When Patrick Lencioni was a child, he watched his father unhappily trudge off to work
each day and, over time, became fascinated with job misery. “I came to the frightening realization that people spend so much of their time at work, yet so many of them
were unfilled and frustrated in their jobs,” he says. “As I got older,
I came to another realization — that job misery was having a
devastating impact on individuals and on society at
large.” Because of this, Lencioni, the author of six best-selling
books, penned his latest work,
“The Three Signs of a Miserable Job.” Smart Business asked Lencioni
about miserable jobs
and what executives can do about the problem.
What is the root cause of job misery?
The primary source of job misery and
the potential cure for that misery
resides in the hands of one individual —
the direct manager. An employee’s relationship with their direct manager is the
most important determinant to employee satisfaction. Even employees who
are well paid, do interesting work and
have great autonomy cannot feel fulfilled in a job if their managers are not
providing them with what they need on
a daily or weekly basis.
What are the three signs?
The first is
anonymity, which is the feeling that
employees get when they realize that
their manager has little interest in them
as a human being and that he or she
knows little about their lives, their aspirations and their interests.
The second sign is irrelevance, which
is when employees cannot see how their
job makes a difference in the lives of
others. The third sign is something I call
“immeasurement,” which is the inability
of employees to assess for themselves
their contribution or success. Employees who have no means of measuring how
well they are doing on a given day or in
a given week must rely on the subjective opinions of others to gauge their
contribution.
Why don’t managers do these things?
Many managers think they are too busy.
Of course, the real problem is that most
of those managers see themselves primarily as individual contributors who happen to have direct reports. They fail to
realize that the most important part of
their job is providing their people with
what they need to be productive and fulfilled (a.k.a. not miserable) in their jobs.
The second reason is that managers simply forget what it was like when they were a little lower on the food chain. They somehow forget how important it was to them when a supervisor took an interest in them.
Finally, many managers don’t do this because they fear that their employees will see them as being disingenuous or manipulative or that, by taking an interest in their personal lives, they will be stepping into inappropriate territory. <<
SPECIAL AUDIO CONFERENCE OFFER: Soundview Executive Book
Summaries will host a 90-minute interactive audio conference
with Patrick Lencioni as part of the Beyond the Books series at 1:00
p.m. (EDT) on Tuesday, May 20. To sign your company up for a live
connection to this conference so your managers can hear Lencioni’s
advice firsthand, call (800) 775-7654; mention Smart Business to earn
a special discount or go to www.sbnonline.com/lencioni.
CAPSULE REVIEW
The Three Signs of a Miserable Job
By Patrick Lencioni
Jossey-Bass, 2007,
253 pages, $24.95
About the book >> In “The Three Signs of a Miserable Job: A Fable
for Managers (and their employees),” Patrick
Lencioni explores the overlooked, simple and
obvious causes of job misery in the hope that
bringing attention to them will not only minimize
high turnover rates affecting many businesses
but, more importantly, end the suffering that job
misery causes for many.
The author >> Lencioni is the author of six
best-selling books including “The Five
Dysfunctions of a Team” and “The Five
Temptations of a CEO”. He is the president of
The Table Group (www.tablegroup.com), a San
Francisco Bay Area management-consulting
firm that specializes in executive team development and organizational health.
Why you should read it >> The story
of how Brian Bailey turns a miserable situation
around provides a blueprint for any organization, regardless of size or industry, to increase
job fulfillment for its staff. And Lencioni’s simple, straightforward cure that depends upon
effective, empathetic management offers hope
for everyone affected by job misery.
Why it’s different >> Lencioni frames his
theories as a fable, telling the story of Brian
Bailey, a man who loves being a manager. A
recently retired CEO, Bailey takes on a job as a
pizzeria’s weekend manager in order to investigate the cause of the staff’s misery and how to
alleviate it. There are real-world lessons
embraced in this story.
Can’t miss >> In the last section of the
book — no longer in fable form — there are
two chapters, “The Benefits and Obstacles of
Managing for Job Fulfillment” and “Exploring
and Addressing the Causes of Job Misery” that
straightforwardly spell out what you need to
learn from this book.
To share or not to share >> It’s pretty
common to find people who are made cynical,
unhappy and frustrated by their jobs, but “The
Three Signs of a Miserable Job” offers managers of all levels some constructive advice on
how to make employees less miserable and
more fulfilled. It’s an easy read and the lessons
are clear and simple. Share as needed.
Capsule review and interview provided by Soundview Executive Book Summaries.