Connect First

July 26, 2019

Business psychologist and consultant Katzman contends that connecting emotionally to one's job and coworkers is vital to performing well and finding happiness and meaning in work. This requires managers to see their colleagues as people with whom to foster good relationships. This is the core insight that gives unity to a management book consisting of wide-ranging topics, from smiling and politeness to gathering information and writing clear goals. Informal in style, the work nevertheless follows a consistent pattern of discussion for each topic. For each, the author provides action steps and case studies, which results in concrete suggestions rather than abstract hypotheses. While Katzman doesn't completely avoid theory, she provides authoritative practical advice. For example, "The Gift of Time" chapter suggests rewarding employees for a project well done with time off rather than a company dinner. VERDICT A how-to guide that will appeal to managers and leaders seeking advice for improving and maintaining morale in workplace culture.--Shmuel Ben-Gad, Gelman Lib., George Washington Univ., Washington, DC

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 26, 2019
Katzman, a clinical psychologist and corporate consultant, explains how to change the way emotions are viewed in the workplace in this helpful primer. Through Katzman’s research, she’s discovered a common theme among employees: namely, the desire for a greater sense of respect, inclusion, and meaning at work. Too often, she finds, management styles and company cultures give rise to hard feelings, misinterpreted motives, and bruised egos, resulting in the loss of skilled and experienced employees and the proliferation of avoidable stress. To combat this problem, Katzman puts forth 52 suggestions, most quick and inexpensive to implement, which are applicable for every level of an organization. Her proposals center on common human values and generating trust, and she offers a step-by-step guide to basic—yet, she asserts, often noticeably absent—ways of eliciting a sense of shared purpose. These include ordinary courtesies, such as saying “please” and “thank you”; using (and, thus, remembering) people’s names; and carefully listening to others, as well as, more broadly, connecting people’s jobs to a larger mission. For those looking to make a positive difference at work, Katzman offers an easy-to-use, encouraging guide that employees at all levels can adopt to instigate change.