Improving Employee Morale and Changing Corporate Culture - A real "how to" book.

If This Book Doesn’t Help, It Might Be You

Lesson Compiler: Douglas W. Brooks, M.Sc., Organizational Development and Leadership.

Publisher: self-published, 2013

Improving Employee Morale and Changing Corporate Culture is not for the faint-hearted. It takes persistence, creativity, compassion, consistency, and above, all role-modelling.  But it can be done. While Douglas W. Brooks shows you how, he tells you it doesn’t happen overnight.

Instead of being divided into chapters, Brooks divides his collection of what he calls ‘morning motivations’ into 52 weeks.  And each week is divided into six sections that can be used by you to increase your own morale or to improve the morale of your employees as well as the corporate culture of your organization.

A typical week in the book consists of a section called, “Words Build Worlds” where you the reader identify the issues or topics you want to discuss or deal with during that particular week. This is intended to focus on addressing the number one most common complaint of staff about their company – that is, inadequate communication and feedback to employees.

Ethical Decisions and Dilemmas are also sections within weeks that show up several times.  Another repeated section (although always from a different perspective) is one Brooks calls “Modes of Mastery” although you would be hard pressed to find any section in any chapter that does not help you to master what is important to you, your team, and the organization. The book combines top motivational topics to provide the reader (and his/her organisation) with the ability to lead a daily motivational session. In addition to those mentioned above, his intention is “to discuss important topics in the workplace, address common workplace issues, inform employees how to develop personally, provide an easy way to motivate and stimulate employees . . . (and) end with a daily quote.”  He succeeds.

The author also makes a lot of customer service. He gives you very practical aids for dealing with it. These hints alone are well worth the price of the book.

The various individual and group exercises in the book are challenging and interesting. I personally can’t wait to use some of them in my own work. Most enjoyable and appreciated (and definitely usable) are the pithy quotations (hundreds of them) from well-known individuals scattered throughout his book. He has great stories (some of them humorous as they stem from his years working in the islands – mainly Jamaica) that get the message across very clearly.

The book is a great manual to follow as he prescribes or use it to address all sorts of topics as you scan the table of contents. You can be sure they’ll come up at work. Alternatively, the quotes and ideas (used with proper credit) will give you lots of material for your own communications– be they written or verbal, formal or informal.

Highly recommended for those that believe low employee morale can be conquered. And few would argue with me when I say, with the author – “it needs to be”.

n  Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, October 26, 2019, www.accordconsulting.com

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Conflict or Growth Island? Choose Your Destination

Bridges Over Ladders:
Secure growth and fortify profit with millennial employees, customers and members

Author: Kent J. Wessinger, PhD.

Publisher: create2elevate, Columbia, S.C., 2019

I have struggled to understand why one of my children (a Millennial) and a number of my grandchildren view the world, politics, religion, and work, the way they do. Two of my children (both Generation X’ers) have management jobs that require them to work with and depend on Millennials, and I have often listened to their struggles related to that.

Thus, I had good reasons to read this book. I needed help in understanding my children and in helping them too. Kent Wessinger did not disappoint at all. This book got me very excited about what could be done in the home, in the workplace, in the world when it comes to Baby Boomers and Generation X’ers co-existing ‘profitably’, both economically and socially, with Millennials.

The book is laid out so clearly, like a good lecture only on paper, that you cannot miss the key points of what is being conveyed. The author believes in data and he has it in spades.

First, he convinces us why we cannot ignore Millennials as they “mature and assimilate into leadership positions in all sectors for the next 20 years”.  He challenges us to think about what data we’re using to form our opinions, reactions, and dealings with Millennials. His data is based on direct input from over 22,000 Millennials and over 6,000 Non-Millennials. Although many try, not even the staunchest cynic, in the end, can deny data so powerful.

Next he establishes (with data) the incredible difference between how Baby Boomers and Generation X’ers see Millennials and how they see themselves. The resulting conflict is obvious, and the author shows us how it gets in the way of both growth and profit. He helps us understand what attributes associated with earlier generations that Millennials are “valuing” and those they are “rejecting”.  Understanding the latter is critical to sustainable growth at least in the next two decades. His analysis of this ‘rejection’ is so on the money that I just had to underline almost every line of this part of the text.

Wessinger shows what Millennials pursue and how and how they differ from earlier generations.  More importantly he shows us how to live and work with them and that doing so makes us all winners. His data on how long Millennials stay in one job and why they leave and what can be done about it is alone worth the price of the book. Yes, many of us have been doing it all wrong and the author has the proof. While we pursue our bucket lists, we fail to realize that Millennials “define growth through empty buckets”.

There’s also some comfort as the author tells us why we are not to fear Millennials – they are not after our jobs. Using most interesting and real-life stories and examples, Wessinger explains how opportunities are missed, how programs fail, and stupidity often reigns in our attempts to solve problems.  Then he goes on to show us what can be different. As you read the book, its title, Bridges Over Ladders, begins to make great sense. The book is also filled with much wise management advice and key thoughts. One example is the need for us to realize that, “change [for change’s sake] is not [necessarily] growth and rarely makes a difference”. 

While Wessinger is clearly interested in helping us to see Millennials differently – a most honorable objective – he also is practical enough to spend some time dealing with the short-comings of Millennials and what we can do about those.  One such key area is Millennials and Customer Service.  His advice there is invaluable. Another area is their inability to deal with task failure. He helps us with that as well.

Throughout the book, the author speaks of “voice” and its importance.

I honestly cannot recommend this book enough to business leaders especially. This is a must read for all your management staff. But it is also a great resource for parents of Millennials and even the Generation Z’ers that came after them. Finally, I would point out that throughout the book, the author speaks of “voice” and its importance. I believe it is critical to achieving our mutual goals with Millennials and those even younger. At least I found that to be the case as I discussed the book at the dinner table last night with my eldest grand-daughter and her university dorm-mate.  The reward was an unsolicited kiss and hearing her say, “I love you.”

Get one copy for yourself, you won’t regret it. Get several for those that make your business decisions.

  

Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, October 14, 2019, www.accordconsulting.com

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Taking Burnout Avenue on your Way to Nowhere

Burnout In Healthcare:
A Guide to Addressing the Epidemic

Author: Rajeev Kurapati, MD, MBA

Publisher: Sajjana Publishing, Middletown, DE, 2019

I read this book because I thoroughly enjoyed Rajeev Kurapati’s 2018 treatise on Physician: How Science Transformed the Art of Medicine. While that one was intended to help us be aware of what was going on these days in the field of medicine, his new book is intended to tell medical workers what is going on with them. And in the process, Kurapati gives every worker, no matter the field (for we are all workers whether we get paid or not), some excellent advice on how to recognize how burnout enters and impacts our lives and what to do about it.

Rajeev, a Hospitalist in Kentucky -- yes, that’s the term applied to doctors whose main responsibility is patients in hospitals -- opens his book with a question for healthcare workers: “You’re devoted to helping your patients. But who’s helping you?”  Unfortunately, the answer is often or almost always, “No one.”  Thus, his book.

Like any illness that patients face, Kurapati says you can’t treat burnout unless you recognize it.  And recognizing burnout is easier said than done.  One reason is the ultra-slow pace with which it emerges. Once recognized, the author suggests that what is needed is resilience – both organizational and individual.  And oftentimes, the latter must reign supreme because of the failure of the former.

If healthcare providers have reached the stage of feeling like the joy of (practicing) medicine is gone, then they’re well on their way to burnout if not already there. Using real-life examples of many of his colleagues (names have been changed for confidentiality), Kurapati describes how burnout starts and creeps up gradually until it’s too late. For example, there is a difference between stress and burnout. Knowing the difference is worth the price of the book. The author deals with each of the ‘masks’ that burnout hides behind including depersonalization (not really caring about your patients as people), exhaustion, apathy, anxiety, dread, irritability, impatience, the lack of will to work, sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, craving comfort food, body aches and pains, and still worse, using drugs, alcohol, and other substances as a replacement for energy and health.

He takes special pain to try to get at the causes of burnout and focuses on ‘the system’ as well as the ‘digitization’ of one’s medical practice.  He warns us that the presence of success does not guarantee the absence of burnout – the relationship may in fact be the inverse.

He spends a whole chapter suggesting what hospital and clinic administrators can do to fight off burnout in their healthcare workers starting with the recognition that burnout is a systemic issue.  His last chapter focuses on what you as an individual worker must do even if the institution you work for doesn’t do anything.

The book is a good read for all of us.  And it would be worth your while to get a copy for a healthcare practitioner you love.

The copy I received came with an insert – a quote from the book: “Your goal is to feel more alive and less attached to your worries – to break free from the patterns of your mind.  To be able to do this is the hallmark of resilience.”

Can you do that?  Can you help someone else do that?

Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, October 12, 2019, www.accordconsulting.com

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

When Giving, Consider ‘Future Value’ Not ‘Present Cost’

A Generous Life:
10 Steps To Living A Life Money Can’t Buy

Author: David Green, with Bill High

Publisher: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2019

Generosity is one of those human characteristics that we often attribute to others and seldom speak of it in reference to our own way of life. That may be because few of us are generous; or it may be because we really cannot describe what being generous means or have any way of measuring it. In his book, A Generous Life, David Green as a minimum (and with every right to do so) implies he has and is living such a life, but more importantly, he gives us great insight into how one may describe generosity and perhaps even measure it.

Green says we really need to start off our lives asking the questions we normally save for our deathbeds.  Those are the ones that matter.  Secondly, we need to realize that while we are the keepers or holders of things or assets, they ultimately do not belong to us. If we recognize the proper Owner, generosity becomes much easier. Because Green accepts there is an afterlife, he proposes we put people before profit and the mundane things of life.

Those are the prerequisites. He then proceeds to suggest a process by which we may pursue a generous life. And it starts with counting our blessings – but not the ones that can be lost. (That takes a little more thought than the usual approach.) The next step is to determine what he calls a “destination” in our “generosity journey”. He’s not talking about a geographic destination but rather a goal that we want to achieve with respect to our giving.  Like any trip worth taking, a plan needs to be developed which we will require following to reach our destination.

But Green also wants us to get the message that we’ll not fully enjoy the destination unless we bring our loved ones along – as his parents did with him and his siblings, and as he has endeavored to do with his own children, and even grandchildren.

Legacy creation is a key topic of the book. Green helps us to create one for our own family and he reminds us that a complete legacy is not only about what one leaves behind, but also what one sends ahead.

The author writes most candidly. He humbly realizes that he has been greatly blessed. He knows many readers would discount his advice for that reason. But as I read his book, I believe he attributes that blessing to three things: a parental model of generosity; a realization that God is the owner of everything; and a disciplined following of an intentional plan to be generous.

The book makes a great gift for any of our businessperson contacts.  It is also perfect for our children and grandchildren.  But first you and I need to make sure that we’ve bought into what Green recommends and start applying it ourselves, if we haven’t already.

n  Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, October 10, 2019, www.accordconsulting.com

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

The Medical World Is Fighting A Major Battle: Who Wins Matters

Neurology Rounds With The Maverick:
Adventures with Patients from the Golden Age of Medicine

Author: Bernard M. Patten, MD

Publisher: Identity Publications, location unknown, 2019

The author’s credentials are “par excellence” – Undergraduate from Columbia College summa cum laude; MD from Columbia University; Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Royal Society of Medicine, Texas Neurological Society, and American Academy of Neurology; and certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Practical work experience too long to list, but Bernard Patten is not shy about telling it to you throughout his book.

In fact, he is anything but shy. This is one of many books he has authored, but the first one I’ve read. His style is bold, taking no prisoners when it comes to arguments, and pulling no punches when it comes to describing situations and events. We could hope he really did not talk like that to patients or colleagues or supervisors – but alas we would be disappointed.  This guy was born a “maverick” and it suited him well throughout his career and beyond as he now takes up writing.

His emphasis throughout the book is “facts” and where there are no facts, there should be no assumptions. He applies this to his field, but also the media, big companies, and medical institutions – with considerable success.

But here’s why Patten wrote the book. He wants this book’s shared knowledge to increase the reader’s intensity and range of experience – for the purpose of examining and clarifying one’s life and the lives of others.  He will have succeeded if after reading it, the reader will be able to decide for themselves, “if it is better for a doctor to function at the junction of art and science and practice medicine NOT as a STRANGER, or is it better for a doctor to enter the survival mode, knuckle under, and muddle through. . . to your detriment. . . Decide: is it better to let your insurance company make medical decisions for you or better to let your doctor?”

Patten’s career was based on getting complete histories of his patients and relating to them as friends, giving them the time, the attention, and the honesty, they need. He was a master at that. On the other hand, while modern medical advances have saved millions of lives, almost all of today’s doctors are more concerned about covering their butts from lawsuits and understandably so.

Time after time, Patten presents a case from his experience, really scores of them, gives you all the facts, medical and otherwise, and then says, “Attention reader: your diagnosis, please. How would you handle this situation and this patient? How would you handle her/his family?” Often, I felt I was part of a TV’s Dr. House episode.

The lesson about work and research and evidence and thinking are all outlined clearly in the text – you can’t miss them. And they’re great lessons that can be applied to anyone’s life.  Two examples (garnished with the author’s sense of humor) follow.

Lesson: Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. If you see it, you may believe it.  If you don’t see it, you don’t know. If you don’t know, then suspend judgment.

Lesson: This is important: turning off the respirator makes the brain dead. It doesn’t prove the brain was dead before the respirator was turned off.

Patten is not a big fan of insurance companies and he explains with real cases, why not.

He has an approach-avoidance conflict with the existence of God, prayer, afterlife, heaven, or hell. For the most part, he appears to ridicule all believers in those things. But when they work in his favor, he seems to be thankful for them. As for miracles, he would tell you that he is the miracle-worker and he gets very ticked off when people give God the credit, although he does admit that is a weakness in his character. So, you understand where he’s coming from.  He worked in the age when people did see their doctors as at least a ‘god’ – I remember them well.  In his case, he actually believed it, or so he leads you to think. I must, however, admit he has a great response to a patient who thinks God is telling her to kill her clients.

Patten is also very opinionated on the issue of the media, to the point where I wonder what planet he’s from when he says Fox News in his opinion, “is almost all false witness and false information.” He also is no fan of the current President, yet in his own life, time and again, he acts like him and brags about it. He would have done well to leave politics out of his book, but alas, he has reached the point where he feels he has no need to impress anybody, considering he was freed from such troublesome conditions earlier in life. With that freedom, he proceeds to tell jokes throughout his stories (some not so funny) and some quite surprising coming from a doctor. While I’m at it, if you squirm at the talk of sex (even when it is related to medicine) this book may make you a little uncomfortable.

At the same time, Patten has some great lines. One example is, “There is free speech in America, but you have to pay a price for it.”

He is not a big fan of TV, often yelling out at live cameras, “If you are watching, you are damaging your brain. TV is junk food for the mind.” And on ‘reality’, he writes, “Oh well, reality is nice to visit, but most Americans can’t live there and wouldn’t want to live there even if they could. That’s one of the reasons people watch TV – to get away from the realities of life. In modern America, we have escapism on a planetary scale.”  The context is well worth the price of the book.

But then again, so is just about every one of the 32 chapters or tableaus as he calls them.

His biggest disappointment though is the reception his research in the area of breast implants received from his medical colleagues, many of whom thought he was just plain wrong in his findings. But when asked if they had read the published work, they responded they had not, but got all they needed from TV.  Bummer to say the least.

Before I tell you this book is a must read – for doctors, patients, families of patients, hospital administrators, government health officials – let me just mention a few of the topics he covers: Aristotle Onassis; a horse admitted to hospital for humans (yes, you read correctly); placebos; mistakes; patients predicting their own death accurately; malpractice suits; and breast implants (including what happened to famous celebrities like Pamela Anderson Lee, Mary Tyler Moore, Cher, and others.

Patten ends his book with some advice for any potential scientists who may pursue research into the consequences of implant materials and techniques. I’ll let you discover that on your own.

Here’s my advice on the book: First -- read it. We all need to better understand the worlds of hospital administrators, doctors (surgeons vs. medical team), labs (and what often goes wrong). This book provides that understanding and more.  Second – if you’re a God-believing person, don’t stop praying for your loved ones who are under the care of doctors for serious ailments or diseases. Regardless of what Patten himself thinks, his book clearly proves the need for divine intervention – certainly in term of discernment, diagnosis, and treatment – in this very business- and finance- driven world.

Most highly recommended.

n  Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, October 2, 2019, www.accordconsulting.com

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.