End-of-Chapter Questions / Chapter 1
Case Connections
Do the good guys really finish first?
Unfortunately, at one time or another, pretty much everyone has experienced the energy-sucking downer of working for a mean boss, or playing on a team with a cranky coach, or even just hanging out with a friend or family member in a rotten mood. Research in the Harvard Business Review points out that moods are highly contagious and that moods that start at the top are the most “catching” of all because everyone watches the boss and tends to take their emotional cues from him or her. In fact, research shows that work teams across diverse industries end up sharing moods – both good and bad – within two hours. Interestingly, genuine cheerfulness and warmth spread most quickly, irritability more slowly, and depression most slowly.
While few can argue that working for an upbeat, inspirational, optimistic boss is more fun, positive experience, there is less agreement about whether the boss’s mood impacts the organization’s bottom line. The key arguments:
The boss’s mood matters:
- The Harvard Business Review reports that “A cranky and ruthless boss creates a toxic organization filled with negative underachievers who ignores opportunities; an inspirational, inclusive leader spawns acolytes for whom any challenge is surmountable. The final link in the chain is performance: profit or loss.
- Earlier research conducted at Cornell found that an upbeat environment fosters mental efficiency, making people better at taking in and understanding information, at using decision rules in complex judgments and at being flexible in their thinking.
Sometimes it takes a kick in the pants…
- Some people argue that a more “rough and tumble” leader scares people out of complacency and into a high performance zone that they might not otherwise reach. Oft-cited examples:
Bill Gates, one of the richest, most successful people in the world, was widely known for his harsh (practically abusive) management style at Microsoft, but no one can deny the extraordinary dominance of Microsoft products over the course of decades.
Steve Jobs, the creative genius behind Apple, is reputed to have been a nightmarish boss. According to Stanford management professor Robert Sutton, “The degree to which people in Silicon Valley are afraid of Jobs is unbelievable. He made people feel terrible; he made people cry.”
You decide:
- After reading both set of arguments, which do you find most compelling? Why?
- Knowing that at the very least, an upbeat, inspirational, optimistic boss is more pleasant, what concrete steps can a grumpy manager take to change his or her temperament?
- Solicit feedback on your temperament from your friends, family, classmates, peers, and co-workers, analyze the feedback and develop an action plan to make any changes that you believe might be helpful to you in your career.