Breaking down organizational behavior

Breaking down

organizational Behavior From Eccles Executive Education

Breaking down

organizational Behavior Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Professor and Director Dr. Abe Bakhsheshy discusses the role of behavior in some of today’s most critical business problems.

BY DR. ABE BAKHSHESHY (AS TOLD TO SARA LANGEN)

I believe that behavior is key to organizational effectiveness. Successful leaders are those who think outside the box to solve problems.

They develop and implement effective plans and reach collective goals by coordinating, motivating and inspiring the workforce.

Steve Jobs said, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” In order to create a sense in people that they love what they do, managers must design jobs that excite them and make them want to work. They must know how to turn outsiders into effective team members and contributors.

In the Eccles Executive Education programs that I teach, I focus on developing leaders who understand and apply these concepts.

FROM POT WASHER TO EXECUTIVE One of my earliest passions in life was to be a teacher in an academic environment.

I wanted to create better opportunities for professionals to excel and for companies to

get ahead. When I came to this country in the `70s, I wanted to get a doctoral degree in this field, but I could not afford to go to school full time. I had to start at the bottom, working as a pot washer in the kitchen of a hospital.

As noble as it is, pot washing really is the lowest level on the organizational totem pole.

But because of the kindness and compassion of individuals who encouraged and coached me, I was motivated to excel.

I soon began working on the tray line, and then became a supervisor. I moved on to assistant manager and then assistant director. Later, I became a director of several departments. I worked my way up until I had administrative responsibilities for more than 12 University of Utah Health Network medical centers throughout the state. Eventually, I became director of quality resources, marketing, employee recognition, public relations, and customer services with the University of Utah Hospitals and Community Clinics.

Dr. Abe Bakhsheshy teaching Leading with Ethics and Emotional Intelligence

As my career progressed, I saw the transformation that can happen when an organization nurtures talent, and it made me even more interested in pursuing my doctoral degree in education administration and supervision and human resource management.

PUTTING EXPERIENCE TO WORK At Eccles, I apply the practical experience of my 37-year career to the programs I teach in leadership and effective management, human resources management, and ethics and social responsibility. Of these, there are three programs that are particularly relevant at this moment in time: •

Leadership Essentials (for the Women’s Leadership Program)

•

Leading with Ethics and Emotional Intelligence

•

Millennials in the Workplace

Each of these programs addresses a topic that is critical to the success of today’s executives and the organizations that they lead.

CARVING A PATH TO THE CORNER OFFICE In Leadership Essentials, we tackle the problem of gender inequality in the workplace.

Women still make about 80 cents per dollar of what men earn in the same positions. Women run only 27 of the S&P 500 companies, or 5.4 percent. And women executives face many barriers to success, including male-centered leadership models, early socialization of boys and girls, gender bias, perceptions of gendered occupations and underrepresentation in upper management.

In this program, I offer effective strategies to help women overcome these barriers to corner office. Participants learn how to develop their own voice and unique brand, how to measure success and achieve goals, and how to mentor other aspiring women.

With this, our goal is to help eliminate negative biases against women and bring forth fairness and equal opportunity in the workplace.

in the American workforce. If leaders want to harness this talent to grow their organizations, they have to learn how to encourage, motivate and inspire Millennials—and benefit from the UNDERSTANDING THE VALUE OF EMOTIONAL creativity, innovation, and experience they bring to the workplace. If they don’t, it’s going INTELLIGENCE to cost them: According to Gallup, turnover In Leading with Ethics and Emotional in this age group due to lack of engagement Intelligence, we focus on the connection costs the U.S. economy $30 billion each year. between emotional intelligence and effective In Millennials in the Workforce, we take a leadership. The fact is, more than 80 percent deep dive into the unique work ethic, values of competencies that differentiate top and traits of this generation. We look at their performers are in the domain preferences and personalities; of emotional intelligence. for example, we examine how Companies that have they gravitate toward work/ executives with higher levels of Great leaders are life balance, meaningful work emotional intelligence are more and continued development, keenly aware of likely to be highly profitable. and how they tend to be In other words, your technical tolerant, entrepreneurial and their emotions and skills might get you the job, but goal-oriented. And then we emotional intelligence will be the emotions of discuss strategies for nurturing instrumental in your promotion Millennials’ learning and others, and they and success, or lack of it. Great development. leaders are keenly aware of their use those insights emotions and the emotions EDUCATION THAT TRANSFORMS to lead, engage and of others, and they use those The caliber and quality of our insights to lead, engage and empower those Executive Education students empower those around them. around them. are phenomenal. They come Emotional intelligence is a with a tremendous level of skill—and like any skill, you get experience, and what they share better at it with education and in class helps me to stay in tune practice.

In this program, participants learn to hone with what‘s happening in organizations.

Many of the students who participate in their emotional intelligence so they can read the style of individuals and adjust their our programs have written to tell me how interactions accordingly. More specifically, they’ve applied what they learned within their they learn how to use this skill to create organizations. To hear how my knowledge and a positive culture, facilitate effective experience have impacted someone’s career communication and excel in customer is a testament to our success as educators.

When you actually are able to give people service. By developing these competencies, our participants enhance their ability to relate the knowledge and abilities to transform other to other people—both inside and outside individuals and organizations and make them more successful and prosperous, you change their organizations. people’s lives. That is so encouraging to me. Those elements are the most wonderful CRACKING THE MILLENNIAL CODE motivational factors for me as an educator.

Millennials are now the largest generation

Meet Abe Bakhsheshy Dr. Abe Bakhsheshy is a Bill Daniels Professor of Ethics and professor/lecturer of organizational behavior at the Management Department of The David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah. He has more than 35 years of management experience including seven years of executive level position in overseas working with multi national corporations.

Prior to joining the David Eccles School of Business in July of 2002, Dr. Bakhsheshy served the University of Utah Hospitals and Community Clinics as the Director of Quality Resources, Marketing, Employee Recognition, Public Relations and Customer Services. Preceding this position, he had administrative responsibilities for over twelve UUHN Medical centers throughout the state of Utah. Dr. Bakhsheshy is also an organizational development consultant providing human resources and leadership education services for organizations within the state of Utah and nationally.

In 2009 Dr. Abe received the University of Utah Distinguished Teaching Award and was recognized during the 2009 University of Utah commencement ceremony in May.vHe was also awarded both the Executive MBA Distinguished Teaching Award and Masters Outstanding Teaching Award in 2011.

In 2012 Dr. Abe was awarded the Bill Daniels Ethics Distinguished Teaching Award and in 2013 he was the recipient of the Professional MBA Distinguished Tecahing Award.

His areas of interest in research and teaching include leadership and effective management, human resources management, conflict and quality management, ethics and social responsibility, and effective health care system delivery.

DR. ABE BAKHSHESHY Professor and Director, Daniels Funds Ethics Initiative Professor (Lecturer), Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy David Eccles School of Business University of Utah

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