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 “If someone wants to unleash the truth of people management, read
this book. Author Robbins addresses the most critical challenges
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— SUBIR CHOWDHURY
Executive Vice President, American Supplier Institute
Author of the best-selling The Power of Six Sigma and
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Organizational Leadership & Strategy
Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University

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of ’ approach, as well as the reference materials each section draws on,
make this book a ‘must have’ for practical, reliable, and valid information
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— RANDALL P. WHITE, PH.D.
Principal, The Executive Development Group LLC
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Professor and Chair of the Department of Management and Organization
Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California
 “Steve Robbins has truly pulled off what he said he would. Robbins
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really known about managing people.”
— ANDREW J. DUBRIN, PH.D.
Professor of Management and Industrial Psychologist
Rochester Institute of Technology

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Professor of Management, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California
author of Intrinsic Motivation at Work

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Definitely an interesting and highly informative read.”
— LYMAN W. PORTER
University of California, Irvine
 THE TRUTH
ABOUT MANAGING
PEOPLE . . .
AND NOTHING BUT
THE TRUTH
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 THE TRUTH
ABOUT MANAGING
PEOPLE . . .
AND NOTHING BUT
THE TRUTH

Stephen P. Robbins, Ph.D.

An Imprint of Pearson Education

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 A CIP catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the Library of Congress.

Robbins, Stephen P.,

The truth about managing people--and nothing but the truth / Stephen P. Robbins.
p. cm. -- (Financial Times Prentice Hall books)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-13-066927-X
1. Supervision of employees. I. Title. II. Series.

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For my wife, Laura.
 CONTENTS

Preface xiv

PART I
THE TRUTH ABOUT HIRING
1
TRUTH 1 Forget Traits; It’s Behavior That Counts 3
TRUTH 2 Realistic Job Previews: What You See Is What You Get 6
TRUTH 3 Tips for Improving Employee Interviews 9
TRUTH 4 Want Pleasant Employees? It’s in the Genes! 12
TRUTH 5 Good Citizenship Counts! 14
TRUTH 6 Brains Matter; or When in Doubt, Hire Smart People 16
TRUTH 7 Don’t Count Too Much on Reference Checks 19
TRUTH 8 When in Doubt, Hire Conscientious People! 22
TRUTH 9 Hire People Who Fit Your Culture:
My “Good Employee” Is Your Stinker! 25
TRUTH 10 Match Personalities and Jobs 28
TRUTH 11 Manage the Socialization of New Employees 31

PART II
THE TRUTH ABOUT MOTIVATION
35
TRUTH 12 Why Many Workers Aren’t Motivated at Work Today 36
TRUTH 13 Happy Workers Aren’t Necessarily Productive Workers! 39
TRUTH 14 Workforce Generations and Values 42
TRUTH 15 Telling Employees to “Do Your Best” Isn’t Likely
to Achieve Their Best 45
TRUTH 16 Not Everyone Wants to Participate in Setting Their Goals 48
TRUTH 17 Professional Workers Go for the Flow 51

x
 Contents

TRUTH 18 Watch Out for Cyberloafing! 54

TRUTH 19 When Giving Feedback: Criticize Behaviors, Not People 57
TRUTH 20 You Get What You Reward 60
TRUTH 21 It’s All Relative! 63
TRUTH 22 Recognition Motivates (and It Costs Very Little!) 66
TRUTH 23 Ways to Motivate Low-Skill, Low-Pay Employees 69
TRUTH 24 There’s More to High Employee Performance
Than Just Motivation 71

PART III
THE TRUTH ABOUT LEADERSHIP
73
TRUTH 25 The Essence of Leadership is Trust 74
TRUTH 26 Experience Counts! Wrong! 77
TRUTH 27 Most People THINK They Know What Good
Leaders Look Like 80
TRUTH 28 Effective Leaders Know How to Frame Issues 82
TRUTH 29 You Get What You Expect 86
TRUTH 30 Great Followers Make Great Leaders 88
TRUTH 31 Charisma Can Be Learned 90
TRUTH 32 Make Others Dependent on You 93
TRUTH 33 There’s No Ideal Leadership Style 96
TRUTH 34 Adjust Your Leadership Style for Cultural Differences
or When in Rome. . . 98
TRUTH 35 When Leadership ISN’T Important 101

PART IV
THE TRUTH ABOUT COMMUNICATION
105
TRUTH 36 Hearing Isn’t Listening 106
TRUTH 37 Choose the Right Communication Channel 109
TRUTH 38 Listen to the Grapevine 112
TRUTH 39 Men and Women DO Communicate Differently 115
TRUTH 40 What You Do Overpowers What You Say 118
TRUTH 41 The Case for Open-Book Management 120

xi
 Contents

PART V
THE TRUTH ABOUT BUILDING TEAMS
123
TRUTH 42 What We Know That Makes Teams Work 124
TRUTH 43 2 + 2 Doesn’t Necessarily Equal 4 128
TRUTH 44 We’re Not All Equal: Status Matters! 130
TRUTH 45 Not Everyone Is Team Material 133

PART VI
THE TRUTH ABOUT MANAGING CONFLICTS
137
TRUTH 46 The Case FOR Conflict 138
TRUTH 47 Poor Communication Isn’t the Source of Most Conflicts 141
TRUTH 48 Beware of Groupthink 144
TRUTH 49 How to Reduce Work-Life Conflicts 147

PART VII
THE TRUTH ABOUT DESIGNING JOBS
151
TRUTH 50 There’s No Such Thing as a “Good Job” 152
TRUTH 51 Not Everyone Wants a Challenging Job 155
TRUTH 52 Four Job-Design Actions That Will Make Employees
More Productive 157

PART VIII
THE TRUTH ABOUT PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
161
TRUTH 53 Annual Reviews: The Best Surprise Is NO Surprise! 162
TRUTH 54 Don’t Blame Me! The Role of Self-Serving Bias 165
TRUTH 55 The Case for 360-Degree Feedback Appraisals:
More IS Better! 168

xii
 Contents

PART IX
THE TRUTH ABOUT COPING WITH CHANGE
171
TRUTH 56 Most People Resist Any Change That Doesn’t
Jingle in Their Pockets! 172
TRUTH 57 You CAN Teach an Old Dog New Tricks 176
TRUTH 58 Use Participation to Reduce Resistance to Change 179
TRUTH 59 Layoffs Are as Tough on Survivors as Those Who
Get Laid Off 181

PART X
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT MANAGING BEHAVIOR
185
TRUTH 60 I’ll See It When I Believe It 186
TRUTH 61 First Impressions DO Count! 189
TRUTH 62 People Aren’t Completely Rational: Don’t Ignore Emotions! 192
TRUTH 63 Beware of the Quick Fix 195

References 198

xiii
 PREFACE

M anagers are bombarded with advice from consultants,

professors, business journalists, and assorted management
“gurus” on how to manage their employees. A lot of this advice
is well thought out and valuable. Much of it, however, is a gross
generalization, ambiguous, inconsistent, or superficial. Some of
it is even just downright wrong. Regardless of the quality, there
doesn’t seem to be any slowdown in the outpouring of this
advice. Quite to the contrary. Books on business and
management have replaced sex, self-help, and weight loss as
topics on many nonfiction best-sellers lists.
I’ve been teaching and writing about managing people at
work for 30 years. As part of my writing efforts, I have read
upwards of 25,000 research studies on human behavior. While
my practitioner friends are often quick to criticize research and
theory-testing, this research has provided us with innumerable
insights into human behavior. Unfortunately, to date there has
been no short, concise summary of behavioral research that
cuts through the jargon to give managers the truth about what
works and doesn’t work when it comes to managing people at
work. Well, this is no longer true. This book has been written
to fill that void.

xiv
 Preface

I’ve organized this book around key, human-behavior-

related problem areas that managers face: hiring, motivation,
leadership, communication, team building, conflict manage-
ment, job design, evaluating performance, and coping with
change. Within each problem area, I’ve identified a select set
of topics that are relevant to managers and where there is
substantial research evidence to draw upon. In addition, I’ve
included suggestions to help readers apply this information to
improve their managerial effectiveness. And at the back of the
book, I’ve listed references upon which the chapters are based.
Who was this book written for? Practicing managers and
those aspiring to a management position—from CEOs to
supervisor wannabes. I wrote it because I believe you shouldn’t
have to read through detailed textbooks in human resources or
organizational behavior to learn the truth about managing
people at work. Nor should you have to attend an executive
development course at a prestigious university to get the
straight facts. What you get from this book, of course, will
depend on your current knowledge about organizational
behavior. Recent MBAs, for instance, will find this book to be
a concise summary of the evidence they spent many months
studying. For individuals who haven’t kept current with
research in organizational behavior or for those with little formal
academic training, this book should provide a wealth of new
insights into managing people at work.
You’ll find each of the 63 topics in this book is given its
own short chapter. And each chapter is essentially independent
from the others. You can read them in any order you desire.
Best of all, you needn’t tackle this book in one sitting. It’s been

xv
 Preface

designed for multiple “quick reads.” Read a few chapters, put it

down, then pick it up again at a later date. There’s no
continuous story line that has to be maintained.
Let me conclude this preface by stating the obvious: A
book is a team project. While there is only one name on the
cover, a number of people contributed to getting this book in
your hands. That team included Tim Moore, Russ Hall,
Vanessa Moore, Lawrence Hargett, and Stephanie English.

Stephen P. Robbins
January 2002

xvi
 PART I

THE TRUTH
ABOUT HIRING
 TRUTH 1
FORGET TRAITS;
IT’S BEHAVIOR THAT COUNTS!

Y ou’re interviewing applicants to fill a job position in your

firm. What are you looking for in these applicants? If you’re like
many managers, you’ll answer with terms such as hardworking,
persistent, confident, and dependable. After all, how can you go
wrong trying to hire people with traits such as these? Well, you
can! The problem is that traits aren’t necessarily good predictors
of future job performance.
Most of us have a strong belief in the power of traits to
predict behavior. We know that people behave differently in
different situations, but we tend to classify people by their traits,
impose judgments about those traits (being self-assured is
“good”; being submissive is “bad”), and make evaluations about
people based on these trait classifications. Managers often do
this when they make hiring decisions or evaluate current
employees. After all, if managers truly believed that situations
determined behavior, they would hire people almost at random
and structure the situation to fit the employee’s strengths. But
the employee selection process in most organizations places a
great deal of emphasis on traits. We see this in the emphasis
placed on how applicants perform in interviews and on tests.

3
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

During interviews, managers watch and listen to see if

applicants have the “qualities” they’re looking for in a “good”
employee. Similarly, tests are often used to determine the
degree to which an applicant has “good employee traits.”
There are two problems with using traits in the hiring
process. First, organizational settings are strong situations that
have a large impact on employee behavior. Second, individuals
are highly adaptive and personality traits change in response to
organizational situations.
The effects of traits in explaining behavior is likely to be
strongest in relatively weak situations and weakest in relatively
strong situations. Organizational settings tend to be strong
situations because they have
rules and other formal reg-
The best predictor ulations that define acceptable
behavior and punish deviant
of a person’s future behavior, and because they
behavior is his or have informal norms that
dictate appropriate behaviors.
her past behavior. These formal and informal
constraints minimize the
effects of different personality
traits. In contrast, picnics, parties, and similar informal functions
are weak situations, and we’d predict that traits would be fairly
strong predictors of behavior in these situations.
While personality traits are generally stable over time, there
is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates that an
individual’s traits are changed by the organization in which that
individual participates. Moreover, people typically belong to

4
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

multiple organizations (for instance, community, religious,

social, athletic, and political, as well as to an employer) that
often include very different kinds of members, and they adapt
to those different situations. The fact is that people are not
prisoners of a rigid and stable personality framework. They can
adjust their behavior to reflect the requirements of various
situations.
If traits aren’t very good for predicting future employee
behavior, what should managers use? The answer is: Past
behaviors! The best predictor of a person’s future behavior is
his or her past behavior. So when interviewing candidates, ask
questions that focus on previous experiences that are relevant
to the current job opening. Here’s a couple of examples: “What
have you done in previous jobs that demonstrates your
creativity?” “On your last job, what was it that you most
wanted to accomplish but didn’t? Why didn’t you?”

5
 TRUTH 2
REALISTIC JOB PREVIEWS:
WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET

T hink back to the last time you went for a job interview.
Once the interviewer got past asking you questions, how did
he or she describe the job and organization? Most managers,
when conducting employment interviews, almost exclusively
focus on positive aspects. They talk about interesting work
assignments, the camaraderie among coworkers, opportunities
for advancement, great benefits, and the like. Even though
managers typically know the downside of the job and the
organization, they carefully avoid those topics. Why turn off a
good job applicant by talking about negatives?
Managers who focus only on the positives are making a
mistake. They’re setting themselves up for the disappointment
of a sudden and surprising resignation. All those hours spent
reviewing candidate applications and conducting interviews
prove wasted when after only a few weeks or a month into
the job, the new employee abruptly quits.
Is there anything an astute manager can do to avoid this
experience? The answer is Yes: Use realistic job previews.
Realistic job previews provide job applicants with both
unfavorable and favorable information before an offer is made.

6
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

It’s in direct contrast to the typical job previews that most

managers give during the interview stage—carefully worded
descriptions that sell the positive aspects of the new job and
the organization. All these do is set the employee up with false
expectations. No job or organization is perfect. And you’re
more likely to keep your new hires if you’re straight with them
from the beginning.
When the information that a job applicant receives is
excessively inflated, a number of things happen that have
potentially negative effects on the organization. First,
mismatched applicants who would probably become
dissatisfied with the job and
soon quit are less likely to select
themselves out of the search You’re more likely to
process. Second, the absence keep your new hires
of negative information builds
unrealistic expectations. If if you’re straight
hired, the new employee is
likely to become quickly dis- with them from the
appointed. This, in turn, leads
beginning.
to low employee satisfaction
and premature resignations.
Finally, new hires are prone to becoming disillusioned and less
committed to the organization when they come face-to-face
with the negatives in the job. No one likes to feel as if they
were tricked or misled during the hiring process.
A realistic job preview balances both the positive and
negative aspects of the job. For instance, in addition to positive
comments, managers could tell candidates that there are limited
opportunities to talk with coworkers during work hours, or that

7
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

erratic fluctuations in workloads create considerable stress on

employees during rush periods. Anousheh Ansari, chief
operating officer at Telecom Technologies, is a proponent of
realistic previews. She says she purposely paints a gloomy
picture and tries to scare prospective employees during
interviews. For example, she tells them that they’ll be expected
to put in 10- and 12-hour workdays. “Some people run in the
opposite direction, but the ones who stay are committed and
willing to do whatever it takes,” she says.
The evidence indicates that applicants who have been
given a realistic job preview hold lower and more realistic
expectations about the job they’ll be doing and are better
prepared for coping with the job and its frustrating elements.
The result is fewer unexpected resignations. While presenting
only the positive aspects of a job to a recruit may initially entice
him or her to join the organization, it may be a marriage that
both you and the new employee will quickly regret.

8
 TRUTH 3
TIPS FOR IMPROVING
EMPLOYEE INTERVIEWS

F ew, if any, people are hired without an interview. It’s the

single most widely used device for screening job candidates.
And not only is the interview widely used, it also typically
carries a great deal of weight. That is, the results tend to have
a disproportionate amount of influence on the decision of who
is hired and who isn’t.
Effective interviewing skills aren’t just for company
recruiters or those people who work in an organization’s human
resources department. Every manager is involved in the hiring
process for his or her department. So every manager needs to
be capable of conducting effective interviews.
What can you do to be a more effective interviewer?
Based on an extensive body of research, here are some helpful
hints for improving employee interviews.
First, before meeting an applicant, review his or her
application form and résumé. Also review the job description
of the position for which the applicant is interviewing. Next,
structure the agenda for the interview. Specifically, use a set
of standardized questions. That is, you should ask every

9
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

applicant for a job the same set of questions. Select questions

that can’t be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” Also avoid
leading questions that telegraph the desired response (such as,
“Would you say you have good interpersonal skills?”). In most
cases, questions relating to marital and family status, age, race,
religion, sex, ethnic background, credit rating, and arrest record
are prohibited by law in the United States unless you can
demonstrate that they are in some way related to job
performance. So avoid them. In place of asking, “Are you
married?” or “Do you have children?” you might ask, “Are there
any reasons why you might not be able to work overtime
several times a month?”
When you actually meet
Every manager needs the applicant, assume that he
or she is nervous and anxious.
to be capable of So put the applicant at ease.
Introduce yourself. Be friendly.
conducting effective Begin with a few simple
interviews. questions or statements that
can break the ice. Then
preview what topics you plan
to discuss, how long the interview will take, and encourage the
applicant to ask questions.
The actual interview will be a give-and-take of questions
and discussion. The questions you developed during
preparation will provide a general road map to guide you. Make
sure you cover them all. Follow-up questions should arise from
the answers to the standardized questions. These follow-up
questions should seek to probe more deeply into what the

10
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

applicant says. If you feel that the applicant’s response is

superficial or inadequate, seek elaboration. For instance, to
encourage greater response you can say, “Tell me more about
that issue.” To clarify information, you might say, “You said
working overtime was OK, sometimes. Can you tell me
specifically when you’d be willing to work overtime?” If the
applicant doesn’t directly answer your question, follow up by
repeating the question or paraphrasing it. Importantly, never
underestimate the power of silence in an interview. Pause for
at least a few seconds after the applicant appears to have
finished an answer. Your silence encourages the applicant to
continue talking.
Once you’re through with the questions and discussions,
wrap up the interview. Let the applicant know this fact with a
statement such as, “Well, that covers all the questions I have.
Is there anything about the job or our organization that I haven’t
answered for you?” Then let the applicant know what’s going
to happen next. When can he or she expect to hear from you?
Will you write, e-mail, or phone? Are there likely to be more
follow-up interviews?
Before you consider the interview complete, write your
evaluation while the candidate’s comments are fresh in your
mind. Now that the applicant is gone, take the time to review
your notes and assess the applicant’s responses.

11
 TRUTH 4
WANT PLEASANT EMPLOYEES?
IT’S IN THE GENES!

H erb Kelleher, former CEO of Southwest Airlines,

recognized what many managers fail to notice: Some people
are just inherently more friendly and upbeat than others.
Kelleher believes, and rightly so, that it’s difficult, if not
impossible, to train people to provide friendly and courteous
service. So Southwest Airlines focuses its hiring process on
selecting out the people who aren’t basically happy and
outgoing.
A number of jobs—flight attendants, retail clerks, sales
people, and customer service are some obvious examples—are
performed better by people with positive dispositions. Many
managers trying to fill these jobs have assumed that pleasant
employees can be created. They spend a lot of their time trying
to design motivating jobs, working conditions, or attractive
compensation and benefit programs to encourage their
employees to be friendly and upbeat. Additionally, they spend
millions of dollars on training to shape behavior. Most of these
programs fail to achieve their objective. Why? Because
whether a person is happy or not is essentially determined by

12
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

his or her genetic structure. Studies have found that

approximately 80 percent of people’s differences in happiness is
attributable to their genes.
Analysis of satisfaction data for individuals over a 50-year
period found that individual results were amazingly stable over
time, even when these people changed employers and
occupations. This analysis and
other evidence suggests that
an individual’s disposition Approximately 80
toward life is established by his percent of people’s
or her genetic makeup, that it
holds over time, and carries differences in
over into his or her disposition
toward work. happiness is
The message here is to
attributable to their
follow Herb Kelleher’s ex-
ample. If you want pleasant genes.
employees, focus your atten-
tion on the hiring process.
Select out the negative, maladjusted, trouble-making fault
finders who derive little satisfaction in anything about their jobs.
How? Through personality testing, in-depth interviewing, and
careful checking of applicants’ previous work records.

13
 TRUTH 5
GOOD CITIZENSHIP COUNTS!

A ll other things equal, most managers want employees who

will do more than their usual job duties. They want employees
who will go beyond expectations. Employees who exhibit
discretionary behavior that is not part of their formal job
requirements, but that promotes the organization’s operations,
are said to be good citizens. And in today’s workplace, where
flexibility is critical, jobs are fluid, work is often done in teams,
and job descriptions frequently fail to include all the essential
tasks that need to be done, top performing managers need
individuals who display good citizenship behavior.
What is good citizenship behavior? Examples include
making constructive statements about their work group and
the organization, helping others on their team, volunteering for
extra job activities, avoiding unnecessary conflicts, showing
care for organizational property, respecting the spirit as well as
the letter of rules and regulations, and gracefully tolerating the
occasional work-related impositions and nuisances. Impor-
tantly, studies indicate that those organizational units that have
employees who exhibit good citizenship behaviors outperform
those that don’t.

14
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

So what can managers do to stimulate good citizenship

among employees? The answer seems to be: Treat people fairly.
When people believe out-
comes, treatment, and proce-
dures are fair, they are more Employees who
likely to talk positively about
exhibit good
the organization, help others,
and go beyond the normal citizenship behaviors
expectations in their job. If your
employees feel that you, your outperform those
organization’s procedures, and
company pay policies are fair,
who don’t.
trust is developed. And when
they trust you and the organization, they’re more willing to
voluntarily engage in behaviors that go beyond their formal job
requirements.

15
 TRUTH 6
BRAINS MATTER; OR WHEN IN DOUBT,
HIRE SMART PEOPLE

F ew topics generate more heated discussion and controversy

than that of intelligence. People seem to hold widely differing
and strong opinions on questions such as: Is IQ a good measure
of intelligence? Is intelligence learned or inherited? Are
intelligent people more successful than their less-intelligent
peers?
We’re concerned with the relationship between intelligence
and job performance—specifically, do people with higher
intelligence outperform their peers with lower intelligence? Not
surprisingly, this is a topic in which there is no shortage of
opinions. But don’t put much weight on opinions. You should
look for hard evidence. And there is actually quite a bit of hard
evidence to draw upon. Certain facts are beyond significant
technical dispute. For instance: (1) IQ score closely matches
whatever it is that people mean when they use the word
intelligent or smart in ordinary language; (2) IQ scores are stable,
although not perfectly so, over much of a person’s life; (3)
properly administered IQ tests are not demonstrably biased
against social, economic, ethnic, or racial groups; and (4)

16
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

smarter employees, on average, are more proficient employees.

I understand that some of these conclusions may make you
uncomfortable or conflict with your personal views, but they
are well supported by the research evidence.
All jobs require the use of
intelligence or cognitive ability. Smarter employees,
Why? For reasoning and
decision making. High IQs on average, are more
show a strong correlation with
proficient employees.
performance in jobs that are
novel, ambiguous, changing, or
in multifaceted professional occupations such as accountants,
engineers, scientists, architects, and physicians. But IQ is also
a good predictor in moderately complex jobs such as crafts,
clerical, and police work. IQ is a less valid predictor for unskilled
jobs that require only routine decision making or simple problem
solving.
Intelligence clearly is not the only factor affecting job
performance, but it’s often the most important! It is, for
example, a better predictor of job performance than a job
interview, reference checks, or college transcripts.
Unfortunately, the strong genetic component of IQ—probably
70 percent or more of our intelligence is inherited—makes the
use of IQ as a selection tool vulnerable to attack. Critics are
uncomfortable when average IQs are shown to differ among
different races or that IQ has been found to be associated with
economic differences. Some critics use these findings to
suggest that IQ measures discriminate and, therefore, should
be abandoned. This is unfortunate because the evidence

17
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

overwhelmingly indicates that IQ tests are not biased against

particular groups, even though what they measure is largely
outside the control of the individual.
Our conclusion: The race may not always go to the
swiftest or the strongest, but that’s the way to bet! If you want
to hire the best possible workforce, all other things being equal,
hire the smartest people you can find.

18
 TRUTH 7
DON’T COUNT TOO MUCH
ON REFERENCE CHECKS

R eference checks fall into one of two categories—past work

experience and personal. References from past employers tend
to be valuable in the hiring process. But unfortunately, they’ve
become increasingly hard to acquire. Personal references, on
the other hand, are easy to acquire but they’re essentially
worthless.
As we noted in Truth 1, the best predictor of future
behavior is past behavior. So accurate and reliable information
that tells us about a job candidate’s past job experience can be
a valuable input into the hiring decision. The problem is that
employers have become increasingly reluctant to provide
anything but the most mundane information to outsiders. In
many cases, that information is limited to the former employee’s
title and dates of employment. The reason for this is simple:
U.S. courts hold former employers responsible to release only
truthful information. So to protect themselves against lawsuits,
employers often provide only minimal details on past employees.
Of course this makes it extremely difficult to get the
information you most want—that related to the former

19
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

employee’s work performance. In addition, reviews from former

employers rarely include unfavorable information. If all the
information you get is biased to the positive, that information
can’t help you very much to differentiate among job candidates.
However, to the degree that you’re able to find former
employers who will speak candidly about a job candidate and
provide negative as well as positive information, that
information can be valuable in helping you make your selection
decision.
There’s another concern that also needs to be addressed
regarding work-related references. Even if you’re able to get
valid information on an employee’s past performance, you need
to be sure to evaluate it in
terms of differences that might
Personal references exist between past jobs and
the one you’re currently trying
are easy to acquire to fill. Previous performance
but they’re levels—both highly positive or
negative—don’t necessarily
essentially worthless. transfer from one job to
another. A number of external
factors may not be common
between the jobs. For instance, are there comparable
resources? Will colleagues and subordinates have similar skills
and abilities? Do the organizations evaluate and reward similar
criteria? If the jobs and organizations aren’t similar, then the
ability of past performance to predict future performance is
lessened.

20
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

Many employers ask job applicants for personal references.

Justification for this practice is beyond me. There’s no valid
reason to believe that these references will help you to identify
potentially high-performing employees. The reality is: We all
have friends who will say or write positive reviews of us. If
every job candidate can provide three “references” who will
rave about our ambition, determination, conscientiousness,
ability to work with others, and the like, what value do they
add to the selection process? The answer is: None.
A final comment: Nothing in this assessment should
discourage you from doing a comprehensive background
investigation. Confirming a candidate’s educational credentials
should always be done. So should checking past employers for
dates of employment and areas of responsibility. Where
employees will be dealing with money or security issues, a
check for a possible criminal record is also sensible.

21
 TRUTH 8
WHEN IN DOUBT,
HIRE CONSCIENTIOUS PEOPLE!

W e know that people don’t have common personalities.

Some are quiet and passive; others are loud and aggressive.
Some are relaxed; others are tense.
An extensive amount of research has identified five basic
dimensions that explain the significant variation in human
personality. These five factors are

1. Extraversion—Are you an extravert (outgoing, sociable)

or an introvert (reserved, timid)?
2. Agreeableness—Are you highly agreeable (cooperative,
trusting) or much less so (disagreeable, antagonistic)?
3. Conscientiousness—Are you highly conscientious
(responsible, organized) or much less so (unreliable,
disorganized)?
4. Emotional stability—Are you stable (calm, self-confident)
or unstable (anxious, insecure)?
5. Openness to experience—Are you open to new
experiences (creative, curious) or closed (conventional,
seek the familiar)?

22
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

Numerous studies have been undertaken to see if there is

any relationship between these five personality dimensions and
job performance. Findings indicate that only conscientiousness
is related to job performance. Specifically, conscientiousness
predicts job performance across a broad spectrum of jobs—
from professionals (engineers, accountants, lawyers) to police,
salespeople, and semi-skilled
workers. Individuals who score
high in conscientiousness are Conscientiousness
dependable, reliable, careful,
thorough, able to plan, organ-
predicts job
ized, hardworking, persistent, performance across
and achievement-oriented.
And these attributes tend to a broad spectrum
lead to higher job performance
in most occupations.
of jobs—from
So if you’re looking for a professionals to
single personality characteristic
that is likely to be associated police, salespeople,
with high job performance,
you’re well advised to try to and semi-skilled
hire people who score high on workers.
conscientiousness. That, of
course, doesn’t mean that
other characteristics might not be relevant for specific jobs. For
instance, evidence indicates that extraversion is a good
predictor of performance in managerial and sales positions. This
makes sense since these occupations involve a high degree of
social interaction.

23
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

Some readers might be surprised that high emotional

stability wasn’t found to be related to job performance.
Intuitively, it would seem that people who are calm and secure
would do better on almost all jobs than people who are anxious
and insecure. Closer inspection suggests that only people who
have fairly high scores on emotional stability retain their jobs.
So the range among those people studied, all of whom were
employed, tended to be quite small. In other words, people who
are low in emotional stability either don’t tend to get hired in
the first place or, when they do, typically don’t last too long in
their jobs!

24
 TRUTH 9
HIRE PEOPLE WHO FIT YOUR CULTURE:
MY “GOOD EMPLOYEE” IS YOUR STINKER!

M any a manager has hired a new employee based largely

on his or her skills, then lived to regret it. While skill competence
is certainly an important ingredient in the making of a “good
employee,” never underestimate the role that an organization’s
culture plays in an employee’s success or failure. Employee
performance typically has a large subjective component. Bosses
and colleagues have to make interpretations: Is Dave a team
player? Is Tina taking unnecessary risks? Is Laura too
competitive? And whether those interpretations are positive or
negative depend to a great extent on how well an employee is
perceived to fit into the organization. A good fit goes a long
way toward ensuring that an employee will be perceived as a
high performer.
An organization’s culture represents a system of shared
meaning. It expresses the core values that are shared by a
majority of the organization’s members. Microsoft’s culture, for
example, values aggressiveness and risk taking. In contrast,
Johnson & Johnson has a communal culture that emphasizes
a strong family feel and values trust and loyalty. The typical

25
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

“good” employee at Microsoft looks and behaves very

differently from the typical “good” employee at J&J.
As a manager, you should assess potential employees in
terms of how well you think they will fit into your organization’s
culture. You want to hire people whose values are essentially
consistent with those of the organization, or at least a good
portion of those values. If you begin by getting a solid handle
on what your organization
values and rewards, you’re
Never underestimate well on your way to deter-
mining whether a candidate
the role that an
will be a good match. Ask
organization’s questions and make obser-
vations that will allow you to
culture plays in an determine the applicant’s pro-
pensity to be innovative and
employee’s success take risks, to focus on “the big
or failure. picture” versus the details, to
emphasize means or ends, to
be team oriented, to be
aggressive and competitive versus easygoing, and whether he
or she prefers the status quo to growth. These are the primary
elements that identify organizational cultures.
What can you expect to happen if you make a mistake
and hire a few candidates who don’t fit with your firm’s culture?
It’s likely you’ll wind up with hires who lack motivation and
commitment and who are dissatisfied with their jobs and the
organization. They’ll get lower performance evaluations than
employees with similar objective performance but whose

26
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

values align with the organization. And, not surprisingly,

employee “misfits” have considerably higher turnover rates than
individuals who perceive a good fit. Most people pick up the
cues that they don’t fit in and, assuming other job options are
available, leave in search of a job where they’re more likely to
be appreciated.

27
 TRUTH 10
MATCH PERSONALITIES AND JOBS

W ant to increase the satisfaction of new employees and

decrease the likelihood that they’ll resign? There is a substantial
amount of evidence that demonstrates this can be achieved by
selecting job applicants whose personality matches the job
you’re trying to fill.
Six personality types have been identified and evidence
strongly supports that people are happiest when they are put
in jobs that align with their personality. Those six personalities
are realistic, investigative, social, conventional, enterprising,
and artistic.
A realistic person prefers physical activities that require skill,
strength, and coordination. Their personality traits: shy,
genuine, persistent, stable, conforming, and practical. Examples
of jobs that align with their personality include mechanic, drill
press operator, assembly-line worker, and farmer.
An investigative person prefers activities that involve
thinking, organizing, and understanding. Their personality traits:
analytical, original, curious, and independent. Examples of job
that align with their personality include biologist, economist,
software programmer, mathematician, and news reporter.

28
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

A social person prefers activities that involve helping and

developing others. Their personality traits: sociable, friendly,
cooperative, and understanding. Examples of jobs that align
with their personality include social worker, teacher, counselor,
and clinical psychologist.
A conventional person prefers rule-regulated, orderly, and
unambiguous activities. Their personality traits: conforming,
efficient, practical, unimaginative, and inflexible. Examples of
jobs that align with their personality include accountant,
corporate manager, bank teller, and file clerk.
An enterprising person prefers verbal activities in which
there are opportunities to influence others and attain power.
Their personality traits: self-confident, ambitious, energetic,
and domineering. Examples of jobs that align with their
personality include lawyer, real
estate agent, public-relations People are happiest
specialist, and small-business
manager. when they are put in
An artistic person prefers
ambiguous and unsystematic jobs that align with
activities that allow creative their personality.
expression. Their personality
traits: imaginative, disorderly,
idealistic, emotional, and impractical. Examples of jobs that
align with their personality include painter, musician, writer, and
interior decorator.
The evidence indicates that employee satisfaction is
highest and turnover lowest when personality and occupation
are in agreement. Social individuals, for instance, should be in

29
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

social jobs, conventional people in conventional jobs, and so

forth. In addition, personalities can be conceptualized in a circle.
Points on that circle would be in this order: realistic,
investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, conventional, and
back to realistic. Findings support that the closer two
personalities are in that circle, the more compatible they are.
And adjacent categories are most similar. So a realistic person
in an investigative job is more congruent—and should be more
content—than if he or she were in a social job.

30
 TRUTH 11
MANAGE THE SOCIALIZATION
OF NEW EMPLOYEES

A ll Marines must go through a multi-week boot camp, where

they “prove” their commitment. At the same time, the Marine
trainers are indoctrinating new recruits in the “Marine way.” In
a similar, but less elaborate manner, Starbucks puts all new
employees through 24 hours of training to teach them the
Starbucks philosophy, the company jargon, and the ins and outs
of Starbucks’ coffee business.
The Marines and Starbucks use their formal training
programs to socialize new members. They’re helping employees
adapt to their organization’s culture. Why? Because no matter
how good a job an organization does in recruitment and
selection, new employees are not fully indoctrinated in the
organization’s culture. Socialization turns outsiders into insiders
and fine-tunes employee behaviors so they align with what
management wants.
When hiring a new employee, you have four decisions to
make—each of which will affect the shaping of that new hire’s
behavior:

31
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

First, will socialization be formal or informal? The more a

new employee is segregated from the ongoing work setting and
differentiated in some way to make explicit his or her
newcomer’s role, the more formal the socialization is. The
Marines and Starbucks’ specific orientation and training
programs are examples. Informal socialization just puts the new
employee directly into his or her job, with little or no special
attention.
Second, will socialization
Socialization turns be done individually or collec-
tively? Most employees are
outsiders into socialized individually. But they
also can be grouped together
insiders and fine- and processed through an
identical set of experiences as
tunes employee in military boot camp.
behaviors so they Third, will socialization be
serial or random? Serial social-
align with what ization is characterized by the
use of role models who train
management wants. and encourage the newcomer.
Apprenticeship and mentoring
programs are examples. In random socialization, role models
are deliberately withheld. The new employee is left on his or
her own to figure things out.
Finally, will socialization seek investiture or diversiture?
Investiture assumes that the newcomer’s qualities and
qualifications are the necessary ingredients for job success, so
these qualities and qualifications are confirmed and supported.

32
 The Truth About Managing People . . . and Nothing but the Truth

Divestiture tries to strip away certain characteristics of the new

hire. Fraternity and sorority “pledges” go through divestiture
socialization to shape them into the proper role.
Generally speaking, the more that management relies on
socialization programs that are formal, collective, serial, and
emphasize divestiture, the greater the likelihood that
newcomers’ differences and perspectives will be stripped away
and replaced by standardized and predictable behaviors.
Conversely, the use of informal, individual, random, and
investiture options will create a workforce of individualists. So
managers can use socialization as a tool to create conformists
who maintain traditions and customs or, at the other extreme,
inventive and creative individuals who consider no
organizational practice sacred.

33
PART II

THE TRUTH
ABOUT
MOTIVATION
Other documents randomly have
different content
with our good Secretary's attestation, which is in the best credit,
even with the enemy.
The opportunity of sending is too precarious to admit of my
enlarging.
Your most humble servant,
JAMES LOVELL,
For the Committee of Foreign Affairs.

JAMES LOVELL TO B. FRANKLIN.

Philadelphia, May 9th, 1781.
Sir,
Mr Samuel Curson and Mr Isaac Gouverneur, Jun. of St Eustatia,
after that place was taken, were sent to England in the Vengeance
man of war, Commodore Hotham, stripped of everything but their
wearing apparel; their books, papers, and slaves having been taken
from them, and Mrs Gouverneur, with a young infant, turned out of
doors. Special severity, it is supposed, has been shown to them in
consequence of their acting as agents to Congress. Doctor John
Witherspoon, Jun. also, who was surgeon of the De Graaff letter of
marque, taken at St Eustatia, is sent to England in the Alimena man
of war, and very hardly treated on account of his father being a
member of Congress, as is supposed.
Your particular attention to the exchange of these persons will tend
to give confidence to all, who being connected specially with
Congress are exposed to captivity, and will also very particularly
oblige the relations of these unfortunates, who have requested
Congress to mention these circumstances to you.
Your most humble servant,
JAMES LOVELL,
For the Committee of Foreign Affairs.

TO M. DE LAFAYETTE.
Passy, May 14th, 1781.
Dear Sir,
You are a very good correspondent, which I do not deserve, as I am
a bad one. The truth is, I have too much business upon my hands, a
great deal of it foreign to my function as a minister, which interferes
with my writing regularly to my friends. But I am nevertheless
extremely sensible of your kindness in sending me such frequent
and full intelligence of the state of affairs on your side of the water,
and in letting me see by your letters, that your health continues, as
well as your zeal for our cause and country.
I hope, that by this time the ship, which has the honor of bearing
your name, is safely arrived. She carries clothing for nearly twenty
thousand men, with arms, ammunition, &c. which will supply some
of your wants, and Colonel Laurens will bring a considerable
addition, if Providence favors his passage. You will receive from him
the particulars, which makes my writing more fully by him
unnecessary.
Your friends have heard of your being gone against the traitor
Arnold, and are anxious to hear of your success, and that you have
brought him to punishment. Enclosed is a copy of a letter from his
agent in England, captured by one of our cruisers, and by which the
price or reward he received for his treachery may be guessed at.
Judas sold only one man, Arnold three millions. Judas got for his one
man thirty pieces of silver, Arnold not a halfpenny a head. A
miserable bargain! especially when one considers the quantity of
infamy he has acquired to himself, and entailed on his family.
The English are in a fair way of gaining still more enemies; they play
a desperate game. Fortune may favor them as it sometimes does a
drunken dicer; but by their tyranny in the East, they have at length
roused the powers there against them, and I do not know that they
have in the West a single friend. If they lose their India commerce,
(which is one of their present great supports,) and one battle at sea,
their credit is gone, and their power follows. Thus empires, by pride,
folly, and extravagance, ruin themselves like individuals. M. de la
Motte Piquet has snatched from between their teeth a good deal of
their West India prey, having taken twentytwo sail of their
homeward bound prizes. One of our American privateers has taken
two more, and brought them into Brest, and two were burnt; there
were thirtyfour in company, with two men of war of the line and two
frigates, who saved themselves by flight, but we do not hear of their
being yet got in.
I think it was a wise measure to send Colonel Laurens here, who
could speak knowingly of the state of the army. It has been attended
with all the success that perhaps could reasonably be expected,
though not with all that was wished. He has fully justified your
character of him, and returns thoroughly possessed of my esteem;
but that cannot and ought not to please him so much, as a little
more money would have done for his beloved army. This Court
continues firm and steady in its friendship, and does everything it
can for us. Can we not do a little more for ourselves? My successor
(for I have desired the Congress to send me one) will find it in the
best disposition towards us, and I hope he will take care to cultivate
that disposition. You, who know the leading people of both
countries, can perhaps judge better than any member of Congress
of a person suitable for this station. I wish you may be in a way to
give your advice, when the matter is agitated in that assembly. I
have been long tired of the trade of minister, and wished for a little
repose before I went to sleep for good and all. I thought I might
have held out till the peace, but as that seems at a greater distance
than the end of my days, I grow impatient. I would not, however,
quit the service of the public, if I did not sincerely think that it would
be easy for the Congress, with your counsel, to find a fitter man.
God bless you, and crown all your labors with success.
With the highest regard and most sincere affection, I am, dear Sir,
&c.
B. FRANKLIN.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Passy, May 14th, 1781.
Sir,
I did myself the honor of writing to your Excellency pretty fully on
the 12th of March, to which I beg leave to refer. Colonel Laurens
arriving soon after, we renewed the application for more money.
His indefatigable endeavors have brought the good dispositions of
this Court to a more speedy determination of making an addition,
than could well have been expected so soon after the former grant.
As he will have an opportunity of acquainting you personally with all
the particulars of importance, a circumstantial account of the
transaction from me is unnecessary. I would only mention, that as it
is the practice here to consider early in the year the probable
expenses of the campaign, and appropriate the revenues to the
several necessary services, all subsequent and unexpected demands
are extremely inconvenient and disagreeable, as they cannot be
answered without difficulty, occasion much embarrassment, and are
sometimes impracticable. If, therefore, the Congress have not on
this occasion obtained all they wished, they will impute it to the right
cause, and not suppose a want of good will in our friends, who
indeed are such, most firmly and sincerely.
The whole supply for the current year now amounts to twenty
millions; but out of this are to be paid your usual drafts for interest
money, those in favor of M. de Beaumarchais, and those heretofore
drawn on Mr Jay and Mr Laurens, which I have already either paid or
engaged for, with the support of your several Ministers, &c. &c.
which I mention, that the Congress may avoid embarrassing my
successor with drafts, which perhaps he may not have the means in
his hands of honoring. Besides paying the second year's salaries of
Messrs Adams and Dana, Jay and Carmichael, I have furnished Mr
Dana with £1,500 sterling credit on Petersburgh, for which place I
suppose he is now on his way.
You will receive from Holland advices of the late declaration of that
Court, with regard to the English refusal of its mediation, and of the
assistance requested by the States-General. I hope Mr Dana will find
it well disposed towards us.
I have received no answer yet to my letters relating to the proposed
mode of lodging funds here, by supplying the French fleet and army.
Having as yet heard nothing of Colonel Palfrey, and it being now
more than four months since he sailed, there is great reason to fear
he may be lost. If that should unhappily be the case, the Congress
cannot too soon appoint another consul, such an officer being really
necessary here. Your Minister Plenipotentiary has hitherto had all
that sort of business upon his hands, and as I do not now speak for
myself, I may speak more freely, I think he should be freed from the
burden of such affairs, from all concerns in making contracts for
furnishing supplies, and from all your bill of exchange business, &c.
&c. that he may be more at liberty to attend to the duties of his
political function.
The prisoners in England are increasing by the late practice of
sending our people from New York, and the refusal of the English
Admiralty to exchange any Americans for Englishmen not taken by
American armed vessels. I would mention it for the consideration of
Congress, whether it may not be well to set apart five or six hundred
English prisoners, and refuse them all exchange in America, but for
our countrymen now confined in England.
Agreeably to the vote of Congress, and your Excellency's letter of
the 4th of January, I have requested the assistance of this Court for
obtaining the release of Mr President Laurens. It does not yet appear
that the thing is practicable. What the present situation is of that
unfortunate gentleman, may be gathered from the enclosed letters.
[26]

I hope the Alliance, with the ship Marquis de Lafayette under her
convoy, is by this time arrived, as they sailed the 27th of March. I
flatter myself that the supplies of clothing, &c. which they carry, will
be found good of the kind, and well bought. I have by several late
opportunities sent copies of the government letters taken in the New
York packet. Your Excellency will see, that they are written in the
perfect persuasion of our submitting speedily, and that the
Commissioners are cautioned not to promise too much, with regard
to the future constitutions to be given us, as many changes of the
old may be necessary, &c. One cannot read those letters from the
American Secretary of State, and his Under-Secretary, Knox, without
a variety of reflections on the state we should necessarily be in, if
obliged to make the submission they so fondly hope for, but which I
trust in God they will never see. Their affairs in the East Indies, by
the late accounts, grow worse and worse; and twentytwo ships of
the prey they made in the West are wrenched out of their jaws by
the squadron of M. de la Motte Piquet.
I mentioned in a former letter, my purpose of remaining here for
some time after I should be superseded. I mean it with the
permission of Congress, and on the supposition of no orders being
sent me to the contrary; and I hope it will be so understood.
With the greatest respect, I have the honor to be, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.

TO THOMAS LEWIS.
Passy, May 16th, 1781.
Sir,
I received the letter you did me the honor of writing to me the 1st of
January. The bill for four thousand four hundred and fortyfour
Mexican dollars, which you remitted to Mr Schweighauser, being
refused payment by Mr Jay, for want of a regular endorsement by Mr
Laurens, in whose favor it was drawn, and which endorsement could
not now be obtained, Mr Schweighauser applied to me, informing
me that he should not send the things ordered by your Board, unless
the bill was paid; and it appearing on the face of the bill, that it was
drawn for public service, I concluded to take it up, on which he has
purchased the things and shipped them. Colonel Laurens has put on
board some other supplies for the army, and I suppose she will now
sail directly.
The drafts from Congress upon me for various services, and those
on Mr Jay and Mr Laurens, all coming upon me for payment,
together with the expenses on the ships, &c. &c. have made it
impracticable for me to advance more for loading the Active; but as
we have obtained lately promises of a considerable aid for this year,
I shall now try what I can do, as the money comes in, towards
supplying what is demanded in the invoice you mention. You will
receive, I hope, twentyeight cannon, and a large quantity of powder
and saltpetre, by the ship Marquis de Lafayette.
I have by several opportunities written in answer to your questions
relative to the ship Alliance.
I have the honor to be, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
P. S. Please to present my respects to the Board.

JAMES LOVELL TO B. FRANKLIN.

Philadelphia, May 17th, 1781.
Sir,
Doctor Putnam, whose letter is enclosed, by the uniformity of his
attachment to our public cause, merits your patronage. And I
enclose for your information some former proceedings of Congress,
in which this same gentleman is interested; requesting, Sir, that you
would obtain a knowledge of the proceedings consequent upon
efforts which M. Gerard has undoubtedly made to obtain
compensation for the sloop, which Count d'Arband restored to the
Governor of Antigua, after it had been taken by Doctor Putnam and
others.
Your most humble servant,
JAMES LOVELL.
 COUNT DE VERGENNES TO B. FRANKLIN.

Translation.

Versailles, June 8th, 1781.

Sir,
I have received the letter you did me the honor to write me on the
4th instant. I do not know whether Mr Laurens has purchased the
clothing in Holland on account of Congress; I only know (and you
were likewise informed of it at the same time) that this officer was
to employ for his purchases in France part of the six millions, which
the King has granted to Congress, and that the residue of this sum
was intended to be sent to America, with a view of re-establishing
the credit of the United States.
If Mr Laurens, instead of paying ready money in Holland, has
contented himself with giving bills on you, I have no concern in it,
and the King can furnish no means for your reimbursement.
As to the monies arising from the loan opened in Holland, we have
no pretensions to regulate the employment of them, as they belong
to the United States. You must, therefore, Sir, apply to Congress for
the power of disposing of them, in discharge of the drafts drawn on
you from all quarters.
I have the honor of being, &c.
DE VERGENNES.
 TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Passy, June 11th, 1781.
Sir,
I have lately done myself the honor of writing largely to your
Excellency by divers conveyances, to which I beg leave to refer. This
is chiefly to cover the copy of a letter I have just received from the
Minister, relative to the disposition of the late loans, by which will be
seen the situation I am in with respect to my acceptances of the
quantities of bills drawn by Congress on Mr Jay, Mr Laurens, Mr
Adams, and myself, which I entered into, in the expectation, which
both Colonel Laurens and myself entertained, that a part of these
loans might be applied to the payment of these bills, but which I am
now told cannot be done without an express order from Congress.
I shall endeavor to change the sentiments of the Court in this
respect, but I am not sure of succeeding. I must therefore request
that a resolution of Congress may immediately be sent, empowering
me to apply as much of those loans as shall be necessary for the
discharge of all such drafts of Congress, or for the repayment of
such sums, as I may in the meantime be obliged to borrow for the
discharge of those drafts.
I have the honor to be, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.

TO JOHN ADAMS.
Passy, June 11th, 1781.
 Sir,
Mr Grand has communicated to me a letter from your Excellency to
him, relating to certain charges in your account, on which you seem
to desire to have my opinion. As we are all new in these matters, I
consulted, when I was making up my account, one of the oldest
foreign Ministers here, as to the custom in such cases. He informed
me, that it was not perfectly uniform with the Ministers of all Courts,
but that in general, where a salary was given for service and
expenses, the expenses understood were merely those necessary to
the man, such as housekeeping, clothing, and coach; but that the
rent of the hotel in which he dwelt, the payment of couriers, the
postage of letters, the salary of clerks, the stationary for his bureau,
with the feasts and illuminations made on public occasions, were
esteemed the expenses of the Prince, or State that appointed him,
being for the service or honor of his Prince or nation; and either
entirely, or in great part, expenses that, as a private man, he would
have been under no necessity of incurring. These, therefore, were to
be charged in his accounts. He remarked, it was true that the
Minister's housekeeping as well as his house was usually, and in
some sort necessarily more expensive, than those of a private
person, but this he said was considered in his salary to avoid trouble
in accounts; but that where the Prince or State had not purchased or
built a house for their Minister, which was sometimes the case, they
always paid his house rent.
I have stated my own accounts according to this information; and I
mention them, that if they seem to you reasonable, we may be
uniform in our charges, by your charging in the same manner; or if
objections to any of them occur to you, that you would communicate
them to me for the same reason.
Thus you see my opinion, that the articles you mention of courtage,
commission, and port de lettres, are expenses that ought to be
borne, not by you, but by the United States. Yet it seems to me
more proper, that you should pay them, and charge them with the
other articles abovementioned, than that they should be paid by me,
who, not knowing the circumstances, cannot judge (as you can) of
the truth or justice of such an account when presented, and who,
besides, have no orders to pay more on your account, than your net
salary.
With regard to that salary, though your receipts to Fitzeaux and
Grand, shown to me, might be quite sufficient to prove they had
paid you the sums therein mentioned, yet, as there are vouchers for
them, and which they have a right to retain, I imagine it will be
clearest, if you draw upon me, agreeably to the order of Congress,
and if this is quarterly, it will be the most convenient to me.
With great respect, I have the honor, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.

THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS TO B.

FRANKLIN.
In Congress, June 19th, 1781.
Sir,
Congress have received your letter of the 12th of March last, with
the papers enclosed. The prospect of conferences being soon
opened in Europe, under the mediation of the imperial Courts of
Petersburgh and Vienna, for accommodating the disputes between
the belligerent powers, which must necessarily involve the essential
interests of these United States, has determined us to increase the
number of our ministers for negotiating a peace with Great Britain.
We have, therefore, added yourself, Messrs Jay, H. Laurens, and
Thomas Jefferson to Mr Adams, to repair to such place as shall be
fixed on for transacting this important business.
A compliance with your request to retire from public employment
would be inconvenient at this particular juncture, as it is the desire
of Congress to avail themselves of your abilities and experience at
the approaching negotiation. Should you find repose necessary after
rendering the United States this further service, Congress, in
consideration of your age and bodily infirmities, will be disposed to
gratify your inclination.
You will present the letter to His Most Christian Majesty, and
communicate to him the instructions to our Ministers for negotiating
a peace, attended with such a memorial as your prudence shall
suggest, and the importance of the subject requires.
With great esteem, I am, &c.
SAMUEL HUNTINGTON,
President of Congress.

TO MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON.

Passy, June 28th, 1781.
Sir,
Since my acceptance of your bills, I have applied to the Ministry for
more money to discharge the other engagements I entered into for
payment of the Congress bills drawn on Holland and Spain. I find so
much difficulty, and even impossibility of obtaining it at this time,
that I am under the absolute necessity of stopping the cash that is in
Holland, or of ruining all the credit of the States in Europe, and even
in America, by stopping payment.
This is therefore to order, that, in case the said cash has been
delivered to you by Messrs Fizeaux and Grand, you would
immediately return it into their hands to remain there at my
disposal. I am sorry that this operation is necessary, but it must be
done, or the consequences will be terrible.
I have the honor to be, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.

MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON TO B. FRANKLIN.

Amsterdam, June 29th, 1781.
Sir,
I have the honor to inform your Excellency that I got to Amsterdam
on Tuesday morning. It has been thought advisable to wait a few
days, that we may sail with a Dutch squadron of fourteen sail,
destined as a convoy to the Baltic. The loss of the ship Marquis de
Lafayette, which is confirmed by Lloyd's list, renders every
precaution necessary, and essential to prevent a further
disappointment in supplies.
I hope your Excellency will approve of the reasons for delaying our
departure, which must be amply compensated by the benefit of a
convoy through the North Sea. I beg leave to request that Colonel
Laurens's servant may be informed, should he apply to your
Excellency, that, if he leaves Paris immediately and travels with
despatch, he will reach this place in time to embark with us for
America. Any commands, which your Excellency may please to honor
me with, and which may be transmitted by him, will be faithfully
attended to.
I beg you will present my best respects to your grandson.
I have the honor to be, with profound respect, &c.
W. JACKSON.

TO DAVID HARTLEY.
Passy, June 30th, 1781.
I received my dear friend's kind letter of the 15th instant, and
immediately communicated your request of a passport to the Count
de Vergennes. His answer, which I have but just received, expresses
an opinion, that the circumstance of his granting a passport to you,
as you mention the purpose of your coming to be the discoursing
with me on the subject of peace, might, considering your character,
occasion many inconvenient reports and speculations, but that he
would make no difficulty of giving it, if you assured me that you
were authorised for such purpose by your ministry, which he does
not think at all likely; otherwise he judges it best that I should not
encourage your coming. Thus it seems I cannot have at present the
pleasure you were so kind as to propose for me. I can only join with
you in earnest wishes for peace, a blessing which I shall hardly live
to see.
With the greatest esteem and respect, I am ever, dear Sir,
B. FRANKLIN.
 MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON TO B. FRANKLIN.
Amsterdam, July 2d, 1781.
Sir,
I was yesterday honored with your Excellency's letter of the 28th ult.
while at the Texel, superintending some matters relating to the ship.
Equally concerned for the cause, as surprised at the manner in
which Mr Fizeaux was resolved to execute it, in case the money had
been already shipped, I must beg leave to inform you fully of this
business, and to request your Excellency's final determination
thereon.
Colonel Laurens, as your Excellency knows, was sent by Congress to
the Court of Versailles, with a special commission; the purport of his
mission you are well acquainted with; it was to obtain certain
supplies in specie and military stores.
By the most unremitting assiduity, he so far succeeded as to
procure, amongst others, a sum of money to be shipped in Holland
by the South Carolina frigate, which was deemed, by the Court of
France, a safe and convenient conveyance, as it would divide the
risk which must have been incurred by placing the whole on board of
one vessel. That sum was sent to this place by M. Necker, and
lodged in the house of Fizeaux and Grand, to be by them delivered
to me, agreeably to the following order, the original of which is now
in my possession, having very fortunately for me recovered it from
them after they received your instructions.

Translation.
 "Paris, May 12th, 1781.
"Gentlemen,
"This letter will be delivered to you by Mr William Jackson, captain of
infantry in the service of the United States, to whom I request you
to deliver the 130,655 dollars, and the 720,000 livres in crowns,
which you have received on my account by the way of Brussels. Mr
Jackson will give you a receipt for it, in which he will express that
these two sums have been delivered to him pursuant to the
intention of Mr John Laurens, an American officer now at Paris,
whose orders he will follow on this subject. You will be pleased to
send me afterwards this receipt, with a statement of all the
expenses due to you. I will have them reimbursed here to M. Grand.
"I am, Gentlemen, &c.
NECKER.
M. M. Grand, Fizeaux, & Co. Amsterdam."

Messrs Fizeaux and Grand have, in pursuance of your Excellency's

directions, refused to deliver it. This, Sir, being a distinct transaction,
executed altogether at the instance of the honorable John Laurens,
special Minister at the Court of Versailles from the United States, and
by him committed to my further care, I conceive myself
indispensably bound to remonstrate to your Excellency, on the late
order given by you to Messrs Fizeaux and Grand, directing the
detention of that money, and to inform you that if they are not
repealed, I must embark without it; and however I may lament the
disappointment and distress in which this measure must involve
Congress, whose arrangements are undoubtedly taken on the
certainty of this supply being sent from Europe; however much I
may regret Colonel Laurens's absence which induces it, I shall
possess the pleasing reflection of having done my duty, in
demanding, conformably to the intentions of M. Necker, and by his
order, that money which the Court of France had accorded to the
United States by the application of Colonel Laurens, in virtue of his
special commission, and which was particularly and expressly
destined to reanimate the credit of the continental currency.
The ship waits for nothing else but this money. I shall attend your
Excellency's ultimate decision thereon, which I expect to receive by
return of the express, who only waits your commands.
I have the honor to be, &c.
W. JACKSON.
P. S. M Fizeaux informed me that he had resolved to arrest the ship,
had the money been on board, I need not inform your Excellency
that a like opportunity may not again offer to transport this essential
supply, rendered still more so by the capture of the ship Marquis de
Lafayette.
W. J.
My fever, which was greatly increased by my late jaunt to Passy, will
not admit of my waiting upon your Excellency in person, and I am
persuaded your justice will render it unnecessary, after this
representation.
W. J.

MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON TO B. FRANKLIN.

Amsterdam, July 2d, 1781.
 Sir,
Since the departure of my express, I find myself obliged, in
conformity to Colonel Laurens's instructions (from which, as his
agent I cannot recede, unless compelled thereto by forcible means,
and which unless such are practised against me, I must carry into
execution) to retain the money, which he has confided to my care,
and which the Minister of Finance's order makes deliverable to me
specially; and to arrest it in the hands of M. Fizeaux, should he
continue to refuse the delivery of it but by your Excellency's orders.
I rely upon your Excellency's attachment to the welfare of America,
to prevent this painful operation, which must inevitably take place
should your determination decide otherwise, for as this money is
subject to no other control in Europe, but the immediate order of the
Court of France, I cannot relinquish my charge of it, but by their
special order.
I have the honor to be, &c.
W. JACKSON.

MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON TO B. FRANKLIN.

Amsterdam, July 2d, 1781.
Sir,
Your Excellency will not wonder at the determination which I have
adopted, to arrest the money now in M. Fizeaux's hands, (and which
I have communicated to you by a second express this afternoon)
when you reflect, that this money is absolutely committed to my
charge for a special purpose, and that I stand accountable for the
execution of this commission. Your Excellency must likewise be
sensible, that you cannot have the disposal of it, as it was obtained
without either your knowledge or concurrence by Colonel Laurens,
appointed special Minister for that purpose. These considerations,
and the knowledge I have how much America must suffer from a
disappointment in this supply, about to be transported by so
excellent a conveyance, must plead my excuse individually for this
plain and candid avowal of circumstances, and my determination
thereon. I am further persuaded, that the Court of France is not
disposed, was there even a shadow of an excuse for an alteration of
the allotment of this money, to infringe their honor and injure the
essential interests of America by detaining it. I must therefore again
entreat your Excellency's repeal of those orders to M. Fizeaux, which
now detain the ship and supplies so much required in America.
I have the honor to be, &c.
W. JACKSON.

TO MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON.

Passy, July 5th, 1781, at 6 in the morning.
Sir,
I have this, instant received your letter of the 2d, urging the delivery
of the money. I must be short in my reply, as your express waits.
Colonel Laurens indeed obtained a promise of ten millions, to be
raised by a loan in Holland. I understood while he was here, that
that loan was in train, and that the million and a half to be sent with
you was a part of it. I since learn, that nothing has yet been
obtained in Holland, that the success is not yet certain, and that the
money in question is a part of the six millions I had obtained before
his arrival, upon the strength of which I accepted the bills drawn on
his father, and on Mr Jay, and without which acceptances the
Congress' credit in America would have been ruined, and a loss
incurred of twenty per cent upon the protests. I cannot obtain more
money here at present, and those bills being accepted must be paid,
as well as those I accepted on your earnest request, for the great
unexpected purchase you made in Holland.
Colonel Laurens has carried two millions and a half of that six
millions with him, which will serve till the loan in Holland produces a
further supply. In the meantime I cannot suffer the credit of our
country to be destroyed, if by detaining this money it may be saved.
And if I were to consent to its going, our banker would be obliged to
arrest great part of it as belonging to the States, he being in
advance for them, which would occasion much disagreeable noise,
and very ill consequences to our credit in Europe.
I find by Mr Viemerange's account just received, that Mr Laurens's
orders have more than absorbed all the money he did not take with
him. I applaud the zeal you have both shown in the affair, but I see,
that nobody cares how much I am distressed, provided they can
carry their own points. I must, therefore, take what care I can of
mine, theirs and mine being equally intended for the service of the
public. I am sorry to learn, that the vessel is detained for this
express. I understood by your last, that she waited for convoy. I
heartily wish you a good voyage, and am, with great esteem, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.

TO MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON.

 Passy, July 5th, 1781.
Sir,
I received your letter of the 2d instant, by your first express, this
morning at six, answered it, and sent him away immediately. I have
just now received your second express of the same date, in which
you threaten me with a proceeding, that I apprehend exceedingly
imprudent, as it can answer no good end to you, must occasion
much scandal, and be thereby very prejudicial to the affairs of the
Congress.
But I cannot, therefore, consent to suffer their bills, to the amount
of more than a million accepted and expected, to go back protested
for want of this money. I have nothing to change in the answer
abovementioned. You will however follow your own judgment, as I
must follow mine, and you will take upon yourself the consequences.
I have the honor to be, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.

TO MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON.

Passy, July 6th, 1781.
Sir,
I received and answered two of your expresses yesterday morning,
and in the evening I received a third letter from you, all dated the 2d
instant.
In this last you tell me, "that I must be sensible I cannot have the
disposal of the money, as it was obtained without either my
knowledge or concurrence, by Colonel Laurens, appointed special
Minister for that purpose." I do not desire to diminish the merit of
Colonel Laurens. I believe he would have been glad, if it had been in
his power to have procured ten times the sum; and that no
application or industry on his part for that purpose would have been
wanting. But I cannot let this injurious assertion of yours pass,
without expressing my surprise, that you, who were always with that
gentleman, should be so totally ignorant of that transaction. The six
millions, of which he took with him two and a half, of which one and
a half were sent to Holland, and of which more than the remainder
is ordered in stores from hence, was a free gift from the King's
goodness (not a loan to be repaid with interest,) and was obtained
by my application, long before Colonel Laurens's arrival.
I had also given in a list of the stores to be provided, though on his
coming I cheerfully gave up the further prosecution of that business
into his hands, as he was better acquainted with the particular wants
of the army, than I could be, and it was one of the purposes of his
appointment.
Thus no part of the affair was done without my "knowledge and
concurrence," except the sending a million and a half of the specie
to Holland. This was indeed a secret to me. I had heard of that
sum's being ready there to embark, but I always till lately
understood it to be a part of the Dutch loan, which I am about to
mention, or I should certainly have opposed that operation. What
Colonel Laurens really obtained, and a great service I hope it will
prove, was a loan upon interest of ten millions, to be borrowed on
the credit of this Court in Holland. I have not heard, that this loan
has yet produced anything, and, therefore, I do not know that a
single livre exists, or has existed in Europe, of his procuring for the
States. On the contrary, he and you have drawn from me
considerable sums, as necessary for your expenses, and he left me
near forty thousand livres to pay for the Alliance, and, moreover,
engaged me in a debt in Holland, which I understood might amount
to about fifteen thousand pounds sterling, and which you contrived
to make fifty thousand pounds.
When I mentioned to him the difficulty I should find to pay the
drafts, he said, you have the remainder of the six millions. He gave
me no account of the dispositions he had made, and it is but lately I
have learnt that there is no remainder. To gratify you, and to get
that ship out, which could not have stirred without me, I have
engaged for the vast sum abovementioned, which I am sure I shall
be much distressed to pay, and therefore have not deserved at your
hands the affront you are advised to menace me with.
And since I find you make it a point of reflection upon me, that I
want to apply money to the payment of my engagements for the
Congress, which was obtained by Colonel Laurens for other
purposes, I must request, that you will upon this better information
take occasion to correct that error, if you have communicated it to
any other person.
By the letters you showed me, that had passed between Mr Adams
and you, I perceived he had imbibed an opinion, that Colonel
Laurens had, as he expressed it, done more for the United States in
the short time of his being in Europe, than all the rest of their
Diplomatic Corps put together. I should never have disputed this,
because I had rather lend a little credit to a friend, than take any
from him, especially when I am persuaded he will make a good use
of it; but when his friends will make such suppositious credit a
matter of reproach to me, it is not right to continue silent.
As to the safety of the excellent conveyance you mention, I must
own, I have some doubts about it, and I fear I shall hear of the
arrival of that ship in England, before she sees America. Be that as it
may, I am clear that no use can possibly be made of the money in
America for supporting the credit of the States, equal in any degree
to the effect it must have for the same purpose, when applied to the
payment of their bills here, which must otherwise go back protested.
And I am sure it will be exceedingly prejudicial to their credit, if by
the rash proceeding you threaten, this situation of their affairs
becomes the subject of public talk and discussion in Europe.
I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
P. S. I request you would read again and consider well my first letter
to you on this subject. The reasons therein contained subsist still in
their full force.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Passy, July 11th, 1781.
Sir,
The number of Congress bills that have been drawn on the Ministers
in Spain and Holland, which I am by my acceptances obliged to pay,
as well as those drawn upon myself, the extreme importance of
supporting the credit of Congress, which would be disgraced in a
political, as well as a pecuniary light, through all the Courts of
Europe, if those bills should go back protested, and the unexpected
delays arising with regard to the intended loan in Holland, all those
considerations have compelled me to stop the one million five
hundred thousand livres, which were to have been sent by way of
Amsterdam. As soon as more money can be furnished to me by this
Court, I shall take care to replace that sum, and forward with it as
great an addition as possible. I am now soliciting supplies of
clothing, arms, ammunition, &c. to replace what has been
unfortunately lost in the Marquis de Lafayette; and hope to succeed.
Captain Jackson, who is truly zealous for the service, has been
exceedingly solicitous and earnest with me to induce me to permit
the money to go in this ship, but for the reasons abovementioned, I
find it absolutely necessary to retain it for the present, which I doubt
not will be approved by Congress.
With great respect, I have the honor to be, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.

JAMES LOVELL TO B. FRANKLIN.

Philadelphia, July 21st, 1781.
Sir,
It does not appear that the resolutions of June 26th, affecting
yourself and colleagues, as well as Mr Dana, have been transmitted.
Mr President Mc'Kean will take other opportunities of writing. I think
it essential, however, in the meantime, to forward duplicates, which
may serve for information, and perhaps authority, to all concerned.
Your humble servant,
JAMES LOVELL,
For the Committee of Foreign Affairs.
P. S. Please to give copies where proper.
 TO C. W. F. DUMAS.
Passy, August 6th, 1781.
Dear Sir,
I have received several letters from you lately, enclosing others for
the President of Congress, and for Spain, all of which are sealed and
forwarded, except the last for the President, contained in yours of
the 26th past, which shall go by the first opportunity. The reading of
those letters gave me much information, and therefore pleasure;
though since the fixing of Mr Adams there I do not attend so much
to the affairs of your country as before, expecting indeed but little
from it to our advantage; for though it was formerly in the same
situation with us, and was glad of assistance from other nations, it
does not seem to feel for us, or to have the least inclination to help
us; it appears to want magnanimity.
Some writer, I forget who, says, that Holland is no longer a nation,
but a great shop; and I begin to think it has no other principles or
sentiments but those of a shopkeeper. You can judge of it better
than I, and I shall be happy to find myself mistaken. You will oblige
me, however, by continuing the history either directly to me, or in
your letters to Congress; but when you enclose a sealed letter in
another to me, please to observe to place the second seal on one
side, and not directly over the first; because the heat of the second
is apt to deface the impression of the first, and to attach the paper
to it, so as to endanger tearing the enclosed in opening the cover.
With best wishes for your health and prosperity, I am ever, dear Sir,
&c.
B. FRANKLIN.
P. S. I pity the writer of the enclosed, though I have no other
acquaintance with him, than having seen him once at Hanover,
where he then seemed to live genteely and in good credit. I cannot
conceive what should reduce him to such a situation, as to engage
himself for a soldier. If you can procure him any friends among the
philosophers of your country, capable of relieving him, I wish you
could do it. If not, and he must go to the Indies, please to give him
three or four guineas for me, to buy a few necessaries for his
voyage.
B. F.

TO C. W. F. DUMAS.
Passy, August 10th, 1781.
Dear Sir,
Enclosed I send you a late paper received from Rhode Island. You
will see in it the advantages our troops have gained in South
Carolina. Late advices directly from Philadelphia say, that the enemy
have now nothing left in Georgia, but Savannah; in South Carolina,
but Charleston; nor in North Carolina, but Wilmington. They are,
however, in force in Virginia, where M. de Lafayette has not
sufficient strength to oppose them, till the arrival of the
reinforcements, which were on their march to join him from
Maryland and Pennsylvania.
In looking over my last to you, I apprehend I may have expressed
myself perhaps a little too hardly of your country; I foresee you will
tell me that we have many friends there; I once thought so too; but
I was a little out of humor when I wrote, on understanding that no
loan could be obtained there for our use, though the credit of this
kingdom was offered to be engaged for assuring the payment, and
so much is lent freely to our enemies. You can best tell the reason; it
will be well not to let my letter be seen.
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