Page 93 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

THE WHY OF WORK

Socialization of employees may begin on the first day
of the job. As a new Ph.D. student, Dave was encouraged
to attend faculty colloquiums where visitors would present
their research and ideas. These seminars were seldom pas-
sive. Colleagues would push, prod, and challenge the work
of the visitors to test the rigor and integrity of their ideas. By
modeling to new Ph.D. students the importance of challeng-
ing ideas in a collegial setting, his faculty advisers mentored
him into the role of a scholar scientist. They also learned
which students would savor these inevitable clashes of ideas
and which would run away. In contrast, Wendy’s program
was designed to train her as a psychologist. It focused on the
student’s willingness to look honestly at her own inner life
with self-awareness and insight as a preparation for helping
clients do the same.
As a leader, you may socialize employees through for-
mal orientation programs where employees learn what is
expected of them, but also through informal mentoring and
coaching about unwritten rules and expectations for things
like how to dress, how to show respect for others, how to deal
with conflict, and what protocols govern decision making.
Go to dinner at your neighbor’s. What are their routines?
Who sits where? How is food passed? Does anyone say grace?
(If so, who?) How are people dressed? How is the table set?
Who cooks? Serves the food? Sits where? Who does dishes?
Something as simple as having dinner at a friend’s house
demonstrates the many ways that two groups can differ in
how they function. Fitting into someone else’s family or
work team or industry is seldom straightforward. In organi-
zations with layers of complexity in history, rules, hierarchy,
and routines, the job of helping others fit is much more
difficult than serving a meal. But, when employees match

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