SOUTHVILLE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL AND COLLEGES

GRADUATE SCHOOL

BOOK REVIEW

For

MBA: HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN ORGANIZATION

Prof. Dr. Gerry Plana

1st Term (Batch 3), AY 2018-2019

Submitted by:
Jan-Anne Ocampo

Submitted on:
August 17, 2019
The Leadership and Self-Deception book has a lot of insights, guides and a lot of matters that
would really get one thinking. The book has featured a lot of learnings through the characters’
stories. This material has shared the experience of Tom Callum, a newly hired member of the
Zagrum company, in his sessions with Bud Jefferson, Kate Stenarude and Lou Herbert.
This book covers series of real-life situations of each of the characters and correlate them as to
how does a person sees themselves more important and view others as “objects” than people.
This is called being in box therefore practicing self-deception.
We also deceive ourselves when we think that if we want to have improved relationships with
other people, they are the ones to change and not you. To easily understand this, the book has
provided examples that showcases how we exercise self-deception without even noticing it. Like
the story when Bud didn’t get up to attend to their crying baby, let it cry and let his wife Nancy
attend to their crying child instead of him. Bud exercised self-deception when he didn’t get up
because he saw himself to be more important than Nancy and that when she didn’t he saw
negative qualities towards his wife. He had the choice to get up the bed and take care of the
crying baby but he decided not to when he started to justify his own good deeds as reasons to not
get up.
It was also explained in the book that we are also in the box when we force someone else to be
responsible to make the situation better. Like Kate’s story about her son, who regularly gets
home late. And because of this, she sees her son to be irresponsible, a trouble maker and
disrespectful. Because of this se would force her son to improve through harsh discipline. But
instead of changing, her son would then see her as unloving and dictatorial which makes it a
vicious cycle.
A lot of other stories were shared in the book that teaches us to take a step back before we make
any rash reactions, decisions and actions that we will definitely regret in the end. This book
reminds us to concentrate on a particular goal and act towards reaching said goal through critical
thinking, systematic problem handling, setting accountability and of course, act accordingly
together in working towards the same goal.