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Is your technology getting in the way of good management?

Have you ever observed that you feel highly energetic, bubbly and full of energy on certain days, and feel exactly the opposite on some days?  And you may have also observed these high and low feelings can last inside you for several days. But, wait a minute. Doesn't your company mission and vision statement make it mandatory for every employee to be always excited, energetic, and passionate about everything, every minute and every hour?

We have been talking a lot about leadership in my Stanford class on Organizational Behavior: An Evidence-based Approach.  Last week, we had a pretty detailed discussion about how and why putting people into powerful positions seems to turn them into selfish jerks.  I was also thinking about power earlier today when a German  journalist from Chrimson interviewed me about Der Arschloch-Faktor.  I was initially amazed that I was being interviewed by a religious organization -- but the journalist who interviewed my argued that the no asshole rule was, indeed, quite consistent with the golden rule.  He wrote me that "We are financed by the The Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), and therefore very interested in topics that deal with how human-beings interact, since that is what religion is all about."

The lumber tax is a cost you incur whenever you do business with men. Men achieve more-and with less friction-when there is a clear hierarchy among them, when their accomplishments are celebrated, and when the perquisites of rank, perceived power, and compliments flow in their direction.