Employee Relations

Introvert

Introvert and Extrovert: Labels, Not Capabilities

Bob Mason Leave a comment

Introvert or extrovert. Most psychological tests apply this label and in popular definitions, extroverts are seen as outgoing, fun-loving, and gregarious. Introverts are seen as inward-focused, quiet, and maybe even standoffish. The Daedalus Group uses the My HardWired™ Leadership Styles Assessment and like most such instruments, it identifies introversion and extroversion. While this is a legitimate identification, it sometimes leaves people, especially those identified as introverted, with a feeling that…

Graduation

A Word to the Recent Graduate’s New Leaders

Bob Mason Leave a comment

Most of the graduation ceremonies and celebrations are over now. Young people, and some not so young, have rightly celebrated great achievements and are now looking forward to the start of the next phase of their lives. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of speakers have taken to stages around the nation to provide motivational comments about the graduate’s futures. Now that the caps and gowns are put away and the party venues…

Diverse

A Difficult Subject

Bob Mason Leave a comment

In a recent leadership workshop, we had deep discussion about diversity. Participants were looking for answers to an issue leaders face that seems to have no good answer. The conversation centered on two questions: how should a leader view diversity and why does this seem to be such an explosive and often no-win situation? That’s a difficult subject and even such a discussion can be fraught with danger. But it…

Punishment

Absence of Punishment is a Reward in Itself

Bob Mason Leave a comment

That’s a saying I learned back in my days in the old Strategic Air Command (SAC). It reflected a culture that existed at one time in the military: the no news is good news style of leadership. In reality, most of the leaders I worked for back then didn’t really subscribe to this leadership theory, but there was still a culture in the larger organization that made this statement at…

X Y Z

There is No Generation Z

Bob Mason Leave a comment

Something disturbing is happening lately. An apparently harmless attempt to define the future. Except it isn’t harmless and will have a negative effect on the future. It’s Generation Z. No, not the people themselves but the concept. Speakers and authors are already telling us what Generation Z is like and how they will act in the workplace. I find that odd because even if there is such a thing as…