Big Rocks by Dr Gary Russell - Book Report/Review Example

Big Rocks Big Rocks, balancing life and work, by Dr. Gary Russell is an innovative guide for business employer and employees. It gives a systematic analysis of business situations and how a person can effectively manage their time. All the chapters give a reader an insight on how to manage their time while at work to find enough time after work. It focuses on both the employer and the employee. For the business leaders, the book gives them details about how to handle and direct employees to manage their time well. The book analyses time imbalance issues at the workplace. This ranges from loyalty and commitment among employees, to their relationships at the workplace. It also features on how an employer should understand employees’ needs to help them manage their time sufficiently. Through an easy-to-flow parable style, the book gives any reader the practical tools in balancing life between work and home. Through reading and implementing the innovative solutions in the book, both the business leaders and employees can adjust on how they handle their daily lives and work. They also get a different perspective on new principles and ideas that can aid them achieve the much-sought-after work–life balance. This essay seeks to give a review of the book by Dr. Gary Russell through developing the application to organizational behavior. This relates to the concepts and theories in portrayed in the book. Research presents that, in the present world, most employees in the work world do not enjoy their lives. This is to the sense that most organizations believe that more hours equals productivity. This is the notion presented in the book as, Don’t Be the First Person out Of the Office at the End of the Day. This is a wrong and misadvised issue in most organizations. The leaders of the organization do not understand their employees’ personal lives affect how they are productive at the organization. It is in this respect that Dr. Gary Russell gives the parable of the big rock and the small rocks in a galls bowl. He explains by the example of jack Bedford, married employee with two kids. Jack works in a company that does not accommodate his personal life and their main assumption is; more hours equal productivity. Jack is a stressed employee since there is totally no balance between work and home in his life. He quits this company and heads to the next where after a few months it is the same trend again. It is an out of the world-feeling jack to balance between work and family. Big rocks is a parable explaining how most employees have put work as the biggest rock in their lives. The small rocks represent their family and their social lives. The water in the bowl represents the pressures and troubles within their lives. In that parable, there is no balance in an employee’s life since the big rock affects all the other rocks. Clearly, in an organization, an employee must have a balance in their work and private lives (Greenhaus et al. 520). It is usually a hard situation for an employee to balance between these two issues. A leader in an organization should understand employees and set the right guidelines for organizational behavior. When the leader in an organization sets productivity of the organization on hours, then there is likely to be less productivity in the organization. This is because, most of employees would have an imbalance between their private and work life. The family is an important unit for the employee and the leader should understand that it dictates how the employee can work (Change). Leaders in an organization should have a clear understanding of the employee and not be too rigid. This is an accommodative style of leadership that can guarantee productivity. At the work place, most employees have the pressures that affect how they make decisions and handle work matters (Tausig et al. 110). The family is one of the major stressors of employees in many organizations. It is a common scenario for individuals who do not have appropriate time with their families do not participate fully in work matters. An employee should, therefore, understand the right amount of time they can put for their families and the right amount for work. Dr. Gary discusses that it is appropriate, for an employee, to understand how to fit their big rocks into their daily lives. This is the only way they can achieve a balance in their work and personal lives. For the example of jack Bedford, Spending more time with his spouse is too vague. However, taking his spouse out to dinner at least twice a month is much more possible. This he can only achieve in an organization with the right leadership and one, which understand employees personal lives count in productivity. The leader of the organization must understand how to balance between power, ethical behavior and influence. In the book, by Dr. Gary, he emphasizes on a leadership style that balances the three main variables. His focus, however, is a leadership style that has much on ethical behavior. He portrays a leader of an ideal organization where the personal lives of employees are a major consideration. For an organization to function properly, the leadership style influences majorly on the employee behavior. A leader’s decision pervades in how employees approach work and their duties. The leaders should, therefore, be ready to understand different aspects of employees to determine the right decisions that can have a positive impact towards achieving the objectives of the organization. Accommodating employees’ personal preferences is one way of understanding how best to make decisions that do not greatly detriment their personal lives. In most work scenarios, employees fear giving their opinions about the amount of time they spend on the offices since the leader uses the power in their leadership style. This affects the relationship between the leader and employees and creates an environment where the employee cannot air their views. Dr. Gary maintains that good leadership accommodates employees’ preferences and their personal lives. Through the parable of the rocks in the glass bowl, Dr. Gary explains that employees face the pressures of maintaining a clear balance between work and personal lives. Jack Bedford faces the same predicament, and it is only through the lecture on big rocks that he is able to look for a better job that accommodates his personal life. Although the ideas present on this book are the author’s personal opinions, the portrayal is the true picture of what happens in most work situations. Many employees are not happy with their jobs since there is an imbalance between work and personal lives. In summary, Big Rocks, balancing life and work, by Dr. Gary Russell is a guide for any organization that wants to achieve productivity. The book presents the innovative way of balancing between work and personal life for any employee. It also focuses on the type of leadership and management style that an organization should adapt. It is a common case that most organizations are set on the premise that more hours equals productivity. This is a wrong perception that this book debunks. The book presents ideas to an employee through the parable of the big rock and small rocks in a glass bowl full of water. The parable is a true representation of most employees. They are not in a position to manage work and their personal lives. Most employees end up stressed and spend more time in work. This creates different stresses; therefore, the employee cannot achieve their personal abilities. The book is the correct guide that gives both the organization leader and the employee food for thought in terms of productivity. Clearly, Dr. Garry Russell understands the dynamism in many organizations and the relationship between the employer and the employee is critical in achieving productivity. This book will influence my life at the workplace since it explains how to handle the difficult juggle between work and personal life. An innovative guide that I would recommend to someone faces the same predicament as jack Bedford, a character in the book. Through the book, they will get to understand how to balance their lives and work. Works Cited Change, Chapter5 Making. "Beyond work-family balance: Advancing gender equity and workplace performance." (2002). Greenhaus, Jeffrey H., Karen M. Collins, and Jason D. Shaw. "The relation between workfamily balance and quality of life." Journal of Vocational Behavior 63.3 (2003): 510-531. Tausig, Mark, and Rudy Fenwick. "Unbinding time: Alternate work schedules and work-life balance." Journal of Family and Economic Issues 22.2 (2001): 101-119. Read More