Oxytocin and High-Performance Organizations

by Larissa Chern ’17

This week, CMC students had the chance to participate in a dynamic, fun, and enlightening talk led by Dr. Paul Zak at the Athenaeum. Dr. Zak, who administers the first doctoral program in neuroeconomics as well as the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University, was credited with the first published use of the term “neuroeconomics.” His lab is responsible for advancing the academic research on oxytocin, the brain chemical that facilitates trust between individuals.

According to Dr. Zak’s findings, the secret to a high-performance organization lies in a high-trust environment. The list below numbers the various ways in which leaders can increase their peers’ oxytocin levels, thereby enhancing their organizations’ performance:

  1. Ovation: Recognize people who do outstanding work. If your colleague worked hard last week to hand in that important report and it turned out to be of great quality, make sure to recognize him in front of everyone. If that ovation is unexpected and public, its effect is even stronger.
  2. Expectations: Design hard, but achievable challenges within your organization. Challenge stress stimulates oxytocin, increasing empathy and strengthening bonds between colleagues.
  3. Yield: Give control of projects to others. When we don’t micromanage, we induce innovation and allow colleagues to make mistakes and learn from them.
  4. Transfer: Let people choose what projects to work on. If you let you colleagues bid for the work, they are more likely to devote themselves to it completely. It’s also important to let people work where they like (be it at a café or at their house) and whenever they like (it’s okay if they do their work at 3AM, as long as they do it, and do it well). Offering colleagues a sense of autonomy increases their energy and health.
  5. Openness: Communication, communication, communication. Allow everyone to be on the same page. Announce important information pertaining to the company. After all, all members of the organization have just as much importance.
  6. Caring: Humans are social creatures who build relationships all the time. Foster a friendly and caring environment, allowing for meaningful social interactions.
  7. Invest: Invest in your colleagues’ personal fulfillment. If there is anything about the job they do not seem to be satisfied with, make sure to address their concerns. By helping others achieve work-life balance, you help them foster a sense of growth rather than shackling them to the job.
  8. Natural: Be a vulnerable and authentic leader. Leaders who are seen as confident, but who also make mistakes, are seen as more trustworthy.

Research shows that employees working in high-trust environments report less stress, more innovation, fewer sick days, and more satisfaction with their lives outside of work. It’s no coincidence that the “best companies to work for” have higher stock return and employee retention.

Women in Accounting Panel

Join us on Monday, 3/28 for a lunch panel at the Athenaeum. Emily Rollins ’92 of Deloitte, Hilda Echeverria of Ernest & Young, and Maryellen Galuchie of Grant Thornton will be giving fascinating insights about their career paths and what work-life balance means to them. Lindsay Slocum ’17 and Parker Mallchok ’17 will moderate. Lunch begins at 11:30. Click here to reserve your spot!

CMC’s Audrey Bilger on Prop 8 and DOMA Decisions

On June 26th, the Supreme Court delivered decisions on Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that paved the way for same-sex marriage to resume in California and will help already-married same-sex couples to receive federal recognition and rights. CMC’s Audrey Bilger, Professor of Literature and co-editor of Here Come the Brides! Reflections on Lesbian Love and Marriage, has followed the cases closely, blogging for Ms. Magazine and speaking as a guest multiple times on KCRW radio’s local broadcast, Which Way L.A.?, and the national KCRW/PRI program To the Point.

On the day the decisions were announced, Bilger spoke on To the Point about the role of the feminist movement in the fight for marriage equality. She argued that feminism has helped redefine the definition of marriage, moving from a “traditional” or primarily procreative model to a more companionate model based on equality between partners. Bilger cited the influence of the companionate marriage model on Judge Vaughn Walker’s opinion in his 2010 overturn of Proposition 8, leading to the case’s appeal before the Supreme Court.

In a blog post for Ms. Magazine published on the same day, Bilger asserts that these Supreme Court decisions represent a victory not only for same-sex couples, but also for equality within marriage regardless of gender. She explains, “The battle lines in these cases have to do with competing models of marriage, as Justice Samuel Alito made clear in his dissent against the overturning of the federal Defense of Marriage Act”. Justice Alito’s dissent was based on a traditional model, she explains, one that most Americans have moved away from thanks to feminism and the notion of equality within marriage: “The state has no interest in defining relations within the family and saying that men need to do certain things and women need to do certain things.”

Bilger also points out that the majority opinion, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, spoke for thousands of children of same-sex couples by legitimizing their parents’ marriages at the federal level, allowing for the vital stability of family life that research has shown leads to the best outcomes for children.

Read the full Ms. Magazine post here and listen to her guest appearance on To the Point.