Week 14: Rights in the Workplace

This weeks readings were extremely interesting, and I particularly enjoyed the guest lecture from Bruce Barry, author of Speechless: The Erosion of Free Expression in the American Workplace, and professor at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. Mr. Barry’s lecture corresponded very much with the readings (the two chapters from his book). The introduction of the book, “Speechless at Work in America”, discusses the erosion of freedom of speech in the workplace, and the book as well as his lecture outlined several extreme, yet real, situations of workers being “legally” stripped of their freedom of speech rights both in and outside of company lines. The first example pertained to a woman by the name of Lynne Gobbell her lost her job over a political bumper sticker she had on her car (which was parked in the company’s parking lot). To me, the case seemed relatively extreme, but was an excellent “jumping off point” for subsequent discussion of workplace speech rights. Barry, who is very concerned with the increasingly blurred lines between the home and the workplace (particularly in regards to freedom of speech), believes that thousands upon thousands of workers are subjected to “unfair” yet “legal” restrictions on their freedom of speech. I however, don’t believe the problem is as pressing as Mr. Barry makes it out to be. But, in his defense, I have not had much experience in the workplace outside of summer internships and on-campus jobs. This past summer I had the opportunity to work for a very employee-friendly company (a small firm) in which the overarching company culture was “employees are the company’s biggest asset”. That being said, there is no doubt in my mind that many hourly workers in large companies are often exploited to the harsh, and often unfair, restrictions of free speech in the workplace. Perhaps the most alarming example of the erosion of free speech in the workplace was Bruce Barry’s example of the stockbroker who was forced to resign from his job at the firm Paine Webber. Although I do not believe that the victim in this particular case was committing any violations of company policy, he was indirectly harming Paine Webber’s business in such a way that they were essentially losing business as a result of his political activism. Because there were political implications (the Mayor of the city was involved) and because the issue was such a hot topic (affirmative action) I believe there are many other factors that played a role in this particular case study which make it difficult to analyze for the purpose of this discussion, and for Mr. Barry’s overall argument. Furthermore, after hearing Mr. Barry’s lecture and after reading the two chapters from his book Speechless I immediately became aware of the implications my “outside the workplace” words and actions can have on my employment and my rights as an employee.

In sticking with the current topic and readings two very controversial events that relate directly to this discussion came to mind. The first event and question I had pertained to Larry Summers, the former President of Harvard University (and now Director of the White House’s National Economic Council for President Obama). For those not aware of this specific case, Mr. Summers made apparent sexist comments about women and their overall inability in the subject areas of math and science. My question is, should Mr. Summers have been “forced” to resign because of his speculative comments that women may statistically have lesser aptitude for work in the highest levels of math and science? This questions is a particularly tricky one, and I’m sure Mr. Barry would agree that, while “legal”, Mr. Summers speculative and discriminative comments were no doubt in poor taste (and false if I might argue). However, the question of whether he should have been forced to resign is still a topic of debate among scholars in the field, and I believe that although legal, the implications of his comments were so vast and so damaging that he should, rightly, have been forced to resign. What do you guys think?

The next question I had when reading these articles pertained to ideas presented in Chapter One of Bruce Barry’s book, “When Work and Speech Collide”. I recall sitting down with one of my dear friend’s father’s, Mr. Marc Richards, who is a partner at the bankruptcy firm in New York Blank Rome LLP. He told me that ex-President Bill Clinton came to speak to the firm in attempt to convince the lawyers to make political contributions to his wife’s campaign for Presidency last summer. After the speech (which he found to be very insightful –Bill is a very good speaker and he likes Bill) the firm asked the partners to each make a personal contribution to Hilary’s campaign. Mr. Richards, a staunch Republican and “hater” of Hilary Clinton, was more or less “forced” to write a check towards Ms. Clinton’s campaign –should he have been forced to do this? Obviously Bruce Barry would say no, but what are the firm-wide, personal, and political implications if Mr. Richards had refused to contribute to Hilary’s campaign? Clearly, Mr. Richards’ free speech rights were in a sense neglected as he felt that he must, in accordance with his firm, provide a political contribution to a politician he felt was not aligned with his views. I, and Mr. Barry too probably, have a serious problem with this.

Finally, moving on to the final reading of the week titled, “Law Down the Law: Know Your Work Rights” from Joe Robinson’s book Work to Live. In this reading the author discusses various abuses of employees by employers –clear violations of workplace rights. He then moves on to outlining the various laws that govern workplace rights, namely the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which was passed in 1938. The FLSA established both the forty-hour week and the federal minimum wage (which has increased over the years). Basically, Robison’s main point was that so often many workers do not know their workplace rights, which can either cause them to breach them without knowing, or more importantly, the misperception and misinterpretation of these laws that so many employees in America have causing them to be exploited by their employers. Thus, according to the author, the best way to take advantage of your rights in the workplace is to know them and to be familiar with them. Thus, Mr. Robinson encourages employees (and I would have to agree) to familiarize themselves with the laws and policies that govern salary versus hourly compensation, severance pay, vacation time and benefits, harassment, and other very pertinent laws, ramifications, and recourses employees must live by. Furthermore, I believe that both Mr. Robinson and Bruce Barry have a very firm understanding of the law in regards to the workplace and freedom of speech, but both authors/educators (mind you they are not attorneys), in my opinion, oversimplify the legal issues and implications in dealing with rights in the workplace.

HW April 1

After having started on the 300 words for the readings alone, it got closer to 600 words. So I conveniently combined the reflection on the reading and the reflection on the class discussion, being sure to include grading standards... 

The readings and class discussion for this week call to attention three integral points for discussion: the change in identity that many blacks feel is necessary in the workplace, building social connections as a woman in the workplace, and the perception of blacks in the workplace as not being ones worthy of authority positions due to a general closed-mindedness and subsequent involuntary racism.

 As a black person, the rush hour transition to and from one’s home self to one that is perhaps more accepted in the workplace is a ritual that is common among many black white-collar workers.  To dispute the need for such transformation, one could argue that a person should be accepted for whom he or she really is, and the person shouldn’t need this mask.  This is simply not the case, as many “black” nuances are seen as too urban.  Or casual. Or simply “black.” And unfortunately, it’s too easy to derive a negative perception of the person based on these traits.  It’s already too hard for many others to view each black person in (and outside) the workplace as individuals, not able to be fully defined by a couple of prevalent traits seen in other blacks.  So as the Harris article points out, it’s just easier for blacks to deal with the pressure of having to measure each individual word and gesture that they deliver.  It’s a tough situation that theoretically shouldn’t exist but actually does- I know from experience.  Although I’m fairly even across the board, I (and pretty much ALL of my black friends) understand that one just can’t interact the same way at work as you do at home, given your personality.  The first connection between one’s home self and one’s professional self seems to be something quite common amongst people in general: one’s first name.  So, as discussed in class, many qualifying, deserving candidates for a job don’t even get considered based on the “blackness” of his or her name.  Frankly, some names just don’t seem quite professional enough (sorry La’Quandria).

The pressure of repeatedly making a ‘first’ impression, even for those coworkers with whom a black worker has already had much contact, could stem not necessarily from the sheer inappropriateness of the comfortable at-home vernacular and tendencies of black individual, but from the closed-mindedness of the individuals trying to conveniently encapsulate the black worker. This can be viewed as involuntary racism, and can be seen, as the Dawson reading shows, through the incapacity for some blacks to rise to the ranks of authority after having paid his or her dues and exceptionally excelled in their duties over a period of time.  As shown by the University of Chicago psychological test detailed in the article discussed in class, we are all at least slightly racist, whether by virtue of a flawed mentality or by victim of a longstanding flawed societal perception.  How does this apply to me?  I’m the only one that’s definitely not a racist. 

The same plight is faced with many women in corporate America, as it’s still hard to infiltrate the social ranks in the same capacity as their male counterparts.  It’s a double edged sword, too; many other women (due to the undeniable competitive nature of women towards other unfamiliar or new women, as pointed out in the Seligson article) aren’t necessarily quickly accepting of a new, unfamiliar female face- they probably feel that they themselves have paid their dues in becoming accepted as a competent asset instead of just a girl worker.  With that said, I still tend to disagree with Seligson’s notion; I am not sure what kind of misogynist workplace she unfortunately landed in at the time, but this is not necessarily the case these days as everybody tiptoes around the office trying to avoid lawsuits and such, as pointed out by a fellow classmate Monday.  The same goes for the black-worker issue.  I’m sure every other worker is too busy and nervous trying not to say or do or even imply the wrong thing that might come off as offensive towards women and blacks.  I know I am.  It’s the same reason there is always limited participation from the majority whenever the issue of race surfaces (as seen in class Monday).  Overall, it will take continuous marginal steps over a long period of time to eradicate these mentalities that are product of early societal flaws.  There is no quick, easy solution.

HW for 4/8

One of the important points from this week's reading is the issue of freedom of speech or expression. As American's we are all entitled to our right of freedom of speech, yet when we work for certain companies, that expression is not technically free anymore. Barry explains that employers have an abundant power for controlling the expressive activities of their employees. If silencing an employee's concerns will advance the company's economic interests, it is without a doubt that employer's will get rid of the employee over sacrificing a business deal. As the article shows the ridiculousness of people getting fired from their jobs based on freedom of speech via a bumper sticker, it points to the larger issue of just how free are we? If we cannot even have stickers that represent our thoughts, how can we feel comfortable voicing our opinion to a person of authority? This issue is important because it shows us that when we agree to work for certain companies, arguably not all, that we are sacrificing our freedom of speech in that we cannot outwardly speak up to our employers. They have the ability to release us from our position if we do not agree to a type of 'employee' speech. This atmosphere makes it so 'free speech' on and off the job are completely different things. In understanding this, people should better research the companies they are considering working for with the hopes that they will not find themselves in one that highly constricts their freedom of expression. As I see myself as a very outspoken and opinionated person, I am pretty sure that I would fail in a workplace that puts consequences on their employee's for certain uses of speech. With employer's having the ability to fire workers for nearly any reason, the workplace becomes an inhospitable environment. However, there are many places that free speech is valued and encouraged- companies that place creativity on a high level. As I know this, I will probably look to work in either the public relations or event planning fields where I can maximize my thoughts and communication skills that I have retained through college.

A second big point from the readings comes from the Robinson article about the inhumane treatment of workers. "Working hard goes with the territory, but you don't have to be a whipping post". Workers take unlawful treatment from their employers for the sake of saving the job, however also because they are unaware of what is stipulated in 'workplace' law to being with. You are not just salaried because you are paid by the month, rather you must meet a certain income standard. Working overtime requires being paid for overtime hours- it is not your duty as a worker to give those 'free' hours. People take abuse for the hopes of a promotion, yet at some point (as described in the article), they begin to fight back and stand up for themselves. In realizing the intense pressure that can be placed on us by our employer's, we must be able to protect ourselves and our human rights so that we are not taken advantage of. If people come together and realize that these employer violations are occurring everywhere, they will not only be able to help themselves, but also make a difference in people's lives so that workers can essentially 'have a life'. Going back to articles we have read in the beginning of the semester, I remember commenting on one about employee treatment and how that is one of the key things when choosing a company to work for. This article capitalizes on this issue as well as showing all of the frightening things that can go wrong when working for a company that does not value the personal lives of their employees.  As what is described here is a general problem, it does enough to make me aware of the problem that can ensue in certain companies. Knowing this, it is even more crucial to survey employee benefits as well as insurance and bonus packages that come along with your jobs. I considered applying for a job, however rescinded my application when it stipulated there would only be 5 'off' days the entire year. To some, that might be a big deal, however to me it was a huge sign that I could not work for a company as strict as that one and I would probably be working under a very strict management team.

The lecture from Bruce Barry was very interesting and brought up a lot of important points about free speech in the workplace. As he elaborated on what our assigned reading was, he brought up 4 questions that are relevant to asking yourself when you are an employee: Public or Private, What kind of speech, Who do you work for and where do you work? In answering these questions as an employee, you will better understand what rights you do and do not have in the American workplace. Essentially, it comes down to the reality that we are guaranteed very few rights in the workplace and even fewer when we work for a private company. Understanding constitutional law in combination with employment law encompasses the reasons of why employers are allowed to 'fire us'. Despite it being morally wrong in some circumstances, the 'employment-at-will' principle allows employers to discharge employees for virtually any reason- reasons separate from race and religion that is. However, if we work in certain states such as California and New York, we are granted more rights as employees because those individual states have made laws regarding that. Also, if working for the government, hence a public entity, our first amendment right is completely protected and our speech will not be constrained. The discussion made me think a lot about the difference between legal issues and moral issues and what I would do if I found myself in one of the situations explained. As an employer, would I fire someone because of a bumper sticker? No. If I had factual proof that an employee was engaging in out of work behavior that was harming my business? Yes. In thinking about the difference of morality and legality, I also think it depends a a significant amount on what you believe in as an individual. If I was laid back type of person in general and did not care about my employees' out of work habits- then I would turn a blind eye to their behavior. Yet, if I were a meticulously strict boss and became so involved in the lives of my employees', than I would probably be angered by some of their behaviors and would exercise my employment-at-will right far too often.

A second important point from class came from the 2nd group presentation. Synergy is an important concept as when you work together in groups, you produce better results than if you worked alone. Synergistic communication can be very helpful in classrooms and business- people work together and come up with better ideas than their initial individual ones. Understanding the importance of synergy allows people to be better at comprising and understanding the other people in their group. Also, it is easy to bring about negative synergy so it is especially important to put in a lot of effort to getting to know the people you are working with so you produce positive ideas together. Productive group work also discourages people from always believing that they alone are always right and fighting for their own ideas vs. the synergistic efforts of the group. Through past internship experiences and being included in on company meetings, I have better understood the power of synergistic work. One of my internships rarely had company meetings and the boss made all of the decisions instead of consulting with the thoughts of the employees. As an intern, it was even apparent that some of their downfalls resulted from lack of communication within the group (company). A summer later, I worked with a clothing company where they had inter-group events all of the time for feedback and ideas- public relations would talk to sales, design to marketing etc. A combination of all of those different creative minds made for a better outcome and hence for money for the company. People who didn't work in specific departments were actually really able to help them out as they had a fresher outlook/newer perspective.

HW for 4/1

One of the main points from this week's readings was African Americans and the workforce. As Dawson notes, African Americans had many problems entering the workforce as they felt several constraints were upon them that limited their ability to perform their jobs. Along the same lines, African Americans felt that they did not receive equitable treatment to their white counterparts. It is important to understand that African Americans were simply just expected to blend into the corporate world and with such expectations came a lot of issues. People treated them inferiorly and overall there was a universal lack of advancement of African Americans in most organizations. Through negative emotions and a negative environment, many of them developed feelings of isolation and lonliness. One example of a way to deal with this is the idea of 'passing' from Harrison's article. He describes his grandmother who excelled in the workforce because others recognized her as white based on her features and she never revealed her true identity. She would sit at work and hear thousands of racist slurs, yet pretend to be unaffected. She did so with the understanding that the status of being white was a much more valuable asset in the corporate world. These articles together reflect the important issue of the difficulties faced by African Americans entering the workforce and it is crucial to understand that although things are not currently like that, it took a long time to get to the point we are at right now. In relating this point to my life, I have thought about a great number of my dad's partners or friends that are CEO's and are African American. Some are venture capitalists, some heads of banks, and others who manage divisions within my dad's company of MileOne. The reality is that over the past 25 years, they have had to work much harder than their white counterparts to get to these positions, however as they have excelled they have paved the way for other African Americans in such positions with positive mentors guiding the way for them.

A second important point comes from the Seligson article explaining how girls succeed in school, but how that all changes once they enter the workroom. It is not safe to assume that the knowledge and skills learned in the classroom will just translate effectively into the working world. This girl's story relays that it is not just college students in general having problems, but more so women. Female colleagues would undermine the new female worker and men in the company refused to take women seriously. Knowing the possibilities of this, it is important for women to first find out the odds stacked up against them before taking a job. Also, girls need to learn to build a new arsenal of skills as living in a world of equality in college may have forced them to neglect developing a set of real world skills. Girls need to develop thick skins and feel comfortable within themselves, whether it is through promoting their assets or learning to negotiate. As this article is pretty recent, it is definitely applicable to me as I am trying to enter the workforce. The advice given here is helpful as Seligson explains that perfection is not the pathway to success as well as the feminine trait of 'sensitivity' is not valuable. In trying to assimilate to the working world, I should heed this advice and understand that the knowledge and skill set that I learned in college is applicable but it is NOT all I need to get me through that first job. I should learn to create a professional network of people and feel comfortable with myself as well as unintimidated by male co-workers.

An important point from class was the issue of time management. Time management is crucial to how we organize our daily lives and it is important to understand the things that matter the most versus the things that matter the least. A lot of people's failures compared with other's successes come from the inability to effectively make use of your time. The time management matrix explained in group 3's presentation places urgent/not urgent and important/not important on the two axis. Issues such as crises, pressing problems, and projects with deadlines would be classified as urgent and important. These are the type of things we want to deal with first and put ahead of things like pleasure activities as well as busy work. It is important to be able to classify issues and activities as important, urgent, or both so people understand what they should tend to first. Inability to manage your projects and commitments carefully could cause you to oversee a deadline, miss a flight, or forget to help out a friend in need. As a college student, I am definitely guilty of bad time management. A lot of times, I find myself purposely wasting time on busy work or other activities in order to avoid doing the things that really matter or that I do not want to do- ie- study for a test the next day. My inability to focus effectively on certain tasks has definitely cost me certain grades in classes throughout my undergraduate career. As grades in college are a relatively minor thing to sacrifice in life compared to failed marriages or failed careers, however they have showed me that if I do not stay on top of my time management skills, I may oversee many more important things in life. As I am aware that I have the ability to sometimes get my priorities mixed up, I should learn to create lists for each day or for each week to list things that need to get done in order of their importance as to avoid problems in the future.

A second important point was to think 'win/win' which means understanding the difference between succeeding as an individual and succeeding interdependently. It is difficult for people to cooperate when you have ultimately set them up to compete with each other. Businesses succeed when the whole company experiences a gain (public) versus an individual making money (private). This principle is important because society is innately geared with people having the understanding that someone has to win and someone else has to lose - someone's success is someone else's failure. The reality is that it does not have to be like that and if you work interdependently in social and work settings, you will be able to achieve that 'win/win' scenario. If people understand this important concept, they will be likely to work to avoid approaching situations in a competitive manner in that they will not feed off of someone else's losses. Also, some people want to beat each other out so badly that they end up sacrificing themselves for the sake of making the other person lose- meaning they both lose as the desire to make the other lose has blind sided you in the situation. Throughout my past athletic pursuits, I have always been taught that there is no 'I' in team. It is not about you beating out a specific opponent, but more so as your team working together to achieve that success. Athletics are difficult as there is always a 'win/lose' mentality as one team is always going to outshine another. Aside from athletics, I have learned that in friendships and relationships, it is always important to work together so you are both happy. It never works out when one person's judgment and feelings are superseding another's- a balance of both people's wants have always worked better for me in maintaining personal relationships rather than trying to control the situation and impose my wants so far as to make another person 'lose'.

Week 11 Post

*Note: Due to personal reasons I was not able to attend class on 3/16. Therefore, in this assignment I was not able to relate the topics to class discussion. However, I made an attempt based on class notes I received from my peers.
BEGIN POST...
The first reading in which I will discuss is a chapter from Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In this chapter Stephen Covey outlines (through his many years of research) the difference and pros and cons of character ethics and personality ethics. For Covey, both of these categories of ethics are really secondary for the sake of his discussion, and he emphasizes what he calls “the power of a paradigm”. Although I found Covey’s example of the several pictures of a woman (of varying degrees of age) somewhat confusing and unrelated, his subsequent discussion of the importance of paradigms and paradigms shift was rather intriguing. According to Covey, a paradigm represents the internalization of correct principles upon which enduring happiness and success are based. While this definition may be somewhat confusing, Covey hashes out his argument quite well, and really makes a case as to the importance of paradigms in our own lives. For me, the best way to understand paradigms is in terms of a “map” of one’s life –they are the source of our combined attitudes and behaviors that direct where one is going in any aspect (or all aspects) of life. Covey then moves on to explain what he calls the “paradigm shift”, and in order for this to happen we must be fully aware of the extent to which we have been influenced by our own life experiences. Thus, the more we can take responsibility for [those paradigms], examine them and understand them, the more successful we can be.

A second aspect of the Covey reading in which I would like to elaborate on has to do with the idea of perception. According to Covey, we see the world not as it is, but as we as humans are, or, as we are “conditioned” to see it. Covey talks a great deal about conditioning and how many aspects of how we perceive things are very much influenced by our innate nature to be conditioned. One quote in which I found to be greatly noteworthy was, “Where we stand depends on where we sit”. This quote really resonated with me and caused me to think about my life and how I perceive the world around me. Basically, and I agree with Covey, as clearheaded people (which most Vanderbilt students certainly are) we all see things differently, and what we think, say, and write in some way or another describe ourselves, our perceptions, and our own paradigms. This is particularly important when we collaborate with others because as clearly or objectively as we may think we see or understand things, we must realize that others can and (and do often) see those very same things differently. Furthermore, if we come to better understand how others perceive things (i.e. others’ own personal paradigms) we can then more effectively communicate and synergize with them –be it personally, academically, or professionally.

The next reading I wish to discuss comes from Peter Drucker’s The Essential Drucker –the chapter titled “The Second Half of Your Life”. In this reader Drucker discusses what to do with the second half of one’s life –life after the age in which most knowledge workers reach the peak of their business career. According to Drucker, there are three possible paths or directions that a professional may take during the “second half” of their life. These “answers” as he calls it, are: start a second (different career), develop a parallel career, or be come a “social entrepreneur”. I found this particular chapter of Drucker’s text particularly intriguing because I see many parallels to my own family members’ and personal friends’ careers. For example, Drucker discusses how many middle-aged executives who become bored or no longer feel challenged with their career embark on a whole new, and completely different profession. My mother for example quit her job as a banker for ten years when she was raising her children (myself and my two siblings) and then decided to start her own business two years ago when my brother was applying to college. My mother started a tutoring company in an effort to help kids reach their optimal score on their SAT and ACTs in order to gain admission in to college. Although she had no previous teaching experience, she spent almost a year learning the methods and techniques necessary to tutor high school students, and now runs a fairly profitable tutoring business. The next path or “answer” to a professional’s “mid-life professional crisis”, if you will, is to develop a parallel career. My father for example was the CFO of a multi-million dollar consumer goods company. Although is no longer with the company, he sits on several boards of similar companies and is also on the board of directors of DePaul University’s Business School in Chicago. My father, like Drucker and myself, is someone who continuously feels the need to be challenged, and by serving on these various boards he is able to fulfill this need. Finally, Drucker’s third answer is to be a “social entrepreneur”. These are people who have become very successful in their first profession, as businesspeople, love their work, but also no longer feel challenged (a recurring theme). These social entrepreneurs start or help to start another (often non-profit) business activity. An example of someone I know who has pursued this path is my sister’s fiancé, Matt, who founded the company complaints.com, a website in which users can post and research consumer complaints. Although he does not fit Drucker’s profile as a mid-forties professional (he is 34), he sold his business and has begun to start other website domains names and holds a significant stake in two peer-to-peer lending firms that are not-for-profit. Thus, I found Drucker’s discussion of the three possible choices for career paths for the “second half of life” to not only be very interesting, but also very true and relevant.

The last element of the reading I wish to discuss in my blog today also comes from Drucker’s text, and is his assertion that the one requirement for managing the second half of one’s life is to begin creating it long before one enters it. Although I found the topic of life after one’s career peak to be slightly irrelevant to my own personal experiences (I haven’t even begun my career), I wholeheartedly would agree that one must also look into the future and think ahead about his or her career. Although this is not always possible (certain events such as being laid off our out of our control), it is always advisable to prepare for what comes next. Again, although I cannot relate on a personal/professional level, in today’s economic climate there must be a vast number of professionals pondering their next career move. As Drucker reiterates, in a knowledge society everyone is expected to be a “success”, but in order to be successful I, like Drucker, believe it is absolutely imperative to always be looking to take that next step, to get the promotion, or to clock the extra hours at the office to ensure that you are making a difference within your organization (or school, or any arena for that matter). In sum, I found these particular Drucker readings to be very enlightening, even though they reference a point in my own life that is quite distance from where I currently stand.

Wk 11

Three important points from the reading include the ability to manage one’s self, the differentiation between personality and character ethics, and the composition of a habit, which is essential to both self-management and employing character ethics over simply potentially manipulative personality ones.  Managing one’s self, out of the scope of retirement, involves finding a compliment to one’s daily life in order to maintain a sense of relevance and belonging.  If the mind is that which drives the rest of the body, it is to be kept sharp so that the life of the individual may be as fulfilling as possible. This principle applies even before the second half of life, as Drucker quotes it. 

Another notable point, and perhaps the most essential, is the necessary differentiation between personality and character ethics.  Covey suggests that much of the popular readings in society over the past 50 years have been concerned with the conquering of solely personality ethics, which are but mere tactics for temporary personal gain instead of lasting tools.  The first 150 years of the last 200 were indeed concerned with the development of positive character traits, elements that are firm and opaque.  As Covey writes, it’s more so about the ability to change how we view things rather than that which we view, as he illustrates with the example of his wife and how they treated their son.  The ability to be introspective versus buying a quick fix is the key to fixing problems with ourselves and with others.   In relation to the first point, it is impossible to learn to manage one’s self relative to a world full of others without first acknowledging the proper character ethics. 

Finally, one cannot expect to build any kind of self-management strategy or even make a change to focus more on his or her character ethics without establishing a healthy habit for doing so.  According to Covey, a habit is the intersection of knowledge, skill, and desire to do something.  Building or rebuilding oneself is a long term process that will require a habit (and not a quick fix- again, a common theme amongst late popular readings) to ensure proper and adequate results. 

 

These points connect not only to the discussion from the week but also the studies we’ve been progressing through during the entire semester.  The point of differentiating between personality and character ethics brings to mind the Carnegie reading, which did indeed seem like was written by a college mascot more so than a seasoned psychologist.  As a reading that falls into the category of being published within the past 50 years that emphasizes getting around people for a sole purpose instead of getting around one’s self for the sake of one’s self. 

Also, these points are applicable to my own life because I sense a continual struggle to master each of the three.  I am constantly searching for the appropriate activity to balance out my future career and be more than prepared for the second half of my life when it arrives.  I hope to have no gaping rifts in any two phases so that the transition will be smooth and adaptable to whatever circumstances may be presented.  I’ve always believed that interaction with other people starts with my own self, so I actually did find it weird that there would be a whole book dedicated to what is essentially managing and often semi-manipulating other people.  Given that this is a quick fix, it’s easy to see why the book has sold well.   Finally, I try to accomplish anything relevant within myself by creating a habit, something that I can rely on as second nature and do without deliberate decisions.  I often struggle not with the knowledge or skill (as those are usually provided readily), but by the desire; perhaps I am not convince of the need to create the habit or shy away from the effort required.   

 

HW for 3/18

From the Drucker reading, it is established how important it is to manage the second part of one's life. When men or women reach between the ages of 45-48, they usually have hit a dead-end point in their job, meaning they are not really learning anything new and they have already put in a probable good 25 years. In order to avoid the boredom and depression that could result from having this mid-life crisis, Drucker explains that its very important to come up with a parallel career; find something to do at a non-profit organization or find some other type of work that you can learn to excel at. The key to managing this second part of your life is beginning to plan for it before you reach that point. The reality is that most people are just lazy and have the belief that organizations outlive workers which is undeniably true. Although, it is way too early to begin to plan for my potential second career when I have yet to even start my first, I can do things now that will enable me to have more options. As the reading says, knowledge workers have mobility- mobility in the sense that people who have had a broad education have the ability to more freely move across the job market. Manual labor workers do not have this same liberty. In knowing this, I am grateful that I have completed a successful undergraduate career and plan to continue that education to graduate school sometime in the near future. As I will then classify as a knowledge worker, I will have a lot more options open to me when I am 45+ years of age and my children are grown up. As I am engaged within my first career, I will know to always be thinking ahead of how to continually make myself happy down the road.

An important point from the Covey reading is distinguishing the difference between dependence, independence and interdependence. Dependent people look to others to validate their happiness and to make their decisions. Independent people can function completely on their own physically, mentally and emotionally as all of their drive comes from within and are unaffected by others feelings. Independence is a huge achievement in itself, however it is important to recognize the power of interdependence. Interdependence stresses the power of 'we' as in our combined efforts can make something happen. Interdependent people have matured more as they realize that although they are self-capable, the combined efforts of 2 people could produce a much better product than if were produced by one person alone. Independent people choose to become interdependent because they have that character type whereas a dependent person cannot just choose to combine efforts with someone else to force interdependence because they themselves cannot succeed on their own. The understanding of the maturing process between independence to interdependence allows people to realize their full potential in society. However, it is not just that anyone can be either of these things, rather only some people have the specific character and personality type. Before reading this, I never really understood the difference between independence and interdependence or saw interdependence as superior. I would consider myself an independent person as I am able to think for myself, complete tasks on my own and are usually relatively unaffected to external sources. Knowing that, it would be easy for me to become an interdependent person with a co-worker or future husband. Within the corporate world, interdependent people succeed over those who are independent as they are able to work together and use double the brain power. I think it would be easy for me to fall into being completely independent instead of utilizing my capability to be interdependent as I usually like to do things on my own. After reading this, I now know I am going to have to sacrifice my desire to be completely independent for a much more profitable and successful interdependent relationship.

In class, we discussed the difference between good advice and questionable advice and the importance in realizing the distinction. An example of universally good advice would be to ask questions to someone rather than talking at them whereas questionable advice would be to be totally selfless. Being totally selfless opens up too many doors for people to take advantage of you, but at the same time it allows you to be a lot more open than if you were so consumed with yourself. Advice is being thrown at us all the time through both our personal and academic lives and it is important to sort through that advice in order to decide what is important and applicable to us. In reference to Carnegie's book, we all pretty much agreed that it was all 'good advice' such as you should never criticize or condemn people. As I consider myself a pretty stubborn person, I know I only take advice from my parents and people I am really close to just because I want to be sure that advice is looking out for my best interest. Advice that I have carried throughout the years and consider useful is 'believe in yourself'. If you do not believe and have faith in yourself and your inherent capabilities, it will inevitably be very difficult for you to trust others and reach your fullest potential in life.

I thought the class activity of the Myers-Briggs test was very helpful and interesting. It is important for people to answer questions about themselves such as these every so often to understand what kind of person they are. We all know a lot about ourselves, but having concrete facts and descriptions of ourselves in front of us helps to narrow 'us' down and put things in perspective. The personality type exercise was important as it allowed us to discuss what characteristics we need or things we need to achieve success in our 'dream job' based on our type. The test showed whether you were more of a senser or feeler, an extrovert or introvert etc. I really enjoyed reading the different articles about my personality type and thought it was important to hear that about myself. I got the type of ESFP which kind of shocked me a little bit because I thought I had pretty good intuition but based on how I answered the questions, I have now learned something new about myself. Knowing  my type helps to let me know what jobs I would perform well at and others that I wouldn't as well as it allows me to set realistic goals for myself based on certain characteristics.