Danger in the Comfort Zone: From Boardroom to Mailroom -- How to Break the Entitlement Habit That’s Killing American Business

An examination of the phenomenon of ＂entitlement＂ mentalities in the American workforce -- people’s preoccupation with their rewards rather than their responsibilities.

Author Judith M. Bardwick points out that although the ＂fear＂ element has undoubtedly grown in the last few years, the entitlement attitude is still firmly entrenched at all levels.

Danger in the Comfort Zone describes three basic mindsets and shows the effect of each on individuals and their organizations:

• Entitlement -- people feel entitled to rewards and lethargic about having to earn them; motivation and job satisfaction are low
• Fear -- people are paralyzed; the threat of layoffs makes them focus on protecting their jobs rather than doing them well
• Earning -- people are energized by challenge; they know their accomplishments will be noticed -- and rewarded

This landmark work has been updated and expanded -- with five all-new chapters -- to meet today’s continuing challenges to the nation’s productivity and morale. Bardwick offers additional findings with new, specific techniques for pulling people out of the quagmire of fear and complacency, and igniting them with the energy of true earnings.

JUDITH M. BARDWICK, Ph.D. is a management consultant whose clients include IBM, Eastman Kodak, Monsanto, Exxon, and AT&T. She is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Bardwick is the acclaimed author of The Plateauing Trap, The Psychology of Women, and In Transition.