Integer Leadership Consulting

From now (7/25/10) through the end of September (9/30/10), I will be engaging in research that addresses the multiple impacts of involuntary job loss.

If you have experienced involuntary job loss within the last two years and are interested in learning more about the research, please email me at: jdy@integerleadership.com.

Thank you,

Jeffrey D. Yergler, Ph.D.

The economy continues to struggle and stammer to sustain any type of a recovery.

A spate of negative news released this week suggests that the economy may well be headed for a double-dip recession.

Focusing only on the jobs report, the NYT (July 3-4, 2010) reported that nonfarm payrolls fell by 125,000. Some of this loss was accounted for by the government’s elimination of 225,000 census workers. The private sector generated only 83,000 new jobs. Though the unemployment rate fell from 9.7% to 9.5%, the report also showed that 652,000 workers dropped out of the labor market which means they were not counted as unemployed in the latest statistics.

Simply put, the economy is not generating enough momentum to add enough jobs to lower the unemployment rate. 100,00 jobs must be added each month to accommodate new job seekers entering the job market. Only adding jobs at the clip of 300,000, to 500,00 per month will lower the national unemployment rate of 9.5% which, when you add those who have dropped out of the labor market, totals some 16.5 million workers.

Economists are beginning to sound a shocking alarm: high levels of unemployment may be with us for “years to come.” The impact on the psychological well-being of increasing numbers of longer-term unemployed men and women is ominous and may prove to be devastating and debilitating longer-term. The psyche and morale of the american worker in particular and the american workforce in general are being reworked and not for the better.

It is with gratitude, joy, and delight that I cross this academic “finish line.” Though the learning process never stops, this academic achievement, I think, does mark the conclusion of my formal academic endeavors.

I am grateful for those who have supported me beginning with the decision to matriculate at Gonzaga University in the summer of 2004. There were many who played a major role in keeping me on this long and often arduous path especially when I wanted to be released from this doctoral pursuit. Thanks for your unrelenting commitment to my own growth.

Most of all, it is my hope that my research and findings will find their way into the lives of those men and women for whom I wrote and to whom I have dedicated my research: organizational leaders who have experienced the psychological trauma of involuntary termination and wonder if there is any possible way to believe that good may one day emerge from the ashes.

Indeed, good shall arise again. Indeed, when the insights have been teased-out from the pain and the wisdom gleaned from the wounds of failure and human finitude, you shall see with new eyes. And these eyes that see with tempered vision will be the eyes of a leader!

Jeffrey D. Yergler, Ph.D.

A new film featured at the Sundance Film Festival, The Company Men, explores the psychological, emotional, and behavioral aspects of involuntary job loss. Though only the trailer is available at this time, it captures the devastating impact of involuntary termination.

I have just concluded my dissertation which addresses The Psychological Impact of Involuntary Job loss and the Process of Posttraumatic Growth. The research and findings will be made available through Gonzaga University. Five senior organizational leaders who had experienced involuntary termination were interviewed about their experience of termination. They described in detail the very difficult journey of this experience and how they have attempted to cope with the many losses as well as grow through what was and continues to be a traumatic experience.

If there is one thing that has become evident in my research on involuntary job loss it is this: unemployment causes systemic anxiety and stress in the individual which also carries the specter for devastating consequences regarding longer-term emotional well-being. With the national unemployment rate hovering around 10% I am predicting an exponentially expanding pandemic of emotional disruption and instability for adults experiencing IJL (involuntary job loss) and their children.

In a new research article by the title, Short-Run Effects of Parental Job Loss on Children’s Academic Achievement by Stevens and Schaller, the case is made that the children of parents with only a high school education show evidence of increased academic struggles. These scholars have made a connection between the well-being of children and the economic/employment status of their parents.

This is significant for obvious reasons. Coping resources notwithstanding, unemployment through IJL immediately injects stress and anxiety into the lives of adults which then can be systemically translated to the children of those parents. Not only are parents stressed by IJL but children as well are damaged collaterally as a result.

My concern is that the deep and broad emotional burdens placed on unemployed adults because of their involuntary terminations are also affecting children. The toll of this is beginning to unfold. I am reasonably confident that if an aggregate qualitative or quantitative measure of the mental health of the nation during this period of massive unemployment were available it would show great reasons for concern.

It will take years, not months, to grow employment form the current employment malaise. The very fabric of the labor market is experiencing a “significant tectonic shifting” that is unsettling. These longer-term shifts are, even now, impacting at psychological and existential levels, the unemployed person’s psyche and spirit. As a by-product, this stress is fracturing the well-being and stability of the family. And the children, the most susceptible because they are unable to process their own anxiety, will continue to be listed as the casualties along with their unemployed parents.

I do not mean to “horriblize” here but rather to say that we have work ahead of us. Step one is getting people to work but, close on the heels of this, is ensuring that we “stand in the gap” from an emotional perspective with dads, moms, and their children.

One of my favorite authors on leadership is Peter G. Northouse. I’m currently reviewing his book, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, for a scholarly leadership journal. Northouse has always been a favorite of mine because of his clarity on the theories and practices of leadership. Furthermore, Northouse, in his latest book, emphasizes early-on the critical role character plays in the ability to lead successfully. People more readily follow leaders who are competent. Competence builds trust in a way that no other attribute can. When followers trust their leaders, they often offer their best efforts and support in return. After identifying important historical leaders who have “led well,” Northouse makes this statement, “All are visionary, strong willed, diligent, and inspirational. As purpose-driven leaders, they are role models and symbols of hope’ (Northouse, p. 19, 2009).

Leading as a symbol of hope is critical especially now given the current economic crises which is bleeding through to most social and familial structures and communities. I believe it is crucial, if you are a leader in a position of influence and authority, to ensure that you lead in a way that not only brings results within the organization but which also cultivates hope in others. Leaders, when they are transformational, are de facto role models and encouragers which, as we know, are incredibly valuable by-products of effectiveness and competency.

Best,

Jeffrey