It’s not that performance reviews should be eliminated, it’s the way they are
done and the implicit agreement they create. I.e. If you improve in these
areas you will receive this reward. Most discussions like these are not honest
and are always awkward. Most employees are not good judges of how they are
doing and managers very rarely have accurate note on how their employees have
been doing. Of course there are often metrics for measurement, but do these
really measure the ’soft skills’ there are more important.

Rather than a once a year review of what’s good and bad the review should be
part of an on-going give and take so that employees always know how they are
doing. Likewise, any raise or benefit is not tied to the review.

I always encourage my clients to speak with manager without waiting until a
formal review is planned. The 360 can be more beneficial but few organizations
have the time or resources to do 360’s for every employee.

I’ve worked for companies which use performance reviews and as an employee and manager the process was always disappointing. But I’ve also worked for businesses with managers who were not shy about crticizing or prasing my work in a timely fashion.

I always knew where I stood and found the work much more satisfying.

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They were on their honeymoon – in fact when she introduced herself by her maiden name her husband’s reaction was pretty priceless. She corrected herself quickly substituting his four syllable name for her shorter moniker. I don’t think any lasting damage was done and I’m sure the kiss- and-make-up portion of the evening was pretty good.

Names aside he admitted that after four years as an undergraduate, three years of law school, a year getting ready for the bar exam, and three years working as a patent lawyer in New York, he hated his career.

His wife was quick to point out that despite working 90-hour weeks she loved hers and that when she finished her residency she was taking a year-long post working in New Zea land – both to see a new culture and explore another medical system.

Practicing law in New Zealand probably wasn’t in the cards for what appeared to be a short-term commitment, so he was clearly a bit up in the air about what to do.

The answered seemed obvious to me; try as many jobs as you can. Maybe you’ll discover that what you’ve trained for was pretty good after all or maybe you’ll decide that sheep farming is a great career.

His wife didn’t seem to care so long as they were together and she could practice medicine. I complimented her and told her husband to just remember the two most important words in any marriage, “yes, dear.”

Changing course is one of the toughest challenges most people have to face. It usually means you have to admit you made a mistake and then you have to figure out a new direction. Anything you can do to eliminate options – including finding out what you don’t like – will make the decision easier.

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Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water.

After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result – all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him.

After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.

Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know that’s the way it’s always been done round here.

And that, my friends, is how company policies are made.

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They had obviously been in before because the youngster made a bee-line for some cuddly stuffed animals and, after a brief stop, headed for a candy display conveniently placed at his eye-level.

“OK,,” his mom said, “you can have one.”
“No, two,” he answered.
“One,” his mother said firmly.

His mother eyed me and then the clerk, who were watching to see who would win the battle of wills. The conversation degenerated quickly to “One,” Two,” “One,” “Two.”

Exasperated the mother tried “It’s either one, or none.” The youngster, looked up sadly and holding two candies in his hand, said simply, “I was thinking of you.”
Guess how many candies mom bought.

Next time you get into an argument, make sure you think things through before you back yourself into a corner.

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There are an unending number of coaching specialties. Most marketing gurus advise coaches to find a niche and fill it. And since many certified coaches come from other fields it stands to reason that they would focus on an area where they have some previous expertise.

So, there are coaches who specialize is lifestyle, fitness, careers, nutrition, parenting, money, happiness, spirituality, organization and a host of other areas too numerous to mention.

While there are well-established schools and training programs to certify coaches there is still no nationally recognized standard so there is nothing to stop anyone from just putting up a shingle or building a web page.

I don’t know if my friend’s comment is indicative of the public’s attitude toward coaching. I certainly hope not, and my area of expertise, which focuses on career counseling, there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of people looking for a new career – either voluntarily or not.

In this country the issue is more likely to be an individual’s recognition that a coach could help them clarify their goals and make decision-making more effective and, in the long run, more effective.

But I will admit that there can be so many choices in coaching that even deciding what kind of coach you need can be daunting.

My suggestion is to look at local organizations-such as East Bay Coaches – and check out their web directory – at least it narrows the list to folks who are committed enough to join a professional organization.

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To be honest most clients don’t understand the difference – and neither do many coaches. If fact there is an ongoing debate about where coaching falls in the psychology continuum.

For many psychologists, coaching is just another form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) a branch of psychology which attempts to train people to make changes to patterns and lifestyles which impact their psychosis.

The difference is not so much the technique but rather the starting point of the client. Does he or she just need some help to see a new perspective or is there really an underlying clinical issue which needs to be addressed.

Many coaches work closely with psychologists so they can refer clients if they find issues which fall out of their area of expertise. In my case, my wife is a psychologist, who has also gone through training as a coach, and is a valuable resource.

Psychologists who are also coaches can often administer objective assessments if they feel there’s an underlying psychological issue.

Coaches, from non-psychological backgrounds, are not qualified to interpret test results, but they should have the training to recognize when there is a potential problem.

This is true in any situation but can be particularly significant in management coaching when a company is paying a coach to help an employee. Failure to recognize the difference between a management style that needs to be changed and a psychosis that needs to be address can lead to significant liability issues.

Most coaching clients are healthy well-adjusted individuals who just need a little help with specific issues but it’s up to the coach to make sure their potential client gets the help they need.

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“WSJ: You’ve centralized the production of foreign and national news across your papers to save money and manpower. What have you done and why?

Mr. Michaels: Stories [are] laid out in modules — standard sizes with collections of headlines, content, images [reducing the need for layout and copy editors]. If you pick up the Allentown [Pa.] Morning Call, the foreign news was written in Los Angeles and the national news was written in either Chicago or Washington. It’s probably higher quality journalism than a local paper that size is going to be able to afford.”

In many ways I still consider myself a journalist – once it’s in your blood there’s not much you can do. I have seen too many newspapers ruined by this kind of number-crunching rationale and it pains me to see it repeated.

As a coach and managerial consultant it strikes me as exactly the wrong message to be sending to the employees who are working to get you out of the financial hole you put them in.

You can read the full interview here.

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It was one of those lectures where the audience members left enthused and ready to follow his seven step approach to fame and fortune.

Unfortunately, while I agree that finding a job which provides more than an economic payoff is a great goal, I couldn’t help make a few observations based in the real world.

The concept of a fulfilling job is a relatively new concept. After World War II our parent’s generation found a ‘career’ with a company who would hire them. A higher calling was not even a consideration. Providing for the family was paramount.

The economy we face today is similar and while, as Nathanson says, the country might be stronger if we all found our vocation, the reality is that money is a necessity. During the Q and A session it was clear financial issues also concerned some audience members.

I have several clients who are perfectly happy working for a paycheck which allows them to support their family and pursue a raft of hobbies and interests which provide purpose to their lives. Nathanson suggested that they may be a rationalizing their situation and that it was not a long-term recipe for happiness.

I would also note that despite the seven-step approach Mr. Nathanson suggests, not everyone can be an entrepreneur and create a job out of their own interests. Not everyone has the ability to complete all the steps – liking writing an e-zine article – that will have the world beating a path to their door.

I have several other issues with many of Mr. Nathanson’s specifics but they would take too much room to detail. While I urge my clients to find their passion and explore ways to make it a career, I also know that enthusiasm has to be tempered with reality – especially in an economy with over 10% unemployment.

I have tremendous respect for the drive, creativity and passion of my clients but they cannot overcome the disappointment of a bad idea executed poorly.

Finding your passion may mean that you never have to work but you have to be realistic. One point I agree on with Nathanson -it’s a coaches job to help guide you toward the goals you set.

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You’ll be happy to know that there are a raft of scientists and psychologists studying brain functioning and trying to figure out what’s going on. But Ms Strauch, who admits to being among the age group she’s trying to put at ease, wants everyone to know, it’s normal, and better yet, it’s nothing to worry about.

Her book, like many written by journalist is easy to read and well written. I’m not sure you’d call it scholarly but it accomplishes its purpose.

If you’re middle aged there are changes in your brain that make it tougher to learn, and remember. But, she notes, our mature brains are much better at number of things, such as recognizing patterns and putting things in context, that allow us to keep up with our younger co-workers.

She points out a number of factors which seem to impact better brain function and then spends the last chapter explaining what we can do about it. Unfortunately she notes there’s no real evidence that all those Brain Games, given away on NPR fund-raisers, really make any difference.

Fist of all, even those that have been rigorously tested in double-blind longitudinal studies, base their conclusions on self reporting. Additionally, only one of the games have even been subject to any testing – sponsored by the game manufacturers – and the rest are just basing their claims on marketing hype.

“The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain” is a followup to her book on teenager brain function. It’s an interesting read and should help a lot of Baby Boomers laugh at the endless collection of jokes about our absent minded antics.

It’s worth a read to find out what really going in our brain on as we age.

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Lehrer uses real life examples to illustrate science, helping us understand the split-second decisions made by NFL quarterbacks, airline pilots, and even soldiers in combat situations.

A good portion of the book retraces many of the points made by the now-popular science of behavioral economics – books such as “Freakonomics,’ ‘Predictably Irrational’ and ‘Nudge.’ In fact all these books seem to use the same set of experiments to prove their points.

As their most basic level they all help us understand why marketing works as well as it does.

But Lehrer’s biggest contribution may be his last few chapters as he explains the process that scientists think goes on in our brains as we make a decision. Using fMRI which measures brain activity, they can look at which sections of the brain are most active as we make various kinds of decisions. Everything from simple “either-or” choices to more complex moral decisions based on values that are ingrained at a very early age.

His conclusion,- that decisions are basically a three way battle – suggests that the best tactic is to let brain’s thought centers battle things out, while you take a break.

Unconsciously, your brain will make a decision and your conscious mind will announce it. It may seem like an unconscious act but you really have no idea what was going on in your brain.

One section I found particularly helpful is the explanation of what’s really going on when we’re positive we have the right answer to almost anything. From politics to predicting human behavior, Lehrer notes, if we’re that sure, we’re probably wrong because we tend to ignore facts that don’t support the decision we already made.

So if you’re looking for something that’s easy to read on the beach but has a little more substance than that romance novel or murder mystery, try ‘How We Decide,’ and see what’s really going on between your ears.

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