Interpersonal Communication!
For me... it was the reading on social intelligence and the biology of leadership that got me thinking about related topics as well as my personal experience. In the reading, Janice praised Cavallo highly. She mentioned that Cavallo was different from the other bosses in that he would rather critique himself than manage around a problem employee. I have a part time job at a fast food restaurant. Even though I do not face much problem concerning my boss, many employees around me complain how my boss treats employees differently depending on whether they are male or female. Others complain that my boss is not trustworthy and that she cannot keep things confidential. You cannot deny the fact that so many employees actually decided to leave because they were not satisfied with my boss. These could all be just a rumor... but if so many employees are not happy with the way my boss treats them... I thought my boss should maybe consider reflecting back on her own performance just like what Janice did. Furthermore, my boss should set an optimistic mood because she tends to change her attitude depending on her mood and leaders should ideally be spirited. This is what came to my mind when I read the part "Many bosses would rather manage around a problem employee than help her get better" (6).
What took me by surprise was that I read about mirror neurons also in my summer reading. The moment I saw the word mirror neurons in Harvard Business Review, my brain went PING! I remembered reading about it in the summer reading book called brain rules by John Medina. In the book, mirror neurons are described as "neurons scattered across the brain, and a subset is involved in action recognition" (270). The author says this is the explanation as to why a baby stick its tongue back out at you. I was very pleased because I felt like I was a know it all! To be honest, I had a hard time enjoying this book so it even made me happier to discover that it was worth reading the book.
Hi Moeka,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great first posts! I like it that our study of interpersonal communication relates to Brain Rules (a terrific book but to be honest I had a little trouble getting into it too) and that you have real world experiences (your boos at work) to draw upon when considering leadership styles.
Good stuff.
Ken