Category: Leadership

The leadership category on Jay Wren’s website (jaywren.com) focuses on practical insights and strategies for effective leadership, particularly within a corporate or organizational context. It emphasizes the development of “authentic leaders” who prioritize self-awareness, honesty, and humility, fostering trust and success.

Key themes within this category include:

Authentic Leadership: Building trust through self-awareness, honesty, and humility.
Leadership Development: Providing actionable steps for companies to hire, train, and grow leaders, including principles of responsibility, authority, and accountability.
Creating Future Leaders: Highlighting the importance of internal leadership development for long-term growth, morale, loyalty, and engagement.
Measurable Success: Emphasizing that effective leadership is not just a concept but can be measured by results, with a focus on proactive training and mentorship.

In essence, Jay Wren’s leadership category offers guidance for individuals and organizations seeking to cultivate strong, ethical, and effective leaders who contribute to overall success.

Mental and Emotional Burnout: When Self-Sacrifice Becomes Destructive

Mental and Emotional Burnout:  Do you look at your work and say, “I can no longer do this?”  How do you recover the energy and excitement to do your job?

Mental and Emotional Burnout: When Self-Sacrifice Becomes Destructive

The term “burnout” in reference to job performance comes from an article “Staff Burn-Out” by Herbert J. Freudenberger, first published in January 1974  in the Journal of Social Issues.

In 1980, Herbert Freudenberger collaborated with Richelson Géraldine to write the book Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement.

The Adrenaline Rush that Precedes Burnout

Are you pushing yourself into job burnout? Do find that you are working on an adrenaline rush.  Are you working under constant pressure from your supervisor or from your working conditions?  Do you take shortcuts by eating at your desk, reading your email on your smartphone during breaks, and trying to do several tasks at the same time?

That adrenaline rush that comes from hyperactivity and super performance is often destructive.  Your efforts for high achievement can destroy your success.

Saving Your Career from Job Burnout

Here are common symptoms of job burnout.

  1. You lose interest in your job.
  2. You procrastinate, or you simply cannot work.
  3. Your work has lost its meaning.
  4. A feeling of powerless dominates your thinking.
  5. After resting, you still feel exhausted.
  6. Depression and anxiety are symptoms of burnout. 
  7. People around you disappoint you easily.
  8. Perfectionist and judgmental mentality hijack your thinking.
  9. You work too long, because nothing is ever good enough.

Job burnout can come from several factors.

  1. Doing endless hours of work that is mind numbing or stressful
  2. Working under constant criticism and correction
  3. Not taking regular breaks to eat or rest
  4. Failing to do things that give your mind a change in activity
  5.  Working in a job that is a mismatch
  6. Working too long each day and too many days a week

The solution for job burnout is change.

  1. Take breaks.
  2. Find emotional support through friendships and family.
  3. Try new things.
  4. Make a list of your work priorities.  Do one thing at a time.
  5. Get regular physical exercise.
  6. Learn techniques for resting your mind from work: meditation, pleasant and interesting reading
  7. Watching or listening to television, radio, or video programs that are relaxing, motivational, or inspirational
  8. Change jobs.

The danger of job burnout is that you ruin your health, and you ruin your career.  Having a successful career begins with you taking care of yourself mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Learn to Love Your Job.

Isaac Asimov: How Did He Create a Lifetime of Success?

Isaac Asimov: What are the things that Isaac Asimov did that enabled him to become a professor, writer, and success story throughout his life?

Isaac Asimov: The Power of a Lifetime of Learning

Continuing to learn is fundamental to success for a lengthy career.  Industries change.  Tools change.  Opportunities disappear. New opportunities are not always available for a particular skill.  Furthermore, creativity that is critical to solving problems needs occasional resets to solve new and unique problems.

On this point, successful people continue to learn and grow as the world changes.

Eleven different companies publish the books and essays of Isaac Asimov.  Amazingly, he wrote over 1600 essays and hundreds of short stories and books.

Here is a list of his bestselling books:

The Naked Sun
I, Robot
Foundation
Second Foundation
Prelude To Foundation
The Caves Of Steel
Foundation And Empire
The End Of Eternity

“I couldn’t possibly write the variety of books I manage to do out of the knowledge I had gained in school alone. I had to keep a program of self-education in process. My library of reference books grew and I found I had to sweat over them in my constant fear that I might misunderstand a point that to someone knowledgeable in the subject would be a ludicrously simple one.”  It’s Been a Good Life, Isaac Asimov

In another famous quote, Asimov stresses the value of continuing to study after you finish school.

“Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.”

The Principles of a Lifetime of Success

In conclusion, the principles that Asimov followed apply to success in any career.  For example, Bill Gates’ website “Gates Notes” shows Gates’ belief in this principle.  The site is a blog about the people he meets and the books he reads to continue to learn and grow. Specifically, the subjects in his blog include

  • Agriculture
  • Foreign aid
  • HIV-AIDS
  • Polio
  • Toilets/Sanitation
  • Vaccines
  • Saving lives
  • Energy
  • Big History
  • Education

For Asimov, Gates, and other people, the joy of learning creates a life of success that far exceeds the life they might otherwise have had.

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Categorized as Leadership

6 Signs Your Boss Hates You and 6 Solutions

Signs Your Boss Hates You: What are the signs and what can you do about them?  Should you just ignore the situation?  Should you act?

6 Signs Your Boss Hates You

#1 Your boss’s criticisms are personal.

Your boss has the responsibility to keep you on task and doing your job on time.  However, criticizing your work and criticizing you are different issues.  If your boss is criticizing you personally, you have issues that you can’t solve by simply improving your work.   This is one of the signs your boss hates you.

#2 Your boss criticizes your work more than your boss criticizes the work of other people.

Bosses have biases.  They are humans.  One of the signs that your boss has a bias against you is criticism that only you receive.  Your coworkers make a mistake and your supervisor overlooks the mistake.  You make the same mistake and your boss criticizes you.

This is one of the signs your boss hates you.

#3 Your boss gives your coworkers glowing reviews for the same work that you receive mediocre or poor reviews.

When performance reviews are subjective, they are not tests of your skills. They are your boss’s opinion of your performance.  When you learn that people who do equal are less quality work than you and yet that get better reviews, your boss is revealing personal problems with you and not problems with your performance.

This is one of the signs your boss hates you.

#4 Other people are getting pay raises.  You are not.

If your boss is paying you less than he or she is paying your coworkers, your boss is taking a risk of losing you to a company that will pay you based the work that you do.  When your boss is willing to take that risk, this is one of the signs your boss hates you.

#5 Other people are getting promotions.  You are not.

Some people don’t want promotions.  However, if you are not getting promotions that you are seeking and other people are getting those promotions, you need to ask yourself why this problem is happening.  If you are more qualified and are not getting a promotion, this is one of the signs your boss hates you.

#6 Your boss gives credit for your work to your coworkers.

You know whether you deserve credit for your work.  You know when your boss is giving other people some or total credit for your work.

This is one of the signs your boss hates you.

6 Solutions When Your Boss Hates You

#1 Can you discuss the situation with your boss?

If you can talk with your boss about the situation, explain that you want to do a great job.  Ask for advice on how you can do a better job.  Keep the discussion on your work.  Try not to make the issue personal even though your boss may hate you for personal reasons.

#2 Document your work.

Build a record of your daily performance to show that you are doing a great job.  List the tasks your boss gives you.  List the results of your work on these tasks.  Communicate with your boss in writing.

#3 Seek Personal and Professional Advice

Turn to the people you trust and ask for their advice.  Ask the people you trust about what they think about your situation.  Ask these people for their ideas on job options and confidential referrals.  Get their advice on the best way to protect yourself in your current situation.

#4 Respond Intelligently

Getting angry and lashing out at your boss might be the best thing to do.  You do have a right to defend yourself.  Perhaps you can intimidate your boss into changing your relationship.  However, more nearly what you will do is escalate an already difficult situation.

A better solution might be a conciliatory way to get your boss to help you improve your relationship.

#5 Get the Truth About Your Options

Can you find a job at your current company working for a different supervisor?  Should you start looking for another job?  Have you polished your resume and have it ready to go?  Have you explored the jobs that look like a fit for you at other companies?

#6 Change Jobs

Some relations will always be the way they are.  It is not healthy for you to work where you have a mean boss or for a boss who is mean to you.  Find a job in a culture where you can be happy and enjoy going to work every day.

Delegating Authority in Large Organizations

Delegating Authority in Large Organizations

Cruise ships are complex organizations.  Examining the operations of a cruise ship presents an operating to see the necessity of delegating authority.

Delegating Authority in Cruise Ship Operations.  What can we learn from the operation of a cruise ship?  How does it compare to other complex organizations? Just because you are the captain doesn’t mean you can make every decision.

Delegating authority is not abdicating.

On the contrary, it is the personal power of becoming bigger by letting go.

Cruise ships have come a long way in comfort and complexity since the Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic on the Mayflower.

In a large organization, each person has a role in the success of that organization.  A cruise ship is a complex organization that relies on a wide range the skills.  In fact, the range of skills on a cruise liner is wider than the range of skills in most organizations.

Additionally, hiring and training people who can make good decisions is important for any organization.

As an organization becomes more complex, executives must learn how to delegate authority to people at every level of responsibility.

Furthermore, executives learn how to empower people with the knowledge and confidence to use authority and accept responsibility for their decisions.

There are nearly 60 cruise lines currently operating around the world.  There are literally cruises to the Arctic Circle, Antarctica, and everywhere in between.  You can cruise major rivers and waterways, including the St. Lawrence River, the Mississippi River and 8 of the major rivers in Europe.

Cruise Ships: Floating City Centers

Cruise liners are like city centers or floating malls.  The services on board a cruise ship include clothing stores, tuxedo and formal rental stores, barber shops, beauty parlors, dry cleaners, laundries, souvenir shops, liquor stores, jewelry stores, convenience stores, luggage shops, restaurants, snack bars, ice cream parlors, nightclubs, casinos, movie theaters, television stations, Internet services, doctors, dentists, print shops, athletic and fitness centers, a post office, spas, beauty treatments, photo services, and multiple swimming pools.

Delegating authority over each of these operations enables the site managers to do their job.

Businesses on a Cruise Ship

Cruise ships make money from their room and board fees.  They make extra money from ship-board sales.  Cruise ships rarely stay in port overnight.  Every port is a competitor to all the businesses that run within a cruise ship.

Mind-Blowing Size and Operation

Cruise ships are 800 to 1200 feet long and 100 to 155 feet wide.  The largest ships have 14 to 18 decks and each deck is the size of 2 to 3 football fields

Cruise ships board and feed 4000 to over 8000 passengers and crew.

The captain of a ship must rely on the cruise lines company to provide highly trained people who have the ability to make good judgments and quick decisions.

These people must have the skills and the authority to make decisions as they interact with the thousands of passengers.

Behind the Scenes

Before a ship goes to sea, a navigation department lays out a course and speed for the ship to go from port to port.  Navigators control the ship as it crosses the waterways and passes other ships.

Engineers operate the systems to produce electricity, distill fresh water, and maintain the ballast to keep the ship stable.

The purser oversees supplies such as food and drink, clothing, bedding, and passenger comfort. He or she is the face or liaison of the ship to the passengers on board.

In Conclusion

In a large organization, each person has some role in the success of the organization.

A cruise ship is more than thousands of people floating across the ocean. It is a large and complex business.

The training and performance of the people who work on the ship determine the ship’s success.

An important part of that training is teaching the crew how to use authority and to accept responsibility.  People who fail to make good decisions affect the success of the ship’s business.

Likewise, the failure of the captain to empower people with the knowledge and authority to make decisions undermines the success of the ship.

On the other hand, captains who empower a well-trained crew to make decisions can do a better job of running the total operation.

For the captain of a cruise ship, delegating authority is not abdicating.  On the contrary, it is the personal power of becoming bigger by letting go.

Auftragstaktik: Empowering Site-Based Leaders

Auftragstaktik: Empowering Site-Based Leaders. What is Auftragstaktik? What are its limitations and risks? How does it free leaders for greater success?

The German word Auftragstaktik is coined from the phrase: Auftrag (assignment) taktik (tactics).

The idea is that everyone in an organization needs to know how much authority they have and how to use that authority.

Simple Example

NOTICE: In the event of a fire, the person closest to the fire extinguisher has the authority to use it.

Auftragstaktik and Practical Disobedience

Frequently studied as a form of military command, the concept has its roots in Prussian and German military training.

Frederick II, also known as “Frederick the Great,” was the King of Prussia between 1740 and 1786.  Under his rule, Prussia expanded its territories and became recognized as a military power in Europe.

He was King of Prussia during the Seven Years’ War.  This war pitted England, Prussia, and their allies against the allies of the French and Russian alliance.

The people of Prussia admired their “War King.”  His people and his soldiers affectionately referred to Frederick the Great as “Old Fritz.”

The Micromanager

In battle, “Old Fritz” was a micromanager.

His most precocious and creative general was Friedrich von Seydlitz.  This general was unconventional and independent in his tactics.  His independence on at least one occasion ran counter the “Old Fritz’s” command.

In the Battle of Zorndorf in 1758, the king ordered the general to attack the Russian front.  Instead the general attacked the Russian flank.

“Old Fritz” ordered his general to return to the king’s camp and explain himself.

The general, still engaged in battle, ignored the order.  “Old Fritz” again ordered the general to report to the king’s camp.  A second time, the general ignored the order.  In a third attempt, the king sent an order to the general that he would either report to the king immediately or the king would lop off the general’s head.

The general replied, “After the battle the king can do what he likes with my head, but during the battle will he please allow me to use it?”

Seydlitz tactics worked to win the battle against the Russian army. He went on to become one of Prussia’s greatest generals. King Frederick became one of his friends.  Operating under the thumb of a micromanager, he succeeded through the success he achieved with this mission tactics.

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Empowering Others: Leadership and General Patton

Empowering others is not a concept that people often associate with George S. Patton, Jr.  But at what point does success depend on empowering others?

“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” General George S. Patton, Jr.

This quote from Patton gives us some idea of what he expected from the people who worked for him.

Iconic, hard-driving, relentless, Patton was strict in managing the people under his command. He fined soldiers for uniform infractions. He said, “It is absurd to believe that soldiers who cannot be made to wear the proper uniform can be induced to move forward in battle. Officers who failed to perform their duty by correcting small violations and in enforcing proper conduct are incapable of leading.”

Empowering Others to Achieve Success

Based on his reputation for strict command, it may seem surprising that Patton ever delegated authority to anyone.  However, he demanded that people under his command respect themselves in the way they dressed, in the way that they prepared for duty, and in the way that they performed their service.  With this respect for themselves, he instilled in them a respect for their abilities as well as demeanor.

Patton recognized the importance of delegating decision-making to the officers who managed the thousands of men under his command.

He insisted on people pushing forward the ideas they believed to be correct.  This Patton statement shows how much he depended on the input of other people in his command.  “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking,”

He could not be everywhere at the same time.  He could not make thousands of decisions on the spot during the action on the battlefield.

Of necessity and common sense, he empowered the soldiers under his command to have the authority to make decisions that led to success.

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