I am sorry I missed writing the blog for you this past weekend but I have a good excuse. I had surgery and was literally out and bedridden for five days. I am much better today and well all I could think was about writing my blog and well here we go.
While I was learning and studying psychology I have to tell you that it is not an easy subject. I have learned that while you may think you know people there is always something that will bring about a new way to think and to study the human mind. I have found that when leaders treat people with respect and dignity they will always earn their respect.
I have always found it challenging to know that research brings out so much more in a person the when they had before they started the research. So how has recent psychological research taught us in leadership?
I have learned that there are several factors in the human mind that needs to continuously stay alert and ahead of the times including technology.
I will give you an example: So many leaders or people in leadership roles still believe that when you offer a reward to someone that they will actually do a better job but the reality is that there persons motivation will decline more so then when there is no reward but simple become ,more competent in the learning process of the human mind.
This will also have an affect on their ability to focus on one task at a time because leadership will assume that because this person is so smart that they can do more than one task at the same time which by the way will inhibit the person from doing completed staff work and when they are done they will feel as failures because they will attribute their failure to the ability of within as opposed to the effort that should have been given from within to complete the task.
Another great example is that when leadership in any organization fails to understand the way to teach and train properly not because the leaders are not good trainers but because they are not good teachers nor will they have real life examples to share where the staff can become real and also be able to understand.
When top leaders have a clear understanding that from where they sit and look down that they clearly have no idea what is going on and that they should involve those who actually do the work to create new ideas and policies by actually letting them structure the models for all to follow including leadership because what I have found is that simply put most leaders are so out of touch from reality that when they create their new policies they are so wrong and actually inhibit their company from moving forward.
It has been proven that when staff are allowed to come up with a better solution to a problem the solution that they come up with has been much more efficient then the policy that was written by upper management.
Leaders have to understand sooner or later I prefer sooner but in most cases they do o not understand until it is way too late in the process. They must ask great questions like reflective questions;
• Recount their thought processes as they attempt to solve a problem; and
• Make graphic representations of their thoughts and knowledge
We frequently hear that staff have disparate learning styles: That some are auditory learners, while others are visual or tactile or kinesthetic learners (who learn by manipulating objects or engaging in projects) or analytical learners (or prefer information presented in sequential steps), or global learners (who do not like to be bored and prefer various kinds of stimulation). Then there are other learning styles: competitive, collaborative, independent, dependent, participatory, resistant, and avoidance.
Rather than placing staff in rigid categories, it appears that most staff learn in multiple ways and that it is best, therefore, to present information in multiple ways and yet it is always thought such that one way fits everyone and thus failure will occur and still upper leadership does not understand.
How does work environment affect staff? It influences their verbal, quantitative, and subject matter competence, their cognitive skills, their identity, self-concept, and self-esteem, and values and attitudes.
Students’ psychological development does not end at adolescence. Indeed, it is clear that the working years are just as important in employee cognitive, emotional, moral, and social development.
The leadership group is the single most important source of influence on employees development: on personality development, attitudes and values, behavior patterns, career development, and satisfaction with their current work.
As a leader, one of our most important tasks is to guide, motivate, and assist employees through this maturation process. Employees must recognize the limits of their current skills, knowledge, and perspectives. They must realize that leadership is there to help them understand where they are.
I found that most leaders in leadership roles tend to go from an approach —such as rote memorization, the mechanical use of formulas, or the parroting back of ideas from a policies written so long ago that the words do not make sense to the new generations.These types of training's and teachings no longer are enough the work environment, where a premium is placed on originality, high-level analytical skills, and facility in writing.
