Midterm One

Question 1

What are the top 5 skills employers are looking for?

Answer 1

• problem solving
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Adaptability
• Interpersonal Skills

Question 2

What are the five levels of leadership according to the DeGroote framework?

Answer 2

Level 1: Highly Capable individual
Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills and good work habits.

Level 2: Contributing Team Member
Contributes individual capabilities to the achievement of group objectives and works effectively with others in a group setting.

Level 3: Competent Manager
Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.

Level 4: Effective Leader
Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards.

Level 5: Executive
Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.

Question 3

What are the three special manager skills?

Answer 3

• objectivity
• initiative
• agility

Question 4

What is critical thinking? What can an effective critical thinker do?

Answer 4

• an ability to analyze information objectively and make a reasoned judgement. Critical thinking involves the evaluation of sources such as data, facts, observable phenomenon, and research findings.

An effective critical thinker can

• draw reasonable conclusions from a set of information
• discriminate between useful and less useful details
• use this analysis to solve problems or make decisions.

Question 5

Why is it important to hire critical thinkers?

Answer 5

Critical thinkers can:

• work without constant instructions about what type of information to seek out
• they can be trusted to make decisions independently.

Question 6

What are ethical dilemmas?

Answer 6

• Ethical dilemmas, also known as moral dilemmas, are situations in which there is a choice to be made between two options, neither of which resolves the situation in an ethically acceptable fashion. In such cases, societal and personal ethical guidelines can provide no satisfactory outcome for the chooser.

Question 7

What are the 6 factors affecting moral intensity?

Answer 7

• Concentration of effect
• Proximity
• Temporal Immediacy
• Magnitude of Consequence
• Social consensus
• Probability of Effect

Question 8

What does ‘concentration of effect’ mean? How does it impact our ethical decision making?

Answer 8

Whether the effects of an action are concentrated on a few people or affect many people a little. The greater the concentration on a few people, the greater the intensity.

ex. Fire a few people, or cut everyone’s pay by 5%.

Question 9

What does ‘temporal immediacy’ mean? How does it impact our ethical decision making?

Answer 9

How soon the consequences of any effect are likely to occur. The longer the delay between the choice and the effect, the lesser the intensity.

ex. Cut wages now, and in turn save some money, or wait a year and cut wages by a larger amount (in hopes of the economy turning around before then).

Question 10

What does ‘magnitude of consequence’ mean? How does it impact our ethical decision making?

Answer 10

Sum of the harms or benefits impacted by the problem or action. The greater the potential consequences, the greater the intensity.

ex. Providing financial advice that could cause a client to lose or gain a large amount of money.

Question 11

What does ‘social consensus’ mean? How does it impact our ethical decision making?

Answer 11

The degree to which people agree over the ethics of a problem or action. The greater the social consensus on a decision, the greater the intensity.

ex. A company is considering implementing safer environmental practices into their oil rigs, which would cost them a significant $$.

Question 12

What does ‘Probability of effect mean? How does it impact our ethical decision making?

Answer 12

The likelihood that harms (or benefits) will actually happen. The higher the likelihood, the higher the intensity.

ex. There is a 75% chance of bankruptcy for a real estate firm if they do not lay off their entire support staff.

Question 13

What is an organizational code of conduct?

Answer 13

A document detailing the ethical conduct employees must abide by while in the employ of the organization. This is a formal document that outlines what behaviour is and is not acceptable.

Question 14

What is a whistleblower?

Answer 14

Employees who disclose illegal or unethical conduct on the part of others in an organization.

ex. Edward Snowden

Question 15

What are the stages in the problem-solving process?

Answer 15

Stage 1: Define the Problem
- diagnose and recognize what is going on

Stage 2: Select a Response

• Develop alternatives
• Select the best option

Stage 3: Execute a solution

• implement the selected alternative
• evaluate the solution

Question 16

What are some techniques that can assist stage 1, Problem definition, in problem-solving?

Answer 16

• a root cause analysis

- asking the five w’s

Question 17

What are some techniques that can assist stage 2, Response Selection, in problem-solving?

Answer 17

• brainstorming
• creative intuition
• rigorous debate

Question 18

What are some techniques that can assist stage 3, Execution Techniques, in problem-solving?

Answer 18

• stakeholder involvement

- after-action reviews

Question 19

What are the six killer constraints?

Answer 19

Never feeling good enough
Being a marshmallow
Riding roughshod
Playing Mr. Spock
Being overly critical
Low self-control

Question 20

What are the 4 stages of self-awareness in skill competence?

Answer 20

Stage 1: Unconsciously Incompetent
Does not know about the skill deficiency

Stage 2: Consciously Incompetent
Knows about the skill deficiency, but is not actively working on it

Stage 3: Consciously Competent
Working to improve skill consciously.

Stage 4: Unconsciously Competent
Skill is proven and ‘muscle memory’. Can retain skill just through the use of it and does not require extensive mental energy to use.

Question 21

What are the three ways to build self-awareness?

Answer 21

1. Self Diagnosis - analyzing evidence
   ex. keeping a journal of activities and experiences and then reflecting on them
2. Self-disclosure - talking about yourself to others
   ex. sharing experiences with friends or peers, and listening to their responses.
3. Soliciting feedback - asking others about yourself
   ex. asking a boss about performance, even in non required situations.

Question 22

What is the Johari window?

Answer 22

An extension of the self-awareness stages:
refer to slide 13 of self-awareness slides for image

1. Open - known to self and others
   ex. Alex Ovechkin is a great goal scorer.
2. Blind - not known to self, known to others
   ex. I am hardheaded (used to be unaware of this myself, but others could see it)
3. Hidden - not known to others, known to self
   ex. I like to sing in the shower when no one is home.
4. Unknown - not known to self or others
   ex. maybe I am a naturally good breakdancer, but ill likely never know.

Question 23

How do you reduce your blind quadrant?

Answer 23

• solicit feedback from others

* seeking feedback can improve job satisfaction

Question 24

How do you reduce your hidden quadrant?

Answer 24

• disclose more about yourself to others

* Ensure that your potential employer knows what you have to offer.

Question 25

How do you reduce your unknown quadrant?

Answer 25

• try new things

* Can be a helpful process of self-discovery

Question 26

How do you maintain your open quadrant?

Answer 26

• continue to solicit feedback from others

- continue with self-disclosure

Question 27

What are the stages of the personal change model?

Answer 27

1. Precontemplation
   - does not recognize a reason to change (blind)
   ex. person is overweight
2. Contemplation
   - realizes a change they want to make, does not act yet
   ex. person realizes they are overweight, wants to achieve healthy weight
3. Preparation
   - takes strides to prepare for the action plan of change
   ex. gets a gym membership and meal plan
4. Action
   ex. goes to gym and starts meal plan
5. Maintenance
   - change is fully incorporated in life
   ex. achieves goal weight, continues to work out and eat to maintain healthy weight

Question 28

What does the cycle of personal change say about self-esteem?

Answer 28

The cycle of personal change says that your self-esteem falls dramatically after denial, and then raises until you integrate a change into your life. For a visual representation, check slide 19 of the personal change slideshow for a picture.

Question 29

What are positive emotional attractors (PEAs)?

Answer 29

Inspirational hopes and dreams about the future

They generate sufficient excitement and energy to get through the change curve.

Question 30

What are negative emotional attractors (NEAs)?

Answer 30

Problems, fear, and pessimism. They tell you what you need to do instead of what you ought to do.

Question 31

What is a SMART goal?

Answer 31

The SMART framework is a way to construct goals to make them achievable. SMART is an abbreviation that stands for:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Timely

Question 32

What is deliberate practice? How does it help achieve an overall goal?

Answer 32

Deliberate practice is the act of practicing an activity or set of activities repeatedly, the same way, over and over to improve a larger skill.

• Deliberate practice is more effective when the action is highly repeatable, done often, and the results are recorded.
  ex. Sidney Crosby would shoot hockey pucks into his drier to improve his release on his wrist shot.

Question 33

What is the best style of coaching, consultative or directive coaching?

Answer 33

A combination of both. Directive coaching can be required when someone is not showing up for work on time for example, whereas consultative can be effective when a person is having trouble understanding a task.

Question 34

What are the four dimensions of grit?

Answer 34

Growth: how likely we are to go seek fresh ideas, perspectives inputs and ideas to help you succeed at that thing.

Resilience: bouncing back from adversity and being able to use adversity

Instinct: going after our goals the best way, not the hardest way.

Tenacity: perseverance, persistence, never say die attitude.

Question 35

Why is grit so predictive of success?

Answer 35

Grit can better predict the success of an individual better than IQ economic status, and talent. Grit is predictive of success because it determines the likelihood that someone will pick themselves up from a loss and push through when times get hard. This is why students who are more resilient typically those who do better than the kids who can do little work and achieve high results.