All of Satcher's efforts on behalf of mental health have been driven by the desire to increase "the willingness of each of us to educate ourselves and others about mental health and mental Illness, and thus confront the attitudes, fear and misunderstanding that remain as barriers before us."
DONALD O. CLIFTON, PH.D. Chairman, Gallup International Research and Education Center; Chairman Emeritus, Gallup Organization
Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D.'s methods may be scientific, but he's got humanity at heart. As chairman of the Gallup International Research and Education Center (GIREC) and for nearly 20 years a professor of psychology, Clifton has made it his mission to help businesses create supportive and responsive workplaces. Until this year, Clifton was chairman of the Board of Directors of the Gallup Organization, best known for its polling of American opinions. He stepped down on January I to focus more on his research interests.
At GIREC, a division of the Gallup Organization, Clifton and his staff help companies set up their workplaces so that "each person does the work that fits him or her best." The "workplace audits" he creates to gauge employee satisfaction ask questions such as "Do your opinions count?" and "Do you have the opportunity to do your best work every day?" With this information, companies can then adjust their systems so employees are happier.
These tools, Clifton says, are "the fastest growing part of our company." But "it's not all altruism. It's also good business." His research has shown that workplace satisfaction translated clearly into customer satisfaction with products and services.
Clifton and his staff have developed similar tools to help corporations hire the best match for a job. By looking at the "Life Themes" of successful employees, Gallup helps companies identify the qualities they should seek in a potential hire. A sales parson, for example, must rate high on the "Courage" life theme, while someone in finance should reflect more "High Discipline."
At the Gallup Organization, which is now headed by Clifton's son Jim, such methods of coordinating employee and employer needs have been applied for years. Workers at the sprawling corporation are surveyed four times annually for their feedback. Among the attempts to foster a good working environment: a child development center for children as young as six months.
In addition to his strictly Gallup-related work, Clifton participates in outside psychological organizations and research. Recently, with his support, the American Psychological Association held a summit on "positive psychology," a movement that aims to focus on an Individual's strengths instead of his problems. (See pages 32-37 for more-information.) Summit II, also with Clifton's financial support, is scheduled to take place this fall.
These themes are illustrated in Clifton's 1992 book Soar With Your Strengths, in which he encourages people to develop their skills and "manage" their weaknesses. "For the last 50 years we [in psychology] have focused on pathology," says Clifton. Now it's time to "work with what's right with people Instead of what's wrong."
ANN LANDERS Syndicated Advice Columnist
Ann Landers may be a household name, but the real credit for America's most popular personal adviser goes to the woman behind that pen name, Eppie Lederer, who took over the Chicago Sun-Times column in 1955 and has been at it ever since.
Eppie Lederer was a "housewife who had never held a job" when she wrote her way into the Ann Landers seat. She had no clips of professional writing, no college degree, and she had never studied psychology. What she had, however, was spunk and a calling to "help people."
Whether she's pronouncing on telephone etiquette or guiding an abused women to the social services she needs, Landers reveals herself a caring confidante. She also girds her advice with opinions from experts in the field. It Is this combination of warmth and authority that have made her a worldwide phenomenon. She is listed in the Guinness book of World Records as the most widely syndicated columnist. She has received more than 30 honorary academic degrees and so many public service awards that her office has compiled a "short list." Mainly, however, the 82-year-old great-grandmother receives some 2,000 letters each day, which she reads and to which--selectively, of course--she responds.
"I am well aware," wrote Landers in the Chicago Tribune on the occasion of her column's 35th anniversary, "that a life that has been messed up for 20 years cannot be straightened out with one letter from Ann Landers or two Inches of newspaper space." What Landers can and does do, however, is offer opinions researched with noted exports In each field, including Karl Menninger, M.D., and Robert J. Stoller, Ph.D., and guide people to the professional resources that can help, Including the National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association and the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. "The most important thing I can de is something that many readers don't ever know about. I refer people to service agencies so they can get the kind of ongoing help they need."
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