Narcissism is on the rise in the United States. Surveys have found a steady increase in the narcissistic traits of American college students who now score 30 per cent higher on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory than they did in the 1980s.

Moreover, this trend has been steadily gaining momentum over a number of years. An examination of teenage scores on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory has found that in the 1950s, just 12 per cent of U.S. teenagers agreed with the narcissistic statement, “I’m an important person.” By the late 80’s this figure had jumped to 80 per cent.

Given this increase in people who narcissistically view themselves as important, it is no wonder that U.S. workplaces are often so contentious. If everyone views themselves as an important person who is entitled to special treatment, managers have an impossible task when it comes to eliciting the teamwork and cooperation that contemporary workplaces demand.

In order to address this problem it is important to understand the traits that narcissists exhibit. The term narcissist has its origins in the story from Greek mythology of the beautiful Narcissus who falls hopelessly in love with his reflection when he stops to take a drink from a stream. Mesmerized by his reflection he spends his remaining days lying by the stream looking at his reflection and declaring his love for it.

People who qualify as narcissists in contemporary times have a similar love for themselves which is manifested in an exaggerated and unrealistic view of their importance and abilities. They are like a former boyfriend of mine who, when he was a small child, saw other people swimming and thought, “I can do that.” He then promptly jumped off the dock on which he was standing and nearly drowned.

Even more troubling than the tendency of narcissists to overestimate their abilities are their feelings of entitlement and the belief that they deserve special treatment. Narcissists consider that rules and regulations only apply to others and will frequently push their boss to provide them with extras or to bend the rules for them. On teams they will refuse to cooperate or fly into a rage when their teammates fail to recognize the brilliance of their ideas and work.

Given their delusions of superiority, narcissists also feel that others are there to serve them. Thus, they will have no compunction in appropriating other employee’s ideas and accomplishments as their own. After all from their perspective, everyone works for them.

So how can you rein in the narcissists in your workplace? One of the best approaches is prevention. This involves learning how to spot a narcissist before you hire him.

There are a number of red flags that suggest that you are in the presence of a narcissist. First, narcissists tend to exaggerate their accomplishments. They will boldly proclaim that they singlehandedly turned around their former department or designed their company’s successful marketing plan.

A second red flag is a tendency to criticize their former colleagues in order to show their own superiority. This is particularly likely to occur when you ask them why they left their former position.

A third is that narcissists are more interested in what a position will do for them rather than what they can do for the organization. They will push for special benefits and other indicators of higher status that don’t normally go with the position that you are offering.

The greater problem, however, lies in managing the narcissists that you already have. This requires fortitude, ingenuity and an understanding of how to use their misplaced self-importance to your advantage.

First, leverage the fact that narcissists like to be associated with higher status people. Make sure that you keep your distance and demand the respect your position merits. Show them that you are wired into people at the top by communicating that your actions are directly supported by your boss and specific senior executives in your organization whom you identify by name.

Second, recognize that narcissists are generally not good team players since there are few people whom they consider their equals. If you do have to put them on a team, place them on one with people whom they admire and consider high status.

Third, stick to the rules. Narcissists are likely to push you for special favours and to ask you to bend the rules for them. Make sure you don’t cave in to their demands.

Fourth, protect your other reports. Narcissists often step forward to claim the glory when things go well so make sure that you know who really deserves credit. As part of this, design incentives that reward teamwork and cooperation rather than individual work.

Finally, be aware that in our competitive self-promotional world, it’s easy for all of us to become caught up in the prevailing culture of narcissism and forget that no one succeeds alone.

As Dr. Thomas Gutheil, a senior professor at Harvard Medical School, has pointed out, “Narcissism can be deadly for a person’s career. With their sense of entitlement narcissists frequently become embroiled in career damaging workplace conflicts and have problems fulfilling their potential.”

Source: management-issues.com

Excerpt from Too Many Bosses, Too Few Leaders by Rajeev Pershawaria:

Being a leader means energizing and motivating your team of direct reports to perform at a higher level. Again, there is no shortage of literature and advice on this issue, yet more managers get it wrong than right. There is no doubt that a motivated and energized workforce translates directly into a better bottom line. Furthermore, most managers want to keep their people motivated. The problem is that in the clamor of all the advice on how best to motivate their people, managers don’t even know where to begin. Sometimes I think we are so poor at motivating people because there is so much information on how to do it. Most of it is too complex. Another factor is that today’s managers generally tend to be player-coaches, meaning that they have individual production responsibilities in addition to their managerial roles. Who has the time for all the “people issues”? If only there were a simple way of thinking about it. If only there were some tangible things managers could do without investing a ton of time. There are. Here’s a one-minute course on energizing and motivating others:

1. However hard you try, you cannot motivate another human being. Humans are premotivated by their individual purpose and values.
2. Don’t ask yourself what you can do to motivate them; try to find out how they are already motivated.
3. Once you know their personal motivation triggers, try as best you can to match their expectations with the work at hand. For example, if someone enjoys creative work, give them more assignments involving creative work. If someone likes customer interface more than processing, try to give them opportunities to interact with customers. The point is, now that you know what they like, to the extent possible, design their job in a way that gives them an opportunity to do what they like best.
4. If, however, there is a complete mismatch between personal motivators and the work at hand, rather than fixing the problem with carrots or sticks, the best course is to find a better fit. In other words, if the demands of the job are diametrically opposite of what the individual is energized by, then it is best to help this individual find another job or role.

So the key is: You have to figure out what your people expect from their jobs, and do your best to link people’s expectations with the work you want them to do. Your immediate reaction upon reading this probably is: “This is easier said than done. How do I even begin to find out what each of my direct reports wants?” Fortunately, it is far less daunting than most people think, because most employees care about the same three things in their professional life. When I tell people that everyone cares about the same three things, most initially disagree with me. After all, we’re all different. But take a few minutes to try the following exercise before you continue reading the rest of this chapter.

Imagine you are about to change jobs and have two competing offers. Both jobs pay roughly the same amount of money and are in the same industry. Both are at reputable companies. How will you choose between the two jobs? What factors will you consider while making your decision?

What factors did you consider? Did you think about the exact nature of your role, and how your work will fit in with the larger picture of the organization? Did you consider your own strengths and limitations and think about which of the two will be better suited for you? Did you think about the work culture of the two organizations? Did you consider the quality of your coworkers, and the way they interact with each other? Did you consider the reputation of the companies? Did you think about future career prospects? Most people go through a list like that when making career decisions.

I have facilitated this exercise in my seminars with hundreds of executives around the world. I pose the same imaginary dilemma, and ask them to tell me what they are likely to consider while making a decision. As they begin to talk, I write down their responses on one of three blank flip charts in front of the room. Each flip chart represents one of the three things people care about, but while I facilitate this discussion and capture their responses, there are no titles on the flip charts. After capturing participants’ responses on the three charts, I reveal the hidden titles, which are:

• ROLE
• ENVIRONMENT
• DEVELOPMENT

I then explain that most employees care about the same three things–the nature of their Role, their work Environment, and their professional Development (RED). I ask them if they agree with me that all of their responses fit in with one or more of the three RED buckets. I have yet to hear a response that does not belong in one of these three categories. Slowly it begins to dawn upon people that while each employee’s preferences are unique, everyone cares about those three overarching things.

As managers, you need to talk regularly with employees about the three buckets, and as you keep the dialogue going, listen for information about their preferences and aspirations. Armed with this information, you can label and link day-to-day work with their expectations. For example, if you know that one of your employees wants to get more experience in dealing with cross-border transactions, you might staff her on a team that is working on an important transaction. However, before giving her that assignment, you must talk to her and tell her (label) that you are doing so because it will give her the experience she needs, and explain (link) that it will help her in her career progression if she gains cross-border expertise.

In my experience with managing people all over the world, I have found that most ineffective managers are considered ineffective not because they don’t know how to motivate people, but because they don’t know what motivates their people. This is an important distinction, and perhaps the biggest key to motivating others. Most managers think they know what motivates their direct reports, but when you ask them, they actually list things that motivate them. They falsely assume that what motivates them also motivates others. I have quizzed countless managers about their knowledge of their direct reports’ motivation, and most fall short.

Granted that one person’s preferences and expectations are different from the next, once you know what they are, it is relatively easy to meet the expectations. Most managers are able to meet employees’ expectations in the normal course of day-to-day work without making any major concessions. If, however, there is a massive disconnect between an employee’s expectations and the role, environment, and development features of the job, then in the long run it is best both for the employee and the organization to separate. Unfortunately, many employees are dissatisfied even when it is possible to match the RED features with their preferences, and this is so because managers don’t even try to find out what the employees’ preferences are. The key really is in keeping the dialogue going with your people.

You will find that it does not take a lot of time to energize people if you organize your interaction and communication with employees around the simple RED framework. All it takes is a bit of proactive action on the part of managers during the normal course of day-to-day functioning.

Source: Fast Company

A recent question on LinkedIn came from a freelancer who was worried about detailing his multiple jobs on his resume. Would the list make him look like a job hopper?

Freelancing is an honorable employment status and should be treated that way. You are self-employed. Organize your freelance career under one “Freelance” heading, just like employees who work for a company organize all of their achievements, roles and projects under the company’s name.

The same rule applies if you freelance while holding a full-time job. Treat your freelancing as a separate “company” you work for year after year (the same way you work for your full-time job year after year). If you alternate individual freelance assignments with full-time jobs on your resume, you’ll confuse employers into thinking every new freelance job is a change in employment. Instead, keep all the freelance assignments together under one heading and no one will be confused.

You can pick and choose the freelance assignments that you list. You want to concentrate on the ones that make you the most desirable candidate for the job you want now.

Source: careerealism

Nothing is certain but death and taxes. You can add below average employees to that list.

As a nonprofit manager, you are always going to have to handle less than ideal employees. It’s simply a fact of life. How you confront these individuals can determine how successful your organization can be. It would seem there are only two ways to deal with these types of workers: You can avoid a potentially messy confrontation and hope they improve. Or, you can meet with the problematic employee and tell them to shape up or ship out. In his book How to Lead by THE BOOK, Dave Anderson (founder of The Matthew 25:35 Foundation) says there is actually a middle ground. By combining gentleness with firmness, a strong nonprofit manager can approach these “poor performers” in a way that will get them to perform better without making a scene. He lists 7 ways to get the most out of these confrontations:

1. Confront with class: Anderson urges respect when confronting problematic employees. Keeping that in mind, it is best to discuss problems with poor performers in private rather than bringing up the problems in front of their colleagues. Making a mistake is embarrassing enough without it having to be revealed to everyone in the office.
2. Nix favoritism: Top performers are another constant for any nonprofit organization. But just because this individual hits the proverbial home run 99% of the time doesn’t mean you should be cutting them slack if they happen to strike out once or twice. This will severely undermine the culture of your organization, as well as your credibility as a manager.
3. Make sure the correction fits the “crime”: Poor performers should be punished appropriately for whatever mistake they made. If it was only a small error, there is no need to institute harsh penalties for them. Anderson lists problems that stem from poor attitude, a lack of respect for the values of the company, or an overly inflated ego as issues that must be corrected most forcibly.
4. Beware of committing a false kindness: Never try to forgo confrontational talk by just giving positive reinforcement. You might think this will help them perform better, but according to Anderson you are actually showing a lack of caring. He says that you should confront these problems before they get too big. This will help to teach employees that their leader cares about how work is conducted in the organization.
5. Choose your battles wisely: A strong nonprofit leader will be able to know when a response is needed rather than a rebuke. Anderson uses the example of a mostly reliable employee coming in late one day. Instead of yelling at this employee, he suggests inquiring with them whether everything is all right. Tardiness from a repeat offender, on the other hand, would warrant a much different response.
6. Follow up with follow-through: Always offer advice and encouragement after your initial confrontation with a poor performer. Failing to do this will leave the employee with no knowledge of what they need to do to improve. As Anderson says, it’s like going to a doctor for a diagnosis and then refusing to take the prescribed medicine.
7. Don’t dig up the past: As tempting as it may be, you should never bring up past mistakes to poor performers. It does no good to live in the past. What’s important is to correct the current problem, and bringing up dirty laundry won’t help that.

Interested in reading more about what Dave Anderson has to say? Visit the website for How to Lead by THE BOOK at http://www.learntolead.com/.

Source: The Nonprofit Times

A company either makes money or does good, right? Think again

A new type of corporation has come along that makes money and does good for society and the environment. They’re called B Corporations, for benefit corporations.

Nonprofits can smile about these dual-focused companies because they make great like-minded partners, and they may help fund and support their social good goals.

A new sector of the economy

B Corporations for social good B Corporations first appeared four years ago. Today, more than 400 companies across 50 industries and several countries have achieved certification by B Lab, the nonprofit that recognizes for-profit companies as being ethical, socially aware and eco-conscious.

Basically, B Corps have to do more than report to their shareholders; they have to consider the people around them and the world they work in. Being able to stand out in the social enterprise sector is a benefit for them.

I first learned about B Corps at a meeting in Atlanta and thought they sounded like a great idea for the increasing numbers of consumers seeking good companies. Of course, people at nonprofits are often seeking out companies behaving ethically as well.

Companies know that people want to be green. B Corps cut past the marketing hype and greenwashing as companies that are truly committed to policies that promote the social good.

One thing for nonprofits to consider about B Corps

Some nonprofit leaders have come out against B Corps. They say that nonprofits might now get as much money because people will choose to back B Corps rather than nonprofits.

Others argue that B Corps will in turn fund nonprofits as well as social benefit initiatives. Jordan Chazin, a B Lab Ratings Associate, says, “Many B Corps are incorporated as C or S Corps or LLCs and are technically designated as for-profit ventures, but elect to give up to 100 percent of their profits to charity.”

A few examples of B Corporations

Freeworld Media, a B Corp, is a digital marketing group that helps companies raise awareness with social and emerging media. Sean Wood, founder and CEO, described his company becoming a B Corp in a statement earlier this year: “We are proud to be a leader in the use of social media to foster corporate social responsibility. What matters to your customers matters to your business.”

Many companies that serve mainly nonprofit customers are deciding to become B Corps, including PhilanTech, Care2 and PICnet.

“Nonprofits need tools and services to support the pursuit of their missions,’ ” says Dahna Goldstein, founder of PhilanTech. “With B Corporations, nonprofits can be confident that their service providers are also committed to social and environmental responsibility.”

Nonprofits that want more information about the relationship between nonprofits and B Corps should visit bcorpsfornonprofits.com.

Source: Socialbrite