Chapter 14 Discussion Questions

1. Why is self-awareness important for being a good manager? Can you think of some
specific negative consequences that might result from a manager with low self-
awareness?

Response: Chapter 14 describes Self-awareness as is being aware of a person’s beliefs, traits,

manners, emotions, attitudes, and perceptions are how these are likely to affect someone’s
relationship or interaction with others. Self- awareness forms an essential part of a personal
mental makeup. A person in a managerial position must know themselves very well and remain
well-grounded and constant. A manager should always be able to take constructive criticism
and feedback. This is essential to achieve a high self-awareness level. A manager is most likely
to deal with people who are insubordinate employees, customers, suppliers, or higher
administration. A manger must have high self-awareness to avoid miscommunication and
interactions with others that can potentially be wrongfully perceived or misunderstood. A specific
instance of negative consequences caused by low self-awareness would be: Speaking to
employees louder and brusque, even a friendly comment could be taken into wrong content.
This is because one is not aware of the tone or voice level and the effect it has on the targeted
individual. Certain individuals have a stern or stiff persona this can be misleading and give an
impression as if they are no approachable.

  2. As a manager, how might you deal with an employee who is always displaying
negative emotions that affect the rest of the team? How might you use an understanding
of attributions and emotional contagion to help you decide what to do?

Response: A team member who is always negative can impact the entire work team
through emotional contagion, where people “catch” the emotions of those around them.
Managers need to limit the impact of the negative employee on the rest of the team.
The first step is to discuss with the employee the observations of the manager.
Specifically, that the employee is displaying negative behavior and appear to be
unhappy or stressed. Then, they should ask the employee what is causing their
distress. The employee might blame external factors, such as specific aspects of the job
or workload or internal factors, such as personal issues they are currently undergoing.
As a manager can then determine the best way to improve the situation. Some options
include: adjusting work responsibilities to reduce workload or change the person with
whom the employee interacts with on a regular basis; modifying workload so that the
employee works independently while they are unhappy; arranging for help through an
Employee Assistance Program or by setting up a leave of absence; or other
arrangements depending on the specifics of the employee’s situation. 

 3. What are some specific tips that you would give a new manager for building trust with
subordinates? With other managers?

Response: A new manager can take certain steps to build trust with subordinates. New
managers should begin by setting clear ground rules about honesty and openness.
They can institute an open-door policy, for example to encourage employees to discuss
any complaints without fear of reprisals. Developing a shared vision for the team is
another way of gaining employees’ trust and making sure they feel included in the
decision-making process. They can also hold periodic town-hall sessions to disseminate
important information and engage in a dialogue with the team. Apart from these initial
steps, the manager needs to treat all employees fairly, be open about business
transactions, keep them informed and provide the necessary support such as training
and other resources which can help them achieve their personal goals. It is also
important for a new manager to build trust with other managers. First, the new manager
should introduce himself or herself and share his or her vision for the team. He or she
should seek to understand other managers’ goals and how they are all aligned with the
overall organization’s objectives. He or she should regularly share ideas and thoughts
with other managers so that they can learn from each other, rather than compete.
Fairness in treatment, openness in communication and willingness to support each
other are critical factors for managers to build and maintain trust with each other. 

  4. The chapter suggests that optimism is an important characteristic for a manager, yet
some employees complain that optimistic managers cause them significant stress
because they expect their subordinates to meet unreasonable goals or expectations.
How might an employee deal with a perpetually optimistic manager?

Response: Optimism can be a desirable trait in a manager, since optimistic people

believe they can accomplish things and have a confident and hopeful attitude. However,
this can also be a detriment, if the manager consistently misjudges the length of time it
will take to accomplish the projects. It is true that optimism is an important trait for a
manager. However, many employees are of the view that optimistic managers cause
them considerable stress. This is because of the reason that such optimistic managers
expect their subordinates to attain difficult expectations and goals. In such a situation,
the employees should try to explain their managers regarding the attainable and
reasonable goals. They should tell their managers about their targets and the reasons
for choosing such targets. A healthy discussion between the employees and the
manager would help the employees to deal with the perpetually optimistic managers. 

  

 5. Studies have suggested that extroverts contribute less to teams and are poor
listeners, yet other studies suggest that they are more likely to earn six-figure incomes,
even in today’s collaborative, team-oriented workplaces. Discuss why you think this
might be the case.

Response: In today’s collaborative work environment, both introverts and extroverts have a role
to play. However, extroverts appear to still be more likely to earn six-figure incomes. This could
be due to the perception that success in leadership roles demands a social nature. This could
be why extroverts are typically preferred for leadership positions, even though introverts may
possibly yield better results. People perhaps tend to assume that extroverts make better leaders
because they are talkative. There may be some truth to this perception, since top management
positions involve significant stakeholder management and leaders are expected to be the face
of the organization in the public domain. Extroverts could be perceived as having more
charisma and be better suited for such roles. 

6. Surveys by the Conference Board show that job satisfaction has declined from 61
percent of people surveyed in 1987 to 45 percent in 2009, and one workplace analyst has
said a high level of dissatisfaction is “the new normal.” What are some factors that might
explain this decline in satisfaction levels? Do you think it is possible for managers to
reverse the trend? Discuss.

Response: There could be many factors contributing to the decline in workplace satisfaction
since 1987, including changes in working conditions (lower wage rates or higher task completion
expectations), poorer match between the employee and the position (possibly due to higher
unemployment, leading to people taking jobs that are less of a fit), and poorer relationships with
supervisors (possibly due to higher span of control to reduce costs). Managers might help reverse
this trend by: Evaluating whether employees are getting along well with their co-workers, and
implementing team building or individual employee coaching as needed to keep relations
positive. Evaluating whether employees feel they have appropriate levels of control over their
work product, and modifying work tasks to increase control if necessary .Evaluating the task
allocation among members of the team, to make sure it provides a good fit for all staff. If not,
tasks might be reallocated to improve the job fit for employees. 

  

7. Which of the four components of emotional intelligence do you consider most

important to an effective manager in today’s world? Why?

Response: Chapter 14 talks about how today’s world for an effective manger the most
important emotional intelligence components are Relationship Management, Social awareness,
Self-management, and Self-awareness. Emotional intelligence involves knowing about own
feelings and the feelings of others to enhance employee and organization performance. The
above components are very important for an effective manager, because in these days various
organizations use EQ test to measure the emotional intelligence level.  A manager with low
emotional intelligence can undermine employee morale and harm the organization as it will lead
to conflicts and desired goals will not be achieved. To get better results manager should have
self-awareness, capacity to build relationship, see things from others point of view. 

  
8. How might understanding whether an employee has an internal or an external locus of
control help a manager better communicate with, motivate, and lead the employee?

Response: One’s personality could be understood by his or her work-related attitudes and
behaviors. Individuals differ in terms of what they tend to accredit. Those individuals who, when
face a challenge and respond with a positive attitude and consider that own actions greatly
impact what happens to them, have a high internal locus of control. They can handle the complex
data, self-motivated, goals oriented etc. which helps to better get results in a proper way. On the
other hand, those who believe that events occur because of luck, chance or due to other people
and events, have a high external locus of control. They are harder to motivate, less interested in
their work and blame others for a poor performance. Locus of control refers to where people
place the credit for causes of events in their lives. If they have an internal locus of control, they
believe their actions strongly influence what happens to them, and that they have an impact on
what occurs. If they have an external locus of control, they believe outside factors like luck, fate,
or other people have most of the determination on what happens to them. If a manager knows the
locus of control of a staff member, this information can be used when coaching their
performance. If the staff member has an internal locus of control, coaching would focus on
actions they can take to improve their performance. If the staff member has an external locus of
control, coaching would focus on ways for the manager to help offset the negative factors the
employee feels are leading to any performance issues. 

  

9. How do you think a system for self-management such as the five-step system
described in this chapter could benefit you as a student? What parts of the system seem
particularly useful to you? Explain.

Response: The five-step self-management system would be of great help to any student. This is
because the students’ life is filled with so many activities, each vying for prominence, that the
student often gets overwhelmed by them. 
This system would enable the student to: 
1) Empty your head: This means that the student must list all the things that he thinks are calling
for his attention. He will find that many of them can really be ignored, the rest he should
categorize into “buckets”. Each bucket standing for a different type of activity like class
assignments, basketball practice, meeting with friends, etc. 
2) Decide on the next action: Here each activity must be classified into: 
a. Do it: This usually means that this activity is urgent. If it is going to take 2-3 minutes, do it
now. 
b. Delegate it: This can be done by someone else. Delegate it immediately. 
c. Defer it: This means that this is not that important. Leave it for later. 
3) Get Organized: This is for all the deferred items. Once has to develop a schedule, preferably
in writing, on an organizer or calendar. This will ensure that nothing gets forgotten and
everything is accounted for. 
4) Perform a periodic review: This is a feedback system to ensure that what has been scheduled
is being done. If something has been missed out of delayed, this will enable it to be rescheduled. 
5) Now do it: Once everything is organized, the student will, over a period of time, learn to do
this self-management by instinct. 
One feels that the first step of “Empty your head” is the most important of all the steps. This is
because: 
1) It identifies the main problem with everyone. One’s minds are so cluttered up with so many
things, that one is unable to get any of them in control. 
2) It is the first step in the process. 
3) It enables the next steps to follow logically. 
4) It helps eliminate most of the “junk” which is cluttering one’s mind. 
Therefore, the first step is the most important step. 

  

10. Why do you think workplace stress is skyrocketing? Do you think it is a trend that will
continue? Explain the reasons for your answer. Do you think it is the responsibility of
managers and organizations to help employees manage stress? Why or why not?

Response: Workplace stress is skyrocketing because we are living in a work environment that is
highly volatile, changes are happening pretty fast & have many human & team complexities. I
believe due to many organizational factors the trends will continue. 
One of the major factors causing stress is the low morale of the employees. When the overall morale is
low workers don't feel empowered and this makes the productivity go down.
The management style and leaders' authority also play an important role to cause stress at work -
lack of communication, lack of involvement of employees in decision making, lack of co-working
causes negative effect hence increases the stress of employees. Heavy workload, breaks that are
not frequent, long hours, not required tasks, etc. are factors that make the management style
stressful for the employees. The concern to grow and have better career opportunities is another
main cause of stress amongst employees. It causes job insecurity and creates fewer opportunities in
the future. The learning curve having rapid changes and not a growth mindset contributes to the
stress amongst workers. Yes, I believe it is the core responsibility of managers & organization to help
employees manage stress. It is important to have a positive work culture focusing on the recognition of
employees for good work performance. The firm must offer opportunities for career growth and
development. 

 
 

Chapter 14 Apply Your Skills: Ethical Dilemma

What Would You Do?

 1. Make the previous numbers work. Kristin and the entire team have put massive
amounts of time into the project, and they all expect you to be a team player. You don’t
want to let them down. Besides, this project is a great opportunity for you in a highly
visible position.  

2. Stick to your principles and refuse to fudge the numbers. Tell Kristin that you will work
overtime to help develop an alternative proposal that stays within the budget by
providing more training to employees who work directly with customers and fewer
training hours for those who don’t have direct customer contact.  

3. Go to the team and tell them what you’ve been asked to do. If they refuse to support
you, threaten to reveal the true numbers to the CEO and board members.

Response: In such an ethical dilemma, I would choose the second option. The budget for a
high-profile program she is expected to manage is flawed, and her new boss has told her to
“make it work”.  
Since Sara oversees the program, the project’s success or failure will be attributed to her efforts
even though she was not on board when the original budget was developed. She should find
the time to prepare an updated budget that falls within the original cost figure and gives the
anticipated training to all front-line employees but provides less to other staff. This allows her to
be a team player without setting herself up as the fall person when the original budget proves to
come up short for the project objectives. 

 I would stick to my principles and repudiate to falsify the numbers. I would tell Kristin that I
would rather work overtime and develop an alternate proposal. The proposal would stay within
the limits of the budget. 

The new proposal would provide more training to employees who interact directly with the
clients. Moreover, fewer training would be given to those employees who do not interact directly
with the clients.