Week1 Assign. Topic for the Final Research Proposal

DOI: 10.1111/peps.12348

B O O K R E V I E W S

WOMEN IN MANAGEMENT: A FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE WORK-LIFE

INTEGRATION

Alan T. Belasen

New York: Routledge, 2017, 334 pages, $72.95 softcover

I have a confession to make. When this book arrived in the mail, I completely and 100% judged it by its cover. The image

on the front is of a lone, Caucasian woman in pumps sitting in a swivel chair (with her legs serving as the focal point)

engaging a tablet, positioned in front of a big window. My immediate stream of thoughts was essentially… “where are the people? Isn’t this book supposed to be about management? It’s kind of presumptuous that she’s White… and I wonder if this book is going to address the oversexualization of women at work given that the first thing your eye

is drawn towards after reading the title is her legs! Also, why is she focused on this small screen in front of her when

she could be focusing on the “big picture” (metaphorically) out of this window?” Overthinking? Perhaps. However, my

(strong) reaction to the cover was in complete contrast to my reaction to the actual book, so I am glad I was obligated

to read it.

Dr. Balasen centers the book on his theoretical structure for understanding work–life integration, the competing

values framework (CVF). Just as it sounds from the name, it acknowledges head-on the inherent conflict between work

and life demands. His aim is to shift from viewing success as a quest for maximization on all fronts, to viewing success as

findingtheoptimalbalanceacrosslifedomainsandevencautioningagainsttherisksthatcomewithextremebehaviors.

Iappreciatethisconcept,butwasveryhesitanttobelievesomeonecouldconvincemethisisareal,practicalpossibil-

ity in one small (<330-page) book. My initial skepticism was in part because although I recognize that we are discussing

one of the most complex topics on the planet, I found the actual model to be difficult to digest. Meaning that to me,

it was not simple and intuitive in that it contains arrows going in almost every direction without clear explanation (in

the introduction anyway). After really digging in, I started to understand some of the unclear connections better, but

some tweaking of the physical, visual model might help clarify for future readers. For example, is the path from “formu-

late, communicate” to “sense, act” through “credibility”? But whose roles are these? What is an outcome and what is an

input?

As such, there are a lot of words in the model you cannot fully understand without the context of the rest of the

text (I mean literally reading to the conclusion of the book), which is probably fine except that it may lead to the the-

oretical model having less impact than it should in the literature. (Full disclosure: this may be the practitioner in me

unconsciously craving the executive summary, so I can scaffold my own focus and learning better!)

He references Sheryl Sandberg and the “lean-in” movement several times. I feel compelled to mention that while the

CVF is not as sexy as the “lean-in” message, I think it is more realistic and balanced. It is very human and meant to be

sustainable. I would consider the spirit of the book to be along the lines of what is found on page 7: the CVF is meant

to be “both encouraging and relatable for women, and will help reinforce the idea that women do not need to ignore

one aspect or attain perfection in both [work and family] to have what they yearn for.” Does not that sound incredibly

idealistic (and perhaps impossible)? I have written in the margin beside this phrase “BUT how practical will this book

be?” I was skeptical. BUT THEN, I read page after page of research and practical tips. I found myself texting pictures of

snippets of text to my direct reports, former mentors, and friends. I was finding really good stuff in there!

I think you can read this book one of two ways: (a) as a text or leisure book from cover to cover; or (b) as a reference

tool. I read it cover to cover, so I could write this review for you to read, but I will definitely be using it differently moving

Personnel Psychology. 2019;72:479–487. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/peps c© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 479

480 BOOK REVIEWS

forward. Dr. Balasen wrote a detailed introduction that describes enough about what each chapter contains for you to

simply read that, and then reference other sections as needed for tips and tricks (or ammunition). For example, in the

introduction, there is a promise that Chapter 6 will include successful leadership practices and tips for both individuals

and organizations to allow women to sustain family goals while at the same time succeeding in their professions. If you

flip to that chapter, it includes a detailed business case for women in leadership (lots of interesting and illuminating

statistics), an exploration of opt-out and pushed-out, the role men play in advancing women in leadership, addressing

the confidence gap, and much more. There are suggestions woven throughout that I have underlined and starred for

future reference. In my opinion, the logical organization, breadth of relevant content, and depth of explanation of and

in this book make it a very useful read.

Throughout the book, there is reference to an assessment of one’s standing on the CVF. Being a bit of an assessment

nerd, I was itching to figure out where I could get my hands on it as a resource. Spoiler alert: you can find it in the

conclusion of the book. It is short and sweet, and probably a nice tool to use throughout your career. I suspect scores

will change dramatically based on circumstances and experience. However, there is not really a scoring key provided;

just some sample results from improvements that could theoretically (?) be made. I would love to see more descriptive

development suggestions for varying scores to make the tool more robust and even more practical.

The bottom line: this book is well researched and well written, and if you are interested in women’s issues at work,

you should read it. I found myself wanting to devour it quickly, and wishing I had a few more minutes before I had to pick

up my kids from school to finish the chapter. But, I also found myself needing to slow down and take my time so as not

to miss anything important. This book contains hundreds of theories and thousands of ideas. Some of them are tried

and true and some of them are exciting and new. I hope Dr. Balasen’s theories receive the recognition they deserve, and

I hope this work becomes a classic read for psychology and business students everywhere.

(By the way, objectification of women is addressed as early as page 31! So, I rather hope that maybe in the next

edition of the book, they tweak the cover a bit.)

Eleni Lobene

Chief Human Resources Officer

District Growth

Washington, DC

DOI: 10.1111/peps.12349

THE HANDBOOK OF STRATEGIC 360 FEEDBACK

Allan H. Church David W. Bracken John W. Fleenor Dale S. Rose

New York: Oxford University Press, 2019, 562 pages, $95 hardcover

There is nothing worse than answering, with precision, the wrong question. Thus, I approached this review with some

trepidation, because my perspective on 360 feedback is narrow, spanning only a few degrees of the 360◦ spectrum;

dated, with my hands-on experience with 360 technology occurring two decades ago; and biased, focused on my

idiosyncratic collection of issues and concerns.

How could I do justice to the task? It seemed that I should attempt at least a full 360◦ assessment, but then I began to

wonder whether a two-dimensional universe would properly cover the essentials. Putting that puzzle aside, I decided

to start at the beginning and opened the book.

BOOK REVIEWS 481

“Thisvolumeisthedefinitiveworkonstrategic360feedback.”Thus,proclaimstheopeningsentenceofthevolume’s

dust jacket.

Having now read the entire book, it is a reasonable claim. In fact, it is a bit of an understatement, as the Handbook’s

rich yield of concepts and commentary goes far beyond the common meanings of “strategy” and “feedback.”

The handbook of strategic 360 feedback presents essays from a who is who of applied scientists focused on best prac-

tices in the design, implementation, and evaluation of multirater feedback processes. It features 30 chapters grouped

into five sections: decision-making, development, methods, applications, and emerging topics. It builds upon the record

of published research while honoring the historical record by devoting a full section to using 360 solely for develop-

ment.

As signaled in its title, the Handbook fully endorses the use of 360 ratings in making consequential personnel deci-

sions. That is a sign of maturity here, because 360 started out as an unwelcome intrusion in the properly ordered, hier-

archical geography of organized production. The possibility that someone other than one’s boss might have relevant,

indeed crucial information about the job performance of an individual was threatening to the near total fate-control

exercised by bosses. Besides, 360 was both expensive and administratively complex, so its initial application was con-

strained to serve as a source of information that might be useful to individuals in their self-development.

That now has changed, and 360 technologies have become integral components of talent management systems for

many organizations. The handbook’s sections on 360 for decision-making and organizational applications especially

stand out in documenting the issues to be addressed in transforming development-focused 360 systems or implement-

ing a new 360 instance into talent management.

Everyone knows that work is multidimensional. It is a short step to realize that some aspects of one’s work are

not going to be clearly observed, let alone evaluated, by one’s superior(s). Including colleagues, subordinates, or cus-

tomers in the evaluation process will help, but it will not entirely resolve concerns about the adequacy, completeness,

and accuracy of ratings and feedback. Anyone can understand those concerns if they have witnessed Olympic sport

competitions where trimmed and averaged ratings provide the data that determine the gold medal recipient.

Also, everyone knows that feedback can be a gift, or it can be a “gift” (this latter sense surely echoes Kluger and

DeNisi’s (1996) meta-analytic report that feedback causes worse performance in about one out of three cases). The

challenge here lies in determining which if any of the ratings are erroneous and then deciding what to do about them.

Quantification per se is attracting public attention, and not just as asserted in the “science is nothing but opinion,

and my opinion is as good as anyone else’s” deconstructionist nonsense. Jerry Muller’s The tyranny of metrics (2018)

offers an informed critique of “gaming the stats” and “teaching to the test,” serving as a worthy foil for thinking about

what to quantify and how to be confident about the validity of the resulting score and decision.

In this vein, Chapter 20 is provocative—Lorraine Stomski describes an alternative form of feedback, one shorn of

quantification: narrative themes gathered from interviews with three to five “key stakeholders” about the focal leader’s

reputation. Stomski notes “…there are no more protracted discussions focused on questions around minor rating effects, such as, ‘Is the difference between a 3.4 and 3.6 on a 5-point scale significant?’” All of my questions about reli-

ability, validity, interpersonal politics, biases, dimensionality, true scores, and accuracy popped up while reading about

this mind-opening and head-on enlargement of the assessment and development universe.

I will close by quoting Bernard Fine (1990) on the topic of meta-analysis: “While meta-analysis may be a step toward

an ‘objective’ summarization of the state of the art in a given scientific area, I get the impression that at least some folks

think the method somehow will facilitate arriving at scientific ‘truth.’ At its very best, meta-analysis cannot determine

what is true, it only can attempt to measure what is.”

Bear with me on this—like meta-analysis, 360 feedback is a means to gather a summarization of something. In this

case, it is a summary of managerial behavior, performance, and effectiveness that is in some sense truer, richer, more

complete, more accurate, in short better than any univariate score.

Now back to Fine on meta-analysis: “If we constantly keep in mind that, had meta-analysis been around at the time,

it would have confirmed that planet Earth was flat and the center of the universe, we’ll be all right.”

482 BOOK REVIEWS

With regard to 360, we rely so much on our measures. If we stay mindful of Fine’s point about distinguishing

between “what is true” and “what is,” we will be all right, regardless of whatever composites get calculated on route

to awarding promotion and placement gold medals.

All in all, The handbook of strategic 360 feedback will be well worth the time and energy you invest in studying the

answers it offers to the questions you have about multisource measures and their uses. If you will be satisfied with the

Cliffs Notes-like version, check out Wikipedia. If you want the true grit, that is, 360◦ completeness, this is where to

find it.

Milton D. Hakel

Ohio Eminent Scholar Emeritus

Department of Psychology

Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green, Ohio

REFERENCES

Fine, B. J. (1990). In reply: meta-analysis and bias. Science, 250, 494. Kluger, A. N., & DeNisi, A. (1996). The effects of feedback interventions on performance: A historical review, a meta-analysis,

and a preliminary feedback intervention theory. Psychological Bulletin, 119(2), 254–284. Muller, Jerry Z. (2018). The tyranny of metrics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

DOI: 10.1111/peps.12350

MENTORING EXECUTIVES AND DIRECTORS

David Megginson David Clutterbuck

New York: Routledge, 2018, 160 pages, $180 hardcover

Most people who have achieved career success can point to a mentor who helped them chart a course for their careers,

navigate difficult challenges, and grow their confidence and capabilities. Many organizations attempt to tap into the

power of mentoring by creating mentoring opportunities for their employees through structured or facilitated pro-

grams. Much of the focus on mentoring is on protégés who are in their early- or middle-career journeys. However, as

protégés move into more senior leadership roles, the opportunities to establish a new mentoring partnership become

difficult. For more junior protégés in larger organizations, there is often an ample supply of seasoned leaders who are

senior to them who can serve as mentors. But, as the hierarchy narrows at the top, there are fewer senior leaders

available to serve as trusted advisors. Who will mentor, for example, a general manager of a business unit or a newly

promoted controller who reports to the chief financial officer? The transitions faced at more senior roles are riskier

than those lower in the organization; having a mentor at that time would ease the transition for the new leader. Clut-

terbuck and Megginson’s book, Mentoring executive & directors, examines what mentoring can look like for protégés

at more senior levels. They attempt to help the reader understand how mentoring can be facilitated for more senior

protégés.

The transitions (or passages) leaders traverse as they ascend through the hierarchy are described in Charan et al.’s

book The leadership pipeline: How to build the leadership powered company (2012). In it, he notes that “Each of these

passages represents a change in organizational position—a different level and complexity of leadership–where a sig-

nificant turn has to be made. These turns involve a major change in job requirements, demanding new skills, time

BOOK REVIEWS 483

applications, and work values” (p. 7). Those who fail to make the turn will clog the leadership pipeline. They will

not develop and grow into the expectations of the role and will stymie the growth of those below them. As Kram

(1988) observed in her interviews with those who had been promoted to senior management roles, “they describe this

transition with excitement and anxiety. For all of them the move was a desirable one, and for all of them there was anx-

iety about whether they would perform effectively at a new hierarchical level” (p. 83). This situation is precisely when

an executive would benefit from a mentor to provide career guidance (e.g., How do I navigate the politics of my role?

How do I create a vision for my organization?) as well as psychosocial support (e.g., How do I deal with feeling like an

imposter in my role? How do I project confidence when I feel uncertain?) that Kram describes in her book. But, a mentor

can be difficult to come by for more senior leaders. There are a limited number of executives above them, and they may

not be able to establish a trusting, confidential relationship with another senior leader.

Clutterbuck and Megginson attempt to bridge this gap by describing what mentoring can look like for more senior

protégés. Theaimoftheirbookistoprovideguidanceinestablishingandsupportingmentoringforseniorleaders. They

organize the book into three basic sections:

1. Every executive needs a mentor

2. Case studies

3. Lessons for executive and director mentoring

In the first section, the authors lay out a case for why executives need to have mentors. They begin with their

definition of mentoring, which they describe as “off-line help by one person to another in making significant transi-

tions in knowledge, work, or thinking” (p. 3). They go on to describe the importance of creating a “personal reflective

space,” described as “the seized opportunity to develop personal insight through uninterrupted and purposeful reflec-

tion activity” (p. 8). This space is achieved through a series of stages that they advocate is best experienced with a

thought partner who is skilled in asking questions you would not ask yourself. This person would ideally be a mentor.

The authors do note that executive coaches can sometimes fulfill this role, but that coaching is typically short-term and

focused on closing skill or behavior gaps. A mentorship is a longer term relationship filled by someone who is often an

“elder statesperson.” As an executive coach myself, I would add that a mentor can empathize better with a protégé than

a coach can with a client. For instance, I have coached chief executive officers, but I do not know what it is like to be one.

A mentor who has been in the protégé’s position has both a perspective and an understanding with which a protégé

can connect. In my own book on mentoring, I note that a mentor’s ability to empathize can be a powerful way to build

connection with and confidence in a protégé (Nemanick, 2017).

After making the case for why executives need mentors, the authors describe the role of emotional intelligence in

the mentoring process using Goleman’s (1996) model. The chapter provides a treasure trove of questions an executive

mentor can use to separate intellectual from emotional content of issues a protégé might face, followed by clues to

understand the protégé’s responses to difficult situations. The authors present a model of the executive-mentoring

process as well as a framework for the types of issues mentors and their executive protégés tend to discuss.

Part of what makes this book stand out is 22 case studies that comprise the second section of the book. The case

studies are a mix of first-person accounts of the subject’s experience with executive mentoring and descriptions of

executive mentoring “schemes” (it should be noted for American readers that the cases are primarily European where

the use of “mentoring scheme” is more common than the term “mentoring program”). For example, the first case

describes different approaches to building networks of mentoring for small business owners. The case describes four

different mentoring schemes and how they are structured. That case is followed immediately by a first-person account

of a French mentor who describes his experiences both being mentored and being a mentor (which he called “accom-

pagnateur” as he notes there is not a term for “mentor” in French). The cases are divided into three sections covering

private sector, public sector, and voluntary sector cases.

The final section of the book summarizes lessons learned from the cases. The authors invited a panel of three exec-

utives to help them read the cases and identify the issues contained within them. They separate the results of their

484 BOOK REVIEWS

analysis into organizational issues, protégé role, mentor role, and relationship issues. They include some interesting

insights about mentoring executives, such as differences in how mentoring is experienced between North America and

Europe,aswellasacrossdifferentEuropeancultures.Forexample,severaloftheEuropeancasesnoteaspiritualaspect

to mentoring that is not commonly reported in North American mentoring. Furthermore, they note that some of the

European mentors were paid mentors, which is somewhat difficult to differentiate from executive coaching.

The book does have a few shortcomings. First, some of the case studies were written by the subjects themselves

and did not advance the understanding of mentoring. Their insights into mentoring, while personal, were somewhat

mundaneandfailedtoaddmeaningfulcontributiontotheunderstandingofmentoringexecutives.Thesecondcriticism

is the lack of description of mentoring for members of boards of directors given the book’s title. I would like to have

seen more description of how organizations bring new directors onto their boards and help them to acclimate to their

advanced strategic roles in company governance. While the book touches on governance in a few instances, it would

have benefitted from examining how corporate boards can provide mentoring to their members.

Overall, this book fills an important niche in our understanding of mentoring. It explores an application for mentor-

ing that few other texts have and provides useful frameworks and guidance for anyone who is interested in fostering

mentoring for executives.

Rik Nemanick

The Leadership Effect

Washington University in St. Louis

St. Louis, Missouri

REFERENCES

Charan, R., Drotter, S., & Noel, J. (2012). The leadership pipeline: How to build the leadership powered company. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.

Goleman, D. (1996). Emotional intelligence. London: Bloomsbury. Kram, K. (1988). Mentoring at work: Developmental relationships in organizational life. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. Nemanick, R. (2017). The mentor’s way: Eight rules for bringing out the best in others. New York, NY: Routledge.

DOI: 10.1111/peps.12351

THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF ORGANIZATIONS: DIAGNOSING TOXICITY AND

INTERVENING IN THE WORKPLACE

Joanna Wilde

New York: Routledge, 2016, 224 pages

Most readers with backgrounds in I–O psychology will put this book down after reading the first couple of paragraphs.

This might be a mistake. Granted, the author makes numerous errors of commission and omission in the first couple

of chapters, enough for experienced scientist-practitioners to put the book down quickly. But discussions of consult-

ing relationships starting in Chapter 2 look promising, especially for those of us trained more for the scientist side of

science-based practice. Having discovered the importance of relationships in my own career, I have seldom found good

coverage of these issues in our literatures.

So, before offering criticisms, it might be fairer to make a few excuses. The book is written by a U.K. practitioner,

meaning there are differences in training and outlook from North American audiences. Similarly, the author may have

BOOK REVIEWS 485

received little or less than helpful input from editorial staff. Consolidation in the publishing industry has reduced the

valuation, and hence the availability of good editorial staff for guiding authors. As I read the first chapter (and through-

out the book), I wondered repeatedly whether the author had received any suggestions from a good editor or whether

some good suggestions had been misconstrued or ignored. Finally, the variety of case examples offered in the second

chapter suggested that the author had many experiences across a wide range of consultations. This was what kept me

reading further, in the hope that there would be some valuable insights from the perspective of the author’s expertise.

One thing was quite clear, though, and this is that the first chapter really needs to be scrapped and reconceptu-

alized. Establishing the case for what this author offers would be far better stated affirmatively, rather than trying

to respond to un-named critics of her preferred approaches. If there is value, it can be stated by simply introducing

some of the key concepts, processes, and constructs in brief, then allowing informed readers to decide whether they

want to learn more. Instead, the reader is subjected to rambling descriptions of the problems of various approaches

to organizational-development work, interspersed with “essentials” required for a “helping” role. During this rant, the

reader learns nothing—no definitions of ideas (“problematic” or “essential”), no reasons for helping, and, most impor-

tantly, no ideas from psychology at all.

To elaborate on this last issue, the primary title of this book is the same as Katz and Kahn’s (1978) classic work. This

author and editorial group do not appear to know this, as Katz and Kahn’s work is neither mentioned nor cited (even

though one of Katz’s later articles is cited late in the book for unrelated reasons). Worse, the only terms identified as

“psychosocial” in the first chapter (p. 4) are “compassion, appreciation, and growth,” along with the “macro” variables

of “cognitive and behavioral” sources of toxicity. It is not ever made clear how cognition and behavior act as “macro”

psychological variables, nor are any of these terms defined. Toxicity is defined much later.

And this may be the biggest problem of all with this volume: lack of definitions. On the lookout for a stated definition

of a term or concept, it was not until page 53 that one was offered for “science-based practice.” Instead, the reader is

subjected to a disconnected set of weak critiques and brief prescriptions for “translating” evidence to action through-

out the first section of the book (Introduction and Chapters 1–5). This creates one of the most frustrating reading expe-

riences I have ever had. It comes across as someone’s (sometimes unreferenced) lecture notes for a slapped together

class between consulting gigs.

Back to what might be good about the book: Chapter 6 begins the second section, which is dedicated to defining

and identifying means for reducing toxicity. It reads like a separate book, starting with a fairly comprehensive defini-

tion of toxicity as it has evolved from a biological to a social construct. This chapter is the first with extensive citations,

evidence to support statements, and very little use of prescriptive or hyperbolic language. The final part of the chapter

attempts to present an “integrated” model of organizational toxicity. It is not at all clear what is meant by “integrated”

here, and the model does not seem to provide actionable functions. Instead, some of the ill-defined jargon from ear-

lier chapters is thrown into the chapter to provide some ideas about how to deal with toxicity. Had these terms been

explained briefly and clearly at this point in the book, they might have made more sense. As it is, readers are left to find

their way back to them using the index—not that it does much good since they remain ill-defined.

Chapter 7 elaborates on the author’s toxicity model, identifying alleged sources of toxicity. Among other odd state-

ments from this chapter, it is suggested that the usual 4–10% experience of bullying by employees does not reach the

level of “toxic dose.” I would have trouble selling this to the high-performing people who plan to leave their employ-

ment as a result of bullying. Likewise, coverage of heuristics and biases (citing Kahneman, 2011) links these to toxicity

through their influence on stereotyping and prejudice. How this happens is not explained.

Chapter 8 outlines four categories of “psychosocial micro processes” (accountability, compassion, appreciation, and

growth) that may mitigate or amplify toxicity. The section on “appreciation” (borrowed from appreciative inquiry) in

Chapter 8 may have actual value as a tool in scientist-practitioner processes. But it is not new to the current volume.

Theother“micro”processesincludelaundrylistsofconceptsborrowedfromvariousliteratures,clusteredfornostated

reason, and not connected to any processes in the model. I was particularly disappointed that none of the ideas of

development(cognitive,social,andmoral)werecoveredinthe“growth”section,giventheirimportancetopsychosocial

change, and their relative obscurity in the learning and change literatures.

486 BOOK REVIEWS

The final section (part three) delves into three “diagnostic themes” that quickly devolve back into the broad, poorly

defined, and unreferenced critiques of various practices that caught the author’s attention at some point. In all honesty,

I have always carefully read every sentence of the many books I have read and reviewed for Personnel Psychology. But I

didnothavethestomachtocarefullyreadtheremainingchaptersofthisbook.Afterskimmingall,andcarefullyreading

the sections that looked like they might have some value (especially on performance management), I decided to put this

book down and write this review without reading every word. I suggest you do the same.

Robert G. Jones

Missouri State University,

Springfield, Missouri

REFERENCES

Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. New York, NY: Macmillan. Katz, D., & Kahn, R. L. (1978). The concept of organizational effectiveness. The social psychology of organizations (2nd ed.). New

York, NY: Wiley, pp. 838.

Copyright of Personnel Psychology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.