The focus of this book is the process whereby people in organizations seek to control the image other people have of them - impression management. The combination of illustrations, case studies and practical advice involve and challenge the reader.
Wanting to create a favorable impression with others is a basic part of human nature in both work and personal life. In this book, Andrew J. DuBrin skillfully provides a guide to the effective use of impression management based on scholarly research and theory, with particular attention to practical application. He highlights not only impressions that individuals make, but those made by entire organizations. Self-tests and questionnaires allow readers to pinpoint how they currently employ impression management techniques in their work lives. Each chapter includes a section on "Guidelines for Application and Skill Development" that provides real-world advice based on the theories and research outlined in the chapter. With this book, students will glean the best methods for creating positive, career-building impressions in current and future positions.
Impression management theory has been popular in sociology and social psychology for many years. This volume offers the first comprehensive application of impression management theory to organizational settings. Researchers and practitioners in organizational settings have recently been using this theory as an explanatory model to focus on the roles and identities that "social actors" utilize in interpersonal situations. The theory of impression management provides a framework for the techniques and strategies people use in order to look good as well as the excuses and justifications they employ to avoid looking bad.
Every day, millions of employees watch their leaders sabotage themselves. They watch, they learn, and then they do it, too. Next thing you know, everyone’s lost motivation, and nobody takes ownership. That’s how organizations fail. This book will help you break the vicious cycle of self-handicapping leadership in your organization, stop the excuses, and unleash all the performance your team is capable of delivering. Phil and Jordan reveal how and why people handicap themselves even when they know better. Next, they offer real solutions from their own pioneering research and consulting. You’ll find practical ways to strengthen accountability and self-awareness, recognize the “big picture,” improve decision-making, deepen trust and engagement, develop talent, escape micromanagement, and focus relentlessly on outcomes. Your colleagues can be far more effective, and so can you. In fact, it starts with you–right here, right now, with this book. Many leaders inadvertently create cultures of failure. They model and promote “selfhandicapping” actions, where people withdraw effort or create new problems, in order to maintain their own self-images of competence. Self-Handicapping Leadership shines the spotlight on this widespread and destructive phenomenon and presents real action plans for overcoming it.
There is a strong movement today in management to encourage management practices based on research evidence. In the first volume of this handbook, I asked experts in 39 areas of management to identify a central principle that summarized and integrated the core findings from their specialty area and then to explain this principle and give real business examples of the principle in action. I asked them to write in non-technical terms, e.g., without a lot of statistics, and almost all did so. The previous handbook proved to be quite popular, so I was asked to edit a second edition. This new edition has been expanded to 33 topics, and there are some new authors for the previously included topics. The new edition also includes: updated case examples, updated references and practical exercises at the end of each chapter. It also includes a preface on evidence-based management. The principles for the first edition were intended to be relatively timeless, so it is no surprise that most of the principles are the same (though some chapter titles include more than one principle). This book could serve as a textbook in advanced undergraduate and in MBA courses. It could also be of use to practicing managers and not just those in Human Resource departments. Every practicing manager may not want to read the whole book, but I am willing to guarantee that every one will find at least one or more chapters that will be practically useful. In this time of economic crisis, the need for effective management practices is more acute than ever.
Uses a social psychological approach to comprehensively deal with reputation in a multidisciplinary way. Examines personal reputations, corporate and brand images along with other kinds of reputational entity. Explores how and why reputation is such a pervasive feature of social life affecting self-esteem, status, personal freedom, social identity and order.
This volume is a readily accessible compilation of current, original scholarly research in the area of power and influence in organizations. It offers a rich exploration of emerging trends and new perspectives.