What is the one thing all effective leaders have in common? That’s the multi-billion dollar question posed virtually every day from Minneapolis to Mumbai by store managers and sales associates to the top brass in the C-suites.

To find out, let’s do a quick experiment. Take a few seconds to imagine the most effective leader you’ve ever worked with. Get a clear image of that person in your mind. Was that leader bold or sensitive? Were they known for being charismatic or soft-spoken? Were they visionary or pragmatic? Were they book-smart or streetwise?

An effective leader can be any one of those things, can’t they? The only thing every effective leader does is make good decisions—good people decisions and good strategy decisions. Here’s why: Other people—whether they are hourly sales associates, corporate team members or company shareholders—won’t follow somebody whose choices lead to dead ends. Without good decisions, no amount of charisma or honest intentions can save a leader from failure.

How to Start Making Better Decisions
The good news is that anyone can become a better decision-maker by better understanding the two key elements that produce a decision: the person and the situation. Think of it like this: Person x Situation = Decision.

Most decision-making experts focus on identifying how people make decisions in different situations. For example, if people are given a choice between one bird in the hand or two birds in the bush, we know from common sense and decades of research that most people will—you guessed it—take a bird in the hand. Sounds right, doesn’t it?

The problem is that “people” don’t make your decisions, you do. So, it doesn’t matter that three out of four people will choose a bird in the hand, if you’re the fourth person who dove headfirst into the bush. It doesn’t matter if three out of four people are reluctant to open that new store in Shanghai or invest in that new social media channel if you’re the fourth one who already signed the lease and uploaded your avatar on TheNewNewThing.com.

What matters is that you understand how you tend to make decisions, as well as how you leverage that tendency for the best results. You not only need to know whether you’ll make the decision or not, but also how you’ll tend to execute it, how you’ll tend to adjust during the process, and how you’ll learn from it in order to make an even better decision the next time.

Sage guidance is more accessible than you think it is. It doesn’t even require that you keep a high-priced executive coach on retainer. You could be just the adviser you’ve been looking for.

Executive coaches perform two essential functions. First, they provide clients with sound, objective advice. Second, they help clients execute that advice. With a few simple, yet highly effective, proven techniques, you can start tapping into your inner coach.

Recall someone you know—a colleague, an employee, or a boss—who recently made a decision they now regret. You saw it coming. Even though you’re too big a person to say “I told you so” (even if you’re thinking it), your advice was right on the money.

Now think of a regrettable decision you made recently. Maybe it was wasting those budget dollars on unnecessary office equipment, or letting envy of a competitor drive you to enter a saturated market. Perhaps you compounded a problem with your team by putting off a tough decision. In hindsight, the right choice was clear all along, but you botched it.

Why is it that we’re so good at giving advice to other people but often blunder when giving ourselves advice?

It’s all about objectivity and emotion. When we dish out advice to others, we have nothing to lose or to gain, which removes emotion from the situation. We can give clear advice on what someone should do because we don’t have a vested interest. On the other hand, our emotions kick into overdrive when we’re the ones taking the big risk—and potentially receiving the big reward.

IMAGINE YOU’RE ADVISING A FRIEND
With a little imagination we can overcome our less-rational selves. Psychologists have discovered that when people imagine a situation as though it were happening to a friend instead of to them, they are able to think much more logically. Katherine Milkman, a researcher at the Wharton School, explains that this simple trick can shift our entire mode of thinking. Pretending that we are the coach advising the client moves us from what psychologists call “System 1″ thinking (the “want” system driven by our impulses and emotions) to “System 2″ thinking (the more deliberate and logical “should” system).

So the next time you’re trying to decide what to do, imagine that a friend has come to you for guidance on the situation. What would you advise?

Once you’ve adopted that outside perspective and decided what you need to do, the next step is to follow that course of action.

In one study, Milkman discovered that online renters of DVDs frequently order documentaries and educational films, only to let them sit around while they order, watch, and replace one cheesy romantic comedy or mind-numbing blockbuster after another. While we can become very good at identifying what we should do, we often end up popping 2012 into the DVD player to satisfy our impulses.

“IF” YOU PROGRAM YOURSELF “THEN”…
At New York University, Psychology Professor Peter Gollwitzer and his colleagues have amassed more than two decades of evidence supporting the idea that wording can make all the difference between intention and action. When we frame our advice with an if-then format, we are far more likely to follow through. For example, instead of saying that you “want to spend more time on strategic planning,” or that you “will try to be more strategic this month” you should phrase it as “if I’m still at the office after Wednesday’ status meeting, then I will spend 30 minutes on strategic planning.”

The power of the if-then format comes from its ability to create instant habits. The “if” part of the statement places an automatic reminder in your brain to be on the lookout for a specific situation. When your brain recognizes that you are indeed sitting in your office after Wednesday’s status meeting, it automatically cues you to perform the “then” action (i.e., “spend 30 minutes on strategic planning.”)

If-then formatting replaces the years of behavioral conditioning it would otherwise take to create a habit. Gollwitzer has found that if-then phrasing makes it as much as two to three times likelier that people will stick to an exercising regimen, eat more healthfully, avoid distraction, and do just about anything that pits us against our wills and wants. The same technique can help you bridge the gap between your intentions and your behaviors.

One day you might find that you want the expert guidance of a bona fide executive coach. Until then you can turn yourself into a quality interim by taking an outside perspective on your future courses of action and by using if-then planning to execute them.

At least temporarily, you can inspire that grab-the-bull-by-the-horns attitude in just about anyone. A quick experiment illustrates how:

Phase 1: Think about a decision weighing on you right now. It can be any choice that involves asking “should I do X or should I do Y?” For example, should I stay in my current position, or make a lateral leap? Should I go to that training seminar next week or play hooky? Should we invest in that new venture now or wait until next year? Once you have that vexing question in mind, think about a couple of the short- and long-term consequences of both options, and then about some of the challenges you’ll face with trying to act on one of those options.

Phase 2: Think about a project you’re already working on. Maybe you’ve already given that new venture a green light and are ready to dig in. Maybe you’ve decided to go ahead with that systems upgrade you had been putting off. Or maybe you already concluded that you want to try your hand leading a new department. With that project in mind, jot down a few of the steps you’ll need to take in order to successfully implement that plan.

Deliberation vs. Implementation

The two phases above represent routine mental exercises we carry out every day—deliberating some choices and implementing others. Had we been monitoring your mood, your self-esteem, and your perceptions of risk during this experiment, we would have likely found you in two very different states of mind. In experiments like these, psychologists Shelley Taylor at UCLA and Peter Gollwitzer at NYU found that when people think about implementing a decision they’ve already made (Phase 2) it puts them in a far better mood, significantly raises their self-esteem, and makes them feel much more in control of the world around them. In fact, while locked into phase 2—what Taylor and Gollwitzer call the “implementation mindset”—people even believe they are less vulnerable than others to random events like getting mugged, being in a car crash, and falling victim to an earthquake.

When we mentally shift gears from deliberation to implementation, from contemplation to action, it changes more than the just way we see the decision at hand. While mapping out the plan for implementation, we feel more confident and more invincible about ourselves in general. That’s because implementation is a cue for our brains to zoom in on how to get the job done and to tune out the self-doubt and vulnerability that inhibit action.

A Mindset is Powerful Thing to Waste

The implementation mindset stirs up what Shelley Taylor calls “positive illusions,” which are somewhat unrealistic, self-serving beliefs. Around 90% of people believe they are just a little more competent, smarter, or kinder than average. “Generally, most people are more optimistic than facts warrant,” she observes. Nearly all people hold healthy, positive illusions about themselves some of the time, but Taylor says that’s a good thing. That’s not just because positive illusions make people feel more chipper. She has found that mild self-aggrandizing can also foster higher creativity and productivity, and help us persist more when tackling challenging goals like, say, weathering a recession.

But positive illusions come and go. When we find ourselves knee-deep in deliberation—agonizing about how we will continue to provide for our families, or how we can retire when the funds in our 401(k) have vanished—positive illusions disappear almost entirely, leaving us feeling much more like pawns than knights. That’s why recessions are a double-whammy. Economic ruts are hard enough to pull out of even when we’re operating at full steam.

But uncertainty about the future also puts employees and managers in a constant state of deliberation—fretting about the consequences of what might happen next, rather than confidently implementing plans of action.

The good news is that, with a little effort, we can kick-start the implementation mindset.

How to Bite Back When Reality Bites

One of history’s great mysteries is why George Washington felt so compelled during the first year of the Revolutionary War to meticulously oversee every detail of the renovations on his homestead, Mt. Vernon. Washington knew full well that if he didn’t win the war, he almost certainly would be granted a one-way ticket to the hangman’s gallows for treason. He also was fully aware that he was getting clobbered. Despite all the stress and anxiety, Washington spent late nights on the front lines writing letters home specifying things like what colors the new curtains should be in the living room.

Washington wasn’t delusional. By mapping out his home improvement project, he was fostering the implementation mindset, which then allowed him to persist in the overwhelming war effort. You can do the same thing from the front lines of your battle to beat the recession or meet your growth targets for the coming quarter.

1. Pick a Project You Are Already Thinking About.

As Washington proved, this project doesn’t need to have anything to do with your work. It just needs to be a project you have some measure of control over. It could be growing tasty tomatoes, planning a vacation, shaving a few strokes off of your golf game, helping your kids do better in school, or losing 10 pounds.

2. List Five Implementation Steps.

Jot down five actions you will take that, if carried out properly, will virtually guarantee success on your project.

3. Identify When, Where, and How.

Peter Gollwitzer’s research has proved that this last piece is critical, so don’t take a shortcut now. Write down when, where and how you intend to take each of the five implementation steps. For example, if your project is “plan a vacation,” one step might be: “After dinner tonight, I will look at vacation packages on my laptop.” From there, your brain will know what to do.

You can then do the same exercise with your people. To get more bang for your buck, you might want to work with them to select a work-related project that you would both like to see accomplished this quarter. Then coach them on breaking down the implementation steps and identifying the specifics of when, where and how they will carry out these steps. When performed this way—as a coaching exercise focused on a real work project—your reward will be twofold. You’ll not only prime your people’s minds for action on all their work activities, but also help them to deliver on a specific milestone for the quarter. Everybody wins.

The Time to Implement

When I spoke to Shelley Taylor, she was quick to point out that “positive illusions are rather like fire. They can light your house, or they can burn down your neighbor’s house.” What she calls “windows of realism” furnished by the deliberation mindset are vital to accurately estimating risks and costs. You could (and indeed many people do) argue that propping open more windows of realism a couple of years ago might have prevented the recession altogether. When you’re trying to determine whether or not it’s a good idea to embark on a new venture or invest in expensive real estate, the implementation mindset in you or in your people can be very detrimental. It can inspire unwarranted optimism and careless judgments.

But if you’re an executive trying to clear the recession malaise from your corporate climate, the windows of realism in your office space are probably open far enough. It’s time to implement.

A team of researchers led by Justin Berg, now a graduate student at the Wharton school, developed an innovative tool called the Job Crafting Exercise. Based on more than a decade of research, the tool helps guide employees through a process of reorganizing their current job tasks into new self-defined “roles.” It not only helps employees see their jobs differently, it helps them do their jobs differently. The result is a more engaged and ultimately, more productive employee.

Five Steps to Reinvigorating Your Team With Job Crafting:
1. Clarify the Business Objectives of their Job. Before allowing employees to begin the Job Crafting Exercise, it’s vital for managers to clearly state the outcomes that an employee’s job needs to produce for the organization. After all, the exercise is futile if employees become fully engaged in a job that fails to produce results.

2. Allow Employees to Complete the Job Crafting Exercise. The tool instructs employees to list their current job tasks, and then their strengths—what the employee is good at doing; their passions—what types of tasks the employ enjoys doing; and motives—what outcomes the employee wishes to achieve from their work, such as pay or recognition. Employees then arrange their strengths, passions and motives into clusters with certain job tasks. These clusters become the new self-defined roles of their job. Berg emphasizes that employees don’t actually eliminate any of their essential job tasks when completing the exercise. They simply reorganize their job tasks in a way that is more personally satisfying.

3. Don’t Interfere. “Managers have to let go of the prison guard tendency,” Amy Wrzesniewski says. Wrzesniewski, a professor at the Yale School of Management and one of the tools co-creators explains that as long as managers have properly clarified the job’s required outcomes and provided adequate reasoning for why these objectives are necessary, the manager must let her people go through the exercise on their own. This key distinction is what makes the tool so much more effective than traditional “job design” techniques in which managers or HR departments designed an employee’s job for them.

4. Create a Plan with the Employee. Once the employee completes the exercise, managers should sit down with employees to discuss how they can help the put that new job role into action. This isn’t a managerial sign-off ritual as much as it is a short working session (30-40 minutes) to make sure that both manager and employee are working toward the same ends. It’s also a learning opportunity for the manager. Co-creator and distinguished professor at the University of Michigan, Jane Dutton points out that one of the bonuses of job crafting is that management often learns about more effective ways of working that they can apply to other areas of the organization.

5. Craft in Teams. “In a team environment,” Wrzesniewski says “it’s often beneficial for employees to do a little job-swapping.” Inevitably, the Job Crafting Exercise will reveal necessary tasks that an individual employee doesn’t care much for doing. Some employees like more social tasks such as making phone calls or attending meetings, while others love digging into more solitary problem-solving tasks. Both sets of tasks need to be completed by the team, but it usually doesn’t matter which individual performs which task.

While it’s undoubtedly true that disengagement happens, nobody says it has to happen for long.

The answer is simple: Make work meaningful. Build on your people’s natural desire to see how their work fits in with the grand scheme of things. All workers want to feel that what they do matters to other people, that their day-to-day tasks are somehow indispensable.

To make that connection clearer for their people, companies like Medtronic (MDT) have for years invited customers to give testimonials at their annual meetings. Qualcomm (QCOM) collects and shares stories with employees about how cell phones have saved people’s lives in emergency situations. The Volvo Saved My Life Club lets customers and employees alike share stories of how Volvo’s safety features kept them safe in potentially fatal car crashes. DaVita (DVA) routinely shows its employees video segments in which patients and family members express appreciation for their kidney dialysis work.

The message these practices send to people inside the company—from the shop floor to the C-suites—is that “without your work, the world would be a worse place.” It’s more powerful than a pat on the back from a manager. It’s like a pat on the back from the universe.

Now that’s all well and good in a New Age, touchy-feely sort of way. But amid all of the turmoil businesses are facing right now, should efforts to make work more meaningful really be a priority? After all, nobody is going to feel good about work if the company has to close its doors.

BOTTOM LINE IMPACT

According to research by Adam Grant, an associate professor of management at the Wharton School, making this connection doesn’t just improve morale. It also has a huge impact on the bottom line. Grant has discovered that when people get to meet a living, breathing person who benefits from their work, their job performance skyrockets. In one study, Grant found that university fund-raisers who listened to a scholarship recipient tell how the assistance had benefited him increased by 200% the number of weekly calls they made to potential donors. The average amount of funds they brought in jumped 500%, from $400 per week to more than $2,000 per week.

That’s an impressive increase in performance by any standard. It’s especially so when you consider what did not happen to create the surge in productivity. The callers were not offered a raise. They did not go through extra training to sharpen their interpersonal skills or persuasion techniques. Their managers did not receive extra training on how to be more charismatic or transformational. It required no internal branding effort to communicate a newer, more inspiring vision. The only expense incurred by the organization—time or money—for this dramatic increase in productivity was the 10 minutes of time that fund-raisers spent listening to the beneficiary of their work.

Grant has found the same kinds of performance increases in sales reps, firefighters, police officers, lifeguards, and MBA students. In his opinion, it should come as no surprise that making work more meaningful should motivate significantly higher performance. What does surprise him is how slowly most managers are responding to this motivational opportunity. “In national surveys over the past three decades, meaningful work has swamped all other job attributes as the No. 1 feature that Americans value in a job, yet so many managers spend very little time thinking about how to make work more meaningful,” he says. Is it any wonder why it affects bottom-line performance?

On the flip side, research shows that employees who fail to link what they do to the benefit it provides others are much more likely to slack off. The moral of the story is that meaning matters.

IMPROVED QUALITY OF WORK

Introducing managers and employees to the beneficiary of their work taps into a slightly different and perhaps even deeper human need to believe that what we do is important—that rolling ourselves out of bed every morning serves some greater purpose. Making that connection doesn’t just motivate people to do more work. New evidence also indicates that it improves the quality of work. For example, when radiologists see a patient photo before viewing that patient’s X-ray, they actually make more-accurate diagnoses.

A large body of research in social psychology is now showing that the basic desire for meaning grows under threatening conditions created by times of war, natural disaster, and economic uncertainty. Times just like right now. So why not help your people use their jobs to satisfy that hunger for meaning, and create a substantial performance increase in the process?

I believe that most managers truly care about the well-being of their employees over and above their contribution to profitability. Unfortunately, they often feel forced to make a choice between organizational performance and employee well-being. Helping employees to see their work as more meaningful is one of those rare instances in which employee well-being is not just compatible with, but also contributes to, the organization’s financial growth.

To start infusing a greater sense of meaning into your organization’s work, Grant recommends these strategies:

1. Invite customers who have benefited from the company’s products and services to come in and speak to employees about the impact those products and services have made in their lives.

2. Conduct surveys and focus groups about not how easy or fun your products or services are, but rather how to have a greater impact on the people who use them. Then communicate to your employees the specific role they can play in making this impact.

3. Collect stories directly from beneficiaries, and share them via town-hall meetings or on the company’s intranet.

4. Structure group discussions about other beneficiaries who might value the work that employees do.

5. Provide recognition for employees who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help beneficiaries in meaningful ways.

If you can increase the sense of meaning your employees feel, you should see a notable increase in performance and engagement. And who knows? You just might begin to find your own job as a manager that much more meaningful.

The argument against the Myers-Briggs is that it’s based on a Jungian theory that has never been supported by statistics or other empirical research. In contrast, the Big Five has loads of empirical support, so why wouldn’t we always use the Big Five instead of Myers-Briggs?

The argument in favor of Myers-Briggs is that lots of people already know how to use it (i.e. have paid to be certified in it).  So switching to a new test would require a company to pay more people to get certified, and would ultimately cost the company more money and man hours. Besides, since its rarely used for hiring/firing or other “big” decisions, the MBTI works well enough.  Right?

Of course, that begs the question: Are we really using an inferior product just because it would be too big of a hassle to switch? Or is the MBTI not inferior for other reasons?

I posted the above statement on a few Management and Leadership discussion groups on LinkedIn yesterday, and it caused quite a stir (over 30 responses within the first day).  While we didn’t fully resolve whether the MBTI was good or bad, I think we at least succeeded in giving everyone a little fresher perspective on why they’re doing what they’re doing.  If nothing else, it proved to me the power of social media for exchanging ideas like no other platform can.

At least temporarily, you can inspire that grab-the-bull-by-the-horns attitude in just about anyone. A quick experiment illustrates how:

Phase 1: Think about a decision weighing on you right now. It can be any choice that involves asking “should I do X or should I do Y?” For example, should I stay in my current position, or make a lateral leap? Should I go to that training seminar next week or play hooky? Should we invest in that new venture now or wait until next year? Once you have that vexing question in mind, think about a couple of the short- and long-term consequences of both options, and then about some of the challenges you’ll face with trying to act on one of those options.

Phase 2: Think about a project you’re already working on. Maybe you’ve already given that new venture a green light and are ready to dig in. Maybe you’ve decided to go ahead with that systems upgrade you had been putting off. Or maybe you already concluded that you want to try your hand leading a new department. With that project in mind, jot down a few of the steps you’ll need to take in order to successfully implement that plan.

DELIBERATION VS. IMPLEMENTATION

The two phases above represent routine mental exercises we carry out every day—deliberating some choices and implementing others. Had we been monitoring your mood, your self-esteem, and your perceptions of risk during this experiment, we would have likely found you in two very different states of mind. In experiments like these, psychologists Shelley Taylor at UCLA and Peter Gollwitzer at NYU found that when people think about implementing a decision they’ve already made (Phase 2) it puts them in a far better mood, significantly raises their self-esteem, and makes them feel much more in control of the world around them. In fact, while locked into phase 2—what Taylor and Gollwitzer call the “implementation mindset”—people even believe they are less vulnerable than others to random events like getting mugged, being in a car crash, and falling victim to an earthquake.

When we mentally shift gears from deliberation to implementation, from contemplation to action, it changes more than the just way we see the decision at hand. While mapping out the plan for implementation, we feel more confident and more invincible about ourselves in general. That’s because implementation is a cue for our brains to zoom in on how to get the job done and to tune out the self-doubt and vulnerability that inhibit action.

A MINDSET IS A POWERFUL THING TO WASTE

The implementation mindset stirs up what Shelley Taylor calls “positive illusions,” which are somewhat unrealistic, self-serving beliefs. Around 90% of people believe they are just a little more competent, smarter, or kinder than average. “Generally, most people are more optimistic than facts warrant,” she observes. Nearly all people hold healthy, positive illusions about themselves some of the time, but Taylor says that’s a good thing. That’s not just because positive illusions make people feel more chipper. She has found that mild self-aggrandizing can also foster higher creativity and productivity, and help us persist more when tackling challenging goals like, say, weathering a recession.

But positive illusions come and go. When we find ourselves knee-deep in deliberation—agonizing about how we will continue to provide for our families, or how we can retire when the funds in our 401(k) have vanished—positive illusions disappear almost entirely, leaving us feeling much more like pawns than knights. That’s why recessions are a double-whammy. Economic ruts are hard enough to pull out of even when we’re operating at full steam.

But uncertainty about the future also puts employees and managers in a constant state of deliberation—fretting about the consequences of what might happen next, rather than confidently implementing plans of action.

The good news is that, with a little effort, we can kick-start the implementation mindset.

HOW TO BITE BACK WHEN REALITY BITES

One of history’s great mysteries is why George Washington felt so compelled during the first year of the Revolutionary War to meticulously oversee every detail of the renovations on his homestead, Mt. Vernon. Washington knew full well that if he didn’t win the war, he almost certainly would be granted a one-way ticket to the hangman’s gallows for treason. He also was fully aware that he was getting clobbered. Despite all the stress and anxiety, Washington spent late nights on the front lines writing letters home specifying things like what colors the new curtains should be in the living room.

Washington wasn’t delusional. By mapping out his home improvement project, he was fostering the implementation mindset, which then allowed him to persist in the overwhelming war effort. You can do the same thing from the front lines of your battle to beat the recession or meet your growth targets for the coming quarter.

1. Pick a Project You Are Already Thinking About.

As Washington proved, this project doesn’t need to have anything to do with your work. It just needs to be a project you have some measure of control over. It could be growing tasty tomatoes, planning a vacation, shaving a few strokes off of your golf game, helping your kids do better in school, or losing 10 pounds.

2. List Five Implementation Steps.

Jot down five actions you will take that, if carried out properly, will virtually guarantee success on your project.

3. Identify When, Where, and How.

Peter Gollwitzer’s research has proved that this last piece is critical, so don’t take a shortcut now. Write down when, where and how you intend to take each of the five implementation steps. For example, if your project is “plan a vacation,” one step might be: “After dinner tonight, I will look at vacation packages on my laptop.” From there, your brain will know what to do.

You can then do the same exercise with your people. To get more bang for your buck, you might want to work with them to select a work-related project that you would both like to see accomplished this quarter. Then coach them on breaking down the implementation steps and identifying the specifics of when, where and how they will carry out these steps. When performed this way—as a coaching exercise focused on a real work project—your reward will be twofold. You’ll not only prime your people’s minds for action on all their work activities, but also help them to deliver on a specific milestone for the quarter. Everybody wins.

THE TIME TO IMPLEMENT

When I spoke to Shelley Taylor, she was quick to point out that “positive illusions are rather like fire. They can light your house, or they can burn down your neighbor’s house.” What she calls “windows of realism” furnished by the deliberation mindset are vital to accurately estimating risks and costs. You could (and indeed many people do) argue that propping open more windows of realism a couple of years ago might have prevented the recession altogether. When you’re trying to determine whether or not it’s a good idea to embark on a new venture or invest in expensive real estate, the implementation mindset in you or in your people can be very detrimental. It can inspire unwarranted optimism and careless judgments.

But if you’re an executive trying to clear the recession malaise from your corporate climate, the windows of realism in your office space are probably open far enough. It’s time to implement.

I suppose you could say “because America was founded on the separation of church and state so it doesn’t really matter what Jesus would do.”  Good point.  But let’s face it, that hasn’t stopped us from invoking Jesus on virtually every other issue of the public sector.  I suspect the real reason is because nobody really knows on which side of the debate Jesus would come down.

On the one hand, he would almost certainly oppose a system like socialism that gives ultimate authority to a secular power like a government.  The only time he really talks about the role of government is when he’s asked about paying Roman taxes.  His response “give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” sounds like he thinks government is merely something to be tolerated, but definitely not something we should put much faith in.

On the other hand, he makes it pretty clear that wealth is to be shared and even, dare I say, redistributed.  He is also clear about giving to those in need–whether financially, spiritually or medically–regardless of what they can afford, what they’ve earned or whether they’ve wronged us somehow.  Despite the protestant work ethic and contrary to the popular maxim, he never says anything resembling “God helps those who help themselves…and everybody else is shit outta luck.”

So which is he then? Socialist or capitalist?

My guess is neither.  Capitalism is too much of a me-first system for the guy who wants us to put others before ourselves.  And socialism is too close to a secular religion that puts a worldly authority over God’s authority.  In truth, Jesus seemed like a pretty apolitical guy.  If we asked him which side we should take on the capitalism vs. socialism debate, I bet he’d tell us we’re asking the wrong question. He’d probably say we should instead ask ourselves “what have you done for your neighbor (and your enemy) lately?”

But not everyone agrees. Richard Robins, director of the Personality, Self, and Emotion laboratory at the University of California, Davis is one of those dissenters. Robins told me that solid evidence for the alleged “epidemic” pretty much disappears when Twenge’s and Campbell’s data are analyzed properly. Based on his team’s research, Robins concludes “this current [younger] generation does have inflated egos, but” he says “so did every other generation of youth…There are writings on cave walls from thousands of years ago saying, more or less, that today’s youth do whatever they want, don’t listen to their elders, think they know everything, etc.”

In other words, if there really is a sickness infecting the younger generations it would probably be more accurate to call it the “youthfulness epidemic.” And nothing short of mass infanticide is going to kill that bug.

The bigger problem is that most researchers are finding no increase—and sometimes even a slight decrease—in self esteem in the younger generations. So Twenge might be onto something when she suggests we “ditch the self-esteem movement.” Not because it’s reached overkill mode, but because it just ain’t working. A big reason why is the misunderstanding that unconditional praise boosts self esteem.

Psychologist Deborah Stipek, now the Dean of Stanford’s School of Education has pointed out that criticism, and not just praise, plays a key role in boosting the kind of self-esteem we need to perform well and to stick it out when faced with a challenge. Her logic is simple: when a manager tells you “good job” on that half-baked report you tried to pass off as finished, or in that client meeting you were ridiculously unprepared for, you have to conclude that this manager thinks you’re pretty much a clown. Even as a little kid when I doggy-paddled my way to an eighth place ribbon out of eight swimmers in the breaststroke, it was clear to me that Mark Spitz I was not. People telling me “great job” just made me feel pathetic.

It turns out that one of the best ways to bruise a youthful ego is to praise it for poor effort. The lesson for managers is to dust off that copy of the One Minute Manager and brush up on the art of constructive criticism. And if you’re on the receiving end of that critique, take it as a compliment. After all, wouldn’t you rather be told that you’re capable of earning a first place ribbon, instead of being served an eighth place ribbon with a heaping side of pity?