No matter how monolithic it may appear, an organization is a collection of moving parts. Whether we are looking at building teams, providing leadership, hiring and training employees, problem solving, managing time effectively, or setting aggressive, inspiring goals, every decision can easily impact every other decision. The complexity can quickly become overwhelming. Organizational Psychology identifies a framework and offers key methodologies managers need to define behavioral tendencies and navigate complex organizational systems. Each chapter takes a high-level view of a particular aspect of organizational psychology, focusing on elements that shape companies and drive operational efficiency. Senior-level managers and C-Suite executives will benefit from the strategies presented in this book as they clearly indicate how to understand and leverage the psychological underpinnings of any corporate environment.
Balzac combines stories of jujitsu, wheat, gorillas, and the Lord of the Rings with very practical advice and hands-on exercises aimed at anyone who cares about management, leadership, and culture.
Todd Raphael
Editor-in-Chief
ERE Media
Riveting! Yes, I called a leadership book riveting. I couldn’t wait to finish one chapter so I could begin reading the next. The book’s combination of pop culture references, personal stories, and thought providing insights to illustrate world class leadership principles makes it a must read for business professionals at all management levels.
Eric Bloom
President
Manager Mechanics, LLC
Nationally Syndicated Columnist and Author
Organizational Psychology for Managers is an insightful book that reminds the business leader of basic principles of leading a successful organization in an engaging style. As a business owner for over 25 years, I am aware of these principles; however, I need reminding of how these principles work together and impact the energy and success of my company. Throughout the book, the author demonstrates these concepts into a clear perspective by citing examples within other companies which is always a helpful technique and is often eye opening . These are situations that I may not have thought about before. This book holds the reader’s interest from start to finish. I look forward to his next book!
Elizabeth Brown
President
Softeach, Inc.
"Author Stephen Balzac has written a terrific book that gets into the realpolitik of organizational psychology – the underlying patterns of behavior that create the all important company culture. He doesn't stop at the surface level, explaining things we already know like 'culture beats strategy' - he gets into the deeper drivers and ties everything back to specific, actionable stories. For example he describes different approaches to apparent "insubordination" by a manager; rather then judging them, he shows how each management response is interpreted, and how it then drives response. Balzac preaches real engagement with one's own company and a mindful state of operation, especially by executives – who must remember that culture "just happens" unless and until they learn to recognize that their behaviors play a huge part in creating and cementing it. It covers the full spectrum of corporate life, from challenging bad decisions to hiring, training, motivating teams - and the secrets of keeping people engaged and learning – and/or avoiding actions which do the opposite. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to participate in creating and steering company culture."
Sid Probstein
Chief Technology Officer
Attivio – Active Intelligence
I had the privilege of meeting Stephen Balzac at the 2011 International Computer Measurement Group (CMG) Conference. He was one of our keynote speakers at the Conference that year. His presentation was amazing. It was the first presentation I had seen at our Conference in which the speaker not only gave a non-technical presentation that left the audience captivated and hungry for more, but he did it without using PowerPoint, or other visuals and simply with the strength of the story and his oratory skills. As Director of CMG Publications I asked him to contribute some articles for our publications. He has been doing so now for two years and is one of our most popular authors. I was thrilled to learn Steve was having a book, Organizational Psychology for Managers, published, and was honored when he asked me to read it and for my opinion.
Organizational Psychology for Managers is phenomenal. Just as his talks at conferences are captivating to his audience, Steve’s book will captivate his readers. In my opinion, this book should be required reading in MBA programs, military leadership courses, and needs to be on the bookshelf of every Fortune 1000 VP of Human Resources. Steve Balzac is the 21st century’s Tom Peters.
Stephen R Guendert, PhD
CMG Director of Publications
Stephen R. Balzac is a consultant, author, and speaker. He is the president of 7 Steps Ahead (www.7stepshead.com), an organizational development firm focused on helping businesses get unstuck and turn problems into opportunities.
Steve has over twenty years of experience in the high tech industry as an engineer, manager, entrepreneur, and consultant. He is a popular speaker on topics ranging from leadership, innovation, learning, organizational change, and motivation. In additional to publishing over a hundred articles on different aspects of organizational performance, Steve is the author of The 36-Hour Course in Organizational Development, published by McGraw-Hill, and Organizational Psychology for Managers. He is a contributing author to Ethics and Game Design: Teaching Values Through Play.
No stranger to the demands of maintaining peak performance under highly competitive and stressful situations, Steve is a fifth degree blackbelt in jujitsu and a former nationally ranked fencer.
Steve appears in
Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Documentary movie, and has the distinction of being the only guest personally panned by a New York Times movie critic.
