ZAPP book report
11/24/09

ZAPP The Lightning of EMPOWERMENT, by William C. Byham Ph.D. and Jeff Cox presents a story of different problems that managers/supervisors face and how they deal with the problems. The book shows how an autocratic supervisor would deal with a problem compared to a participative supervisor would handle the problems. The story shows the contrast between a supervisor that ZAPPS (empowers) her employees and a supervisor that SAPPS his employees by his interactions and management style with the employees.
The author takes a fictitious workplace that probably resembles many work environments that we have all experience at one time or another. ZAPP The Lightning of EMPOWERMENT is about the complexity of human
The authors show how Joe and his management style are causing SAPP in his department. Joe believes he is the boss, he’s in charge and everyone takes orders from him. Joe’s style certainly defines the autocratic or dictatorial leadership style. Joe has a Theory X attitude at the beginning of the story but after observing Lucy, the supervisor of Dept Z, Joe slowly changes his attitude. Lucy has a Theory Y attitude which Joe tries to emulate through trial and error. He eventually gets there but he has difficulty getting the employees to respond along the way. Joe seems to take one step forward and two steps back before finally “getting it”. Lucy’s attitude and management style is a case study of the Pygmalion Effect. The PE states that workers and their performance will reflect the supervisors’ expectations. The effect can be a positive or a negative depending on the attitude and expectations of the supervisor.
Finally the authors illustrate that it is vital that experienced managers coach other managers how to use and improve their ZAPP skills. Too often I have personally observed supervisors and managers that are struggling because of the way they communicate and interact with their employees. I always attempt to provide feedback when I observe a supervisor/employee interaction that could have been communicated differently or some action could have been taken differently. Front Line Supervisors are the