I/O Psychology Blog

This set of essays outlines one of my favorite and frequently recommended skill sets – basic assertiveness.  These skills have been critical to my success as a professional and simply as a human being.  One of the most common concerns I hear from clients revolves around handling of conflict, coping with difficult people,  and self-induced [...]

ASSERTIVE BILL OF RIGHTS   Assertive Right I.  You have the right to judge your own behavior, thoughts, and emotions and to take the responsibility for their initiation and consequences upon yourself. You have the right to be the ultimate judge of yourself.   This is the foundation on which the other rights rest. “I’m not coming [...]

SKILL BUILDING   Now that you know your assertive rights, you need to learn how to enforce them through assertive behavior.  It will do little good to say, “Stop manipulating me!”  To halt manipulation you must change your response to it. Broken Record The primary reason we lose in conflict is lack of persistence.  We [...]

  PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVES Awhile back an executive asked me about a subordinate manager who was constantly late to meetings, tardy with assignments and in general was not getting on-board with the rest of the team.   Instead of directly voicing his objections, concerns and hesitations, this subordinate manager was simply not complying with behavioral norms or team expectations – a [...]

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) tells us we’re responsible for virtually every action, thought and feeling that we experience — the S-O-R model taken to the max.

This is one of the most useful tools I’ve come across in helping leaders and followers alike to understand change and their reactions to it. There are interesting graphics that go with it, and those can be found in Conner’s book, Managing at the Speed of Change.

Blanchard and Zigarmi’s popular, yet simple model of Leadership maps logically and usefully into Followership job maturity levels. Effective leaders are able to adjust their Style (S) to match Follower Development level (D). Key skills are (1) Flexibility, (2) Diagnosis of Follower Development Level and (3) Contracting for Leadership Style.