Curriculum Assimilation Paper

Tiffany Shelby

02/09/18

Week Three - Curriculum Assimilation Paper

Dr. Everette Koop

While reading this article I was able to relate with Dr. Everette Koop’s wife on several occasions. Dr. Koop had begun to question God when his life had a began to what he believed to fall apart. His wife had reminded him that God must have felt that he needed to stir things up to cause for Dr. Koop to change his perspective and doing in life. I always feel as though when things take a turn that it is God telling me that I need to stay focused and continue to push harder. Dr. Koop after listening to his wife’s advice had gone from being unemployed and sitting in an empty office to getting a top job as a Surgeon General.  (Koop, Pg.184) On page 198, Dr. Koop mentioned how it’s now point in quoting the bible to those who do not read it. I think that he meant that it’s no point in trying to make someone understand what you are trying to teach them if they have no intentions on listening.  

                                Chapter 5-7 in Leading Leaders

From reading this article Negotiating the Vison by Henry Miller, I learned that leaders must keep in mind that they must set the direction in employees in which they want their employees to follow. Without setting a direction, employees will each have their own interests and their would-be chaos. (Miller, pg.  67) Leaders must be able to get their employees to agree to work towards the organizations objectives. If employees do not feel that decisions are fair than they will be less likely to agree with them. (Miller, pg. 84) When I began to take on positions that require me to leader others I will keep in mind, that people do not always commit to company goals due to loyalty. Miller explained that people commit to these goals due to their own personal interests and for the overall reward that they will gain by doing so. (Miller, pg.71) The article Making Stars a Team by Blaise Pascal described how people are part of organizations so that they can reach their own personal goals If an employee does not feel as they can reach their goals while being a part of the company, then they will look to become a part of another company.

Change the Way You Persuade

This article was about the different five different types of decision makers. The five different types of decision makers are charismatic, thinkers, followers, skeptics, and controllers. Charismatics accounted for 25% of all the executives and are usually slow to commit since they must make sure that the decision is a realistic one. Thinkers accounted for 11% of executives and rely on data presented to them and are logical thinkers. Thinkers are not quick to make decisions either because of their past bad experiences. Thinkers are persuaded by customer surveys and cost-benefit analysis because they need to see it from each perspective. Thinkers are one of the hardest decision-making styles to try to persuade. Followers accounted for 36% of executives and are more likely to make decisions based off what others have done in the past. Skeptics accounted for 19% of executives and relate to those who are like them and are aggressive. Controllers accounted for 9% of executives and are analytic and usually only like to go with their own ideas. From reading this article I learned that my decision-making style is charismatic. Having a charismatic decision-making style means that I am one who focuses on results. Although an idea may sound as though it will work out, my final decision would be based off what the research supports and not just off emotions. When getting my point across I always use visual aids to help explain the benefits.  (Williams and Miller, 1995)

Harnessing the Science of Persuasion

        Robert Cialdini’s article Harnessing the Science of Persuasion provided me with a great deal of information regarding persuasion. To master the art of persuasion managers must be able to master six fundamental principles of persuasion. These six fundamental principles are reciprocity, consistency, liking, social proof, scarcity, and authority.  According to Cialdini, reciprocity refers to when people give what they want to receive in return. (Cialdini, pg. 28) Reciprocity is when you treat others the way you want them to treat you and in response they will return the favor. (Cialdini, pg. 28) This principle is applied in our daily lives; within our places of employment as well as in our daily routines and places where we interact with others. For example, reciprocity can is demonstrated in my place of employment when managers give us gifts and in return makes us want to work harder. Reciprocity can also be demonstrated when participating in group discussions, when we provide others with attention and respect, they are likely to do the same in return. Consistency refers to when people fulfil their promised commitments. (Cialdini, pg.29) People are more likely to fulfil their commitments whenever it has been placed into writing. Managers can hold employees accountable for their promises by getting it in writing as a reminder of the commitment that they made. (Cialdini, pg. 37) Cialdini states that’s liking refers to when “people like those who like them.” (Cialdini, pg. 28) Mangers can demonstrate this principle by addressing shared interest and points with their employees in group discussions.  Social proof refers to how people tend to follow one another. Managers can present testimonials from others that also like them to persuade employees to also follow along. (Cialdini, pg. 28) Scarcity can be demonstrated when managers tell their employees things such as a project having a limited time- range or limited budget. Authority refers to people referring information from experts. Managers should provide information on their areas of expertise and how they were able to solve a problem that’s like the current problem. Being able to persuade is a very important skill for managers to have. Managers must be able to persuade their clients and employees to work towards achieving company goals. I do not currently work in a managerial position; however, these principles are still beneficial to me. This article allowed me to gain insight on what managers must go through to keep employees on one accord, as well as with information that will prepare me for future leadership positions.  

                                                                The Power of Talk

Deborah Tannen had once been told by the CEO of a major corporation that he often had to make decisions about matters that would typically take other’s months to decide upon. The way that the CEO was able to make his decisions within the five minutes, was if the person was able to make what he considered a confident proposal. If he did not find the proposal to be confident than he would not approve it. The issue with this method of judgement is that the CEO is making his decisions on if a person sounds confident. (Tannen, 1995, Pg. 43) However, what he may think sounds confident may not be confident, and what he denies being confident, may in fact be confident.  Due to this method of decision making, women are often over looked for promotions and labeled as not being confident.  There’s no way to be able to truly predict someone’s level of confidence based on the way that they talk because, the way that we talk is influenced by our cultural upbringing. Tannen   believed that because men and woman communicate differently, that alone creates the possibility of misunderstanding. These women are being judged by men and their linguistic styles which are different than women’s.  If there was an understanding of how different the two are than, employers may than be able to create better equal opportunity work environments. In this article Tanner also talked about her research that she had begun in 1974, on the influence of linguistic style and its relation to conversation in the workplace.  Tannen’s observations focused on girls’ and boys’ linguistic patterns. “Linguistic styles refer to a person characteristic speaking pattern.” (Tannen, 1995, pg. 44) Tannen’s research pointed out the differences between the two starting from when they’re adolescents and to when they are working adults.  Like those who grow up in diverse cultures, women and men each have distinctive styles of speaking. The way that we learn how to speak and listen originates back to our childhood and is “influenced by our cultural experiences.” (Tannen, 1995, pg. 44) The purpose of her research was to provide managers with information on how there is a barrier in communication in the workplace. Tannen goes into detail to explain the learned behaviors of both men and women growing up which helps to explain why women are underestimated in the workplace. When it comes to talking women compared to men are more reserved, this behavior is learned and begins when they were younger. Men are believed to brag more about their achievements opposed to women who tend to down play their achievements. Men brag about their achievements to appear more like a leader amongst their peers. Since women are less likely to talk about their achievements, this makes them more incompetent than men.  When it comes to asking questions, women are more likely to ask for criticism of their work performance. While, men fear asking question due to their pride. Men enjoy being amongst large groups of men while women like being is small groups of friends. Based on Tannen’s article there is no way that one can know exactly what to say and how to say it because there are several factors that come into play such as: the culture of the company, their linguistic style, and how their linguistic style interacts with the speakers. The next time that I have an interview I will keep this in mind if the pool of people interviewing me are men.