![job performance quite well even after people have been on the job 12
years or longer (Schmidt et al., 1988). What this means is that job
experience is not a substitute for GMA. In the long run, hiring on
intelligence pays off much more than does hiring on job experience
(Hunter and Schmidt, 1996). Hence, if you must choose, you should
choose GMA. However, typically you do not have to choose; more
than one procedure can be used. It may be desirable to use both
experience and GMA in hiring; as discussed later, it is usually best to
use multiple hiring methods whenever possible. But in this case, the
weight given to GMA should be higher than the weight given to job
experience.
Can Intelligence Predict Nontask Performance?
When supervisors assess overall job performance for each employee,
they incorporate into their final ratings both nontask performance
(i.e. organizational citizenship behaviors [OCBs] and
counterproductive work behavior [CWB]) and core job performance
(i.e. task performance) (Orr, Sackett, and Mercer, 1989; Rotundo and
Sackett, 2002). One may ask, given the expanded criterion domain of
job performance beyond task performance (e.g. bookkeeping tasks as
an accountant): Is the validity of GMA for nontask performance, an
important aspect of overall job performance, also strong?
As noted earlier, many people find it hard to believe that GMA is the
dominant determinant of overall job performance (Rynes et al.,
2002). Often, they say they have known people who were very
intelligent but who were not a good citizen. This is related to a facet
of job performance called “contextual performance” or
“organizational citizenship behaviors.” Broadly speaking, there are
three types of OCBs (Chiaburu, Oh, Berry, Li, and Gardner, 2011: (i)
cooperation (e.g. willingness to help other employee such as new
employees and employees with work-related problems), (ii)
compliance/loyalty (e.g. willingness to work late in an emergency or
on a holiday, supporting the community relations and reputation of
the company), and (iii) change (e.g. willingness to communicate
concerns and suggestions organizational and work-related problems
and play the role of a change agent). The Project A research showed
that GMA is the predictive of contextual performance such as extra
effort and taking initiative, although the validity of GMA was a bit](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/24475720-250512212958-f51d4d9b/85/Principles-Of-Organizational-Behavior-3rd-The-Handbook-Of-Evidencebased-Management-3rd-Edition-Craig-L-Pearce-50-320.jpg)
Principles Of Organizational Behavior 3rd The Handbook Of Evidencebased Management 3rd Edition Craig L Pearce
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- 6. Table of Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Preface Acknowledgments Introduction TEACHING MANAGEMENT NOTES REGARDING THE THIRD EDITION REFERENCES NOTE 1 Select on Intelligence CO-AUTHOR'S NOTE WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? HIGHER INTELLIGENCE LEADS TO BETTER JOB PERFORMANCE WHY DOES HIGHER INTELLIGENCE LEAD TO BETTER JOB PERFORMANCE? WHAT IS REQUIRED TO MAKE THIS PRINCIPLE WORK? ARE THERE MODERATORS OR EXCEPTIONS TO THIS PRINCIPLE? FIVE COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT IMPLEMENTING AN INTELLIGENCE-BASED HIRING SYSTEM CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- 7. NOTES 2 Select On Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability SELECT ON CONSCIENTIOUSNESS AND EMOTIONAL STABILITY HOW DO CONSCIENTIOUSNESS AND EMOTIONAL STABILITY AFFECT JOB PERFORMANCE? ARE THERE EXCEPTIONS TO THE GENERAL PRINCIPLE? SUBPRINCIPLE: OTHER TRAITS PREDICT PERFORMANCE IN PARTICULAR JOBS ARE THERE LEGAL ISSUES IN IMPLEMENTING THESE PRINCIPLES? BEST PRACTICES FOR IMPLEMENTATION CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 3 Structure Interviews to Recruit and Hire the Best People DECISION-MAKING RESEARCH DECISION-MAKING IN INTERVIEWS STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS IMPROVING DECISION-MAKING BY INCREASING INTERVIEW STRUCTURE CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 4 Attain Emotional Control by Understanding What Emotions Are WHAT EMOTIONS ARE MODERATORS ACHIEVING EMOTIONAL CONTROL
- 8. CASE EXAMPLES AUXILIARY ISSUES IN EMOTION IS THE CORE ROLE OF THE LEADER EMOTIONAL OR RATIONAL? REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS NOTES 5 Motivate Employee Performance Through Goal Setting MAIN PRINCIPLE MEDIATORS MODERATORS USE THE HIGH PERFORMANCE CYCLE ISSUES IN IMPLEMENTATION CASE EXAMPLES GOALS SET IN THE SUBCONSCIOUS FUTURE RESEARCH REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS APPENDIX: GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE GOAL SETTING IN ORGANIZATIONS FOCUS TYPES OF GOALS PRIORITIZATION GOALS, DIFFICULTY, AND EFFORT STRETCH (VERY HARD OR IMPOSSIBLE) GOALS AS AN EXCEPTION GOALS AND TIME KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL FEEDBACK
- 9. GAINING COMMITMENT TO GOALS WHO SETS THE GOALS? HOW TO PREVENT CHEATING GOALS AND PAY GOALS AND JOB SATISFACTION GOALS AND TEAMS GOALS AND BULLYING RECENT DISCOVERIES 6 Cultivate Self-Efficacy for Personal and Organizational Effectiveness EDITORS' NOTE CORE FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES OF PERCEIVED SELF-EFFICACY DIVERSE ORGANIZATIONAL IMPACT OF PERCEIVED SELF-EFFICACY PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE EFFICACY CULTIVATION OF SELF-REGULATORY COMPETENCIES REFERENCES NOTE EXERCISES 7 Pay for Performance WHAT IS REQUIRED TO MAKE THE PRINCIPLE WORK? POSSIBLE EXCEPTIONS TO THE PRINCIPLE OF PAYING FOR PERFORMANCE REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 8 Promote Job Satisfaction Through Mental Challenge JOB CHARACTERISTICS MODEL HOW TO INCREASE MENTAL CHALLENGE IN JOBS
- 10. CRITICISMS AND LIMITATIONS MODERATORS CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 9 Follow the Science to Make Training Work ANALYZE TRAINING NEEDS DEVELOP TRAINING CONTENT DEPLOY TRAINING EVALUATE TRAINING CASE EXAMPLES ACKNOWLEDGMENTS REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS TRAINING MEDIA RESOURCES 10 Embed Performance Appraisals into Broader Performance or Management Systems COMPONENTS OF A PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL HOW TO IMPROVE INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 11 Use Participation to Share Information and Distribute Knowledge PARTICIPATION DOES NOT ALWAYS MOTIVATE, AND THE LACK OF IT DOES NOT ALWAYS DEMOTIVATE
- 11. PRIMARY CAUSAL MECHANISM: PARTICIPATION DISSEMINATES INFORMATION IMPLEMENTATION: STRUCTURING PARTICIPATION CAN MAKE IT MORE EFFECTIVE CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 12 Recognizing Employees WHY RECOGNITION WORKS WHAT AND WHO SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED HOW RECOGNITION SHOULD OCCUR AT WHAT LEVEL SHOULD THE RECOGNITION HAPPEN THE ROLE OF RECOGNITION BEYOND EMPLOYEE AND ORGANIZATION OUTCOMES CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 13 Sustain Organizational Performance Through Continuous Learning, Change, and Realignment BASIC FACTS ABOUT ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND CHANGE FORCES FOR ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE: DISSATISFACTION AND LEADERSHIP HOW TO LEAD CHANGE: SEVEN STEPS FOR SUCCESSFUL CHANGE ORCHESTRATING CORPORATE-WIDE STRATEGIC CHANGE CASE EXAMPLES EXCEPTIONS AND MODERATORS: HOW UNIVERSAL ARE THESE CHANGE GUIDELINES?
- 12. REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS NOTE 14 Empowerment's Pivotal Role in Enhancing Effective Self‐ and Shared Leadership THE EMPOWERMENT PROCESS BOUNDARY CONDITIONS/MODERATORS CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISES DESCRIPTION DIAGNOSIS WITH A PARTNER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 15 Effective Use of Power and Influence Tactics in Organizations INTRODUCTION SOURCES OF INDIVIDUAL POWER POWER AND LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS OUTCOMES OF SPECIFIC INFLUENCE ATTEMPTS PROACTIVE INFLUENCE TACTICS EFFECTIVENESS OF SINGLE AND COMBINED TACTICS CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 16 Engage in Visionary Leadership BACKGROUND IN THE LITERATURE WHAT VISIONARY LEADERSHIP IS ALL ABOUT WHAT DRIVES VISIONARY LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOR? CASE EXAMPLES
- 13. REFERENCES APPENDIX A APPENDIX B DISCUSSION QUESTIONS NOTES 17 Foster Trust Through Ability, Benevolence, and Integrity EDITORS' NOTE THE BENEFITS OF TRUST IMPLEMENTING THE PRINCIPLE EXCEPTIONS TO THE PRINCIPLE CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 18 Teamwork in Organizations CASE EXAMPLES ACKNOWLEDGMENT REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 19 Compose Teams to Ensure Successful External Activity JUSTIFICATION OF THE PRINCIPLE MECHANISMS FOR MEETING EXTERNAL DEMANDS APPLICATIONS OF THE PRINCIPLE: USING FUNCTIONAL DIVERSITY, TIES, AND TEAM CONFIGURATION FOR TEAM COMPOSITION MODERATORS AND LIMITATIONS CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- 14. 20 Manage Intrateam Conflict Through Collaboration IDENTIFYING THE TYPE OF INTRATEAM CONFLICT ENGAGING AN EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION STRATEGY CULTIVATE CONDITIONS THAT PROMOTE COLLABORATION SUMMARY CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 21 Clarity, Conciseness, and Consistency Are the Keys to Effective Communication HOW COMMUNICATION HAPPENS TYPES OF COMMUNICATION CLARITY CONCISENESS CONSISTENCY ACTIVE LISTENING OVERCOMING COMMUNICATION BARRIERS CASE EXAMPLES EXERCISE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS REFERENCES 22 Stimulate Creativity by Fueling Passion CONTEXTUAL FACTORS: FEATURES OF THE WORK ENVIRONMENT DETERMINING FACTORS EXCEPTIONS TO AND EXTENSIONS OF THE BASIC PRINCIPLE IMPLEMENTATION
- 15. CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES CLASSROOM EXERCISES NOTE 23 Manage Stress at Work Through Preventive and Proactive Coping STRESS AT WORK COPING WITH STRESS AT WORK FOUR COPING PERSPECTIVES IN TERMS OF TIMING AND CERTAINTY WAYS OF COPING CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 24 Conflict Resolution Through Negotiation and Mediation THE SOURCES OF CONFLICT AND EFFECTIVENESS CRITERIA NEGOTIATION AS A MANAGERIAL TOOL FOR RECONCILING INTERESTS THE MANAGER AS MEDIATOR CASE EXAMPLE REFERENCES EXERCISE TIP SHEET FOR MEDIATION PREPARATION AND IMPLEMENTATION 25 Achieve Entrepreneurial Growth Through Swiftness and Experimentation ENTREPRENEURS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP SWIFTNESS – PRINCIPLE 1 EXPERIMENTATION – PRINCIPLE 2 DETERMINING FACTORS
- 16. MODERATING FACTORS IMPROVING YOUR ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILL SET EXCEPTIONS CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS NOTES 26 Achieve Work-Family Balance Through Individual and Organizational Strategies WORK–FAMILY BALANCE INDIVIDUAL STRATEGIES MODERATORS OF INDIVIDUAL STRATEGIES ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES MODERATORS OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 27 Use Advanced Information Technology to Transform Organizations EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FIVE WAYS IT CAN CHANGE ORGANIZATIONS POTENTIAL RISKS OF LARGE-SCALE IT APPLICATIONS CASE EXAMPLE REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 28 Make Management Practice Fit National Cultures and the Global Culture FROM LOCAL TO GLOBAL WORK CONTEXTS
- 17. THE GLOBAL WORK CULTURE MATCHING MANAGEMENT PRACTICES TO CULTURAL VARIATIONS CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISES DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 29 Strategy and Structure for Effectiveness PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION DESIGN LEVERS OF ORGANIZATION DESIGN ORGANIZATION DESIGN AND STRATEGY THE FOUR LENSES OF ORGANIZATION DESIGN AND THEIR IMPACT ON STRATEGY EVOLUTION OF ORGANIZATION DESIGN AND STRATEGY CASE EXAMPLES REFERENCES EXERCISE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS NOTE Index End User License Agreement List of Tables Chapter 6 Table 6.1 The distinctive sets of factors within each of four modes of effi... Chapter 8 Table 8.1 Measurement of intrinsic job characteristics: the Job Diagnostic ...
- 18. Chapter 9 Table 9.1 Analyze training needs phase: principles and guidelines Table 9.2 Develop training content phase: principles and guidelines Table 9.3 Deploy training phase: principles and guidelines Table 9.4 Evaluate training phase: principles and guidelines Chapter 12 Table 12.1 Creative types of recognition Chapter 14 TABLE 14.1 Context factors leading to potential lowering of empowerment bel... Chapter 18 Table 18.1 Summary of the seven drivers of team learning, adaptability, and... Chapter 21 Table 21.1 Body language tips Table 21.2 Running effective meetings Table 21.3 Listening behaviors to avoid Table 21.4 Common communication barriers Chapter 28 Table 28.1 Differences in cultural values across selected countries List of Illustrations Chapter 5 FIGURE 5.1 The empathy box FIGURE 5.2 The high performance cycle
- 19. Chapter 6 FIGURE 6.1 Structural paths of influence wherein perceived self-efficacy aff... Chapter 8 FIGURE 8.1 Job characteristics profiles for job of customer service represen... FIGURE 8.2 Studies of the correlation between intrinsic job characteristics ... Chapter 9 FIGURE 9.1 Select training optimization considerations Chapter 12 FIGURE 12.1 The recognition process Chapter 13 FIGURE 13.1 Organizational alignment model Chapter 14 FIGURE 14.1 Stages of the empowerment processSource: Adapted from Conger a... Chapter 18 FIGURE 18.1 The seven drivers of team learning, adaptability, and resilience... Chapter 19 FIGURE 19.1 Critical processes for team performanceSource: Based on a mode... Chapter 21 FIGURE 21.1 The communication process Chapter 23 FIGURE 23.1 A process model of stress and coping FIGURE 23.2 Four coping perspectives Chapter 25
- 20. FIGURE 25.1 Gain entrepreneurship success through swiftness and experimentat... Chapter 28 FIGURE 28.1 A multilevel model of culture FIGURE 28.2 The four principles of global management FIGURE 28.3 Fit interpersonal management practices with local cultures Chapter 29 FIGURE 29.1 Common forms of divisionalization: functional, multidivisional, ...
- 22. THE HANDBOOK OF EVIDENCE-BASED MANAGEMENT THIRD EDITION CRAIG L. PEARCE EDWIN A. LOCKE
- 23. This edition first published 2023 © 2023 Craig L. Pearce and Edwin A. Locke Edition History All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by law. Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. The right of Craig L. Pearce and Edwin A. Locke to be identified as the authors of the editorial material in this work has been asserted in accordance with law. Registered Offices John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA John Wiley & Sons Ltd., The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK Editorial Office The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK For details of our global editorial offices, customer services, and more information about Wiley products, visit us at www.wiley.com. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some content that appears in standard print versions of this book may not be available in other formats. Trademarks: Wiley and the Wiley logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty While the publisher and authors have used their best efforts in preparing this work, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives, written sales materials, or promotional statements for this work. The fact that an organization, website, or product is referred to in this work as a citation and/or potential source of further information does not mean that the publisher and authors endorse the information or services the organization, website, or product may provide or recommendations it may make. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a specialist where appropriate. Further, readers should be aware that websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. Neither the publisher nor authors shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Locke, Edwin A., editor. | Pearce, Craig L., editor. | John Wiley & Sons, publisher. Title: Principles of organizational behavior : the handbook of evidence-based management /
- 24. Edwin A. Locke, Craig L. Pearce. Description: 3rd edition. | Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2023. | Includes index. Identifiers: LCCN 2022056231 (print) | LCCN 2022056232 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119828549 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119828617 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119828600 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Organizational behavior. Classification: LCC HD58.7 .P7423 2023 (print) | LCC HD58.7 (ebook) | DDC 658— dc23/eng/20230221 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022056231 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022056232 Cover Design: Wiley Cover Image: © Peopleimages/Getty Images
- 25. Preface Our goal with this book was to bring together comprehensive, science-based, actionable advice, from the world's leading experts, for managing organizations. We deliver on this goal. There are 29 chapters in this book, each dedicated to a specific management challenge. The chapters are written by the foremost thinkers on the topics. The authors hone in on the key principle for their respective topics – the key piece of advice – for turning knowledge into action. All of their advice is solidly based upon science. In other words, you can have confidence in their advice. Our book is in stark contrast to “normal” textbooks, which provide endless lists of factoids to memorize about topics. Such books are of little value if the reader desires to apply the information to real- world situations. It is difficult to glean from such lists exactly what one should implement – in this book, we prioritize knowledge into overarching principles, which facilitates the implementation of concrete actions in real-world situations. Books in the “popular press,” on the other hand, generally offer pithy advice from self-declared experts, but these books generally have little to no basis in science. These types of books are typically easy to read and do attempt to provide ideas to put into action. Nonetheless, the advice provided is largely overly specific to the author's experience and thus lacks transferability to the circumstances of the reader. As such, while these types of books are generally engaging, they are best regarded as nonfiction stories, with limited practical value. Our book is different. It combines science and action. The range of subjects is expansive, encompassing 29 areas – ranging from selection, to motivation, to leadership, and all topics in between. In the section on selection, for instance, there are chapters on how to select based on intelligence (In-Sue Oh and Frank Schmidt), how to select based on personality (Murray Barrick and Michael Mount), and the proper use of interviews (Cynthia Stevens). In the section on motivation, there are chapters on how to manage emotions (Edwin
- 26. Locke), how to implement goal setting (Gary Latham), how to cultivate self-efficacy (Albert Bandura), how to pay for performance (Kathryn Bartol), and how to enhance satisfaction (Timothy Judge, Ryan Klinger, and Meng Li). In the section on the development of employees, there are chapters on the science of training and development (Eduardo Salas and Kevin Stagl), how to use performance appraisals (Maria Rotundo and Kelly Murumets), how to use employee participation (John Wagner), how to use recognition (Jean Phillips, Kathryn Dlugos, and Hee Man Park), and how to foster continuous learning (Michael Beer). In the section on leadership, there are chapters on how to empower effectively (Jay Conger and Craig Pearce), the proper use of power and influence (Gary Yukl), how to create unifying vision (David Waldman), and how to foster trust (Jason Colquitt and Michael Baer). In the section on teams, there are chapters on diagnosing and understanding team processes (Allison Traylor, Scott Tannenbaum, Eric Thomas, and Eduardo Salas), how to manage the boundaries of teams (Deborah Ancona, Henrik Bresman, and David Caldwell), and how to manage intrateam conflict (Laurie Weingart, Karen Jehn, and Kori Krueger). In the section on micro-organizational processes, there are chapters on how to communicate effectively (Jean Phillips, Kameron Carter, and Dorothea Roumpi), how to stimulate creativity (Colin Fisher and Teresa Amabile), how to manage stress (Ralf Schwarzer and Tabea Reuter), and how to negotiate effectively (Kevin Tasa and Ena Chadha). In the section on macro-organizational processes, there are chapters on how to foster entrepreneurship (Jaume Villanueva, Harry Sapienza, and J. Robert Baum), how to integrate work and family (Malissa Clark, Katelyn Sanders, and Boris Baltes), how to use information technology effectively (Dongyeob Kim, Maryam Alavi, and Youngjin Yoo), how to navigate organizational and international culture (Miriam Erez), and how to align organizational strategy and structure (John Joseph and Metin Sengul). Something that both teachers and students will appreciate about this book is that the chapters contain cases and exercises to help to illustrate the material. For example, the chapters have cases that
- 27. demonstrate both the positive and negative applications of the primary principle of the chapter. The cases exhibit the concrete application of the chapter principle to the real world, which enables deeper understanding, as well as a degree of practice for the implementation of the principle in future situations. The chapters also contain skill sharpening exercises to reinforce the knowledge of the topic at hand. The types of exercises vary by chapter. Some exercises, for instance, involve a degree of role playing, to facilitate the understanding of how the principles play out in action. Other exercises involve, in part, completing questionnaires, helping the readers understand where they fall on a particular dimension. Additional exercises are focused on watching and diagnosing videos pertaining to the principles. Together, all of the exercises complement the core reading of the chapters, buttressing the development of knowledge about the principles. On a more somber note, since the passing of Sabrina Salam, the rising star who wrote a chapter for the first edition of this book (which is now updated by Jason Colquitt and Michael Baer), two of the contributors to the current edition, Frank Schmidt and Albert Bandura, passed away during the process of writing their chapters. Both were giants in the field of organizational science. Frank Schmidt was known for many advances in organizational science, but most notably for his cutting-edge work on employee selection and for his definitive contributions on research methods. His chapter in this book is focused on the importance of intelligence in employee selection. He and his coauthor, In-Sue Oh, distilled the knowledge on this topic, which will leave a lasting mark well into the future. Albert Bandura was the giant among giants. At the time of his passing, he was, by far, the most widely cited organizational scientist. His contributions were deep and broad. Nonetheless, he was best known for his work on social cognitive theory and on the concept of self-efficacy. His work provides the foundation for most other organizational science. His chapter in this book provides a stake in the ground for transferring his knowledge to the practice of management.
- 28. In sum, our book provides comprehensive advice, based on science, written by the foremost experts, for practicing and aspiring managers. Each chapter focuses on a core principle that can be applied, with confidence, in real-world organizations. In many ways, one can think of this book as a roadmap to organizational success. We hope you enjoy reading it. More importantly, we hope you find success in applying the principles in action.
- 29. Acknowledgments The editors are grateful to many people, not the least of whom are the contributors to this book. It could not have happened without their ability to distill the principles of organizational behavior from science-based evidence. The editors would also like to specifically acknowledge the exceptional work of Jeremy Sanville, Craig Pearce's research assistant, in bringing this book to fruition – he worked tirelessly in keeping everything coordinated and on track, from beginning to end.
- 30. Introduction1 This handbook is about management principles; each chapter is written by an expert in the field – but why do we need principles? To quote Ayn Rand (1982, p. 5): … abstract ideas are conceptual integrations which subsume an incalculable number of concretes – and without abstract ideas you would not be able to deal with concrete, particular, real-life problems. You would be in the position of a newborn infant, to whom every object is a unique, unprecedented phenomenon. The difference between his mental state and yours lies in the number of conceptual integrations your mind has performed. You have no choice about the necessity to integrate your observations, your experiences, your knowledge into abstract principles. What, then, is a principle? A “principle” is a general truth on which other truths depend. Every science and every field of thought involves the discovery and application of principles. A principle may be described as a fundamental reached by induction (Peikoff, 1982, p. 218). Everyday examples of principles that we use (or should use) in everyday life are: “Be honest” (a moral principle) “Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables” (a nutrition principle) “Exercise regularly” (a health principle) “Save for the future” (a personal finance principle) “Do a conscientious job” (a work or career principle) “Do not drive under the influence of alcohol or text while driving” (personal safety principles)
- 31. It would be literally impossible to survive for long if one did not think in terms of principles, at least implicitly. In terms of concrete details, every situation is different from every other. Suppose, for example, that a child were told, “Do not run across that part of this street today.” What is the child to do on other days? On other streets? On other parts of the same street? Such a dictum would be useless to the child after the day had passed or if they were in another location. Properly, the child (at the right age) would be taught a principle such as “Never cross any street without first looking twice in each direction.” This could guide the child's actions for life and in every location in the world. How are principles formulated? They are formulated by integrating conceptual knowledge (for more on concept formation, see Locke, 2002 and Peikoff, 1991). Principles, in turn, are integrated into theories, again by induction (Locke, 2007). TEACHING The use of principles is critical to both the teaching and practice of management. Let us begin with teaching. Most instructors would agree that management is a difficult subject to teach. First, it is very broad in scope. It entails scores if not hundreds of different aspects. The more one studies the field, the more complex and bewildering it seems to become. Second, there are no concrete rules or formulas to teach as in the case of accounting, finance, or management science. Management is as much an art as a science. Third, although there are theories pertaining to different aspects of management (e.g. leadership), many find these theories to be less than satisfactory (to put it tactfully), because they are too narrow, trivial, or esoteric and/or lack firm evidential support. Often, they are based on deduction rather than induction (Locke, 2006). The potentially useful theories are mixed in with those that are not. Traditionally, teaching has been done with either textbooks and/or the case method. Both methods contain the same epistemological limitation. Textbooks, because they try to be comprehensive, pile up detail after detail and theory after theory, but the details, even of subtopics, are very difficult to integrate. As noted, any theories that
- 32. are presented often have severe limitations because they come and go like snowflakes. The result is that students routinely suffer from massive cognitive overload and a sense of mental chaos; thus, little of the material is retained once the final exam is over. This makes it unlikely that what was memorized will be applied to the students' jobs and career. With regard to case studies, these allow for the possibility of induction, but shockingly, it has been reported that some business schools openly prohibit connecting the cases to each other. This is very unfortunate. Each case is a unique, concrete instance. Suppose, for example, a business student concluded from the analysis of a particular case study that a certain high technology firm in New Hampshire should replace the CEO, develop a top management team, and change to a matrix structure. What could students take away from such an analysis that would help them be better managers? Nothing at all if the analysis were left in this form. The case would only be useful if the student could formulate some general principles from studying a variety of cases. The best way to do this is by induction from a series of cases (see Locke, 2002 for a detailed example) though even this could be limited depending on the choice of cases. Faculty whom I knew who used cases have admitted to me that they have to use theoretical materials (e.g. principles) for the students to be able to even analyze the cases in the first place. The value of this book for teaching, therefore, is twofold. First, it is an alternative to a traditional textbook. The material in this book is essentialized. Only what the expert chapter writers consider important is included; thus, there is far less to remember than in a text. This means the material can be more easily retained and more readily applied to the real world of work. Second, the principles are evidence-based and thus tied firmly to reality. This teaching procedure would be mainly deductive, because the inductively based principles would be provided in advance (by this book) and students would have practice applying them to the exercises at the end of each chapter, and/or to their current (and later their future) jobs. Of course, students could be asked to search out other examples of principles and how they were used or not used.
- 33. Second, this book can be used as an adjunct to a course which uses cases. Here, both deduction and induction can be used. The book's principles can help students to analyze the cases, yet new principles (or qualifications to principles) could be developed through induction from the cases used. (There are other problems with the case method that we can only note briefly here, e.g. the emphasis on verbal glibness; the fact that all the information needed is already in the case; the fact that the case is taken out of a wider organizational context; the fact that real action is not possible; and the lack of face-to-face contact with actual employees. Primarily, these problems are inherent in the attempt to teach a practical skill in a classroom and so have no perfect solution, though student mini projects within real businesses help). MANAGEMENT This book can also help managers and executives be more effective. However, reading a book of evidence-based principles does not magically turn one into a good manager. Principles cannot be mastered overnight and cannot be applied mechanically. Regardless of the level of abstraction at which they are formulated, they are still abstractions, not concrete rules such as “turn off the lights when you leave the room.” Principles, however, are used to guide specific actions in specific contexts. Consider the principle: “Motivate performance through goal setting” (Chapter 5 of this book). This principle does not tell one what to set goals for (a very critical issue); who is to set them; what the time span will be; what strategy to use to reach them; how performance will be measured; how flexible the goals will be; or how performance will be rewarded. (The latter involves another principle; see Chapter 7). To some extent, formulating subprinciples can be a help because these would give some idea of how to implement the principles. For example, subprinciples for goals (given in Chapter 5) would include (i) make the goals clear and challenging; (ii) give feedback showing progress in relation to the goals; (iii) get commitment through building confidence and showing why the goals are important; (iv)
- 34. develop action plans or strategies; (v) use priming; and (vi) find and remove organizational blocks to goal attainment. But these subprinciples do not tell one everything. There will always be judgment calls to be made, because one cannot teach every possible context factor that a future manager might face. Furthermore, principles cannot be applied in a vacuum, or one at a time in some arbitrary order. Many – maybe dozens or possibly hundreds – of principles must be used to run a successful business. (The problem of cognitive overload is mitigated over time by gradually automatizing the principles in the subconscious.) Furthermore, the principles must be orchestrated so that they function in concert rather than working at cross-purposes. It is not known how effectively one can teach such orchestration, although one can make the student aware of the issue and give some examples. For example, the goal system must be integrated with the performance appraisal system and the reward system. It is worth observing here how principles are used in the real world of management. We will use Jack Welch as an example in that he is considered among the greatest CEOs in history, the creator of $300– 400 billion in stockholder wealth at General Electric (e.g. see Slater, 1999; Tichy and Sherman, 1993). Some principles that Welch used as his personal guides to action are as follows: Reality. Face reality as it really is, not as you want it to be. (We believe that the failure to practice this principle is a major cause of business failures, e.g. Enron. Such failures may involve flagrant dishonesty, but they also may involve simple evasion – the refusal to look at pertinent facts – or putting emotions ahead of facts.) Change before you have to (view change as an opportunity, not as a threat). Possess energy and energize others. Welch also helped develop a code of values or guiding principles for GE as a whole. These included integrity (backed up by control systems).
- 35. Obviously, Welch was able not only to formulate but also to apply and orchestrate principles in a way that no one else had. It helped that he had ambition and energy, a brilliant business mind, an insatiable curiosity, the capacity to judge talent, and an uncanny ability to figure out what businesses GE should and should not be in. It is interesting that Jacques Nasser was a great admirer of Welch and tried to emulate his principles at Ford but was unable to do so and ultimately lost his job. It is clear that there is a long road between knowing good principles and being able to implement them successfully in the context of a given organization. Management principles need to be organized and integrated hierarchically so that the leader will know what to do first, second, and so forth. Except for facing reality as it is (not evading), which should be the primary axiom of every manager, the hierarchy may not be the same from business to business or in the same business at different times. Nor will they all be organizational behavior principles. For example, in one context, the most critical factor may be to decide, as Welch did, what business or businesses a corporation should be in. This is an aspect of vision and strategic management. There is no point in trying to manage the wrong business or working hard to do the wrong thing. But in another context, the critical issue may be cash flow, for example, how to avoid bankruptcy in the next six months (a finance issue). In a different context, the core problem might be getting the right people in the right jobs or revamping the incentive system (HR issues). What factors would determine the hierarchy? Three are critical: (i) Context. What are the most important facts regarding the present situation of this company? Context means seeing the whole and the relationship of the parts to the whole. (ii) Urgency. What has to be fixed right away if the company is to survive? (iii) Fundamentality. What is the cause of most of the different problems the organization is faced with or what must be fixed before any other fixes will work (e.g. get good people in key jobs)? The hierarchy can change over time. For example, when Welch took over at GE, he focused first on changing the business mix (selling and buying businesses) and cutting costs (increasing productivity) and layers of management. Later, he focused on better utilizing
- 36. people (empowerment) and still later on improving quality (quality goals). Reversing the sequence would not have worked, because empowerment and quality would not help businesses that were not viable and would not “take” in a ponderous bureaucracy. The foregoing is to make an important point for the second time: Business is an art as much as a science. Having correct principles will not work unless the leader knows how and when to use them. Great leaders are rare because not many of them can effectively perform all the tasks that leadership requires (Locke, 2003). The way to manage complexity is not to complexify it, as academics love to do. After reading some six books about and one book by Jack Welch, we were struck by how frequently he stressed the importance of simplicity. He said: Simplicity is a quality sneered at today in cultures that like their business concepts the way they like their wine, full of nuance, subtlety, complexity, hints of this and that … cultures like that will produce sophisticated decisions loaded with nuance and complexity that arrive at the station long after the train has gone … you can't believe how hard it is for people to be simple, how much they fear being simple. They worry that if they're simple, people will think they are simpleminded. In reality, of course, it's just the reverse. Clear, tough-minded people are the most simple (quoted in Lowe, 1998, p. 155). Consider a recent conversation with a consultant who works as a coach to top executives. He told one of us that one question he always asks in the first meeting is “By the way, how do you make money?” The ones who answered by wallowing in complexity usually did not make any. The ones who gave succinct, clear answers usually did. For a business leader, achieving simplicity, as opposed to simplemindedness, is much harder than achieving complexity. To achieve simplicity, one must look through the morass of complexity one is seemingly faced with, integrate the key observations, and come up with the essential ideas that will make one's business succeed. That is, one must bring order out of chaos. This includes
- 37. knowing what to ignore. The way to do this is to think inductively and integrate one's observations into principles. NOTES REGARDING THE THIRD EDITION The third edition of this book includes the following changes: (i) there are new chapters with new authors and some new authors for some of the original chapters; (ii) all the chapters have been updated with respect to the latest research, and nearly all present new cases examples; typically, however, the original principles have remained the same (or been slightly reformulated); (iii) all the chapters now have exercises at the end to help students better understand the principles. Although authors were asked to title their chapters in terms of a single principle, a few have two or three related principles, and all have subprinciples. This last relates to the issue of what the appropriate level of abstraction should be for management principles. If they are formulated too broadly (e.g. “be rational”), it can be hard to connect them to specific actions without very extensive elaboration. On the other hand, if they are too narrow (“turn out the light when leaving every room”), they are not broadly applicable, and one would need thousands of them – too many to retain – to cover the waterfront. Thus, I encouraged mid-range principles and the authors thankfully complied. In closing, we should note that the principles in this book do not include all possible management principles (e.g. none of the chapters discussed strategic management principles – that would be another book). Also, we do not include the race issue because that is much too complex an issue to be dealt with in one chapter. That topic would require a whole book. We chose topics from I/O psychology, human resource management, and organizational behavior (fields that all overlap) that I thought would be of most interest and use to present and future managers. I hope these hopefully timeless principles will contribute to your success at work. REFERENCES
- 38. Locke, E. A. (2002). The epistemological side of teaching management: Teaching through principles. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 1, 195–205. Locke, E. A. (2003). Foundations for a theory of leadership. In S. Murphy and R. Riggio (eds), The Future of Leadership Development. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum. Locke, E. A. (2006). Business ethics: A way out of the morass. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 5(3), 324–332. Locke, E. A. (2007). The case for inductive theory building. Journal of Management, 33, 867–890. Lowe, J. (1998). Jack Welch Speaks. New York: Wiley. Peikoff, L. (1982). The Philosophy of Objectivism: A Brief Summary. Santa Ana, CA: Ayn Rand Institute. Peikoff, L. (1991). Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand. New York: Dutton. Rand, A. (1982). Philosophy: Who Needs It. New York: Bobbs- Merrill. Slater, R. (1999). Jack Welch and the GE Way. New York: McGraw Hill. Tichy, N. and Sherman, S. (1993). Control Your Own Destiny or Someone Else Will. New York: Currency Doubleday. NOTE 1 This introduction is adapted from Locke (2002). I thank Jean Binswanger, Paul Tesluk, Cathy Durham, and James Bailey for their helpful comments on the original article.
- 39. 1 Select on Intelligence FRANK L. SCHMIDT1 AND IN-SUE OH2 1 University of Iowa 2 Temple University CO-AUTHOR'S NOTE Frank Schmidt died on 21 August, 2021 in Iowa City, IA. I am greatly indebted to him for his legacy in intelligence testing and meta- analysis, intellectual honesty and courage, and endless support and mentoring over the years. He will be forever remembered and forever missed. The principle that we wish to convey in this chapter is quite simple: Ceteris paribus, higher intelligence leads to better job performance. Intelligence is the best determinant of job performance, and hiring people based on intelligence leads to marked improvements in job performance. These performance improvements have great economic value for organizations, giving organizations that hire people based on intelligence a leg-up over other organizations. This principle is incredibly broad and generalizable as it has been empirically validated across numerous jobs, occupations, and industries. But before elaborating further on this principle, we would like to emphasize that, surprisingly, most human resource (HR) managers do not hire based on intelligence. In fact, most HR managers do not make decisions based on research-informed best practices at all (Rynes, Colbert, and Brown, 2002). This gap between practice and research findings is especially large in the area of staffing, where many HR managers are unaware of this most fundamental staffing principle based on extensive research findings and, as a result, fail to use scientifically established valid employment selection procedures.
- 40. You may think that this is true only for a small portion of HR managers, but this is not the case. In a survey of 5000 Society for Human Resource Management members whose title was at the manager level and above, Rynes and her research team (2002) asked two questions relevant to this chapter: a. Is conscientiousness, a personality trait, a better predictor of employee performance than intelligence? b. Do companies that screen job applicants for values have higher performance than those that screen for intelligence? The answer to both the questions is (definitely) no!1 But shockingly, 72% of respondents answered yes to the first question and 57% answered yes to the second question. That is, on average, two-thirds of the respondents did not know the most basic principle established by extensive research findings; namely, that intelligence is the single best predictor of employee job performance. And worse, these were largely HR managers and directors with an average 14 years of work experiences in HR. Of the 959 respondents, 53% were HR managers, directors, and vice presidents, occupying an important role in designing and implementing HR practices. Given the respondents' high-level HR positions and considerable experience, we speculate that the percentage of wrong answers would be even higher among less experienced HR staff. This problem is not limited to the United States but is also widely observed in other countries (e.g. Tenhiälä, Giluk, Kepes, Simon, Oh, and Kim, 2016). Thus, we believe that many would benefit by reading this chapter. WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? The concept of intelligence is often misunderstood. Intelligence is not the ability to adapt to one's environment: Insects, mosses, and bacteria are well adapted to their environments, but they are not intelligent. There are many ways in which organisms can adapt well to their environments, of which intelligence is only one. Instead, intelligence encompasses the ability to understand and process
- 41. abstract concepts to solve problems. Gottfredson (1997, p. 13), in an editorial originally published in the Wall Street Journal and later reprinted in Intelligence, defined intelligence as “a very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, and learn quickly and learn from experience.” This traditional definition captures well what intelligent people can do, but this definition is still insufficient in capturing why smart people can do it. For the purposes of this chapter, we define intelligence as the capacity to learn and retain complex information. Higher levels of intelligence lead to more rapid learning, and the more complex the material to be learned, the more this is true. Intelligence is often referred to as general mental ability (GMA), and we use the terms “intelligence” and “GMA” interchangeably throughout the remainder of this chapter.2 Another important nature of intelligence is that it is the broadest of all human mental abilities. Narrower abilities include verbal ability, quantitative ability, and spatial ability. These narrower abilities are often referred to as special aptitudes. These special aptitudes also predict job performance (although not as well as GMA), but only because special aptitude tests measure general intelligence as well as specific aptitudes (Brown, Le, and Schmidt, 2006). In other words, it is the GMA component in these specific aptitude tests that predicts job performance. For example, when a test of verbal ability predicts job or training performance, it is the GMA part of that test – not specifically the verbal part – that primarily does the predicting, thus “not much more than g (GMA)” (Brown et al., 2006; Ree and Earles, 1991, 1992; Ree, Earles, and Teachout, 1994). Finally, although behavioral geneticists have concluded that GMA is highly influenced by heredity, it does not necessarily mean that nothing can improve GMA (Gottfredson, 1997). A recent meta- analysis by Ritchie and Tucker-Drob (2018) has reported that an additional year of education improves GMA by approximately one to five IQ points across the life span: “Education appears to be the most consistent, robust, and durable method yet to be identified for raising intelligence” (p. 1358).
- 42. HIGHER INTELLIGENCE LEADS TO BETTER JOB PERFORMANCE Intelligence plays a central role in virtually all of our daily activities and lifelong pursuits. It predicts many important life outcomes such as performance in school, amount of education obtained, rate of promotion on the job, ultimate job level attained, and salary (Gottfredson, 1997, 2002; Judge, Klinger, and Simon, 2010; Schmidt and Hunter, 2004). More relevant to this chapter is that it predicts job and training performance (Schmidt et al., 2008). No other trait predicts so many important real-world outcomes so well. However, until several decades ago, most people believed that general principles of this sort were impossible in personnel selection and other social science areas. It was believed that it was not possible to know which selection methods would be most effective for a given organization unless a local validation study was conducted for each job in that organization. This belief, called “situational specificity,” was based on the fact that validity studies of the same selection procedures in different jobs in the same organization and across different organizations appeared to give different and often conflicting results. The differences were attributed to the assumption that each job situation includes subtle yet significantly different (i.e. situation-specific) characteristics related to the nature of job performance. Therefore, practitioners at that time (to the delight of consulting firms) were advised to conduct time-consuming and costly local validation tests for virtually all jobs in all organizations to determine if a selection procedure was valid (Ghiselli, 1966). We now know that these “conflicting results” were caused mostly by statistical and measurement artifacts (e.g. sampling error3), and that some selection procedures (e.g. intelligence) have higher validity for predicting performance than others (e.g. age, graphology) across all jobs (Schmidt and Hunter, 1981, 1998). This discovery was made possible by a new method, called meta-analysis or validity generalization, that allows practitioners and researchers to statistically synthesize the results from individual studies.4 Many meta-analyses synthesizing numerous individual studies based on data collected from various jobs, occupations, organizations,
- 43. industries, business sectors, and countries all point to the same conclusion that intelligence is the single best predictor of job performance (Schmidt et al., 2008). Thus, there is little to no need to conduct a local validation study to see whether intelligence is predictive of job performance. Below, we will briefly review some notable studies among the vast body of literature documenting the strong link between intelligence and job performance. Ree and colleagues have shown this for jobs in the Air Force (Olea and Ree, 1994; Ree and Earles, 1991, 1992; Ree et al., 1994), as have McHenry, Hough, Toquam, Hanson, and Ashworth (1990) for the US Army in the famous Project A study. (With a budget of 24 million dollars, Project A is the largest test validity study ever conducted.) Hunter and Hunter (1984) showed this link for a wide variety of civilian jobs, using the US Employment Service database of studies. Schmidt, Hunter, and Pearlman (1980) have documented the link in both civilian and military jobs. Other large meta-analytic studies are described in Hunter and Schmidt (1996), Schmidt (2002), and Schmidt and Hunter (2004). Salgado and his colleagues (Salgado, Anderson, Moscoso, Bertua, and de Fruyt, 2003a; Salgado, Anderson, Moscoso, Bertua, de Fruyt, and Rolland, 2003b) demonstrated the link between GMA and job performance across a variety of settings in European countries. Further, the strong link between GMA and job performance was found whether performance was measured objectively – via work samples or productivity records – or subjectively – using rankings of performance ratings (Nathan and Alexander, 1988). Finally, the validity of GMA for predicting job performance does not differ across major ethnic groups and gender groups (e.g. Roth, Le, Oh, Van Iddekinge, Buster, Robbins, and Campion, 2014; Schmidt, 1988). On a more technical note, there has recently been an important development in the method of estimating the validity of a selection procedure by correcting for range restriction more accurately.5 Applying this procedure to a group of existing meta-analytic data sets shows that previous figures for the validity of GMA (0.51 for job performance and 0.56 for training performance as noted in Schmidt and Hunter, 1998) underestimated its real value by around 30%. Specifically, when performance is measured using ratings of job performance by supervisors, the average of eight meta-analytic
- 44. correlations with intelligence measures is 0.65–65% as large as the maximum possible value of 1.00, which represents perfect prediction (Schmidt et al., 2008, table 1). Another performance measure that is important is the amount learned in job training programs. For training performance (either based on exam scores or instructor ratings), the average of eight meta-analytic correlations with intelligence measures is 0.67 (Schmidt et al., 2008, table 2). Thus, the more accurate estimate of validity of intelligence is even higher than we previously thought. WHY DOES HIGHER INTELLIGENCE LEAD TO BETTER JOB PERFORMANCE? It is one thing to have overwhelming empirical evidence showing a principle is true and quite another to explain why the principle is true. Although part of the answer to this question of why higher intelligence leads to better performance in the definition of intelligence was discussed earlier (i.e. learning ability), a more convincing answer can be found by examining the causal mechanism through which intelligence influences job performance. According to Schmidt and Hunter (1998), people who are more intelligent are able to hold greater amounts of job knowledge because they can learn more and more quickly than others. Hence, the more “direct” determinant of job performance is job knowledge, not GMA.6 Said another way, the biggest influence on job performance is job knowledge, and the biggest influence on job knowledge is GMA. People who do not know how to do a job cannot perform that job well. Research has shown that considerable job knowledge is required to perform even jobs most people would think of as simple, such as data entry. More complex jobs require much more job knowledge. The simplest model of job performance is this: GMA causes job knowledge, which in turn causes job performance. But even this model is too simple, because GMA also directly influences job performance. That is, GMA does not have to be converted to job knowledge before it can influence job performance. In all professions, unforeseen problems arise that are not covered by one's prior education or a body of job knowledge (i.e. manuals), and
- 45. GMA is used directly to solve these problems. Based on two large samples (in total, over 4500 managers), Dilchert and Ones (2009) found that problem-solving across various assessment center dimensions is most highly correlated with GMA. That is, GMA is not only an ability to learn facts and structured procedures but also an ability to tackle unstructured, real-life problems and solve them. This means that even when workers of varying levels of intelligence have equal job knowledge, the more intelligent workers still have higher job performance given their advantage in problem-solving skills. Many studies have tested and supported this causal model (Borman, White, Pulakos, and Oppler, 1991; Hunter, 1986; Ree et al., 1994; Schmidt, Hunter, and Outerbridge, 1986). Using an extremely large data set from the US Army Selection and Classification Project (Project A), McCloy, Campbell, and Cudeck (1994) differentiated two types of job knowledge – declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge – and showed that GMA was related to each of the two types of job knowledge, which was, in turn, related to job performance. This research is reviewed by Hunter and Schmidt (1996) and Schmidt and Hunter (2004). WHAT IS REQUIRED TO MAKE THIS PRINCIPLE WORK? Based on research on selection procedure utility (Le, Oh, Shaffer, and Schmidt, 2007; Schmidt and Hunter, 1998), there are three conditions that are required for companies to improve job performance levels by using GMA tests in hiring and to reap the resulting economic benefits. First, the company must be able to be selective in who it hires. If the labor market is so tight that all who apply for jobs must be hired, then there can be no selection and hence no gain. The gain in job performance per person hired is greatest with low selection ratios. For example, if one company can afford to hire only the top 10%, while another must hire the bottom 10% of all applicants, then with other things equal the first company will have a much larger gain in job performance. There is another way to look at this: Companies must provide conditions of employment that are good
- 46. enough to attract more applicants than they need to fill the vacant jobs. It is even better when they can go beyond that and attract not only a lot of applicants, but the higher-ability ones that are in that applicant pool. In addition, to realize maximum value from GMA- based selection, organizations must be able to retain high- performing hires. As discussed later in this chapter, one excellent way to retain high-intelligence employees is to place them in jobs consistent with their levels of intelligence. Otherwise, high- intelligence employees who are ill-placed (and thus not satisfied with their job) may look for alternatives outside the organization; if they leave, then the organization will incur enormous direct and indirect costs (e.g. unpaid-off selection and training costs, performance loss, low morale among existing coworkers). Second, the company must have some effective way of measuring GMA. The most common and most effective method is a standardized employment test of general intelligence, such as the Wonderlic Personnel Test, the Wesman Personnel Classification Test, or the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Form. Such tests are readily available at modest cost. This method of measuring GMA is highly cost-effective given its excellent validity and reliability, low cost, and ease of administration and scoring. However, there are alternative methods of measuring intelligence as listed as follows. We advise the reader that part of the reason that these alternative methods can be somewhat successful is often due to their high correlation with GMA. For example, meta-analytic evidence has shown that grade point average (Roth, Bevier, Switzer, and Schippmann, 1996), work sample tests (Roth, Bobko, and McFarland, 2005), assessment center scores (Collins, Schmidt, Sanchez-Ku, Thomas, McDaniel, and Le, 2003), employment interviews (Huffcutt, Roth, and McDaniel, 1996), and situational judgment tests (particularly, knowledge-based ones; McDaniel, Hartman, Whetzel, and Grubb, 2007) are moderately to strongly correlated with GMA. That is, as Schmidt (2002) pointed out, performance on these selection procedures is moderately to strongly a consequence of GMA and, hence, reflects GMA. These findings further attest to the fact that what is more important is the constructs (i.e. the traits themselves) measured during the selection process, not the formats/methods (how the traits are measured).
- 47. These alternative selection procedures are generally less valid and more costly (especially assessment centers and employment interviews) than standardized tests of GMA. Therefore, we recommend that hiring managers simply use GMA tests whenever possible to maximize cost-effectiveness. However, many organizations that rarely use written GMA tests build oral GMA tests into the interview process. For example, high-tech companies such as Microsoft and Google use multiple job interviews to measure GMA (and other important characteristics) among their highly intelligent applicants perhaps because standardized GMA tests are too easy for many of their highly intelligent applicants and, thus, cannot differentiate their applicants in terms of GMA. Moreover, these highly profitable organizations may not care about selection costs. Third, the variability in job performance among employees must be greater than zero. That is, if all applicants after being hired have the same level of job performance anyway, then nothing is gained by hiring “the best.” However, this is never the case. Across all jobs studied, there have been large differences between different workers in both quality and quantity of output. Hunter, Schmidt, and Judiesch (1990) meta-analyzed all the available studies on this topic and found large difference between employees. In unskilled and semi-skilled jobs, they found that workers in the top 1% of performance produced over three times as much output as those in the bottom 1%. In skilled jobs, top workers produced 15 times as much as bottom workers. In professional and managerial jobs, the differences were even larger. At the CEO level, we can easily find many examples supporting huge performance variability (e.g. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates). These are precisely the reasons why it pays so handsomely to hire the best workers, managers, and CEOs. But there is another advantage to hiring the best workers: the pool of talent available for future promotion is greatly increased. This is of great value to organizations, because it helps ensure high performance all the way up through the ranks of managers. When the right people are promoted, their value to the organization in their new jobs is even greater than it was in their original jobs. Thus, the selection of high ability people has implications not only for the job they are hired onto, but also for other jobs in the organization.
- 48. ARE THERE MODERATORS OR EXCEPTIONS TO THIS PRINCIPLE? Is Intelligence More Valid for More Complex Jobs? For many predictors of job performance (motivational techniques, personality, etc.), their relationship with job performance depends on some moderators or boundary conditions (e.g. situational constraints). In addition, some predictors can replace other predictors. Many relationships in personnel psychology are bounded by situational constraints, which can be frustrating to managers who are looking for broad, overarching principles that are applicable across their organization. There is no relationship in the field of personnel psychology for which there are as few situational constraints as there are for the relationship between GMA and job performance. The only major moderator to the relationship between GMA and job performance is job complexity level. That is, the validity of GMA for predicting job performance increases as the difficulty or complexity of the job in question increases. Schmidt et al. (2008) also reported validities for GMA ranging from 0.55 for low-complexity jobs to 0.61 for medium-complexity jobs to 0.78 for high-complexity jobs based on two meta-analyses that tested job complexity level as a moderator for the validity of GMA (Hunter, 1986; Salgado et al., 2003b). Similarly, Schmidt et al. (2008) also reported that the validity of GMA for training performance varies by job complexity level: 0.56, 0.69, and 0.81 for low-, medium-, and high-complexity jobs, respectively (Hunter, 1986; Salgado et al., 2003b). That is, while intelligence is predictive of performance on jobs of all the complexity levels, it is more predictive for jobs of high complexity. Contrary to many lay people's intuition that applicants for high- complexity jobs do not differ much from each other in intelligence and thus intelligence may not work as a selection tool for them, the research findings mentioned here have clearly shown that there is still considerable variability in intelligence among applicants for high-complexity jobs and intelligence is still an excellent selection tool in these situations (Sackett and Ostgaard, 1994). We believe that
- 49. the straightforward nature of the link between GMA and job performance comes as good news for many practitioners who are under time and competitive pressures to allocate resources as efficiently as possible, because it means that they do not have to consider many situational peculiarities when designing and implementing an intelligence-based staffing system. Given the massive amount of evidence available, there can be no doubt that intelligence is the best, most useful predictor of job performance across most situations (Schmidt, 2002). Can Job Experience Replace the Role of Intelligence? As long as the three conditions described earlier are met, there are no known cases or situations in which it is inadvisable to select employees for general intelligence. Nevertheless, some believe there is one exception (as we illustrate later in the example of US Steel): That companies should not select on GMA if they can select on job experience. That is, they believe that job experience is a better predictor of job performance than is GMA or job experience may replace GMA. But what does available research show? For applicants with job experience between zero and five years, experience is a good predictor of job performance. But in the range of higher levels of experience, say 5–30 years of job experience, job experience does not predict performance very well (Hunter and Schmidt, 1996; Schmidt, Hunter, Outerbridge, and Goff, 1988). On most jobs, once people have about five years of experience, further experience does not translate into higher performance. This is likely because experience beyond five years does not lead to further increases in job knowledge. In other words, after five years of on-the-job learning, people in the typical job are forgetting old job knowledge about as fast as they are learning new job knowledge. Even for new hires in the one-to-five-year range of job experience, where experience is a valid predictor of job performance, the validity of experience as a predictor declines over time. Specifically, experience predicts performance quite well for the first three years or so on the job and then starts to decline. By 12 years on the job, experience has low validity. In contrast, GMA continues to predict
- 50. job performance quite well even after people have been on the job 12 years or longer (Schmidt et al., 1988). What this means is that job experience is not a substitute for GMA. In the long run, hiring on intelligence pays off much more than does hiring on job experience (Hunter and Schmidt, 1996). Hence, if you must choose, you should choose GMA. However, typically you do not have to choose; more than one procedure can be used. It may be desirable to use both experience and GMA in hiring; as discussed later, it is usually best to use multiple hiring methods whenever possible. But in this case, the weight given to GMA should be higher than the weight given to job experience. Can Intelligence Predict Nontask Performance? When supervisors assess overall job performance for each employee, they incorporate into their final ratings both nontask performance (i.e. organizational citizenship behaviors [OCBs] and counterproductive work behavior [CWB]) and core job performance (i.e. task performance) (Orr, Sackett, and Mercer, 1989; Rotundo and Sackett, 2002). One may ask, given the expanded criterion domain of job performance beyond task performance (e.g. bookkeeping tasks as an accountant): Is the validity of GMA for nontask performance, an important aspect of overall job performance, also strong? As noted earlier, many people find it hard to believe that GMA is the dominant determinant of overall job performance (Rynes et al., 2002). Often, they say they have known people who were very intelligent but who were not a good citizen. This is related to a facet of job performance called “contextual performance” or “organizational citizenship behaviors.” Broadly speaking, there are three types of OCBs (Chiaburu, Oh, Berry, Li, and Gardner, 2011: (i) cooperation (e.g. willingness to help other employee such as new employees and employees with work-related problems), (ii) compliance/loyalty (e.g. willingness to work late in an emergency or on a holiday, supporting the community relations and reputation of the company), and (iii) change (e.g. willingness to communicate concerns and suggestions organizational and work-related problems and play the role of a change agent). The Project A research showed that GMA is the predictive of contextual performance such as extra effort and taking initiative, although the validity of GMA was a bit
- 51. lower than that of conscientiousness-related personality traits. However, a comprehensive meta-analysis by Gonzalez-Mulé, Mount, and Oh (2014) revealed that the validity of GMA for OCB (0.16 for cooperation, 0.18 for compliance/loyalty, and 0.24 for change) is moderate and generally similar to that of some of the most valid Big Five personality traits, such as conscientiousness and emotional stability (Chiaburu et al., 2011). Note that these meta-analytic findings contradict and thus inform the previous notion that “the major source of variation in contextual performance, however, is not proficiency, but volition and predisposition … predispositional variables represented by personality characteristics” (Borman and Motowidlo, 1993, p. 74). Lay people may also say they have known people who were very intelligent but dismal failures on the job because of “bad behaviors” such as repeated absences, carelessness, hostility toward the supervisor, unwillingness to work overtime to meet a deadline, or stealing from the company. These are examples of the so-called counterproductive work behaviors. These behaviors reflect another facet of overall job performance that is also not directly related to core job performance (i.e. task performance) but is still considered when assessing overall job performance. Some individual studies have suggested that people who are more intelligent are likely to engage in fewer CWBs – self-reported or other-rated or objectively recorded – because they are more aware of the potential negative consequences of engaging in CWBs and better able to control their impulses and behaviors. However, a comprehensive meta-analysis by Gonzalez-Mulé et al. (2014) showed that while the relationship between GMA and self-rated CWB is almost zero or slightly positive (0.05), the relationship between GMA and non-self-rated CWB (supervisor-rated or objectively recorded) is moderately negative (– 0.11). Although there may be other interpretations, these results seem to suggest that intelligent people do not necessarily engage in fewer CWBs, but they are better able to avoid getting caught by others, thus reminding us of the famous phrase, “catch me if you can.” Moreover, the validity of GMA for CWB is lower than that of the Big Five personality traits. In summary, the validity of GMA when predicting nontask performance (OCB and CWB) is at best moderate (similar to or lower
- 52. than that of self-rated conscientiousness). However, as Ones, Viswesvaran, and Dilchert (2005, p. 400) emphasized, there is one important caveat that practitioners and researchers should not forget: “Even if this were true, no organization is likely to forgo hiring on task performance (Gottfredson, 2002); also, equal validity does not mean that the same kinds of individuals would be hired using different predictors.” That is, most selection decisions are and should be generally based on who will show higher task or overall performance, the best predictor of which is undeniably GMA. Thus, there is no exception to the principle that GMA is the best predictor of job performance. FIVE COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT IMPLEMENTING AN INTELLIGENCE-BASED HIRING SYSTEM Can an Applicant Be Too Intelligent for a Job? An applicant was rejected for a job as a police officer in a New Jersey city on the grounds that his intelligence test score was too high! Officials in this city believed something that many people believe: Intelligence leads to better job performance but only up to a point, and, after that point, more intelligence actually leads to lower job performance. Of course, this statement is false, and assumes a nonlinear relationship between intelligence and job performance. Can job performance suffer from having “too much of a good thing” (GMA)? Hundreds of studies have shown that this is not the case: There is a straight line (linear) relationship between intelligence and job performance, and higher intelligence has been shown to lead to better job performance even up to the highest levels of intelligence (Coward and Sackett, 1990). Why then do so many people believe the false assumption? Perhaps it is because it makes intuitive sense. When imagining a university professor or a medical doctor working as a janitor, it is easy to think, “This person would be so bored with this job that he or she would do a poor job.” But such a conclusion ignores the fact that the university professor or doctor would be highly unlikely to apply for the janitor's
- 53. job to begin with. Among people who actually apply to get real jobs, there is a linear relationship between intelligence and performance; the higher the intelligence, the better the job performance. Moreover, some lay people tend to think that applicants for high- complexity jobs are so similar in terms of intelligence that an intelligence test may not differentiate them from one another. If this were true, intelligence tests would not be a valid selection tool for high-complexity jobs. However, as discussed previously, there is substantial variability in intelligence even among the most educated people with the most advanced degrees. Furthermore, intelligence is a more valid selection procedure than educational level among applicants with varied levels of education applying for the same job (Berry, Gruys, and Sackett, 2006). The validity of intelligence remains substantial even in a group of the most talented individuals even at 1-in-10 000 scarcity (Lubinski, Webb, Morelock, and Benbow, 2001). In general, there should be no concern about hiring someone who is too intelligent for a job, ceteris paribus. Relatedly, recent research by Brown, Wai, and Chabris (2001) has shown that “there is little evidence for any robust detrimental effects of or risk associated with having high cognitive ability” in predicting various “beneficial outcomes in work, education, health, and social contexts” (p. 18). That is, a saying such as “the relationship between success and IQ works only up to a point” is only a misconception, which should be discredited given the continued positive linear relationships between GMA and important life outcomes even at the very high end of GMA. Interestingly, it has also been shown that over their careers people gradually move into jobs, either within a single organization or by moving to another organization, that are consistent with their levels of GMA. This “sorting” process occurs over time and has been called the gravitation process (Wilk, Desmariais, and Sackett, 1995; Wilk and Sackett, 1996). People whose GMA exceeds their job level tend to move toward more complex jobs (internal or external upward movement) and people whose GMA is below their job level tend to move toward less complex jobs. Is Intelligence All That Matters?
- 54. If some hypothetical sets of constraints allowed that only a single assessment would be used in the hiring process, and if the goal of the hiring process were to maximize future job performance, then we would strongly recommend the use of an intelligence assessment. However, in reality, no such constraints exist. Although GMA is the best predictor of job performance, it does not follow that the use of intelligence alone in hiring is the best way to select people. In fact, it is well known that other predictors can be used along with GMA to produce better predictions of job performance than can be produced by GMA alone. For example, according to the authors' recent work, for most jobs, the use of a structured employment interview in addition to a GMA test increases validity by 18%. And, the use of self- reported measures of conscientiousness in addition to a GMA test increases validity by 8%. It is almost always possible to add some supplemental selection procedure(s) that can further increase the validity offered by a GMA test. The best supplementary selection procedure is one that has high validity in and of itself and a low correlation with scores on a GMA test (in order to minimize measurement redundancy), and a low cost. It follows that practitioners should use well-established measures of personality traits such as conscientiousness (as shown in the next chapter) and structured employee interviews (Schmidt and Hunter, 1998). Does the Use of GMA Tests Have Any Adverse Impact? This is an important question, and one that requires a thorough response. In terms of gender differences, it has been found that there is no difference in mean levels of GMA test scores between males and females (Ployhart and Holtz, 2008), although there are some well- known gender differences in specific aptitudes (i.e. higher mean scores for females in speech production and higher mean scores for males in spatial perception). Though we mention differences in specific aptitudes, we do not recommend the use of specific abilities in staffing contexts, given that the validity of GMA tests is almost always higher than that of specific aptitudes (“not much more than GMA”) – even when specific aptitudes are chosen to match the most important aspects of job performance (i.e. spatial perception for the pilot job). Further, research generally does not support differential validity of GMA tests for males and females (Hartigan and Wigdor,
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- 56. perhaps ungrudgingly. As I looked into his face, whatever poor, paltry feeling I had nourished against him was swept away by a wave of strong emotion. “Yes, señor,” said I, “how am I to thank you? But for you—I would have perished. What am I to say? What can I do?” “Señor Ruari,” cried he, in that soft, quiet way of his, “between soldiers, brothers-in-arms, there is no debt.” “Señor,” said I—— “Be generous, Señor Ruari,” exclaimed he, “and say not a word more,” and he smiled somewhat wistfully and sadly. “We are friends, at any rate, whate’er befall, are we not?” “By God’s wounds!” swore I. And we clasped hands again, and so parted. The day which followed that night of stir was one of quiet at the castle, and its very peacefulness seemed to me well-nigh intolerable. But we learned from our spies, and could to some extent see for ourselves, that there was a great commotion in the English camp, indicating the arrival of fresh troops. By the evening, Sir Nicholas had so disposed his forces that we were completely hemmed in on the land side, and our spies had to be withdrawn within the walls. The sea was still open to us, and much I wondered that the Governor did not take this more into his account, for so long as we could get to our galleys and procure food by way of Clew Bay, we could laugh at him and bid him defiance. But I might have been sure that Sir Nicholas was too experienced a soldier not to know well what he was about. Another night and another day dragged themselves slowly away, and the Governor moved not from the positions he had taken up. There he lay all round us, just out of reach of our ordnance, of which we
- 57. gave him a taste from time to time, so that he should keep his distance; there he lay, inactive, waiting, expectant—but of what, or, of whom? These were the questions Grace O’Malley discussed with de Vilela and myself, and the answers to them did not present themselves at once. “Can it be,” asked my mistress—and her words showed the direction in which her thoughts were turning “that Sir Nicholas has heard Richard Burke is coming with all the men of Mayo behind him to our aid, and that he has decided to engage him before attacking us?” “He is perhaps making some engines with which he hopes to batter down your walls,” said de Vilela. “Our ordnance will prevent that,” said I. “I think the Governor must himself expect to receive ordnance from some quarter,” said de Vilela, “otherwise the success of the siege he must know is impossible.” Grace O’Malley and I looked at each other, the same thought in our minds. There was only the one way by which there was any probability of his obtaining heavy pieces, and that was over sea. Did Sir Nicholas reckon on the support of a heavy ship of war, and was he now quietly looking for its arrival? Had he foreseen, or, at least, provided against the failure of the plot of the kernes? That seemed very likely, and the more I thought of it the more likely did it seem. I now realised, as I had not done before, the seriousness of our situation. “That must be it,” said Grace O’Malley. “That must be it. He is not a man given to slackness, but he is perfectly aware that he can now effect nothing unless he has cannon, and so he tarries until his ordnance comes. Doubtless he has arranged that a war-vessel shall
- 58. meet him here, and, if that is how the matter stands, it may arrive very soon.” “What you have conjectured,” said, de Vilela, “will, I think, prove to be correct.” And I also said that her words expressed my own opinion. Now, the three great galleys lay in the harbour at Clare Island, and as Grace O’Malley had withdrawn most of their crews they were without sufficient defenders, and might be easily taken and destroyed. “The galleys must at once be brought over here,” said she with decision to me, “or better still, if it be not too late, sailed into Achill Sound, and hidden away in one of its many bays. This very night, as soon as the darkness has fallen, you, Ruari, must take as many men as can be got into the boats we have here, and make for Clare Island with all speed. When you have reached the island, do with the galleys as seems best to you.” Accordingly, when the shadows of night had overspread the land and the sea, I set about to fulfil her behest. The day-breeze had died away, and the waters were calm and tranquil as we pulled out from the castle. Rowing steadily and strongly along the north shore of Clew Bay, the sound of our oars alone breaking the silence, we held on until we arrived at Clare Island, where I was overjoyed to find our ships riding at anchor in the peaceful security of the haven. And there, partly to rest my weary men, and partly because I could see no reason for any immediate action, I resolved to lie still till dawn. I had hardly, as it appeared to me, laid myself down to sleep in my cabin on The Cross of Blood, though some hours had passed, when I was aroused by Calvagh O’Halloran, who had been left in charge of the galleys, with the tidings that the watchers he had placed on Knockmore had come down from the hill with the intelligence that they had seen, in the first light of the morning, the tops of the masts
- 59. of a large ship coming up, faint and dim, on the south against the sky. Springing from my couch, I bade Calvagh get the galleys ready to put to sea, and while this was being done I went ashore, and, climbing the slope of Knockmore with swift steps, gazed seaward at the approaching vessel. At first I was inclined to hesitate as to what to make of her, but as I looked, and as she kept coming on into fuller view, any doubt I entertained was set at rest. There was a bright flashing of flame, then a heavy boom from one of her ports, succeeded by three shots fired in rapid succession. I concluded that she was still too far out at sea for her commander to have intended these for anything but signals, and therefore I continued to stand watching her, my purpose being to discover if she intended to make for Clare Island or would hold on towards the mainland. This took some time, for, as the breeze was off the shore and against the tide, she sailed very slowly. At length it became apparent that she was to endeavour to go on to Burrishoole or Carrickahooley, and so would have Clare Island well on her left, for, as she passed the Point of Roonah, she was swung around between us and the coast. I could tell from her movements that her captain was far from being certain where the channel lay among the islands that stud all the eastern side of Clew Bay; and, indeed, it takes a man who knows these parts more than well to steer a ship of middling tonnage safely through the rocks and shoals into the fairway by Illamore. I felt confident that it would be many hours before he could reach his destination, and this put into my mind to attempt to carry out a project which had occurred to me, and which might prevent him from ever reaching it at all.
- 60. The project was of a somewhat desperate nature, and if it resulted in failure then in all likelihood there would be an end so far as regards The Cross of Blood and its company; but if success should favour our enterprise, we might compel Sir Nicholas to raise the siege before it was well begun, and so bring the war to a close for the present by his retreat. As I was weighing the chances both for and against us, there sounded forth from the English ship-of-war a single loud report, and shortly afterwards three shots were fired—a repetition, in fact, of the former signal. This acted on me like the pricking of a spear on a charger. What I had in view was nothing less than the wreck of the enemy’s vessel. When I had regained the deck of my galley the anchor was weighed, and we put out into the bay, leaving The Grey Wolf and The Winged Horse in the harbour, with orders to follow us on the next tide. Summoning Calvagh to my side, I unfolded to him the course I thought of pursuing, and as much would depend on the stoutness and endurance of our rowers, I enjoined on him to exhort them to be steadfast, and not to be thrown into a fury and a frenzy of excitement even when they heard the shots of the Englishman roaring past their ears and we seemed to be going to certain destruction. They were not to abandon their places at the benches unless The Cross of Blood should be so damaged by the enemy as to appear to be in a sinking condition. Should that disaster be imminent, then, and only then, would it become a case of each man for himself. I judged it to be needful to give these instructions because, while I could trust everyone of my men where a matter of fighting was concerned, I was not so sure that when it came to our running away —and that was the very soul of my scheme—they would do as I
- 61. wished with an equal heart. For they were of the temper in which it is easier to fight and die than to flee and live. As we drew out from Clare Island the English ship was about two miles in front of us, with her bows pointing for the south side of Illamore, between which and the rocky islets opposite it there is a clear span of water, but before she could come abreast of Illamore there was a distance of a couple of leagues of open sea. She went along lumberingly, and the galley, bounding forward like a racer under the swift, measured swing of the oars, had the speed of her, and began to come up with her rapidly. When we were within a mile of her, and Illamore perchance a league away, I shifted my course and bore off to the north. The galley had no doubt been seen by the Englishmen as soon as we had emerged from Clare Island; and now, when they perceived that we were heading away from them and going north, they fetched about and came round after us. Would their captain give chase, or would he content himself with noting whither we went and following us for a time and then turning about again? I had felt certain from the beginning that he had no pilot on board, for where were there any people who knew Clew Bay but ourselves? And sure was I that no O’Malley would ever guide a hostile ship through these waters. What I feared was that the Englishman might pursue us for two or three miles, and then, seeing how thick the islands were in that part of the bay and how narrow the channels between them, might be deterred from proceeding further in our direction, and therefore stand off again for the other side of Illamore, as had been his purpose at first. As I was determined to draw him on at all hazards, I made a sign to Calvagh, at whose word our oarsmen ceased pulling their great sweeping strokes, and made no more than a pretence of rowing, so as only to keep steering-way on The Cross of Blood, and to deceive
- 62. the Englishman into imagining that he was catching her up, as indeed he was, though not as he understood the matter. On he came, as I had hoped, the gap between us growing less, until a ball fired from his bows fell so near as to warn me that we were within range of his guns. The English vessel was a heavily armed ship, her sides bristling with large pieces of ordnance, and it would have required not more than a few of her shots, had they struck the galley, to send her to the bottom. And as there were but two falconets on The Cross of Blood, her other cannon having been removed from her to the walls of the castle, we were not able to reply to the enemy’s fire with any effect. But it was not my intention to use these falconets, except to lure him into that trap I was setting for him. Therefore I shouted to Calvagh, and the galley plunged forward again under the strong, full beat of the racing oars as he ran up and down between the rowers commanding them to pull for their lives. We could hear the cheering and the laughter on board the Englishman as he watched what he took to be our frantic efforts to escape. And, in truth, we had put on this burst of speed none too soon, for the shots now sent after us fell so little short of our stern that I was afraid we were lost. But the peril passed, and we quickly drew away. And thus for two miles or more the pursuit of us went on, the Englishman coming up with us and discharging his pieces at us as we slacked off rowing, and then falling behind us as the oarsman drove the galley on again. I repeated this manœuvre several times, and once only had a ball struck The Cross of Blood, but, as fortune would have it, without inflicting any serious injury upon us. Now that the supreme moment was almost at hand I became conscious of a singular tumult, a very fever in my veins, and that at a time when I desired above all things to be calm and self- possessed.
- 63. I was standing by the helmsman as he steered, and, as I turned to give him the direction, I could see in the pallor that showed beneath the brown of his skin, in the fixedly gleaming eyes, in the shut lips that had no colour about them, in the whole tense attitude of the man, the visible expression of my own feelings. For there before us lay the islands; all shapes and sizes were they, some grim and bare, others green and fair to see; island upon island, one crowding upon the other, as it were, like a wide range of low hills. Immediately in front of us a grey, craggy rock reared its head; on one side of it was a small, round islet, a shining girdle of spray half hiding it, on the other, separated from it by a narrow passage, a great rampart of black cliffs, on whose heights the eagles loved to build, towered aloft into the sky, the waves rolling themselves in empty thunders at its feet. Beyond this passage was seen a spacious land-locked bay as it appeared to be, so closed in did it seem on all sides by islands. And through this passage did I give command to go. There was a mute protest in the look the helmsman gave me, for this passage is none other than that called the Gate of Fears, and no mariner ever makes use of it save from direst necessity and with many crossings of himself and murmured vows. But the galley made a half-turn obedient to the helmsman’s hand, and so was headed for the dreaded Gate. The Englishman was at our heels, bent upon our capture or destruction, but when he saw us approach this passage he hesitated, and was like to draw back. Whereupon I ordered Calvagh to bid the oarsmen stop rowing, and bringing the falconets into position trained them on the enemy, myself putting the blazing torch to the touch-hole. At the same time our sailors sent up a loud taunting, derisive cry, which was answered back full-throated by the English ship. Provoked
- 64. beyond endurance at us, and thinking, it might be, that where a large galley like The Cross of Blood might go she might venture also, she again came on at us, firing as she came. I had to endure an agony of suspense, for there was still time for two things to happen, either of which would be fatal to my purpose. Until the English commander had fairly entered the Gate of Fears, and so would be forced to go on, he might hold off after all. That was the first. And to tempt him on I had to keep the galley so close to the range of his ordnance that it was very probable that he might hit and sink her. That was the second. He had, however, made up his mind that we were within his grasp, and had determined to have us. As he came slowly nearer, our oarsmen sent the galley on through the passage, and on he moved after us. There was now a lull in his cannonading, and a strange silence fell upon us all. In that silence I waited anxiously, a prey to mingled doubts and fears, expecting to hear a slight grating, scraping sound, and to see the galley shiver and quake as she passed over the knife- edges of rocks that lie a few feet below the surface of the sea at the further end of the Gate. The tide was high, as I had reckoned, else I never would have attempted it. Then there was a sudden tempest of smoke and flame from the Englishman, in the midst of which The Cross of Blood swayed and reeled as if she had been struck. I sickened with apprehension, but the swaying and the reeling quickly ceased. We were safely over the jagged barrier of rock; we had passed through the Gate, and were in the deep water beyond. Below me I could see Calvagh’s white, set face as he looked up; then, as he realised that we were out of the dangers of the passage, a war chant broke from his fierce lips, the oarsmen rowing mightily, and keeping time to that savage, deep-chested music of his.
- 65. And on behind us came the unwitting Englishman. In a few minutes more, looking towards her, I saw her bows tilt up and then plunge high into the air. She was lifted up and dashed down again and again on the rocks, so that her back broke, and she was torn to pieces before my eyes, while some of her sailors cast themselves into the water, with outcries and bewailings very piteous to hear, and others got into the ship’s boats and put out to sea, where I know not what fate overtook them. My men clamoured that they should be pursued, but this I would not suffer, for my end was attained, as Sir Nicholas now would have no ordnance for the battering down of the walls of Carrickahooley, and must therefore raise the siege.
- 66. CHAPTER XV. THE SIEGE IS RAISED. Perchance it was that my spirits had been affected by the sinking of this fine ship, even though I myself had been the cause of the same —the loss of a vessel, I cannot help saying, being a thing more to be deplored than the deaths of many human beings; or it may have been that my mind, now the necessity for prompt and decisive action had passed, became, as it were, relaxed and unstrung; but, as The Cross of Blood threaded her way through the maze of the islands towards Carrickahooley, I could think of nothing save of how I stood in the debt of de Vilela. In vain I strove to comfort myself by recalling the successes and the victories that had been achieved by and in the name of my mistress, Grace O’Malley, and by telling myself that she had won for herself and us an imperishable renown. Not thus could I silence the voice of my heart, which cried out that all these were but as barrenness and as nothingness so long as Eva O’Malley was not for me. For there was the pain, there the grief and the sadness. Against myself did I consider myself called upon to fight. I was as deep in the Spaniard’s debt as a man could be, and yet I could not bring myself to resign all hopes of my dear, even to de Vilela, without the bitterest struggles. Which of us twain possessed the maid’s love? Was it de Vilela, or was it I? Did she love either of us?—that was the all-important question. For myself, my love had grown with my growth, was, I felt, growing still, and would keep on growing as long as I lived. De Vilela, however, was a stranger, blown in upon us, as it were, by the chance winds of heaven. My claim was perhaps the better claim,
- 67. but a maid’s heart acknowledges no real claim but the claim of her love, and if her heart’s love was de Vilela’s, then was my claim void and empty indeed. Therefore, let the maid decide. My thoughts had worked round to this point, when I remembered once more what Grace O’Malley had said about the Don and Eva. What if Eva loved me after all? Again, Let the maid decide, said I. Yet, somehow, this did not altogether satisfy me. Then it occurred to me that I might pay a part of my debt to de Vilela in the following way. He could scarcely tarry much longer with us at the castle, as he must soon depart to endeavour to carry out the objects of the secret mission with which he had been entrusted by his master, the King of Spain. The way for him would be clear and open, for I had no doubt that Sir Nicholas would not now be able to continue the siege, and that we would be left in peace and quiet till the spring of the next year, when the war would most probably be renewed against us with larger forces, and with greater determination, both by land and sea. But all that lay in the womb of the future. As for Don Francisco, I thought it likely that he would try to make the most of the time that remained to him before setting out for the Earl of Desmond’s, that he would ask for Eva’s hand from Grace O’Malley, and that thus the matter would be determined. What I set myself to do was, so long as he remained at Carrickahooley, to keep out of Eva’s presence, and in a manner, as it were, to leave the field to de Vilela. If the maid loved him, I was out of court; if she loved me, she would tell her foster-sister that she could not accept the offer of the Spaniard; if she cared for neither of us, or wavered between us, then I was resolved to forego whatever advantage I possessed over de Vilela until he had received his answer and had taken his departure.
- 68. If she accepted his suit, they would be married, I supposed drearily, before he left, and then they would set out together, and that which was unutterably and unalterably rare, dear, and precious would be gone out of my life. If Eva willed otherwise—it all rested with her. But, in any case, de Vilela was to have his chance free from any mean or unmannerly interference from me. Little did I guess how severely the strength of my resolution was to be tested, but I thank God, now that all is done, that it bore the strain. It was not much past the middle of the day when The Cross of Blood drew up at Carrickahooley, but long before we had reached the castle we could hear the sounds of battle rolling towards us from off the land, and could see the tiny clouds of smoke made by the arquebuses as they were fired off. Disembarking with all haste, and bringing with me most of my crew, I was instantly admitted within the water-gate. There I was told that Grace O’Malley, with de Vilela, her gentlemen, and most of her people, was making a sally on the English. Rushing to the parapets, I could see that the centre of the fighting was between the castle and the Abbey of Burrishoole, and that it was of a very terrible and bloody character, the Englishmen displaying that dogged courage for which they are famed, while the Irish, inspired by their mistress, performed wonderful feats of valour, and were thrusting their enemies slowly back to their principal position, where, however, their further retreat was speedily checked on their being strengthened by fresh supports. Now the purpose of Grace O’Malley in this outfall could not have extended beyond inflicting upon the Governor considerable loss, as she knew his force was far superior to her own in numbers; and I was therefore not surprised to witness the Irish at this juncture beginning to retreat, the English attacking them fiercely in front and on their flanks.
- 69. It was at this instant that Sir Nicholas, who was himself directing the operations of his troops, conceived that he might cut our people off altogether from the castle by sending forward some soldiers he had held as a reserve, and placing them between the Irish and the castle. I could see all this quite plainly from the walls, and, fearing lest he might succeed, I summoned my men, and, issuing from the castle gate, marched to meet this new body of the enemy, in order, if so be I was in time, to defeat the attempt, which, if well carried out, could not but be attended with the greatest possible danger, and perhaps disaster, to my mistress. Being delayed by the roughness of the ground from coming up as quickly as I could have wished, and as they had the start of us, the English had effected their purpose, and the Irish were surrounded. But, as we ran forward, some of the enemy faced about to meet us, and so, being taken, as it were, between two fires—Grace O’Malley with her men on the one side, and I with mine on the other—they were speedily thrown into the utmost confusion, of which we did not fail to make a good account. Still the contest was by no means entirely in our favour, for the resistance of the Governor’s soldiers was protracted and bitter, each man contending for his own hand with all the strength and cunning he was possessed of. At length the main body of the Irish under Grace O’Malley fought their way through the enemy and joined themselves to us, my mistress being both surprised and rejoiced to find that we had returned, and had been able to come to her assistance. Beside her, their swords gleaming redly in their hands, were Brian Ogue, and Art, and Henry O’Malley, and the other gentlemen of her household; and leaning upon the arm of one of them, and supported and protected by two men, I beheld de Vilela, desperately wounded! His face was pale, drawn, deep-lined, and spotted with blood, the eyes being closed, and the lips shut tight; the figure within his
- 70. armour was bent with weariness, and weakness, and wounds; the fingers of the right hand still grasped the handle of his sword, but they shook and trembled as with palsy. Truly, he looked like one whose doom is sealed, and my heart went out to him with a great compassion. Calling to four of my men, who were armed with spears, I caused them to make a rough litter with their weapons, and upon this rude but soldierly contrivance we laid the Spaniard, and so bore him to the castle, while behind us the fight still continued, but with less and less fierceness. Not a sound came from Don Francisco, although the jolting must have given him the most intense pain, save once when my mistress took his hand and spoke to him, when he made reply in Spanish that “all was well” with him. And I thought the words were not unworthy, but well became the brave soul of the man. “I will go in with him,” said Grace O’Malley to me, when we had arrived at the gate; “Ruari, do you gather our people together, and lead them within the walls.” And I did her bidding, so that in a short time I had them collected in a compact body, and under cover of the ordnance, belching forth from the battlements, retreated within the gate, bearing most of our wounded with us. There I found Grace O’Malley waiting to hear the news I had brought. “De Vilela?” I first inquired. “He is still alive,” said she, “but I fear the hour of his passing is already upon him.” “’Fore God,” cried I, with a sob in my throat, “I trust not.” “Eva tends him,” said she—and in a flash I remembered everything. “He is in good keeping,” said I.
- 71. “He is in the hands of God,” said she, in a voice and manner so touched with unwonted solemnity and deep feeling that I gazed at her in amazement. Then a wild thought came to me: could she, did she, our princess, care for this man? But no sooner had the thought arisen in my mind than I dismissed it. “What have I to do with love?” she had said on a former occasion, and she had meant it. Her next words, however, appeared to give point to my suspicion, but when I considered them more carefully, I saw I was wrong. For what she had said was, “There are few men like Don Francisco,” but the tone in which they were spoken was not that, it seemed to me, of a woman who loves; rather was it that of one who deplores the expected loss of a dear friend. Yet sometimes, in the silent watches of the night, have I wondered—and I wonder still. “We have heard the roar of great guns from time to time this morning,” said she, changing the subject abruptly, “and, knowing that you had no ordnance to speak of, I feared for your safety. Tell me what has happened.” Whereupon I related all that had taken place, and how that the English war-vessel had been dashed to pieces on the rocks at the hither end of the Gate of Fears. Much I spoke in praise of Calvagh and the rowers of The Cross of Blood, and said that it was fitting they should be given a rich reward, for, notwithstanding the terrors inspired in all seafaring men by the place, and in spite of the ordnance of the Englishman making the passage like the mouth of hell, they had stood fast every one. “And what of yourself?” cried she, between smiles and tears. “What of yourself, my Ruari?” And she took from the mantle upon her shoulder a brooch of gold, with mystic signs, of which I knew not the meaning, engraved upon it, and in the midst of it a sapphire, with the deep blue in it of the
- 72. unfathomed abysses of the sea. This she handed to me, one of her arms about my neck, and I was uplifted with pride, albeit there was some shame mixed with it too. But the gift I compelled myself to decline. “I may not take it,” cried I; for the brooch was one of the tokens of her chieftainship to her people, and firmly resolved was I that there, in the land of her fathers, no man should ever have the slightest cause to think there was any other chief save her, and her alone. But if I took the brooch—”No,” said I; “I may not take it.” Then, seeing I was determined, she sighed, said no more, but kissed me on the cheek—a thing she had not done since I was a little child, playing with her, a child too, on the sands of the shores of Clew Bay. Thereafter together we went into the chamber of the main tower where de Vilela had been laid. There by his couch was my dear, a presence soft, tender, and full of sweet womanly pity and of the delicate ministries that spring from it. There upon the couch lay the wreck of a man; so calm, so pale, so worn, that he looked like one dead. “He still breathes,” said Eva, in a whisper. Perhaps it was the result of the conversation I had just had with Grace O’Malley, or it may have been the subtle influence of that scene, with that quiet figure stretched upon the couch for its centre, but there was no bitterness in my breast when I saw Eva there. Who, indeed, could have felt any other emotion at such a time but that of sorrow? For two days de Vilela hung between life and death. More than once did it seem that his spirit had left his shattered body, and yet it did not. On the third day the Spaniard rallied; Teige O’Toole, our physician, declared that there was hope; and from that instant Don Francisco began slowly to recover.
- 73. All within the castle rejoiced, and I as much as any; but when I saw how constantly Eva was with him, and how the sick man was restless and uneasy in her brief absences from his side, and how she watched over and soothed and tended him, her mere presence being a better restorative than all the healing simples of Teige O’Toole, is it to be marvelled at that I found the determination I had come to of leaving the field open to him, and of withdrawing from it, become more and more difficult to maintain? Neither did Sir Nicholas nor his army help greatly to distract my thoughts. For there, outside our walls, at a safe distance from our cannon, did the Governor lie day after day for a long week, waiting, doubtless, for the warship that never came. We did not, on our side, stir out of the castle, for whatever advantage, if any, had been reaped from the sally had been purchased at too heavy a price. Grace O’Malley rightly had come to the conclusion that we had everything to gain by sitting still, and that Sir Nicholas, seeing that he could do nothing against us without ordnance, would soon grow tired of this futile business, and so go back to Galway. Whether he had heard in some way that the vessel he had expected had been wrecked, or feared that events had happened which had prevented it from being sent at all by Winter, the English Admiral, I know not; but one night he stole away from Burrishoole, and when the morning was come, lo, there was not an Englishman anywhere to be seen. It was an unfortunate coincidence in one respect that the very morning which saw the siege raised should also have witnessed the arrival of Richard Burke, attended by fifty horsemen and more than a hundred gallowglasses, for if we could have counted on such a number of fighting men in addition to our own, we should certainly have again attacked the Governor’s forces and not stood so much upon our defence.
- 74. But in another respect it fell out luckily enough for us, and this was that we might now pursue him with some hope of overtaking him, and of stopping him from plundering the country, owing to the assistance of the Burkes. There was nothing more certain than that Sir Nicholas, as he retreated towards Galway, would drive before him all the cattle and horses of the land, and thus he would, after all, unless prevented, gather an enormous spoil, depriving us, and those who looked to us for protection, of a great part of our wealth. And already he had done us a vast amount of injury and harm. So soon, therefore, as Richard Burke, who was sorely disappointed that he had not reached Carrickahooley sooner, had come into the castle, and had been received and entertained by my mistress, from whom he heard a narrative of what had recently occurred, Grace O’Malley proposed that he and I should set out with a large force to endeavour to recover from the English the plunder they were taking away. And to this the MacWilliam gladly assented, observing that no proposal could please him better than to take part in getting back her property for her. “And,” continued he, “as it is impossible for Sir Nicholas to move quickly, hampered as he must be with many herds of cattle and bands of horses, we can catch him up before he has gone very far.” “You will also have many opportunities,” said Grace O’Malley, “of which I am sure you will not fail to make the most, of coming upon detached bodies of his troops as they struggle through the thick forests and the passes of the mountains, and of cutting them off. You can harass and harry him nearly every step of his retreat, so that when he at length reaches Galway it will be with greatly lessened forces, and with so slender a spoil that he will not care to boast of it.” “You would not offer him battle?” asked I. “You must be the judges of that for yourselves,” said she; “but Sir Nicholas is a fine soldier, and as wary as a fox in warfare, and I think
- 75. you can do him far more deadly hurt by acting as I have said. You will risk but little, and may gain much.” Then Grace O’Malley and Richard Burke began talking of what prospect there was of a general rising of the Irish against the Queen, and of the help that might be looked for from Philip of Spain, and of other matters, some of which, I suspect, lay even nearer the heart of one of them, at least. But of this I cannot tell, for when they commenced to speak of affairs of State I went out from the hall in which they were, to get my men in readiness to pursue the English. And welcome to me was it that our expedition, and its hard service, held out the promise of drawing off my thoughts from Eva and de Vilela. I was eager that we should make a start at once, but the Burkes were weary and footsore with their long, toilsome journey. For that day, then, they rested, Grace O’Malley giving them and all in the castle a great feast, filling them with food and wine, while her harpers stirred their souls with songs of the mighty deeds done by the mighty dead. Songs, too, they made to music now sweet, now fierce, in honour of my mistress, acclaiming her as not the least in the long list of a line of heroes! Whereupon the castle rang with tumultuous shoutings of applause. Then the minstrels cunningly turned their themes to the Burkes of Mayo, English once, but Irish now—ay, even more Irish than the Irish themselves. And so the day passed. In the morning we left Carrickahooley with a hundred horsemen and a hundred running footmen, besides horse-boys and others. Behind us came many of the fugitives who had come to us fleeing from before the English, and who now were returning to their homes, or to what poor, charred remains of them might be found.
- 76. As we moved swiftly on, we saw many evidences of the havoc wrought by the ruthless invaders; here the hut of the wood-kerne, who lives by hunting, there the hovel of the churl, who tills the fields, burnt to the ground; while over all brooded the silence of desolation and death. It was not till evening was upon us that we knew by many indications that we were close on the enemy. Then we halted and waited till the night had fully come, sending out in the meantime our spies to see what the English were doing. Softly, like thieves, they returned with word they had discovered that Sir Nicholas and the greater portion of his army were not to be seen, having apparently gone on, but that a small company of English soldiers and most of the O’Flahertys of Aughnanure were camped some two or three miles away, having in their charge great droves of cattle. Having no thought that they were being followed up by us, they had made no preparations for defence, and therefore might easily fall into our hands. Leaving our chargers to the care of the horse-boys, we divided ourselves into two bands, Richard Burke being in command of the one, and I of the other; and, going very circumspectly so as to give no hint of our approach, we burst upon the enemy, many of whom were slain at the first onset, but a far larger number escaped us in the darkness. We spent the rest of the night in their camp, having secured the cattle; and when daylight made manifest everything to us I saw that we had accomplished all this victory without the loss of a single man, there being but few wounds even among us. Then we rode on that day and two more, now and again falling in with scattered companies of the enemy, whom we slew or dispersed, and recovering from them whatever plunder they were taking out of the land. But Sir Nicholas we did not meet with, as he had gone on day and night without halting, having heard, as I afterwards learned, that the Burkes of Clanrickarde, under Ulick, the son of the earl, had
- 77. brought together several hundred men, including many Scots, and that they were even now threatening Galway itself. As we were not purposed to go on to Galway after the Governor, we returned to Carrickahooley at our leisure. And now, as we journeyed northwards, Richard Burke’s talk to me was all of his love for my mistress. How brave, how strong, how great she was! And of how wonderful a spirit and so wise withal! Did I think that she had a regard for anyone in especial? Or, that he might have a chance with her? And thus he talked and talked, until I, who had my own love trouble, and found it hard enough, was first constrained to listen, then to utter words of sympathy, and, last of all, was unfeignedly glad when our arrival at the castle put a stop to the outflowing of his eloquence.
- 78. CHAPTER XVI. “OUR NATURAL LEADER.” “The Earl of Desmond,” said Grace O’Malley to me, “is our natural leader against the English, and I wish you to go and see him.” These words my mistress addressed to me shortly after Richard Burke and I had returned. She and I were alone, and, indeed, she had sent for me expressly, so that I knew it was of some matter of importance she wished to speak to me. I had not anticipated, however, that it would be this. “Yes,” I said. “When do you desire me to go? De Vilela will hardly be able to be moved for some time yet, and I suppose that he will accompany me.” Don Francisco was better, but several weeks would have to elapse before he would stand on his feet, or even be moved from his bed with safety. “No,” said she. “I do not think it prudent to wait so long a period as may have to pass before de Vilela has sufficiently recovered. You must take Fitzgerald with you, and set out at once for the Desmond stronghold at Askeaton. Fitzgerald is now nearly well, his wound being all but healed. He possesses something of the confidence of the King of Spain, which Don Francisco enjoys to the full, and is therefore in a position to speak with Desmond, and to find out what his intentions are.” “As you will,” said I, not without gladness, for it would be a way, and that a perfect one, to enable me to keep my resolution with regard to Eva and de Vilela—if I were out of the castle altogether, then indeed would the field be left to him alone. But, at the same time,
- 79. there was a gripping about my heart that certainly was not caused by pleasure. “It would be most unwise to delay,” continued she. “Sir Nicholas Malby will come against us so soon as he can raise a large army; if not Sir Nicholas, then another; if not this year, and he will scarcely do so now the winter approaches, then next year. And thus will the contest go on till the end has come. Under Desmond, the head of the Geraldines, the greatest noble of the South, all the Irish people will rally.” My mistress’s voice was full of excitement; but I was not so sure of Desmond, and so made haste to remind her that he had been out against the Queen before, and had got nothing but imprisonment and grievous loss for his pains. “It is not the same now,” replied she, with her ardour undiminished; “for Philip of Spain will throw his sword into the balance. When Desmond understands that he will be backed up by the ships and the soldiers and the money of Spain, he will throw off all irresolution, and show himself to be the great prince he is. Tell him that we are with him heart and soul. Tell him that the Burkes, both the Upper and the Lower Burkes, will forget their feuds, and unite for this one common purpose. Tell him there will be no lack of treasure; and as an earnest of this we will now go to the Caves of Silence, and take from thence the chest of gold found on the Capitana—I have spoken to de Vilela about it—and some gems as well, as a present from me.” My mistress’s mind was made up, and vain would it have been for me to try to cause her to change her determination. And why should I try? Was not what she said true? Was not Desmond a prince in the land? If he could not be depended upon to lead us against the English, then on whom could we depend? So I stifled whatever of doubt I felt. Grace O’Malley was my leader, and if she were content with Garrett Desmond, then so was I.
- 80. We went together to the Caves of Silence, and brought away from them the chest of gold, a casket richly chased and adorned with rare jewels, and a dagger, the handle and sheath of which were studded with precious stones. “What hatred of the English may not accomplish,” said my mistress, “gold will. Many a good sword may be bought when neither love nor hate would affect aught; many a waverer made steadfast on the rock of gold.” I was to sail early next morning in The Cross of Blood, and in the evening when I sat in the hall, she straightly charged me that I was on no account to adventure the ship or myself in any sort of peril, and that I was not to attack any vessel, however fair and goodly a prize it might seem; nay, on the contrary, I must keep out of the track of ships as far as was practicable. When the two ladies left us for the night, and I rose to bid them farewell for a time, I held Grace O’Malley’s hand, and she pressed mine warmly. I would have given all that I had in the world, or ever hoped to possess of it, if Eva would but have clasped my hand with something of the same fervour, or that I could have held hers and caressed it with a lover’s fondness. And the eyes of my dear, too, were soft and kind, so that my heart cried out for a token, but my debt to de Vilela stood between us, and I only touched the little hand. She looked at me somewhat strangely, I fancied, as if the coldness of my manner made her marvel, and I think that there perhaps was a faint gleam of laughing malice in the face of Grace O’Malley, who stood by. But in the morning, there, at the window high up the tower, were to be seen both my mistresses, with their fingers to their lips kissing me good-bye, as the galley was pulled out from the harbour. It was now October, a month of storms, and we had to encounter head winds, heavy seas, and much stress of weather, so that our
- 81. progress southward was slow. Keeping close in shore, we took advantage of whatever protection the coast, or the islands along it, afforded us, having frequently to put in and stop in one or another of the bays of Connaught. A full week was thus taken up before we had gotten through the South Sound between Inisheer and the mainland, and, with the exception of some fishing boats, we had had the sea to ourselves. As we passed down the rocky, mountain-crowned coast, we were sorely buffeted and wrought upon by the winds and waves. By the time we were abreast of the Cliffs of Moher, so furious a tempest was raging that I feared never would we live through it. The stoutness of the galley, however, and perhaps some skill of seamanship, brought us safely to the Head of Cregga, which we essayed to round, but experienced so great a travail in the doing of it, albeit we did it, that we were well-nigh exhausted with the labour. But, once round the Head, we found ourselves in a stretch of water which, by comparison with that we had gone over, was as a quiet pool, to wit, the Bay of Liscanor. And here we remained for some hours, looking for such an abatement of the storm as would allow us to proceed; but in this our hope was not to be realised as soon as we had expected, for the night fell, and the fury of the tempest was not spent. The first object that met our gaze when the light of morning had come was a ship, all her masts gone, and the waves sweeping over her, go driving to her doom on the rocks of Cregga. As now her bows, now her stern was lifted up, so that we got a full view of her hull, there was that about her that seemed to me not unfamiliar, but I could not say then what it was. Clutching the ropes and bolts on and about what remained of her bulwarks were a few men, clinging desperately in the face of death to their last hold on life. There was no possibility of the ship being saved, and there was hardly a greater likelihood of saving the lives of any of these
- 82. miserable sailors, but I resolved to make the attempt, at least. Bringing up The Cross of Blood as near as I dared to the Head, and having made ready to lower her two small boats, I waited for the moment when the vessel would crash upon the rocks, and be crushed and broken upon them. As she neared the cliffs, the spume of the waves shooting high and white in the air, the foaming, roaring waters, dashed back by the rocks, caught and twisted her about, so that, as her side was turned to us, I saw her name in letters of white and gold. She was The Rosemary, a shot from which had caused the death of my master, Owen O’Malley, a few months before, and well did I remember how I saw her sail up the Shannon on her way to Limerick, with the two eerie figures shadowed against her canvas. For an instant I felt an impulse to stand off, and to make no effort to avert the fate of any of her men—it was uncertain, I told myself, whether at the best I could render them any assistance. But, after all, we had no quarrel with these wretched mariners, about to be swallowed up by the ever-hungry sea, and, if we had had, this extremity of theirs was of a kind which we could not look upon as our opportunity and have been worthy of the name of men. Therefore, when The Rosemary rose to the waves for the last time, and was borne aloft on the black edge of a huge roller, and then shattered to fragments upon the rocks, did we keep a sharp look-out for the bodies, living or dead, if any, which might appear on the water near where we were. And five poor souls, by means of our boats, did we save alive, or, being as the dead, did bring to life again—and one of them was a woman. Surely this was the queerest trick that fate ever played upon me, for the woman was none other than Sabina Lynch! Nor do I wonder that, when she had come to herself and, seeing me, knew upon whose ship she was, she did imagine she had but escaped from one
- 83. kind of calamity to meet with another, and that perhaps worse: for she had to be restrained, and that by force, from casting herself back into the sea, preferring death to being in my hands. And, verily, I was in a grievous quandary with regard to her. She would not eat nor drink nor rest nor sleep, but only cried and sobbed and moaned, till she fell into a sort of stupor. Recovering after awhile, she did naught but cry and sob and moan again, and was so distraught that I felt a pity for her. Then, what was I to do with her? True, I could keep her a captive, and take her back with me when I returned to Carrickahooley, and give her over to my mistress, who would doubtless accord her the grimmest of welcomes. And this, perhaps, was my duty. If it were, I failed in it. Urged on by a woman’s spite and jealousy, Sabina Lynch had played a treacherous and cruel part in regard to Grace O’Malley, and she was, in a measure, the cause of our quarrel with Sir Nicholas and the English. Sure was I that my mistress would not be merciful to her, nor would she expect me to be. Why, then, should I have been? I have no other answer, if it be an answer, except that I was deep in love with Eva O’Malley, and that my love for her made me feel certain that Eva, much as Grace was to her—as to me—would have told me to act as I did towards this woman. For I determined to let her go free. It is not in me to explain this matter further, nor to tell how often I argued it with myself, ever coming back, however, to what I conceived would be the desire of Eva—to let Sabina Lynch go. And if the other course was my duty, there was meted out to me, as will be seen, punishment out of all proportion to my fault. Having come to the conclusion that Sabina Lynch should be set at liberty when a suitable opportunity presented itself, I acquainted her with my decision. She could scarcely believe her ears, and was not convinced that I meant what I said until I informed her that she might move about the galley as she pleased, and that I would put
- 84. her ashore at Liscanor if she wished it, or take her on with us if that was her will. When she saw that I did not intend to deceive her, nor to do her any hurt, she told me that she was going to Limerick. Inquiring why she had left Galway, I now heard of the rising of the Upper Burkes under Ulick, the son of the Earl of Clanrickarde, which had caused Sir Nicholas to hurry back to that city—as I have before recorded. It appeared that the people of Galway were in the extreme of terror, as nearly all the fighting men of the place had been withdrawn from it, and from Athlone, where was the next English garrison, as well, for the expedition against Grace O’Malley, and the city was thus left without defenders. The Burkes had met with no resistance on their march to Galway, and the city was in great danger of being taken and sacked. A way out, however, remained, by the sea; and so grave was the state of affairs that Stephen Lynch, the mayor, had gladly availed himself of an opportunity of sending his daughter away for safety by The Rosemary, which happened to be leaving for Limerick. Along with her had also gone several ladies of Galway, but they had all perished in the wreck. I now informed Sabina Lynch that I was bound for the Shannon, and that I would put her ashore at some point on the river near Limerick, if our voyage had a favourable termination, but that I thought it would be better for her to land here at Liscanor. However, she replied that she had friends at Limerick, but knew no one in Liscanor, and so begged to be allowed to remain on The Cross of Blood. She prevailed upon me with her entreaties, and I consented—wherein, God wot, I was weak enough, though nothing short of her death could have prevented what was to occur. There is a saying among us Celts, “What will be, already is,” and this saying is true.
- 85. The day which succeeded that on which The Rosemary was destroyed saw us out of the Bay of Liscanor, and, the weather being propitious, the next found us entering the mouth of that most beautiful of all the beautiful rivers of Ireland, the Shannon. But it was not until two days later that I brought the galley into the bay of the creek upon which, some miles inland, stands Askeaton, the fortress of the Desmonds. During this time, being fully occupied with the working of the ship, I had seen little or nothing of Mistress Lynch, who, however, had had many conversations with Fitzgerald, and often did I hear them laughing and jesting, the one with the other, as if there were no such things in the world as bad weather and storms, and shipwrecks and war, and the deaths of men. Now the bay in which the galley lay was no great distance from Limerick, and as it would have been the height of madness to go any nearer that city, which could not but be very hostile to us, I told Sabina Lynch that our journey was at an end, and that she was free to go. Whereupon she thanked me, and along with Fitzgerald, who had offered himself as her escort for part of the way, and who was well acquainted with the country—for it was all the territory of the Geraldines—left The Cross of Blood. On his return, he and I, accompanied by some of our men, and taking with us the presents sent by my mistress, set out for Askeaton, where we were received by the Earl of Desmond. The castle was one of the largest and most formidable in Ireland, consisting of several towers and strongly built houses and stables, the whole surrounded by high walls around which flowed the waters of the creek, so that it looked like a town on an island in the middle of a lake. A village, with a church at one end of it, stood on the rising ground that led up from one of the banks of the stream over against the castle.
- 86. When the drawbridge was lowered—Fitzgerald making the matter of an entrance easy for us—and we had passed within the walls, I saw in the yard a considerable number of the gallowglasses of the Geraldines, some having arquebuses, but most of them only spears or battle-axes and swords. One of the knights of the Earl’s household approached us, and said that his lord was ready to see us. Fitzgerald and he—they were cousins, it appeared—began at once to talk, and they introduced me to several other gentlemen whom we met. And so we went into the presence of the Earl. Grace O’Malley had said that he was “our natural leader” against the English, and narrowly did I scan the features of Garrett Desmond as he rose from his chair to offer me his hand. My first impression was that of extraordinary disappointment, for I could see nothing very notable about him. Then, as he spoke, I noticed a twitching of the lips that strongly savoured of indecision, to say the least, and also that his eyes roamed restlessly, not settling fixedly on man or thing for a single instant. And as I observed him the closer, the keener was my disappointment. Yet this noble was a great power in the land. Once the Desmond war-cry was sounded forth from Askeaton, thousands would shake their spears in ready response. He had but to say the word and the whole South-West of Ireland would spring to arms. He had said it once and might say it again, but I distrusted and misliked him from the first. Courteously, however, did he receive me, and graciously the gifts which I presented to him in the name of my mistress. He inquired of me many things respecting her, to all of which I replied to the best of my ability. Indeed, during the time I spent at Askeaton, he never appeared weary of hearing about her and her exploits, which seemed, he said, incredible in one so young.
- 87. Then, after we had feasted together, he called Fitzgerald and myself aside and took us into an inner room where we three were by ourselves. And now Fitzgerald told him of the help, both in men and money, which Philip of Spain promised in the event of a general rising against the Queen, and I repeated to him all the words which Grace O’Malley had charged me to say to him. Never once did I take my glance off him, but he would not meet my eyes. For the most part he paced up and down the room, and one could easily see the travail of his mind in the working of his face. At one moment there would be gladness and the look of resolve, then doubt and gloom would take their place the next. The same uncertainty could be seen even in his walk, which was now swift, now slow. At last he said that it was a heavy matter, and not lightly to be undertaken, and invited me to stay at the castle until he had considered it more at large. I pressed for an immediate reply to my mistress, but he asked me to tarry for a few days, and, as I could not well do otherwise, there did I remain until one morning he gave me a letter for Grace O’Malley and many presents for her and myself, and so dismissed me. During the time I waited for his answer I heard from several that a Spanish army was looked for in the spring, and I could see that the Earl knew all that was going on. Therefore I did not doubt but that he had sent a message to my mistress that would please her well. And while I was thus waiting, the hours hanging heavily on my hands, I made myself well acquainted with the castle—its towers and strong rooms and walls—and thus acquired a knowledge which was to stand me in good stead before the end was come. Then it was Ho! for The Cross of Blood, and Ho! for Carrickahooley, which we reached after a voyage unmarked by any incident worthy of record.
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