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Greetings Cultures of organizations are, by nature, dynamic. That is - An organization's culture can naturally change and evolve as a response to changes in the organization, the members of the organization, and its environment.
- An organization's culture can change as a result of a leader's decision to orchestrate a change in order to better meet specific strategic objectives.
Because one of Creative Energy Options, Inc. (CEO) basic principles of leadership is systemic and that "We Are All Connected", planned cultural change can begin with just one person who decides that there is a better way. Whether office politics is what motivates you to want to change, or the realization that the "old" way of doing things doesn't work in today's new world, or that searching for your purpose in life is at a standstill, CEO leadership programs may be just what you need. These three dynamics (office politics, what works in our new world, and the importance of finding meaning in one's life) are addressed in this issue of PEPtalk.
Office Politics: the Good, the Bad, and the Uglyby Nancy Pennebaker Office politics is a hot topic. If you Google the term, more than 85 million hits come up. While the majority of scholarly research on this organizational dynamic is also quite extensive, recent literature is beginning to address the issue of whether this phenomenon can be a useful tool for an organization instead of being a hindrance. Just what is office (or organizational) politics? Organizational Behavior (OB) researchers have been struggling with its definition for more than fifty years. It is a complicated dynamic and (therefore) difficult to define. In fact a "one size fits all" definition continues to elude OB scholars. In addition, current research is beginning to address the positive side of the use of power in an organization. After all, power and its usage are embedded in the dynamics of humankind. OB researchers are finding that it is not that power in the workplace is bad—creating ugly situations that can culminate in high turnover and expensive litigation—but that the intentions behind the use of power is what impacts an organization in either a positive or negative way. So what lies underneath the employee facade that motivates an individual to use power for "the good of the organization" or for "the good of oneself"? Creative Energy Options (CEO) is a unique leadership development program that goes to the core of ones' individual motivations. Learning to handle power and politics in the workplace in order to bring out the best in our employees and organization is what leadership is about. A successful manager understands the benefits and the downsides of office politics. Whether productive or counter productive to an organization's effectiveness, politics in the workplace is here to stay. As many researchers acknowledge, it behooves the corporate executive officer, the manager, and the "lower-level participants in an organization" to understand the meanings of this behavioral dynamic, its causes, characteristics and relationships, and how to be effective and skillful in its uses—at multiple levels of engagement including the individual level, the subgroup and group level, and at the macro-organizational level. CEO leaders understand the misuses of power and are able to model a new paradigm that transforms the ugly side of office politics into a new and better way to get the business done and positively impact the corporate bottom line. For more information and a list of research citations used for this article, please contact Nancy Pennebaker at nancy.pennebaker@sbcglobal.net Nancy Pennebaker, Senior Consultant and Consulting Faculty with CEO, Inc. brings more than 30 years of professional experience in the fields of education, non-profit foundations, strategic planning and leadership training. Nancy has a bachelors of arts in psychology, a masters of science in journalism, is a graduate of Stanford University's Institute of Executive Leadership and is completing her doctorate in Organizational Behavior and Leadership from the College of Business at Capella University.
Old Principles in a New Worldby George Pennebaker Nancy and I recently attended the Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM) conference in Las Vegas and heard keynoter Daniel Pink (the author of "A Whole New Mind") talk about the new ways we must think in our "everybody-is-a-neighbor" world. Computer technology's impact on a workforce that generally performed the routine tasks available 50 years ago (think about gathering, organizing and producing a phone book for New York City) now requires a workforce that must be capable of completely different skills. For example Pink believes that if one is able to simply write down the instructions for how to get a job completed, then that particular job qualifies (again like the publishing of a phone book) as a job for the computers (not humans). Few will argue that our high tech equipment can gather large banks of data and process this data into a user-friendly phone book quicker and better than a collection of clerical and production staff. However, when it comes to a task that requires creative thinking and conceptual design, only humans have the complexity of skills that computers lack. In other words, Pink's whole new mind means emphasizing the right side of our brains (rather than the left side—the one that was so necessary prior to the "computer/information age".) Interestingly, just after we heard Pink's speech, I read Al Gore's book "The Assault on Reason". Gore's basic tenent is that we need to restore rational thinking into our decision making processes. Our founding fathers based our government on the population talking through and understanding the issues before decisions are made. He notes that over the last several decades political discourse has become a one-way (sound bite) communication through radio and television sending, but not receiving, information. Gore holds out for the internet becoming the next stage for a more complex, two-way discourse, one like the town hall meetings our founding fathers relied upon. So what are Pink and Gore really saying? Pink says that the new world will be driven by thoughts and ideas coming from the right side of the brain. He is saying that we need to use our inventive out-of-the-box side of the brain to generate the new concepts, ideas, models and paradigms needed for the global economy to function effectively. Gore says two-way communication must exist if our knowledge, understanding and decision making processes are to function effectively. We know that in this global society, we are all connected. We are connected in that what one of us does certainly affects others, near and far. If we disregard this connection by relying on the technology instead of our human creative capacities, and if we become satisfied with the sound bites and the email system rather than the face-to-face meetings, we make little or no use of this connective interplay. Authentic communication gets us to the level of understanding that Pink and Gore allude to. CEO's leadership program participants learn how to get to these higher levels of understanding. Our future depends on understanding and using our connections. Let's make sure that we are two-way communicators. The best way to do that is to be one yourself. My email address is george.pennebaker@sbcglobal.net. Communicate!
George Pennebaker, a pharmacist, a columnist, an innovator and leader in the healthcare profession, received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of California in 1961. He has served on several Boards and Commissions and is a Past President of the California Pharmacists Association.
Man’s Search for MeaningBy Mary Wilson Man’s Search for Meaning, by Victor Frankl, may be the most important book you read this year—or ever. Originally published in 1946, it’s not really a “business” book, but rather an account of Frankl’s experiences in several concentration camps including Auschwitz and Dachau. The second part of the book explains Dr. Frankl’s theory of “logotherapy”, which “focuses on the meaning of human existence as well as on man’s search for such a meaning. According to logotherapy, this striving to find a meaning in one’s life is the primary motivational force in man.” While living through the most awful physical and mental conditions in the camps, Frankl, a psychiatrist, became curious about why some prisoners struggled to survive and others simply gave up. He concluded that those who saw a meaning or purpose for their lives—and for their suffering—were able to preserve their spiritual freedom. They chose the attitude with which they faced the worst circumstances. He describes how some prisoners “made a victory of those experiences, turning life into an inner triumph.” For anyone who struggles to transform the victim or martyr pattern, there are crucial lessons here. If you’re sliding back into “I can’t” or “poor me” scenarios, reread or remember Frankl’s description of those who, despite the worst persecution, found higher meaning in their suffering and refused to define themselves as victims. To continue, click read more Mary Wilson, M.A., Senior Consultant & Consulting Faculty, was head of people development for McDonald's largest global supplier. She brings 30 years of experience as a business consultant, senior manager and human resources development professional. Her expertise is in the areas of leadership development, performance feedback, teambuilding, interpersonal communication and conflict management. She is an adjunct professor in the Leadership Development Institute at Northampton Community College and a certified mediator.
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