communicate enough about challenges facing their organizations and how those issues may affect their people and their teams.

* A good deal of employee uncertainty is about their own performance and development, i.e., How am doing? and Do I have a future here? By meeting one-on-one regularly to evaluate performance and growth opportunities, leaders can help team members avoid misreading situations while enhancing their engagement and commitment to the organization.

* Leaders can use a set of methods to help reduce uncertainty: 1) make it okay to not have all the answers, 2) loosen your grip in tough times, 3) ensure everyone knows exactly what’s expected of them, 4) keep people focused on what can be controlled, 5) have a bias to action, and 6) offer constructive feedback.

Chapter 3 Summary – Help with Overload (p. 95)

* Leaders often fail to appreciate that constantly demanding more and more work in less and less time will lead to employee frustration, rising anger levels, and eventually anxiety and burnout.

* Managers may believe it is an individual failure when an employee is overwhelmed, and yet more than 90 percent of employees feel burned out at least some of the time. The problem is often organizational.

* Most approaches businesses take to helping people cope with crushing workloads are aimed at fixing the person instead of focusing on underlying issues with the amount of work assigned and with the ways in which employees are managed.

* When employees feel anxiety from overload, managers can start by helping them break work into optimal chunks.

* Other methods to help team members better cope with workload expectations and reduce anxiety levels include: 1) create clear roadmaps, 2) balance loads, 3) rotate people, 4) closely monitor progress, 5) help people prioritize, 6) avoid distractions, and 7) encourage R&R.

Chapter 4 Summary – Help Chart Career Development (p. 124)

“Of course, classes and virtual training in foundational business skills can be quite valuable, but the learning that will most excite employees, and make the most immediate impact on their performance, is about how to tackle the specific challenges they’re facing in their work day-to-day” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 116).

* Research shows younger workers are more eager to move up or out, and more than 75 percent of Gen Zers say they believe they should be promoted within their first year on the job. Creating more steps on the career path can help.

* Some 90 percent of younger workers “highly value” career growth and development opportunities, and organizations that effectively nurture their people’s desire to learn are 30 percent more likely to be market leaders.

* Some 87 percent of millennials ranked job security as a top priority when looking for a job. That is more than likely going to be even higher in the post-pandemic world.

* Following a set of methods can reduce employees’ anxiety about where they’re heading in their careers. They include: 1) create more steps to grow, 2) coach employees about how to get ahead, 3) help employees assess their skills and motivations, 4) use a skill development flow, 5) make learning real-time, 6) tailor development to the individual, 7) carefully calibrate growth opportunities, and 8) encourage peer-to-peer support.

Chapter 5 Summary – Manage Perfectionism (p. 149)

* There are certain jobs when flawless execution is vital. Perfectionism isn’t about a rational quest to get things right when they have to be; it’s a corrosive impulse to appear perfect, and often to push others for flawlessness as well.

* Studies have found perfectionists have higher levels of stress, burnout, and anxiety. They can also spend so much time tinkering or deciding on a course of action that they get little done.

* A key difference between unhealthy perfectionism and healthy striving is being able to define realistic expectations and knowing when to say “that’s good enough.”

* To identify someone who might have perfectionist tendencies, look for those who seek excessive guidance, seem loath to take any sort of risk, and treat most decisions as if they were a matter of life and death. Perfectionists can also tend to become overly defensive when criticized, and they can become preoccupied with their missteps or the mistakes of others.

* A series of methods can help lead those with perfectionist tendencies, including: 1) clarify what good enough is, 2) share the wisdom of innovators, 3) treat failures as learning opportunities, 4) regularly check in on progress, 5) team them up, and 6) discuss the issue openly.

Chapter 6 Summary – Manage Healthy Debate (p. 170)

* Many people today are conflict-avoidant—sidestepping uncomfortable situations and holding back on giving honest feedback.

* The best work groups are places of high trust and high candor, where team members debate to drive problem-solving. When employees are free to speak up and know their voices will be heard, it can increase engagement, enhance psychological safety, and bolster self-confidence and a sense of ownership.

* Leaders facilitate this by encouraging debate in a safe environment. They set ground rules and encourage all voices to be heard, de-escalate quarreling, ask team members to clarify their opinions with facts, and create clear plans and timelines for moving forward.

* Managers can spot employees who may be conflict-averse if they shy away from difficult conversations, try to change the topic or flee the scene when things get tense, get uncomfortable during debates, or resist expressing their feelings or thoughts during meetings.

* Methods that managers can use to coach their employees to find their voices and work through difficult conversations include: 1) address the Issue, Value, Solution, 2) don’t delay, 3) stick to facts, 4) use your words, 5) assume positive intent, 6) have plan, 7) give and take, and 8) get comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Chapter 7 Summary – Become an Ally (p. 188)

* There has been a historic pattern of anxiety in particular groups within the workplace—those too often made to feel like “others.” Of particular concern are women, people of color, those on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, members of religious minorities, and those with disabilities.

* Many in these communities must hide their true identities. But when managers create cultures where people feel comfortable being themselves, dramatic performance gains can be unlocked as everyone is able to focus all their attention on work.

* Many leaders do not understand the level of implicit bias that occurs in our work cultures. Microaggressions are biases that reveal themselves in often subtle ways and leave people feeling uncomfortable or insulted. They can take a psychological toll on the mental health of recipients and can lower work productivity and problem-solving abilities.

* Methods to help those who are marginalized feel valued and included in any team include: 1) listen up, 2) sponsor, 3) stand up, and 4) advocate.

Chapter 8 Summary – Build Social Bonds (p. 209)

* Exclusion can be toxic to anxiety levels. Fear of missing out (FOMO) may harm mental well-being since humans have such a strong need to belong. Some 71 percent of professionals say they have experienced some degree of exclusion within their team.

* There is much team leaders can do to spot those who may seem to be left out—all the more important when some or all of a team works remotely: Which person is regularly cut off during group discussions? Who doesn’t seem to be interacting with anyone? Regular one-on-ones are the best way to understand what’s really going on.

* Leaders can encourage inclusion by ensuring that all team members can contribute in meetings and have their voices heard in a calm and organized manner, buddy new hires up with friendly seasoned employees, and spend time in every meeting recognizing contributions.

* Other methods for helping move a team from exclusion to connection include: 1) build camaraderie, 2) find a common core, 3) foster connections and friendships, 4) provide frequent validation, and 5) include remotes.

Chapter 9 Summary – Build Confidence with Gratitude (p. 226)

* One of the simplest and most effective ways to motivate employees to achieve is by regularly expressing gratitude. Research shows offering positive reinforcement produces impressive boosts in team performance and significantly reduces anxiety levels in team members.

* Leaders don’t express gratitude to their people about work well done anywhere nearly as frequently or effectively as they should.

* High-performing employees are often gratitude sponges and perceive a lack of attention from a manager as a sign that things are not good; silence can cause worry to creep up on even the best of workers.

* Regular expressions of gratitude are like deposits in a Bank of Engagement. They build up reserves for when an employee’s work has to be corrected. Research shows gratitude also helps people develop a greater capacity to handle stress.

* Other practical methods to turn doubts into assurance include: 1) make gratitude clear, specific, and sincere, 2) match gratitude to magnitude, 3) preserve gratitude’s significance, 4) provide gratitude to high-flyers, too, and 5) keep gratitude close to the action.

How Anxiety Fills the Gap

“Leaders often shy away from discussing hard truths. They fear that such a discussion might dishearten their workers or cause them to bolt. And yet, there’s something exhilarating for employees about facing facts head-on. Such inclusion helps people feel like they are being brought into the inner circle to brainstorm solutions to challenges. Ambiguity either prolongs inevitable bad news or widens the trust gap. Or both” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 62).

How to Turn Less into More

“To lessen anxiety, we’ve found some good questions to ask in these individual check-ins include: (1) Do you feel like you can complete the project by deadline without having to work unreasonable hours? (2) Is there anyone else on the team who could help so you could meet the deadline? (3) Is there any part of this project that might be delayed? (4) Do you need any additional training or resources to be successful? (5) What have you learned that we might do differently next time we are up against a task like this?” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 87).

Clear Paths Forward

“If leaders are seeking to retain the best young workers, and reduce unnecessary career anxiety in their people, then addressing concerns about job security, growth, and advancement are vital” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 100).

How “It’s Not Perfect” Can Become “It’s Good, I’ll Move On”

“Jared, you’ve got high standards, just like me. I see that you always try to make sure all the details are attended to and everything is done exactly right. That can be a good thing. Now, as I want you to progress in this organization, I’ll tell you something I had to learn. Focusing on improving things from 95 percent to 100 often bogs down opportunities. It’s easy to get tunnel vision in getting something perfect that can cost more than it does to move on to the next project. Let me give you an example I saw where you might have applied this lesson” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 146).

From Conflict Avoidance to Healthy Debate

“Managers should address mean-spirited tensions head-on, and team members who stir up hostility should be coached. But there is a big difference between hostility and debate” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 152).

In high-performing teams with high trust and high candor, team members welcome debates and report that disagreements and strenuous debates help “drive inventive problem-solving, and can be highly motivating” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 152).

“When managers perceive that a conflict-avoidance issue may exist, they can do a great deal to address it by working with employees to stand up for themselves. They may also help them take time to consider their own opinions before agreeing to anything that might violate their values, and stick to their guns when challenged” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 154).

Becoming an Ally

“As we spoke with individuals in marginalized communities, a few things they wanted managers to understand about addressing bias included: 1) Don’t try to convince a person from a marginalized group of all the things that have gone wrong in your life to better relate to their issues (you were poor, your parents died, you have a learning disorder, etc.); this is not a competition. 2) Don’t ante up by saying that your daughter is gay or that you have lots of Black friends. 3) Be compassionate but don’t be “shocked” by racism or other forms of bias; if you are, you have been actively ignoring what’s been happening because it did not affect you directly. 4) Don’t preach about your “wokeness” to the issue; show it” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 179).

Transform Exclusion into Connection

“There’s actually quite a lot that team leaders can do to encourage inclusion; for instance, looking carefully for anyone on the team who may seem to be left out (all the more important when some or all of a team works remotely), which person is regularly cut off during group discussions, who is regularly chatting with whom, and who doesn’t seem to be interacting with anyone. By watching, a manager can gain awareness and insight” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 191).

Turn Doubts into Assurance

“One of the most effective ways leaders can combat anxiety is to foster an attitude of gratitude throughout their organizations—not just top-down, but peer-to-peer” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 218).

“When leaders align rewards with the level of achievement, they help those who are anxious make more positive assumptions about their work. For small steps forward, verbal praise or a note of thanks is appropriate, but bigger achievements require a tangible reward presented in a timely manner” (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 221).

WHAT I REALLY LIKE

By following the strategies, tips, and techniques provided by Gostick and Elton in Anxiety at Work, leaders will not only become better at reducing the stress and anxiety on their teams and in their employees, but they will also become better leaders. Inherent in many of these suggested practices is the assumption that one is already a capable boss and that these anxiety-reducing practices for leading your team will make you an even better boss. And, if you’re a subpar leader, Gostick and Elton’s recommendations will most certainly help raise your leadership skills.

For example, in Ch. 2, Gostick and Elton wrote (2021, p. 67): “A good deal of employee uncertainty is about their own performance and development, i.e., How am doing? and Do I have a future here? By meeting one-on-one regularly to evaluate performance and growth opportunities, leaders can help team members avoid misreading situations while enhancing their engagement and commitment to the organization.” In Ch. 3, they stated (Gostick & Elton, 2021, p. 95): “Leaders often fail to appreciate that constantly demanding more and more work in less and less time will lead to employee frustration, rising anger levels, and eventually anxiety and burnout.” In Ch. 6, the authors maintained (p. 170): “The best work groups are places of high trust and high candor, where team members debate to drive problem-solving. When employees are free to speak up and know their voices will be heard, it can increase engagement, enhance psychological safety, and bolster self-confidence and a sense of ownership.” In Ch. 8, Gostick and Elton said (p. 209): “There is much team leaders can do to spot those who may seem to be left out—all the more important when some or all of a team works remotely: Which person is regularly cut off during group discussions? Who doesn’t seem to be interacting with anyone? Regular one-on-ones are the best way to understand what’s really going on.” Finally, in Ch. 9, they declared (p. 226): “One of the simplest and most effective ways to motivate employees to achieve is by regularly expressing gratitude. Research shows offering positive reinforcement produces impressive boosts in team performance and significantly reduces anxiety levels in team members.”

These are all classic management and leadership advice! I LOVE it!

CAUTION/CAVEAT:

As a former mental health professional, I want to make two important points. 

Point Number One: 

There’s an implicit assumption in Anxiety at Work that the “anxiety at work” is work-related and that managers and leaders need to have tips and tools to help their employees who are experiencing anxiety at work. What is very important to understand, however, is that individuals who experience anxiety also experience anxiety in other areas of their lives OUTSIDE of work. 

There was no clearly explained causes of anxiety mentioned in Anxiety at Work (I’m referring to the clinical definition & diagnosis of anxiety). According to the American Psychiatric Association (2017), “the causes of anxiety disorders are currently unknown but likely involve a combination of factors including genetic, environmental, psychological and developmental. Anxiety disorders can run in families, suggesting that a combination of genes and environmental stresses can produce the disorders.” In general, for a person to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, the fear or anxiety must: (1) Be out of proportion to the situation or age inappropriate, and (2) Hinder ability to function normally (APA, 2017). 

As Dr. Edmund Bourne (a clinical psychologist who has specialized in the treatment of anxiety disorders and related problems for 30 years) explained in The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook (2015, p. 8): “Anxiety is an inevitable part of life in contemporary society. It’s important to realize that there are many situations that come up in everyday life in which it is appropriate and reasonable to react with some anxiety. If you didn’t feel any anxiety in response to everyday challenges involving potential loss or failure, something would be wrong.”

“Anxiety disorders are distinguished from everyday, normal anxiety in that they involve anxiety that 1) is more intense (for example, panic attacks), 2) lasts longer (anxiety that may persist for months or longer instead of going away after a stressful situation has passed), or 3) leads to phobias that interfere with your life” (Bourne, 2015, p. 8).

Point Number Two:  

Seek appropriate mental health help for anxiety disorders (see APA, 2016; APA, 2017; NAMI, 2017). Gostick and Elton (2021) wrote: “for employees feeling anxiety symptoms at any level, referral to a company employee assistance program (EAP) or licensed counselor can be extremely helpful” (p. 20). Anxiety at Work is written with the primary focus on helping managers and leaders aid their employees, rather than providing an individual worker with the tools to cope with anxiety.

If you experience anxiety that is (1) hard-to-control, (2) where you excessively worry about a host of issues—health, family problems, school, money, work—that results in both physical and mental complaints (e.g., muscle tension, restlessness, easily tired and irritable, poor concentration, and trouble sleeping), and (3) you experience it on most days for 6+ months, PLEASE seek appropriate, qualified, and licensed mental health help (see APA, 2016; APA, 2017; NAMI, 2017).

In addition to seeking clinical help, I would strongly suggest reading books that specifically address anxiety, such as:

• “The Anxiety Toolkit: Strategies for Fine-Tuning Your Mind and Moving Past Your Stuck Points” by Alice Boyes

• “The Anxiety Skills Workbook: Simple CBT and Mindfulness Strategies for Overcoming Anxiety, Fear, and Worry” by Stefan G. Hofmann 

• “Anxiety Happens: 52 Ways to Find Peace of Mind” by John P. Forsyth and Georg H. Eifert

• “The Anxiety First Aid Kit: Quick Tools for Extreme, Uncertain Times” by Rick Hanson, Matthew McKay, Martha Davis, Elizabeth Robbins Eshelman, Martin N. Seif, Sally M. Winston, David A. Carbonell, Catherine M. Pittman and Elizabeth M Karle

• “Coping with Anxiety: Ten Simple Ways to Relieve Anxiety, Fear, and Worry” by Edmund J. Bourne and Lorna Garano

Takeway:

Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton’s Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done is a fantastic contribution to the field of management and leadership as well as occupational health psychology (a field of psychology concerned with the health, safety, and well-being of employees, and covers four connected areas: the employee; the job environment; the organizational environment; and the external environment). In Anxiety at Work (2021), Gostick and Elton utilized stories and examples of real managers and their employees “to create a simple guide for managers that they can read very quickly” (p. 25) and included recommended practices that leaders can implement immediately (Gostick & Elton, 2021). Anxiety at Work is an important resource and guide for managers and leaders of teams, functions, and organizations. The tips and practices are great for helping leaders create and maintain a lower-stress work environment.

However, it is important to note that Anxiety at Work is not a guide for those experiencing anxiety at work and in other domains of life. Anxiety at Work is not a replacement for seeking help from a licensed and trained mental health clinician nor can it adequately help employees (on an individual level) better deal with and manage anxiety. The book is written to target the job and the organizational environment (i.e., what managers & leaders can do and need to do), not the individual employee.

With that caveat in mind, I really like Anxiety at Work and highly recommend it for leaders at all levels of an organization.

As Gostick and Elton (2021) wrote, you must acknowledge “the frantic duck-paddling going on under the surface in your team” (p. 227) and “begin to minimize anxiety, offer support for people to work through their feelings, and build resilience for challenges to come” (p. 227). Anxiety at Work helps leaders better understand that mental health and employee well-being are just as important as sales quotas and customer satisfaction.

Best of all, Anxiety at Work provides leaders with practical solutions: (1) to help reduce uncertainty; (2) to help team members better cope with workload expectations and reduce anxiety levels; (3) to reduce employees’ anxiety about where they’re heading in their careers; (4) to lead those with perfectionist tendencies; (5) to coach their employees to find their voices and work through difficult conversations; (6) to help those who are marginalized feel valued and included in any team; (7) to help move a team from exclusion to connection; and (8) to turn doubts into assurance.

Written By: Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
Leadership & Talent Development Consultant

References

American Psychiatric Association (APA). (2017, January). What Are Anxiety Disorders? https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/anxiety-disorders/what-are-anxiety-disorders

American Psychological Association (APA). (2016, October 1). Beyond worry: How psychologists help with anxiety disorders. https://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety/disorders

Bourne, E. J. (2015). The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook (6th ed.). New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

Bourne, E. J., & Garano, L. (2016). Coping with Anxiety: Ten Simple Ways to Relieve Anxiety, Fear, and Worry (2nd ed.). New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

Forsyth, J. P., & Eifert, G. H. (2018). Anxiety Happens: 52 Ways to Find Peace of Mind. New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

Gostick, A., & Elton, C. (2021). Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done. Harper Business.

Hanson, R., McKay, M., Davis, M., Eshelman, E. R., Seif, M. N., Winston, S. M., Carbonell, D. A., Pittman, C. M., & Karle, E. M. (2020). The Anxiety First Aid Kit: Quick Tools for Extreme, Uncertain Times. New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

Hofmann, S. G. (2020). The Anxiety Skills Workbook: Simple CBT and Mindfulness Strategies for Overcoming Anxiety, Fear, and Worry. New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). (2017, December). Anxiety Disorders. https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Mental-Health-Conditions/Anxiety-Disorders

Rahman, A. (2019, July 26). Duck Syndrome. https://www.kqed.org/perspectives/201601138907/duck-syndrome

Disclosure: I received a print copy of Anxiety at Work as a complimentary gift in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: The Self-Evolved Leader

“The Self-Evolved Leader was written to take you on a journey, from making the critical shift in perspective needed to break the cycle of mediocre leadership, to building a foundation for effective leadership, strengthening the disciplines you need to deliver great leadership, and ending with a plan for mastering and sustaining leadership” (McKeown, 2020, p. 10).

In The Self-Evolved Leader, McKeown contends that for too long leaders have mistakenly assumed that the value they bring to their organization is to play the role of the hero, someone has all the answers and swoops in to save the day. However, as heroic leaders, they also swing for the fences (i.e., attempt to satisfy high aspirations that are very difficult to achieve), tend to confuse busyness with progress, and will move from one crisis to another putting out fires. By being/playing the hero, the leader creates a sense of learned helplessness in their team, and as a result, they end up creating a cycle of mediocrity.

I like what McKeown (2020) says about our society’s misguided reliance on heroics:

“We’ve heard time and again in movies, literature, and sports of the lonely hero who embarked on a personal journey of discovery and managed to steal victory from the jaws of defeat, save the day, and emerge transformed. These mythical stories have infiltrated their way into our perception of an effective leader. Yes, there are times when we need diving catches and acts of heroism, but if that’s what your success as a team or organization is built on, then you have a shaky foundation. There are only so many superheroes you can hire. Instead, it’s more sustainable to build a foundation of great leadership that’s based on shared accountability rather than heroics. Building deep ownership allows your team to have flurries of heroism, without the heroics becoming the defining feature” (p. 6).

“In being an overwhelmed leader who is taking on too much and trying to save the day, you reinforce the belief that your team isn’t quite good enough, that it requires something special or magical from you to make it just so. That in itself puts a brake on your team’s desire to go above and beyond what’s necessary, and instead to sit back and wait for you to bail them out” (McKeown, 2020, p. 23).

McKeown describes a vicious cycle wherein the leader creates learned helplessness in their team, which leads to members feeling disempowered and which then creates a sense of urgency requiring the leader to swoop in and play the hero.

McKeown says, “In the long run, learned helplessness leads to disempowerment. Over time your team slowly cedes authority to you. They subconsciously elect not to make a tough call, so as to defer to your wisdom, to give you the final say” (p. 24).

McKeown argues that, “there’s a way to break out of the Cycle of Mediocrity, with a new set of patterns and behaviors that move toward a new cycle, the Cycle of Excellence” (p. 25).

In the Cycle of Excellence, the building of shared accountability and the development and empowerment of your team will propel you and your team to greater levels of success.

As you empower and grant your team more decision-making authority and responsibility, “you’ll discover that some members of your team will grow through the experience of handling the increasingly more complex challenges and problems you give them” (McKeown, 2020, p. 28).

As leaders elevate their focus toward the important, not the urgent, they’ll find “more time to have conversations focused on team members’ development and more clarity to assess their individual challenges” (McKeown, 2020, p. 28).

The most crucial shift in perspective to become a Self-Evolved Leader is to see “that your value comes not from saving the day but from equipping your people to deliver on the day-to-day tactics and grow into the best version of themselves so that you can focus on the medium- and long-term direction of your team” (p. 10-11).

Before leaders can work on improving their teams they must first work on improving themselves. To do that they have to adopt the characteristics and behaviors of the Self-Evolved Leader.

“Every transformation starts from within, and this one is no different. Before you can make a material impact on your team and organization, there are some internal characteristics that need to be nurtured” (McKeown, 2020, p. 32).

Internal Characteristics of Self-Evolved Leaders (p. 32-38):
1. Push for Growth
2. Demonstrate Vulnerability
3. Practice Empathy
4. Feel a Sense of Connectedness
5. Operate from Locus of Their Control

Developing the 5 internal characteristics bring about the following external behaviors.

External Behaviors of Self-Evolved Leaders (p. 38-39):
1. Set Common Goals
2. Help Their Team Achieve Those Goals
3. Focus on the Development of Their People
4. Focus on the Long-Term Direction of Their Team
5. Move From Pull to Push

What the Self-Evolved Leader Achieves (p. 39-41):
1. More Time and Space
2. More Clarity
3. Better Agility
4. High-Performing Teams
5. Balance

Self-Evolved Leader’s mantra (p. 42):
“My focus is to help those on my team achieve our shared goals and in doing so to help them become the best version of themselves.”

After you’ve committed to breaking out of the mediocre mentality and the cycle of mediocrity and have hit reset with your team, you are ready to tackle the Key Elements of Self-Evolved Leadership:

1. VISION: Create a compelling vision to inspire your team — A compelling vision brings alignment, a shared purpose, and a North Star for decision-making. The vision should be clear, excite the team, present your why, and be connected to the organization’s vision.

2. PULSE: Build a pulse for implementation — Building an implementation pulse is a proactive way to protect your own and your team’s time to focus on what’s important.

3. DISCIPLINE: Develop and work through six micro disciplines to dramatically accelerate the impact you have on your team — 1. Take a pause, 2. Exist in the present, 3. Set context, 4. Be intentional, 5. Listen first, 6. Push for clarity. These six micro disciplines serve as the foundation of the five core disciplines of Self-Evolved Leadership: Reclaim Your Attention, Facilitate Team Flow, Support High Performance, Have Symbiotic Conversations, and Build Shared Accountability.

In Part 3 of the book, McKeown discusses the five key leadership disciplines of self-evolved leaders:

1. Reclaim Your Attention — “Allowing other sources to have a hold on our attention is sapping our ability to stay present in our interactions and draining our cognitive ability to make high-quality decisions” (p. 102).

2. Facilitate Team Flow — “is about coming to grips with the numerous inputs to your team from the wider organization or marketplace, assigning a quick prioritization, putting the most appropriate people to work on it, and then passing back the output in a smooth, efficient fashion. The goal is to give your team more authority and responsibility over the projects and tasks that come your way and to keep you focused on those areas that you can impact in the most powerful way” (p. 119).

3. Support High Performance — Supporting high performance, rather than trying to manage it, “involves helping your team identify the root cause of the issues they face, sorting through the solutions in front of them, and then assisting them in deciding on a plan of action” (p. 146).

4. Have Symbiotic Conversations — “Having symbiotic conversations involves assuming positive intent, mapping a path to your desired outcome, and ultimately giving others the choice about what they wish to do next” (p. 160).

5. Build Shared Accountability — “The main characteristic of a group with deep accountability is that there is enough trust, respect, and desire to see each other succeed that they’re able to spur one another on toward achieving their common goals” (p. 164).

“Accountability and ownership cannot be taught; you can only provide the environment for your team to want to take it. Building shared accountability is a natural outflow of setting a clear vision, building an implementation pulse, and mastering the key disciplines” (McKeown, 2020, p. 175).

In Part 4 (Sustaining Self-Evolved Leadership), there’s a 15-week program (Ch. 11) that guides you in charting your own journey to becoming a Self-Evolved Leader as well as implementing the practices within your own team.

I especially like Week 3 “Map Your Pulse” (p. 186-192) where you are shown five different vantage points that you should plan with your team [annual review (50,000 feet), quarterly review (30,000 feet), monthly review (10,000 feet), weekly review (5,000 feet), and daily review (runway)].

McKeown ends the book (in Ch. 12) by extending Self-Evolved Leadership at the team level to the rest of the organization. He talks about building a shared vocabulary, aligning visions across the organization, creating a shared pulse, and having a collective focus on mastering the disciplines.

What I Did Not Like:
My one criticism of the book is McKeown’s coverage of the “Self-Evolved Organization” (the last chapter). I was disappointed in the hasty ending and it felt very rushed and seemed insufficient since Chapter 12 is just 8 pages long. Because it summarized the other chapters, it would have been better to label Chapter 12 under the heading “Conclusion” or “Summary” and tie those chapters together and mention how they contribute to a Self-Evolved Organization.

At the end of each chapter is a “What to Remember” (brief summary) and “What to Try” (actionable insights) section. There’s also a URL to a video summaries of the chapters (https://resources.selfevolvedleader.com/). To access the video summaries, you must register on the site.

Takeaway: The Self-Evolved Leader is a short book and even shorter if you don’t count the workbook portion (Ch. 11, which is about 40 pages). This is not a bad thing because it makes for a very easy and quick read. McKeown does a good job being concise and getting to the point without rambling and being long-winded.

Overall, The Self-Evolved Leader is an enjoyable and practical book. McKeown does a fine job providing advice, guidance, and tools to help seasoned executives as well as newly promoted leaders become their best. I appreciate the 15-week road map for implementing the Self-Evolved Leadership philosophy and practices. And I applaud the “What to Remember” and “What to Try” section summarizing almost every chapter. I’ll be using this book for my own development and sharing it with other leaders. Highly recommended!

Written By: Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
Leadership & Talent Development Consultant

Reference

McKeown, D. (2020). The Self-Evolved Leader: Elevate Your Focus and Develop Your People In a World That Refuses To Slow Down. Greenleaf Book Group Press.

*Note: The page numbers referenced in this post refer to the Advance Reader’s Copy of The Self-Evolved Leader. For the most part, they are identical to the final copy. However, there are still some errors. For example, in the final print copy, Ch. 12 starts on p. 217, whereas in the advance reader’s copy, Ch. 12 begins on p. 219. Another mistake is on p. 11 in the advance copy, under “Mastering the Self-Evolved Leadership Disciplines,” it states: “This section of the book is a deep dive into six key leadership disciplines . . .” However, it was corrected in the final version to say five key leadership disciplines. This is why I dislike reviewing a galley or advance copy of a book.

Disclosure: I received an advance reader’s copy of The Self-Evolved Leader as a complimentary gift.

Book Review – An Introduction to Management Consultancy

An Introduction to Management Consultancy by Marc Baaij is a book that really pulls back the curtains and reveals the inner workings of management consultancies. I have never seen a book about management consulting like this before. I actually received a print copy of An Introduction to Management Consultancy to review in late summer 2018 but wasn’t able to find time to do a proper book review so I kept delaying it.

What’s so valuable about this textbook is that its author, Professor Marc G. Baaij, is both an academic (Associate Professor of Strategic Management at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam) and, perhaps even more importantly, a former management consultant, having worked for over four years at The Boston Consulting Group (2 years as a strategy consultant and 2 years as a manager of research).

As Baaij shared in the book, it is very difficult for outsiders (i.e., those not working in a management consultancy) to understand what management consulting is and what management consultancies do due to the secretive and ambiguous nature of these firms and the management consulting industry as a whole.

I love that Baaij devoted an entire chapter (Chapter 2) to covering the origin and development of management consultancy — from the emergence of the management consultancy industry during the second industrial revolution (the first field of management consultancy: Operations Consultancy), to the emergence of the second field of management consultancy: Organization and Strategy Consultancy, and finally to the emergence of the third field of management consultancy: Information Technology Consultancy.

I wish I had this book years ago when I was still in my doctoral program in industrial and organizational psychology. At the time, I thought I wanted to get a job with one of the well-known management consultancies. I had these grand illusions of the incredible prestige, the superb salary, and the importance of the role in providing management consulting advice to clients. And while many of those things are certainly there, what is not there and what is often unspoken and unshared are the way the management consultancies operate, the extremely high demands on your time to travel and work, and the hyper-competitive nature of the work and the constant competition to be a part of every client project, even after you’re hired.

“Management consultancies primarily compete on intangibles: reputation, relations, knowledge, and staff” (p. 236). And in case anyone forgets, Baaij reminds us that the staff is “the ultimate source of sustainable competitive advantage” (p. 236).

Applying to a Management Consultancy

“If you consider applying for a position at a (top tier) management consultancy firm, you will not be the only one. Management consultancy is very popular among MBA and other business students, as well as more experienced people from industry, that is non-consultancy sectors. The prestigious management consulting firms in particular are seen as attractive employers” (Baaij, 2014, p. 274).

“Management consultants should have at least the basic knowledge and skills with respect to the main business disciplines, such as accounting, HRM, organization, IT, marketing, logistics, finance, and strategy. MBA and other business studies are natural training backgrounds for management consultants. However, a business degree is not always necessary” (Baaij, 2014, p. 289).

In the preface, Baaij wrote:

“This book aims to help outsiders with an interest in management consultancy to develop a better understanding of what management consultancy is in order to make an informed career decision and start their consultancy career with an advantage” (2014, p. xiv).

The textbook takes a multi-level perspective to management consultancy and introduces it using four levels: Level 1 – management consultancy phenomenon; Level 2 – management consultancy industry; Level 3 – management consultancy firm; and Level 4 – management consultancy project.

In line with the four levels, the book is divided into four parts.

Part 1 (Chapter 1-3) introduces readers to the phenomenon of management consultancy. Chapter 1 covers the distinguishing characteristics of management consultancy and which professional services belong to the domain of management consultancy. The author reviews the various roles of management consultants, both formal and informal ones. Chapter 2 looks at the history of the management consultancy industry — the origins and the development of management consultancy. It explores both the rise and decline of management consultancy firms. Chapter 3 examines why clients hire management consultancies, both the formal and the informal reasons.

Part 2 (Chapter 4-6) looks at the management consultancy at the industry level. Chapter 4 provides an overview of the global management consultancy landscape. It explores the range of consultancy services, the various client sectors, and the different client geographies. Chapter 5 analyzes the competitive strategies of consultancy firms, and the competitive forces in the consultancy industry. Chapter 6 examines the relationship between management consultancy and the broader (macro) environment. It looks at how management consultants create and disseminate management knowledge, and investigates the impact of macro-economic (business) cycles, globalization, and technological developments on the management consultancy industry.

Part 3 (Chapter 7-9) looks inside the management consultancy firm. Chapter 7 provides a peek inside the firm’s activities. It talks about the value chain of a management consultancy firm and covers the various primary and support activities. Particular attention is paid to marketing and sales activities. Chapter 8 explores the management of the consultancy firm. It investigates the different types of organization, governance, and culture of the various consultancy firms. Chapter 9 is about people and careers in management consultancy. It discusses in detail how consultancy firms deal with recruitment, training, development, promotion (in particular, the up-or-out model which many consultancies use), (involuntary) turnover, and alumni.

Part 4 (Chapter 10-15) walks the reader through a typical management consultancy project. Chapter 10 takes a comprehensive look at client management and other stakeholders inside and outside the client organization. It outlines the development of a project proposal by consultants. It also discusses the consultants’ contractual and moral obligations to clients. Chapter 11 offers a detailed look at how management consultants set up a client project. It talks about the management and organization of a consultancy project. It provides an overview of the phases of a project: initiation, design, execution, control, and closure. It also covers the selection of the project team and the stages of team development. Chapter 12 explains how the world’s top tier management consultancy firms approach complex client problems and opportunities. It lays out a well-illustrated, step-by-step guide to structured problem diagnosis. Chapter 13 describes how top tier consultancies develop solutions for their clients and outlines, in detail, the process of structured solution development. Chapter 14 is about how top tier consultants communicate their recommended solutions to clients. The book provides a structured approach to the design of client presentations and reports. Chapter 15 presents a structured approach to implementation and examines why implementations may sometimes fail to produce the expected results.

One of the things I really appreciate and, in fact, had been trying to learn about for a while now is the breakdown of what a typical week in the life of a management consultant is like (in Table 9.3 A week in the life of a management consultant, p. 298). I had heard that there is quite a bit of traveling but didn’t realize the time it took to work in the management consultancy industry. For instance, it’s common to attend dinner gatherings with colleagues in the evening.

I also like the discussion about the resistance that management consultants face (p. 99-100) from the client organization and employees working in that particular organization.

One of the more interesting aspects of management consultancy is the consultancy project (Ch. 11, pp. 366-397).

“The product of the management consultancy firm is the project. Consultancy firms sell projects to clients. The consulting staff deliver the project (with the support of the support staff)” (Baaij, 2014, p. 259).

As expected, management consultancies follow the typical project management life cycle that includes:

• Scoping/Initiating – preliminary planning; defining the problem
• Planning/Designing – developing the plan & solutions; setting the stage
• Executing – making it happen; getting it done
• Monitoring and controlling – tracking progress; keeping on course
• Closing – closeout; transition

Interestingly, regarding the consultancy project team members, Baaij shared that the up-or-out policy (a fixture of management consultancies in which an employee either gets promoted to the next hierarchical level or they are forced to leave the firm) may cause rivalry between consultants. What’s more, because not every management consultant will be promoted, the up-or-out policy can also lead to pressures to engage in unethical conduct. “Colleagues may use each others’ ideas or work without giving them credit. Even though team work is part of the evaluation, each consultant wants to enhance their promotion chances by excelling” (Baaij, 2014, p. 394).

“Most management consultancy firms have a so-called ‘up-or-out’ career policy for consultants. Consultants are evaluated on a regular basis. Based on these evaluations, and the consultancy firm’s vacancies, consultants either get promotion to a higher level or they have to leave the consultancy firm. At regular intervals, consultants have to face the up-or-out decision. Because of the pyramidal organization structure of most consultancy firms, the up-or-out policy implies a relatively high turnover of consultancy personnel and a steady stream of alumni. Management consultancies with an up-or-out policy typically have (much) more alumni than consultants” (p. 172).

“The consultancy firm will have all kinds of disguising jargon [such as up-or-out or grow or go], but it comes down to a dismissal of those employees who do not meet the firm’s expectations. The policy means that if you are not considered for promotion, you cannot stay with the firm. The up-or-out system is the ultimate consequence of a meritocracy. It is not seniority but performance that matters” (Baaij, 2014, p. 303).

Another thing I really appreciate about this book is its critical, but fair, examination of management consultancy.

For instance, in Chapter 3 (Difficulties in Measuring the Effect of Management Consultancy), Baaij (2014) wrote:

“Critical academic literature . . . argues that management consultancy faces ambiguities over the claimed results. Because of the difficulties of investigating the effectiveness, critical academic studies have not focused on the effect of management consultancy. Popular criticism by some journalists and alumni of management consultancies questions the effect of management consultancy” (p. 76).

Baaij (2014) stated that it’s very challenging to isolate the effect of management consultancy on client performance. Baaij points to three methodological issues that make this difficult:

1. Difficulties in isolating the effect
2. Lack of comparison
3. Bias

“The advice, and implementation assistance, of management consultants are among several factors that will influence the performance of clients. Moreover, the effects of consultancy may only materialize some time after the completion of the consultancy project. The causality between management consultancy and client performance is, therefore, difficult to measure” (p. 77).

Regarding reasons for a deviating performance, Baaij said, “The client may implement the consultants’ solution wrongly or with a delay. The client may also lack sufficient resources and capabilities to implement the solution correctly. Actors within the client organization may shirk. Even worse, actors within the client organization who oppose the solution may sabotage the implementation” (p. 77).

Also, “there is the problem of bias. The stakeholders, clients and consultants have an interest in justifying the consultancy project and will, therefore, overrate the effectiveness of the project. Objective measurement will be difficult to achieve” (p. 78).

Under the section titled “Reasons for Hiring Management Consultants” (in Chapter 3), Baaij explained that the reason why management consultancies are hired are not always related to the improvement of the performance of an organization. Management consultants are sometimes hired “to provide knowledge and capabilities to solve problems in an objective and independent way” (p. 83). However, there are other times when companies will retain management consultants in order “to legitimize clients’ solutions which other stakeholders oppose (legitimator), to support clients in political fights (political weapon), and to take the blame for clients’ solutions that are not in the interests of some other stakeholders (scapegoat)” (p. 84).

Indeed, in the preface, Baaij wrote: “This book also takes a critical perspective on management consultancy. We critically reflect on the practices of management consultancy. Moreover, we broaden our perspective to include consultants’ clients, client employees, consultancy firm employees, other stakeholders, and society in general. We consider the effects that management consultancy may have on all these groups. This book acknowledges various conflicts of interests between consultancy firms and these other actors. We are critical not only about consultants but also about clients. We emphasize that both parties may behave opportunistically and unethically. Such behaviour is not reserved for consultants. Clients may manipulate consultants as well.”

Finally, I found the detailed coverage of the structured problem solving method (in Chapter 12 and 13) to be remarkably informative. The book provides a step-by-step guide (in Chapter 12) to diagnose problems (identify the result gap; decompose the gap by drivers; investigate where the gap is; explain why the gap exists; and formulate the problem in the form of a key question). Then, in Chapter 13, the author shows how top tier management consultants develop solutions for their clients’ problems and opportunities. He provides a step-by-step guide for developing solutions in a structured way.

The structured problem solving approach, used by top management consultancy firms, is a two-stage process consisting of problem diagnosis and solution development. The problem diagnosis (Chapter 12) translates a client problem into a single question, while the solution development (Chapter 13) is about answering that question.

“The structured problem solving method is the hallmark of the world’s top tier management consultancy firms, such as McKinsey & Company, the Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, Booz & Co, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, and A.T. Kearney” (p. 399).

Takeaway: An Introduction to Management Consultancy is a marvelous introduction to the world of management consultancy. Marc Baaij did a masterful job distilling the core essence into a substantive yet digestible textbook, while also critically examining management consultancy from all sides. It’s refreshing to be able to bypass the secrecy and ambiguity of management consulting and learn about what’s really going on behind the scene. If you are considering joining a management consultancy or want to learn more about what management consulting firms do, you HAVE TO read this book!

Written By: Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
Leadership & Talent Development Consultant

Reference

Baaij, M. G. (2014). An Introduction to Management Consultancy. London, UK: Sage Publications.

Disclosure: I received a print copy of An Introduction to Management Consultancy as a complimentary gift, but my book review was written as though I had purchased it.

Book Review – Compass: Your Guide For Leadership Development And Coaching

[From CCL’s description of the book]: An essential book on leadership development and coaching, Compass is the go-to reference to help you—and the people you develop—provide the leadership needed in any circumstance to galvanize teams, groups and entire organizations. It is ideal for leaders and managers looking to develop competency in themselves and others. A vital guide for training and development professionals—both inside an organization and external consultants— use Compass as a coaching tool and a blueprint for leader development plans.

Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) is a top-ranked, world-renowned leadership development provider. It has nearly 50 years of experience working with tens of thousands of organizations in more than 160 countries across 6 continents, helping more than a million leaders at all levels.

Compass: Your Guide for Leadership Development and Coaching (Scisco, Biech, & Hallenbeck, 2017) is similar to FYI: For Your Improvement: A Development and Coaching Guide (Lombardo & Eichinger, 2009). Both are coaching & development guides. However, beyond the fact that both books left in blank chapters as placeholders because “those numbers are reserved for future editions” (2017, p. vi), the similarities end there.

A major difference and one that I really appreciate is how CCL’s Compass titles and groups the various sections versus how Korn & Ferry’s FYI titles and groups theirs.

The major sections in FYI (5th ed.) include:

• • Unskilled – The “before picture” shows where you stand against the target.
  • Skilled – The “after picture” gives you a target of what success looks like when a competency or skill is done well.
  • Overused Skill – The possible negative consequences of using a skill too much or with too much force.
  • Some Causes – Common reasons why people struggle with this particular leadership competency
  • The Map – Why the competency is important.
  • Some Remedies – 10 tips/remedies for building the competency.
  • Some Develop-in-Place Assignments – Job tasks that require application of certain competencies. There’s almost always a develop-in-place assignment that you can select in your current job to address your development need.

The major sections in Compass are:

• Overview – Provides context to why the competency is important, what effects its mastery can produce, and the consequences of not developing the competency.
• Leadership in Action – Tells a story drawn from real-life accounts of leaders displaying their skill in the competency area.
• What High Performance Looks Like – Lists descriptive words and phrases for how leaders appear to others when performing the competency well.
• What’s in Your Way? – Presents common obstacles to development.
• Coach Yourself – Poses reflective questions designed to spur thinking about the areas of focus in which the competency can be developed
• Improve Now – Are quick changes” for developing skills.
• Developmental Opportunities – Tactics and suggestions for developing skills.

In Compass, each competency starts off on a positive note with the “What High Performance Looks Like” section (leaders who are skilled in this competency will do these things). FYI, on the other hand, starts off negatively by drawing the reader’s attention to the top section in each competency called, “Unskilled” (leaders who are unskilled in this competency will do these things).

I find it much more helpful to know the positive skills & behaviors (in Compass) I should be striving for in order to improve myself rather than see a long list of undesired behaviors & skills (in FYI) that I should be avoiding.

Compass offers a lot of content (that’s well-organized and more interesting to read than FYI) for each competency chapter. I especially like the “What High Performance Looks Like” section, the “What’s in Your Way?” section, the “Coach Yourself” section, and the “Improve Now” section.

Compass is divided into four parts:

1. The Fundamental Four: CCL believes that there are four competencies every leader needs to develop – communication, influence, learning agility, and self-awareness.
2. Competencies for Impact and Achievement: These are 48 additional competencies derived from CCL research and practice.
3. Career Derailers: Five career derailers that CCL research has identified as damaging to careers and what you can do to avoid derailing your career.
4. What’s Next: Is a guide to setting development goals based on a CCL approach.

Whereas FYI is written and reads like a series of “lists,” Compass is written in a narrative style and reads more like a short blog post or article for each competency, making it much more interesting and easier to digest and recall. I gave a hard copy of the FYI book (a 3rd edition) to a good friend of mine, but never told him to “read” it, only to use it as a reference guide whenever he needs it (either for his own development or the development of his team). For CCL’s Compass book, I would highly recommend that you actually sit down and read through the competency chapters.

• Korn & Ferry’s FYI (5th edition), features 67 Competencies*, 19 Career Stallers* and Stoppers, and 7 Global Focus Areas.
• CCL’s Compass contains 52 Competencies and 5 Career Derailers.

Interesting factoid: Mike Lombardo worked at the Center for Creative Leadership for 15 years. Lombardo collaborated with Bob Eichinger and Morgan McCall on the book, Lessons of Experience: How Successful Executives Develop on the Job. Lombardo and Eichinger later started their own consulting firm, Lominger (which produced the FYI book). Lominger was later acquired by Korn & Ferry.

*Both the Competencies and the Career Stallers & Stoppers used in the FYI book came, in part, from studies at the Center for Creative Leadership (Lombardo & Eichinger, 2009).

For a comparison, I selected the decision making competency. Compass calls it “decision making” while FYI labels it “decision quality.” In the overview section of the competency on decision making, Compass offers a nice overview and links it to Captain “Sully” Sullenberger and the 208-second decision-making process he took to safely land the disabled US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River. In the “Leadership in Action” section, Compass provides a more detailed account of what happened to Flight 1549 that led to Captain Sullenberger’s quick and decisive decision making on January 15, 2009.

In the “What High Performance Looks Like” section of Compass, descriptions for how a leader appear to others when performing the decision making competency well include:

Leaders who make their decisions using sound judgment:

• grasp the crux of an issue despite having ambiguous information
• accurately differentiate between important and unimportant issues
• are quick learners
• can quickly set priorities
• have the courage to make decisions without full information

In the “What’s in Your Way?” section, Scisco, Biech, and Hallenbeck (2017) write:

“Leaders who don’t base their decisions on sound judgment put themselves, their teams, and possibly their organizations at risk. Those negative outcomes are even more likely when a leader’s judgement is compromised by a weak ethical stance or when a leader simply lacks the courage to decide to act–even without complete information” (p. 162).

Review the following list and note the items that you believe might be holding you back from becoming a better decision maker (Scisco, Biech, & Hallenbeck, 2017, p. 162):

• You don’t like to ask for input from others but prefer to go it alone.
• You fall prey to “analysis paralysis”–incessantly poring over information and approaches without making progress.
• You value complicated solutions over simple, elegant ones.
• You’re uncomfortable with ambiguity and anxious about making decisions without full information.
• Once you’ve made a decision, you insist it’s the right one even in the face of contrary evidence.

In the “Coach Yourself” section of Compass, Scisco, Biech, and Hallenbeck (2017) advise asking yourself these questions:

• “Do you make decisions quickly or do you delay for fear of getting it wrong?”
• “How comfortable are you in ambiguous situations?”
• “How do you react in a crisis?”

Another competency that both Compass and FYI share is Interpersonal Savvy.

In examining the Interpersonal Savvy competency chapter in FYI, I saw a laundry list of questions and advice that sounded more like a lecture. The exception is “The Map” section which offers a nice write-up of each competency. In my opinion, two of the biggest weaknesses of the FYI book are: (1) There’s a lack of a narrative writing style (like in “The Map” section) and often the writing is rather choppy, and (2) The recommendations (called “Remedies”) are overly repetitive. (e.g., “Be a better listener. Interpersonally skilled people are very good at listening. They listen to understand and take in information to select their response. They listen without interrupting.”).

Contrast this with the Compass book. In the Interpersonal Savvy competency chapter, listen is mentioned just twice (under What High Performance Looks Like – “listen well” and under What’s in Your Way – “you prefer to talk rather than listen”).

In the overview section of the Interpersonal Savvy competency in Compass, the authors write:

“You might have great ideas and be highly accomplished, but if you struggle to connect with other people you won’t be successful leading them. You need interpersonal skills to recognize and assess what others need. These skills involve not only listening to others, but also include noticing social cues that communicate how others are thinking and feeling, even if they don’t say so outright” (Scisco, Biech, & Hallenbeck, 2017, p. 261).

In the “What’s in Your Way?” section of the Interpersonal Savvy competency, Scisco, Biech, and Hallenbeck (2017) write:

“If you struggle to develop interpersonal savvy, you might not pick up on cues to how others are thinking and feeling until small misunderstandings grow into problems and conflicts. Others may not feel personally connected to you and may avoid coming to you with issues or may hesitate to give you helpful feedback” (p. 263).

Here’s what a competency chapter looks like in Compass. Note: I took screenshots of the Learning Agility competency chapter in a Google Books preview since I couldn’t get a good photo without bending and/or breaking the spine of my hard copy.

Summary: I never thought I would say this, but I have just found a worthy successor to my FYI book! Backed by research and practice from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), a top-ranked, world-renowned provider of leadership development, Compass: Your Guide for Leadership Development and Coaching is an incredibly useful and instantly actionable book. If you are an individual contributor, a leader or manager, or a consultant or coach, you will find the “What High Performance Looks Like” section, the “What’s in Your Way?” section, the “Coach Yourself” section, and the “Improve Now” section to be especially relevant to helping you determine the skills you need to improve or the skills you want to develop in others. The layout and design, along with the decent font size and use of icons, make reading and locating information in the Compass book effortless. Finally, the real-life stories of leaders demonstrating their skills in one of the competency areas (in the “Leadership in Action” section) make Compass truly enjoyable to read!

Written By: Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
Leadership & Talent Development Consultant

References

Lombardo, M. M., & Eichinger, R. W. (2009). FYI: For Your Improvement: A Guide for Development and Coaching (5th ed.). Minneapolis, MN: Lominger International.

Scisco, P., Biech, E., & Hallenbeck, G. (2017). Compass: Your Guide for Leadership Development and Coaching. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership Press.

Disclosure: I purchased a hard copy of Compass: Your Guide for Leadership Development and Coaching on my own.

Book Review – Forging An Ironclad Brand: A Leader’s Guide

I’m going to start this book review with a confession: I know nothing about branding. In fact, I initially thought branding was just another word for marketing and that branding was mostly or all fluff and no substance. Boy, was I wrong!

This book (Forging An Ironclad Brand) gave me an unexpected and very much appreciated lesson about branding and helped me understand that having a brand strategy is a business advantage. Pedersen explains on her website: “I want to demystify brand strategy because I know that leaders are at once intimidated by and scornful of it, because they view it as soft, amorphous, unmeasurable. Yet it can be their unassailable competitive advantage.”

In her own words, Pedersen summarizes how the book is structured:

“The book divides in thirds. The first third of the book demystifies brand so you understand what it really is, how empowering it is as a leadership tool. I “de-squish” brand, taking it apart to show what it really means.

“And since the other barrier to harnessing brand is its seeming intimidation, the second third of the book unveils my Ironclad Method. This eight-step process shows you how to build a robust and hard-working brand strategy. By following each of the eight steps, you will articulate your brand strategy in an empowered, proactive way, rather than waiting for creative lightning to strike.

“Lastly, once you grasp a firm understanding of and articulate your brand’s value, you must bring your brand to life. So in the final third of the book, I reveal the three major levers for activating a brand that will build a beloved business.

“It’s the why, what, and how of brand strategy. You will come away knowing what brand is, why you should care, and how to build one. When you finish the book, you will be equipped with the ultimate tool for what you care most about – leading a business that ever increases in value and meaning.”

The publication of Forging An Ironclad Brand is especially timely given that, in my own organization, I am tasked with helping business leaders be more effective business owners. In our Leadership Academy (a week-long leadership development intensive which is part of a 14-week program), I have the privilege of interacting with and listening to managers, directors, and Vice Presidents talk about how important and how meaningful the company is to them. Time and time again this idea of what our company stands for has come up! Out of the five core values (integrity, family, service, quality, and growth), the two that have been mentioned over and over again in all the stories shared are family and integrity!

This part superbly captures what I did not know about branding:

“Articulating your brand is not about creating something out of thin air. It’s about discovering something latent. It’s identifying what customers want that you are uniquely able to satisfy, and then building your promise around that” (Pedersen, 2019, p. 153).

Pedersen writes (2019, p. 92): “[A]ll companies are product companies, at least loosely described (a service is an intangible product). That product is the mechanism through which customers experience your brand promise. So, all companies have a product and all companies have a brand. The leaders who recognizes the role of both the product and the brand set the conditions to prosper.”

“An ironclad brand differentiates your business in an enduring way. Product can be copied. Patents expire. Features obsolesce. What cannot be copied is a relationship. What does not expire is the trust you earn by particularly and consistently solving a customer need. What never gets old is delight. Loyal customers will not only stay with you—they will follow you as you evolve. They will love you—and encourage others to engage with you, too” (Pedersen, 2019, p. 93).

“Great brands garner enormous value to a business. They help a customer to see your business, like it, and be loyal to it. What’s more, great brands help leaders to know what to prioritize and what to deprioritize as they develop content, innovate their offering, and scale their businesses. While it may seem that great brands emerged into culture fully realized, truly great brands come from an intentional defining of the brand strategy.” -Description of Lindsay Pedersen’s “Create a Brand Strategy” Lynda.com course

What’s the difference between brand and marketing?

Pedersen says:

“Brand is the meaning that you stand for in the mind of your audience, your customer. Marketing is the set of activities of messaging and delivering that meaning. So, brand is the meaning you stand for, and marketing is the activation of that meaning.”

In Forging An Ironclad Brand: A Leader’s Guide, Pedersen shares her eight-step process for crafting a brand strategy.

The Ironclad Method:

• Step 1: Orient – set the starting point: who do you serve, and what are their current alternatives for the problem you solve?
• Step 2: Listen – glean insights about the real human beings behind the concept of “target customer” by listening directly to your customers
• Step 3: Examine – inventory the insights you have about your customers, your competitors, and your company, so you can spot the overlap that’s already there and start to passionately cultivate it.
• Step 4: Ladder – distill your business’s value proposition into an argument that’s aspirational and grounded. The ladder represents the levels that your business benefits your customer, from functional and grounded to the emotional and transcendent. Your brand’s benefit ladder serves as the core of your brand strategy.
• Step 5: Characterize – People connect better with other human beings than with abstract entities. Define the character of your brand and inject it with personality and tonality. Articulate the qualities of the business as though it were a person.
• Step 6: Stage – define each stage of your customer’s journey with your brand. Sequence the customer journey; Grasp each distinctive mindset; Tailor the message by stage and mindset.
• Step 7: Activate Creative – put to use your ironclad brand strategy. The creative and messaging you create–company name, logo, About Us page, packaging, photos for your website, ads on social media, and everything you do to communicate your brand to your audience–occur in this step.
• Step 8: Zoom Out – once everything is in place, zoom out and look at your business as a first of trees in which your brand lives.

Pedersen writes based on her years of experience working to help “businesses of all shapes and sizes, from solo-owned to publicly traded; from B2B to B2C; from stodgy, old-economy categories to disruptive, new-to-the-world innovations” (p. 118). For instance, she has advised companies such as Zulily, Starbucks, T-Mobile, Coinstar and IMDb. Prior to this from 2001 to 2007, she worked for over 5 years as a Brand Manager at Clorox, where she led billion-dollar businesses and newly-launched categories, from Clorox Bleach to Armor All to Brita.

Here’s a great example. In Chapter 8 (Step 2: Listen), Pedersen painstakingly walks the readers through preparing your own listening mindset, and staying open as you conduct one-on-one phone interviews with your customers. Pedersen details how to compose your discussion guide (preparing your questions in three parts) and how to conduct your research (don’t jump too soon to the “low altitude” set of questions; using silence; not correcting/informing/teaching; and not being shallow). She illustrates this with sample questions she might prepare if she were doing the brand strategy for United Airlines First-Class Lounge (for those who often travel for work and who flies business class). Interestingly, the customer interview (pp. 150-151) sounds almost like a coaching session because of the open questions that Pedersen asks and her advice (p. 149) about using silence, listening between the lines, and not chiming in to correct or offer suggestions or advice.

Takeaway:

Forging An Ironclad Brand: A Leader’s Guide isn’t fluff. It’s not written by someone who came up with a catchy method and then jazzed it up. Pedersen is a seasoned professional and reading her book and learning from her is incredibly illuminating. It’s like having a branding expert in the palm of your hand, doling out spot on, sage advice!

“A brand is a promise delivered. It is not merely what you say you do – it is what you actually do. It is the set of functional and emotional benefits and attributes that you bring to your customer. It is what you do, how you do it, and why you do it. Once you realize that your brand is not the colors, words or graphics you use to promote your business, but instead the content of your promise to your customer, you quickly understand how inappropriate it is to think of brand as a superficial gloss. Instead you see that your brand should be built into your product or service from beginning to end.” -Lindsay Pedersen (2016)

Written By: Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
Leadership & Talent Development Consultant

References

Pedersen, L. (2019). Forging An Ironclad Brand: A Leader’s Guide. Austin, TX: Lioncrest Publishing.

Pedersen, L. (2016, March). Unleash Your Brand as a Force Multiplier. https://ironcladbrandstrategy.com/pdfs/whitepapers/IroncladBrandStrategy_WhitePaper_UnleashYourBrand.pdf

Pedersen, L. (2019, Feb 25). What is the difference between brand and marketing? https://ironcladbrandstrategy.com/ask-lindsay/can-i-have-a-brand-without-marketing-or-marketing-without-brand

Pedersen, L. (2019, Feb 25). Why I Wrote a Book About Brand. https://ironcladbrandstrategy.com/ask-lindsay/why-i-wrote-a-book-about-brand

Disclosure: I received a print copy of Forging An Ironclad Brand: A Leader’s Guide as a complimentary gift, but my book review was written as though I had purchased it.

Book Review: Applied Psychology in Talent Management (8th ed.) by Wayne Cascio and Herman Aguinis

NOTE: I am reviewing this I/O psychology textbook from a reader’s perspective (i.e., the student’s/learner’s point of view) and not from an instructor’s perspective.

Applied Psychology in Talent Management (8th ed.) is the newest edition of the Applied Psychology in Human Resource Management textbook by Wayne Cascio and Herman Aguinis. The title has changed with “Talent Management” replacing “Human Resource Management.” But make no mistake, this is an I/O psychology textbook written by two authors with PhDs in industrial and organizational psychology.

Like the 7th edition (published in 2011), Applied Psychology in Talent Management (8th ed.) maintains the same 18-chapter layout and continues to be written and designed for an academic/graduate-level audience. The textbook is very “academic” and “technical” — much more so than any of the other I/O psychology textbooks I have reviewed.

As a matter of fact, the authors wrote this in the book’s preface:

“In writing this book, we make two assumptions about our readers: (1) They are familiar with the general problems of HRM or I/O psychology, and (2) they have some background in fundamental statistics—at least enough to understand statistical procedures on a conceptual level, and preferably enough to compute and interpret tests of statistical significance [italics added]. As in earlier editions, our goals are (a) to challenge the field to advance rather than simply to document past practice, (b) to present a model toward which professionals should aim, and (c) to present scientific procedure and fundamental theory so that the serious student can develop a solid foundation on which to build a broad base of knowledge” (2019, p. xxviii).

Depending on your reading preference, you may either appreciate the technical writing style and scientific details of this textbook (i.e., contents are presented in a very theoretical, statistical, and psychometric nature) or not care much for it. Please understand that this is not a reflection on the substance and quality of the book itself, but it is important to point out.

I examined five topics: (1) the 80 percent rule or four-fifths rule used to determine adverse impact in employee selection [Ch. 8]; (2) recruitment [Ch. 11]; (3) cognitive ability tests in personnel selection [Ch. 13]; (4) job analysis [Ch. 9]; and (5) performance appraisal and management [Ch. 5].

The first topic, well-covered in many I/O psychology textbooks, is adverse impact and the 80 percent rule (or four-fifths rule) used to make an adverse impact determination in employee selection.

The explanation for the 80 percent rule was difficult to follow and the book did not clearly explain what the 80 percent rule actually is. Here’s the explanation (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019, 181):

“[A]ssume that the applicant pool consists of 300 ethnic minorities and 500 nonminorities. Further, assume that 30 minorities are hired, for a selection ratio of SR₁ = 30/300 = 10, and that 100 nonminorities are hired, for a selection ratio of SR₂ = 100/500 = 20. The adverse impact ratio is SR₁/SR₂ = .10/.20 = .50, which is substantially smaller than the suggested .80 ratio.”

At the beginning of the book, the authors provided this confusing definition of adverse impact:

“Adverse impact (unintentional) discrimination occurs when identical standards or procedures are applied to everyone, even though they lead to a substantial difference in employment outcomes (e.g., selection, promotion, and layoffs) for the members of a particular group and they are unrelated to success on a job” (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019, p. 19).

Later, in Chapter 8 (Fairness in Employment Decisions), the book provides another definition:

“[A]dverse impact means that members of one group are selected at substantially greater rates than members of another group” (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019, p. 181).

The authors then spend the next few pages showing readers how to assess “differential validity,” without ever clearly explaining what it is. I know this goes back to one of the assumptions of this book about its readers, which is that they have a “background in fundamental statistics—at least enough to understand statistical procedures on a conceptual level.”

In comparison, when I looked in the Aamodt (2013) I/O psychology textbook, only half a page was devoted to differential validity and the author explained the concept in one sentence!

In Applied Psychology in Talent Management (8th ed.), the authors zoomed in on differential validity (a test of fairness), and went into extreme details. Unfortunately, by going so deep into the minutiae of equations, sample size, confidence interval, and statistical power, rather than covering fairness in employment decisions more broadly, readers are left asking, “So what is the 80 percent rule in determining adverse impact, and what are all the statistics about?”

I actually found a nice explanation — in another I/O psychology textbook:

“The 80 percent rule is crude and can be affected substantially by sample sizes. With small sample sizes, a difference of one or two people might swing the conclusion from one of adverse impact to one of no adverse impact, or vice versa. As a result, most cases also include a determination of whether the challenged practice had a statistically significant impact on the plaintiff group. If the difference between the majority and minority groups is likely to
occur only 5 times out of 100 as a result of chance alone . . . then one could claim that adverse impact had been demonstrated” (Landy & Conte, 2013, p. 270).

The second topic is recruitment.

“Whenever human resources must be expanded or replenished, a recruiting system of some kind must be established. Advances in technology, coupled with the growing intensity of competition in domestic and international markets, have made recruitment a top priority as organizations struggle continually to gain competitive advantage through people” (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019, p. 256).

“Organizations recruit periodically in order to add to, maintain, or readjust their total workforces in accordance with HR requirements” (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019, p. 257).

“Recruitment is not a ‘one-shot’ activity. It is important to recognize three contextual/environmental features that affect all recruitment efforts: (a) Characteristics of the firm—the value of its ‘brand’ and its ‘personality’ (make the effort to learn how customers and the public perceive it); (b) Characteristics of the vacancy itself (is it mission critical?)—these affect not only the resources expended on the search but also the labor markets from which to recruit; and (c) Characteristics of the labor markets in which an organization recruits (tight versus loose)” (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019, p. 275).

“Three sequential stages characterize recruitment efforts: generating a pool of viable candidates, maintaining the status (or interest) of viable candidates, and ‘getting to yes’ after making a job offer (postoffer closure)” (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019, p. 275).

Overall, I like Cascio and Aguinis’ coverage of recruitment.

The third topic is cognitive ability tests in personnel selection. Cognitive ability tests was placed in Ch. 13 “Managerial Selection Methods.” This is odd because cognitive ability tests are administered to prospective employees at any role or level in an organization, not just those in managerial roles.

The authors explained that, “although the emphasis of this chapter is managerial selection, many of the instruments of prediction described (most notably cognitive ability tests and personality inventories) are also useful for selecting employees at lower organizational levels” (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019, p. 312).

“General cognitive ability is a powerful predictor of job performance” (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019, p. 314). In fact, among researchers, there’s considerable agreement regarding the validity of cognitive ability tests. Although general cognitive ability is a powerful predictor of job performance, use of cognitive ability tests are also likely to lead to adverse impact (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019).

It is recommended that cognitive ability tests be combined with other instruments, such as structured interviews, biodata, and personality inventories (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019).

Despite it being awkwardly placed under a chapter titled, “Managerial Selection Methods,” Cascio and Aguinis did a good job in their coverage of cognitive ability tests.

The fourth topic is job analysis (the book used work analysis instead of job analysis). Curiously, in the 7th edition of the book, Cascio and Aguinis used “job analysis.” The authors defined “work analysis” as follows:

“Work analysis is a broad term that refers to any systematic process for gathering, documenting, and analyzing three features of work: (1) its content (tasks, responsibilities, or outputs); (2) worker attributes related to its performance (knowledge, skills, abilities, or other personal characteristics, or KSAOs); and (3) the context in which work is performed (e.g., physical and psychological conditions)” (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019, p. 210).

I much prefer the definitions by Riggio or Levy:

“Job analysis is the systematic study of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of a job and the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform it” (Riggio, 2018, p. 65).

“Job analysis is the process of defining a job in terms of its component tasks or duties and the knowledge or skills required to perform them” (Levy, 2017, p. 73).

“It is difficult to overstate the importance of job or work analysis to employment research and practice. . . [W]e see the tools and techniques developed under ‘job or work analysis’ as applicable to changing structures of work, and the use of either term is not meant to convey a focus on rigidly prescribed jobs. If conducted thoroughly and competently, job or work analysis provides a deeper understanding of individual jobs and their behavioral requirements and, therefore, creates a firm basis on which to make employment decisions” (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019, p. 210).

No single type of job analysis data can support all talent management activities (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019). “When collecting work-related information, a variety of choices confront the analyst. Begin by defining clearly the purpose for collecting such information. Since the many methods for collecting such data have offsetting advantages and disadvantages, choose multiple methods that best suit the purpose identified” (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019, p. 234).

As a whole, Cascio and Aguinis did a fine job discussing job/work analysis.

The fifth and final topic is performance appraisal and management.

One of the highlights of Applied Psychology in Talent Management is its outstanding coverage of performance management.

Performance management is the ongoing process of identifying, measuring, and developing the performance of individuals and teams and aligning performance with the organization’s strategic goals (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019). It is not a one-time event that takes place during the annual performance-review period. Rather, performance is assessed at regular intervals, and feedback is provided so that performance is improved on an ongoing basis. Performance appraisal is the systematic description of job-relevant strengths and weaknesses within and between employees or groups. It is a critical component of all performance management systems (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019).

“Performance management has both technical and interpersonal components. Focusing on the measurement and technical issues to the exclusion of interpersonal and emotional ones is likely to lead to a system that does not produce the intended positive results of improving performance and aligning individual and team performance with organizational goals” (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019, p. 117).

“Good performance management systems are congruent with the organization’s strategic goals; they are thorough, practical, meaningful, and specific; they discriminate between good and poor performance; and they are reliable and valid, inclusive, and fair and acceptable (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019, p. 117).

360-degree feedback systems broaden the base of appraisals by including input from self, peers, subordinates, and even clients. There are four advantages to 360-degree feedback systems: (1) 360-degree feedback result in improved reliability of information on an employee’s performance because it comes from multiple sources; (2) 360-degree feedback takes into consideration a wider range of information about performance; (3) 360-degree feedback often include information about task performance as well as contextual performance and even counterproductive work behaviors; and (4) 360-degree feedback can decrease biases since it comes from multiple sources (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019).

“There is no such thing as a ‘silver bullet’ in measuring the complex construct of performance, so consider carefully the advantages and disadvantages of each measurement approach in a given organizational context” (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019, p. 117).

What I like: I like the “Evidence-Based Implications For Practice” section at the end of each chapter. There is a lot of great information in this textbook, but you must spend time looking for and carefully study the information because it is very, very easy to miss.

One chapter that I did not review, but appreciate is Ch. 10 Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP). SWP is “an effort to anticipate future business and environmental demands on an organization and to meet the talent requirements dictated by these conditions” (Cascio & Aguinis, 2019, p. 237).

SWP systems include several interrelated activities: Talent inventories to assess current resources (skills, abilities, promotional potential, assignment histories, etc.); and Workforce forecasts to predict future HR requirements (numbers, skills mix, internal vs. external labor supply). Combined, talent inventories and workforce forecasts help identify workforce needs that provide operational meaning and direction for action plans in many different areas (including recruitment, selection, training, placement, transfer, promotion, development, and compensation). Finally, control and evaluation to provide feedback to the workforce planning system and monitor the degree of attainment of HR goals and objectives (Cascio & Aguinis, 2011, 2019).

What I didn’t like: I have two major gripes about Applied Psychology in Talent Management. The first and biggest gripe is the verbose writing style. The authors took an inordinately long time to explain even basic concepts and somehow manages, in the end, to still confuse this reader. Simple explanations or definitions sound as though a lawyer had written them.

My second gripe, related to the first, about Applied Psychology in Talent Management is its tendency to delve too often and too deep into elaborate, scientific explanations for every single topic, which can cause readers to have trouble seeing the forest for the trees. The book often took readers so deep into tiny details of a topic that it failed to help readers see the bigger picture.

A great example illustrating this is the book’s in-depth coverage of utility analysis. Cascio and Aguinis (2019) devoted half of Ch. 14 and several pages in Ch. 16 delving into the complex details (including formulas and equations) of utility analysis. Despite the intense coverage, I was still unsure (1) what utility analysis is, and (2) why it’s important/applicable to I/O psychology.

In the Landy and Conte textbook, on one page and in 4 sentences, I found the answers to my questions of what utility analysis is and why it’s applicable (or not) to I/O psychology:

Utility analysis is a “technique that assesses the economic return on investment of human resource interventions such as staffing and training” (Landy & Conte, 2013, p. 300).

“Utility analysis uses accounting procedures to measure the costs and benefits of training programs (Landy & Conte, 2013, p. 300).

“A utility analysis can provide training evaluators and organizational decision makers with an overall dollar value of the training program” (Landy & Conte, 2013, p. 300).

And here’s why most of the I/O psychology textbooks only briefly mention utility analysis: “To perform utility analysis, training evaluators use complex formulas that are beyond the scope of this book” (Landy & Conte, 2013, p. 300).

Furthermore, Cascio and Aguinis’ decision to devote an exorbitant amount of time and attention to covering utility analysis while completely ignoring and neglecting coverage of motivation is a huge misstep. Why? Motivation is one of the most widely researched and thoroughly explored topics in I/O psychology (Levy, 2017; Riggio, 2018). Every I/O psychology textbook I examined — seven in all [Aamodt, 2013; Landy & Conte, 2013; Levy, 2017; Muchinsky, 2006; Riggio, 2018; Spector, 2017; Truxillo, Bauer, & Erdogan, 2016] — had a chapter dedicated to motivation.

Finally, another glaring omission is the lack of a glossary or at least definitions of terms on the side of the page. I have never seen an I/O psychology textbook not include either a glossary or definitions of terms on the side of the page, until now. Applied Psychology in Talent Management (8th ed.) had neither.

Takeaway: Without question, Applied Psychology in Talent Management (8th ed.) is a useful industrial/organizational psychology resource to have. However, be warned, the book’s contents and writing style are geared toward a decidedly academic audience.

The book is not fun to read, but it is helpful when you’re doing research. To be fair, the publisher’s website did state that this textbook takes “a rigorous, evidence-based approach” and the authors did write that one of the assumptions of this book is that readers possess a decent grasp of statistics.

My two biggest criticisms of this book are: (1) that it is too verbose (when simple, clear, and direct are more effective), and (2) that it often takes readers so deep into tiny, irrelevant details of a topic that it fails to help readers see the bigger picture.

Because the book follows the traditional academic writing style, it is “heavy” and makes reading and locating information difficult and tiring. If the goal of a textbook is to get students interested in a subject, doesn’t it make sense to use a writing style that is readable and not long-winded?

I/O psychology textbooks contain identical or very similar information (e.g., training and development, job analysis, employee selection, performance management, etc.), but the manner in which the material is presented can make the choice to go with one textbook over another an easy and obvious one.

For the reasons stated above, when I want to learn about any I/O psychology topic, my first choice is to turn to Paul Levy’s Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Understanding The Workplace or Ronald Riggio’s Introduction to Industrial/Organizational Psychology because of the extremely readable writing style of either textbook. If I need to conduct further research, I would then turn to more research-intensive, academically-written resources like the Applied Psychology in Talent Management (8th ed.) book for a deeper dive. There’s no doubt in my mind that Applied Psychology in Talent Management (8th ed.) is a useful tool to have in my I/O psychology toolbox. It’s just not my favorite or preferred tool.

Written By: Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
Leadership & Talent Development Consultant

References

Aamodt, M. G. (2013). Industrial/organizational psychology: An applied approach (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Cascio, W. F., & Aguinis, H. (2011). Applied psychology in human resources management (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Cascio, W. F., & Aguinis, H. (2019). Applied psychology in talent management (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Landy, F. J. & Conte, J. M. (2013). Work in the 21st century: An introduction to industrial and organizational psychology (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Levy, P. E. (2017). Industrial/organizational psychology: Understanding the workplace (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Muchinsky, P. M. (2006). Psychology applied to work (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Riggio, R. E. (2018). Introduction to Industrial/Organizational Psychology (7th ed.). New York: Routledge.

Spector, P. E. (2017). Industrial and organizational psychology: Research and practice (7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Truxillo, D. M., Bauer, T. N., & Erdogan, B. (2016). Psychology and work: Perspectives on industrial and organizational psychology. New York: Routledge.

Disclosure: I received a print copy of Applied Psychology in Talent Management (8th ed.) as a complimentary gift, but my book review was written as though I had purchased it.

Book Review – Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Understanding the Workplace (5th ed.) by Paul E. Levy

Note: I initially received the textbook in an ebook format, accessible via the VitalSource website or VitalSource Bookshelf software program that you download and install. The VitalSource Bookshelf ebook platform (website and software program) was so frustrating and clumsy to use that I almost didn’t review this book. Luckily, the program manager for psychology at Macmillan Learning (publisher of Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Understanding the Workplace [5th ed.]) sent me a hard/print copy. Indeed, there’s evidence supporting the use of print over digital textbooks (Alexander & Singer, 2017; Baron, 2016; Crum, 2015).

Book Review of the hard copy of Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Understanding the Workplace (5th ed.):

Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Understanding the Workplace (5th ed.) is the fifth edition of Dr. Paul E. Levy’s I/O psychology textbook. Professor Levy explained that the fifth edition is a “substantial revision with some major in-chapter structural changes and significant content-related updates, adjustments, and additions” (2017, p. xv).

Dr. Levy wrote that he “held fast to the same overriding principles in the design and writing of the fifth edition—to develop interesting, reader-friendly, current, research-based coverage of I/O psychology” (2017, p. xv).

I examined five topics: (1) training and development [Ch. 8]; (2) the 80 percent rule or four-fifths rule used to determine adverse impact in employee selection [Ch. 7]; (3) predictors used to make employee selections [Ch. 6]; (4) job analysis [Ch. 3], and (5) motivation [Ch. 9].

The first topic is training and development. Training and development is my passion and an area I’m always interested in, especially as it relates to I/O psychology and any evidence-based resources (journal articles, research studies, etc.). I really like Levy’s explanation of transfer of training: “Transfer of training is the extent to which the material, skills, or procedures learned in training are taken back to the job and used by the employee in some regular fashion. From the organization’s perspective, this principle is integral to the success of the training program” (Levy, 2017, p. 254). This is a fantastic explanation of a key component of training!

I was also pleased with the sections on training delivery and training evaluation. I was happy to see that professor Levy included a discussion about orientation training or onboarding in this chapter, under the training delivery section. “The socialization process for new employees can be very important in that it determines their first impression of the organization, supervisors, and coworkers. This is also the time when new employees learn the formal and informal rules, procedures, and expectations of the organization or work group” (Levy, 2017, p. 263).

I was delighted to find the topic of coaching also included. Levy explained that although “coaching is not considered as a training technique in many classic treatments of organizational training. [He is] discussing it in this chapter because its focus is on developing employees and helping them to get better at their jobs, which is, in large part, what training is all about. When [Levy] talk[s] to I/O practitioners about the really big issues in their organizations, [he] invariably find[s] that coaching is one of the first things they mention” (Levy, 2017, p. 264).

Another surprising gem was the mention of corporate universities. “As organizations continue to become more focused on continuous learning and the management of knowledge within the company, corporate universities should grow in importance” (Levy, 2017, p. 267).

The second topic is the 80 percent rule (or four-fifths rule) used to make an adverse impact determination in employee selection. Levy does an exceptional job explaining and covering the four-fifths rule:

“To appreciate the intricacies of employment law as it applies to I/O psychology, you need to understand adverse impact. This concept, defined in the Guidelines as the ‘80% rule of thumb,’ is the common practical operationalization of discrimination according to the courts. A selection procedure is said to exhibit adverse impact (i.e., to discriminate) against a group if the selection rate (i.e., the percentage of applicants hired) for that group is less than 80% of the selection rate for the group with the highest selection rate” (Levy, 2017, p. 223).

Professor Levy followed this great overview by explaining the 80% rule using a table showing two cases, one in which there is no adverse impact and one in which adverse impact is present. No other I/O psychology textbooks (I looked at five) provided as great an overview of adverse impact and explained the absence or presence of adverse impact using numbers and percentages in a table as well and as clearly and effectively as the Levy textbook! Only one of the textbooks, out of the five I looked at, used a table with two cases and numbers and percentages, but it was not as easy to comprehend as professor Levy’s textbook. Dr. Levy also outlined the role the four-fifths rule plays in an employment discrimination case.

At the end of Ch. 7, in a section called “Taking It to the Field,” Levy presents the readers with a scenario that requires them to recall what they’ve learned about the four-fifths rule in determining adverse impact in employee selection. This careful, and yet succinctly clear, treatment of such a critical topic in I/O psychology is to be applauded. Absolutely outstanding!

The third topic is predictors (Ch. 6) used to make employee selections. I love that Levy used the title “predictors” for the chapter. As he explained:

“Predictors are of great importance because we place so much trust in their ability to model criteria. Just as faulty criteria can result in bad organizational decisions such as firing or promoting the wrong employee, faulty predictors can result in hiring the wrong person or not hiring the right person” (Levy, 2017, p. 168).

I like that Dr. Levy divided the chapter into two major subheadings: Testing Formats (under which are Computer Adaptive Testing; Speed Versus Power Tests; Individual Versus Group Tests; Paper-and-Pencil Versus Performance Tests) and Predictors (under which are Cognitive Ability; Psychomotor Tests; Personality Tests; Integrity Tests; Work Samples; Assessment Centers).

Professor Levy did a great job discussing the importance of validity coefficient to employee selection. Validity coefficient (r) is an index of the relationship between a predictor and a criterion. Researchers and practitioners use it as evidence that a test is a good predictor of job performance (Levy, 2017).

In Table 6.5 on p. 195, Levy provides a fantastic table showing the validity coefficients for common predictors for employee selection. In that table, we can see how the different types of predictors (e.g., general cognitive ability, emotional intelligence, personality test, etc.) rank in predicting job performance. For instance, we can see right away that structured interviews are extremely effective (r=0.71) compared to unstructured interviews (r=0.20) and even cognitive ability (r=0.53 and r=0.48). We can also see that predictors such as work samples, personality tests, and emotional intelligence tests are better at predicting job performance than unstructured interviews.

The fourth topic is job analysis or “the process of defining a job in terms of its component tasks or duties and the knowledge or skills required to perform them” (Levy, 2017, p. 73).

“Although job analysis tends to receive little empirical attention, it is among the most important areas of I/O psychology, providing the foundation on which all other HR processes are built” (Levy, 2017, p. 95).

Professor Levy explained that job analysis experts categorize job analysis methods as either task-oriented or worker-oriented. “Task-oriented techniques focus on describing the various tasks that are performed on the job. Worker-oriented techniques examine broad human behaviors involved in work activities” (Levy, 2017, p. 74). Levy pointed out that “one approach is not necessarily better than the other; as a job analyst, you can choose a hybrid approach or any combination of pieces from different job-analytic techniques” (Levy, 2017, p. 74).

Levy did a nice job covering job analysis and I appreciated the outstanding figures and diagrams that provided a great visual and bird’s-eye view so readers can have a better understanding of the topic. For instance, in Figure 3.1 (p. 73), Levy provided a clear and easy-to-understand diagram showing that job analysis is comprised of job evaluation, job description, and job specifications, and how job analysis is related to other human resources functions (e.g., compensation, training, performance appraisal, selection, etc.). Another great diagram is the O*NET Content Model (Fig. 3.5, p. 79), which actually looks cleaner and better than the original O*NET Content Model found on the O*NET website!

The fifth (and final) topic is motivation, one of the most thoroughly explored topics in I/O psychology (Levy, 2017). I really like how Dr. Levy shares his own experience about what he tells companies or senior leaders when they ask him for tips to motivate their workers:

“As an I/O psychologist, I am often asked by organizational managers and executives about what can be done to improve the motivation of their workforce. One theme that I have emphasized throughout this book is the complexity of human behavior at work. This complexity explains why we need to use multiple tests (i.e., a selection battery) for employee selection and why we are fortunate if our battery accounts for 30% of the variance in performance. It also explains why even the most skilled and competent professionals are not always the best performers. Ability is an important predictor of individual performance, but so is motivation. The brightest and most skilled workers in the world will not be successful if they are not motivated to be successful” (Levy, 2017, p. 283).

Levy provided a great definition of work motivation: “A force that drives people to behave in a way that energizes, directs, and sustains their work behavior” (Levy, 2017, p. 283). I also like how professor Levy explained that motivation is an abstract concept: “Motivation is an abstract internal concept that cannot be seen, touched, or measured directly. We infer motivation from employees’ behaviors; we operationalize it by measuring behavior choice, intensity, and persistence” (Levy, 2017, p. 283). In the “Taking It to the Field” section for Ch. 9 [Motivation], Levy asks readers to apply what they’ve learned about theories of motivation in responding to an email inquiry from a client.

What I Really Like:

There are I/O Today boxes, one for each chapter in the book, that I really enjoy. The I/O Today boxes “present cutting-edge practices, current controversies, and developing theories that practitioners and researchers are grappling with now and that will continue to influence the field in the coming years” (Levy, 2017, p. xviii).

Here are the titles of all I/O Today boxes: Scientist/Practitioner Gap; Big Data; Future of Job Analysis; Performance & Disability; Technology, Performance Measurement, & Privacy; Remote Assessment for Selection; Religion in the Workplace; Gamification in Job Training; Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE); Relationship Between Unions & Job Satisfaction; PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] and STSD [secondary traumatic stress disorder]; Age Diversity in Teams; Romance of Leadership; and Holacracy.

I found these boxes/sections to be very refreshing since the general public and students don’t always see the connection between how psychology is applied in the workplace and/or what connection this has with the real workplace.

For instance, in the I/O Today box/section on Big Data, Levy wrote: “One of the most important developments in I/O psychology in the past decade has been the emergence of something known as ‘Big Data,’ which refers to massive data sets (potentially millions or even billions of data points) that are rapidly accumulated and contain information on a wide assortment of variables” (Levy, 2017, p. 65).

“[B]ecause this field is so new, most graduate programs have not had time to adapt their training to help students learn how to work with Big Data. Because these data sets are so large, conventional statistical packages such as SPSS, SAS, or Excel are unable to handle the calculations. Students need to focus more heavily on programming languages such as Python and Javascript, and must think more strategically about how to present data in a way that makes sense to a lay audience” (Levy, 2017, p. 65-66).

Another interesting I/O Today box/section is titled, “Gamification in Job Training.” Professor Levy wrote: “gamification refers to the use of gaming mechanics (such as virtual worlds, leaderboards, and unlocking achievements) to train employees, and it represents an exciting new trend within the training realm. Arguably, this technique appeals to computer savvy workers and can help to motivate employees to complete training and hone their skills. Gamification as a concept is not new; for decades, academic and military institutions have often found ways to incorporate game components such as badges, achievements, and points to encourage certain learning behaviors” (Levy, 2017, p. 260).

“Gamification holds many potential benefits for employers and employees by making learning and practicing fun, but trainers must be thoughtful about when gamification is appropriate and how best to implement it” (Levy, 2017, p. 260).

Levy poses two or three thought-provoking discussion questions to engage students/learners at the bottom of each I/O Today section. He also provides references and suggestions for additional readings on the topic. These I/O Today sections are relevant, practical, and bring I/O psychology to life. Well done!

Another feature I really like is the Taking It to the Field section which follows the Summary section at the end of each chapter. These are detailed scenarios or consulting situations that require the reader/learner to analyze, evaluate, and solve a realistic I/O problem. For instance, the Taking It to the Field section for Ch. 3 is on job analysis. Levy provided some great tips for writing effective worker-oriented job descriptions and for designing possible interview questions. In the Taking It to the Field section for Ch. 7, Levy asked readers to imagine that they are responding to an email inquiry about the legality of a hiring process. More specifically, in composing their email response, they would need to recall what they had learned about the use of the four-fifths rule to determine adverse impact in employee selection. In another Taking It to the Field section for Ch. 13, readers are asked to address gender and leadership in an email inquiry from a female founder of a company which is experiencing a higher level of turnover as well as complaints from exit interviews about the lack of leadership. These scenarios are a wonderful way to engage students and get them to imagine a real-world application!

Summary: The print copy of Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Understanding the Workplace (5th ed.) by Paul E. Levy is a terrific I/O psychology textbook. The fifth edition lives up to Dr. Levy’s goal of producing a textbook that engages, excites, and instructs. The student-friendly writing style combined with fantastic charts and graphics make this book accessible and engaging. The I/O Today and Taking It to the Field sections are outstanding. They present cutting-edge practices (I/O Today) and really engage readers in analyzing, evaluating, and problem-solving realistic I/O scenarios (Taking It to the Field), helping to bring I/O psychology to real life! Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Understanding the Workplace (5th ed.) is an excellent and important resource in the field of I/O psychology and I highly recommend it.

Written By: Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
Leadership & Talent Development Consultant

References

Alexander, P. A., & Singer, L. M. (2017, October 15). A new study shows that students learn way more effectively from print textbooks than screens. http://www.businessinsider.com/students-learning-education-print-textbooks-screens-study-2017-10

Baron, N. (2016, July 20). Do students lose depth in digital reading? https://theconversation.com/do-students-lose-depth-in-digital-reading-61897

Crum, M. (2015, February 27). Sorry, Ebooks. These 9 Studies Show Why Print Is Better. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/27/print-ebooks-studies_n_6762674.html

Levy, P. E. (2017). Industrial/organizational psychology: Understanding the workplace (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Disclosure: I received a print copy of Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Understanding the Workplace (5th ed.) as a complimentary gift, but my book review was written as though I had purchased it.

Book Review: Straight Talk for Startups by Randy Komisar and Jantoon Reigersman

NOTE: For this book review, I intentionally and excessively quoted the authors throughout the post. I do this for two reasons: (1) I prefer to have the authors’ words speak for themselves rather than me interpreting, generalizing, or inadvertently misinterpreting their intent, and (2) It helps you, the readers, see the quality of the authors’ work/writing.

In Straight Talk for Startups, venture capitalist Randy Komisar and finance executive Jantoon Reigersman shared the “secrets” they’ve gathered “from decades of being on both sides of the table—originally as entrepreneurs looking for advice and more recently as mentors” (p. xix). As they caution, “You must be fluent in all issues facing entrepreneurs if you hope to win” (p. xx).

From the publisher’s website for the book: Komisar and Reigersman walk budding entrepreneurs through 100 essential rules—from pitching your idea to selecting investors to managing your board to deciding how and when to achieve liquidity. Culled from their own decades of experience, as well as the experiences of their many successful colleagues and friends, the rules are organized under broad topics, from “Mastering the Fundamentals” and “Selecting the Right Investors,” to “The Ideal Fundraise,” “Building and Managing Effective Boards,” and “Achieving Liquidity.”

“From the outside, starting a company looks easy. Just wake up with an idea, tell your friends, and convince one or two people to partner up; take your pick of top-tier venture capital investors, build a product, get swarmed by offers, and sell to the highest bidder. But we know it isn’t really like that” (Komisar & Reigersman, 2018, p. 269-270).

The Review: It’s actually the last sentence describing the book (for those “curious about what makes high-potential ventures tick”) that got my attention and piqued my interest. You see, I do not run, work for or have any plans for creating a startup. The closest I’ve ever come to a startup is watching entrepreneurs on TV’s Shark Tank, a reality TV show about entrepreneurship in America; the “Sharks” – tough, self-made, multi-millionaire and billionaire tycoons – invest in the best businesses and products that America has to offer.

I’m writing this review from the perspective of someone who’s simply curious about how startups work.

Investopedia.com (2018) has succint and clear definitions for entrepreneur and startup.

Here’s the verbatim definition of startup from Investopedia.com: A startup is a company that is in the first stage of its operations. These companies are often initially bankrolled by their entrepreneurial founders as they attempt to capitalize on developing a product or service for which they believe there is a demand. Due to limited revenue or high costs, most of these small-scale operations are not sustainable in the long term without additional funding from venture capitalists.

Because Straight Talk for Startups is written as a list, it doesn’t “flow” like when reading a standard/usual business book. And since it uses a list (100 insider rules), it’s only fitting that I select a handful (one or two from each of the five parts that the book is divided into), and quote and talk about them below.

Part 1: Mastering the Fundamentals
Rule #5 (p. 13): Most failures result from poor execution, not unsuccessful innovation.

“Timimg is critical. If you are right about the market but wrong about the timing, you will fail just the same” (Komisar & Reigersman, 2018, p. 13).

Komisar and Reigersman said that Steve Jobs’ underappreciated strength was his “unnancy ability to never ship a product before its time” (p. 14). They talked about how Jobs killed off the Newton project (which had been struggling for years), but kept the talented people working in the area and redirected them to target digital music, eventually leading to the iPod.

“It was a decade later that Apple introduced the iPhone, a quantum leap from the Newton. The technology and batteries were finally cost-effective, the market had been primed to carry [Apple’s] entertainment in their pocket, and, by adding a cellular radio and a clever touch interface, Jobs finally had what he needed to deliver on the promise of a connected online communicator” (Komisar & Reigersman, 2018, p. 14).

Rule #18 (p. 45): Know your financial numbers and their interdependencies by heart. You might think that these rules are generic advice, but you would be wrong. Rule #18 offers a prime example of the detail-oriented wisdom shared. The authors offered a quick primer on how the financial numbers (e.g., income statement, cash flow statement, balance sheet, working capital schedule, debt & cash schedule) work together.

Komisar and Reigersman (2018) said that as an entrepreneur, you need “to be able to drill down into the components of each element [in the financial numbers] so you understand, for instance, why revenues have increased rapidly (more customers) but your operating margins have shrunk (discounts to accelerate sales, customers not as profitable as expected, etc.)” (p. 49).

Part 2: Selecting the Right Investors
Rule #31 (p. 80): Avoid venture capital unless you absolutely need it.

“Remember: venture capital comes at a price, in the form of a meaningful percentage of your company. . . So you have to be prepared to part with a significant portion of your company to even attract a good venture capitalist” (Komisar & Reigersman, 2018, p. 80).

“Venture capitalists will impose certain controls on what you can and cannot do without their approval, such as sell the company or issue new shares” (Komisar & Reigersman, 2018, p. 81).

Part 3: The Ideal Fundraise
Rule #42 (p. 110): Raise capital in stages as you remove risk.

Raise money in stages because “if you raise more money than you need in an attempt to remove the leap-of-faith risks too early, you will pay a big price. Given everything that you still have to prove and accomplish, on a risk-adjusted basis, your valuation will be too low to provide you and your team with a compelling upside after you absorb all the dilution a ‘one-and-done’ round would entail. Simply stated, you are too risky at the start to raise all the capital you need at an attractive price” (Komisar & Reigersman, 2018, p. 110).

Part 4: Building & Managing Effective Boards
Rule #65 (p. 175): Your board should be operational rather than administrative.

“You want businesspeople, not bureaucrats. You want a board of strategic thinkers with strong operating backgrounds, who are willing to work hard to make your venture a success. . . They need to be informed, available, knowledgeable, and engaged” (Komisar & Reigersman, 2018, p. 175).

Part 5: Achieving Liquidity
Rule #87 (p. 231): Investors’ and management’s interests in liquidity often conflict.

“Investors may argue against the sale of a venture below a certain price—even when it would provide a resctable outcome for all. They [the investors] expect a larger multiple and return on their investment and are willing to roll the dice to get more” (Komisar & Reigersman, 2018, p. 231).

At the end of the book, in the Epilogue, Komisar and Reigersman shared their “Cardinal Rule” which is “Always Ask Why?”

“Know why this venture is important to you. Why it should be important to others. And, given the low probability of success for any venture, why it is nevertheless worth failing at. Of course you don’t want to fail; success is always preferable to failure. But if you fail, will you feel you wasted your time, or that you fought the good fight?” (Komisar & Reigersman, 2018, p. 271-272).

I love this part:

“You don’t just dream up a company; you sweat the details and manage operations. You watch every nickel and are strategic about whom you raise it from. You lead through good times and bad. You assemble trusted advisers, coaches, and boards to keep you on track. You don’t dream it; you work it—hard” (Komisar & Reigersman, 2018, p. 270).

Summary: Reading about what it takes to start and run a company, in particular the know-how and experience needed to get the job done, and gleaning from the sage advice distilled in the 100 rules, was an extraordinarily informative experience. Based on the wisdom shared by Komisar and Reigersman, anyone—not only entrepreneurs—can benefit from the tips and guidance in the rules from Straight Talk for Startups. Even if you’re not an entrepreneur or know anything about startups, if you’re just curious about what makes a startup venture work, then I think you’ll find Straight Talk for Startups to be a fascinating read.

Written By: Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
Leadership & Talent Development Consultant

References

Investopedia.com. (2018). Entrepreneur. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/entrepreneur.asp

Investopedia.com. (2018). Startup. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/startup.asp

Komisar, R., & Reigersman, J. (2018). Straight Talk for Startups. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Disclosure: I received Straight Talk for Startups as a complimentary gift, but my book review was written as though I had purchased it.