In this column, we provoke fresh thinking and round up some of the weird, wonderful, quirky, surprising – and shocking – stories out there
Fair cop
If a client has a career dream of becoming a chief constable yet no background in the police force, they could still stand a chance.
The UK Home Office has drawn up proposals to enable civilians to compete with senior police for chief constable jobs, in a bid to attract a more diverse group of candidates.
The College of Policing has said that any suitable candidates would, of course, be required to undergo appropriate training.
A recent survey published by the College of Policing identified a lack of available chief officer candidates, and a lack of diversity and ability to share ideas, thoughts and experiences.
Read the survey here: http://bit.ly/2nCTzEA
Be a sport
We’ve all done it, and our clients have, too – moaning on and on about office politics or colleagues. Now we have good reason to bring to a halt our own and others’ rants.
Apparently complaining about negative events cements their impact, according to research (‘The buffering role of sportsmanship on the effects of daily negative events’), published in the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology.
Researchers Evangelia Demeroutia from Eindhoven University of Technology and Russell Cropanzano from the University of Colorado, recommend meeting challenges with as much “sportsmanship” as possible.
When sportsmanship was found to be high – meaning that study participants hadn’t complained, or made mountains out of molehills, or ruminated overly, even those events rated as severe didn’t impact mood or work engagement either on that day or the following day.
Apparently, say the researchers, revisiting the event further reinforces the association between it and the negative emotions initially provoked, turning a bad experience into “That Bad Experience”. And if complaints are poorly expressed or directed at the wrong person, they can make things much worse.
The researchers emphasise it’s not about refraining from talking about bad things. Recurring problems do need to be resolved – and that begins with articulation. They instead highlight expressive writing as a constructive method to do so.
Read more here: http://bit.ly/2nCOGuZ
Fancy a tipple?
For decades, it’s been the Holy Grail for many scientists: finding evidence for the “tension reduction theory” that proposed that alcohol was rewarding because it relaxes and enhances mood, yet in the laboratory, often had no effect or made people feel worse.
According to a review by Michael Sayette of the University of Pittsburgh in Behaviour Research and Therapy, much of the early research presumed alcohol’s effects are straightforward, but alcohol’s ‘rewarding effects’ interact in complex ways with our thoughts and emotions and the social situations in which we find ourselves.
In the study (‘The effects of alcohol on emotion in social drinkers’), Sayette highlights five insights into why alcohol can work well in social settings:
- It makes us stay in the moment
- It reduces anxiety (although not fear)
- It narrows our attentional focus helping us to ignore worries and threats
- It boosts social bonding and the catchiness of positive emotions
- Men and extraverts are especially likely to experience the social benefits of moderate drinking.
Read more here: http://bit.ly/2oibH9Y
- Contributions to this slot are welcome.
Email: liz@coaching-at-work.com
Forces of destruction
“Our prevailing system of management has destroyed our people. People are born with intrinsic motivation, self-respect, dignity, curiosity to learn, joy in learning. The forces of destruction begin with toddlers – a prize for the best Halloween costume, grades in school, gold stars – and on up through the university. On the job, people, teams and divisions are ranked, reward for the top, punishment for the bottom. Management by objectives, quotas, incentive pay, business plans, put together separately, division by division, cause further loss, unknown and unknowable.”
Peter M Senge, The Fifth Discipline, 1990