There is a decision to be made. The decision makers know what they want to do, and take action. Reflecting on the action later, however, they realize that they did not make the decision that they should have made. On reflection, they see the attributes of the should choice — the new elements or special […]
Subject: Career Development
Turn Employee Envy into a Tool for Personal Development
When envy pervades a company — when employees and managers for one reason or another focus more on competing against each other instead of the company’s marketplace competitors — the result is a dysfunctional organization whose effectiveness and efficiency is greatly undermined. For example, various explanations are given for Microsoft’s failure to compete effectively against […]
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Why Women Who Blend Gender and Professional Identities Are Better Negotiators
Why are some women negotiators better than others? The answer may lie in whether or not women believe that their gender and professional identities are compatible or not. Women who believe their gender and professional roles are compatible — women who are in the social science terminology “high on gender/professional identity integration,” or GPII, are […]
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How Landmarks in Time Help Employees Set Aspirational Goals
Why do so many people make New Year’s resolutions? Because the New Year is the most obvious and universal of temporal landmarks — the dates or periods in time that mark a meaningful transition or change. Anything from a birthday or an anniversary to the first day on a new job or even in a […]
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Building Buy-In: The Value of Informal Relationships and Coalitions
How to make your voice heard and be more influential in the workplace has always been a topic of interest for executives. Traditionally, it has been suggested that in order to exercise more influence, one must strive to be a part of the hallowed ‘C-Suite’ (i.e. a chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief marketing […]
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How Seeing Things Employees-Way Builds Performance
If you could eavesdrop on your employees’ conversations, what do you think they would be saying about you? Or if you look back over your own career, considering the good and the bad bosses, how would you describe them? ‘Inspirational’, ‘empathic’, ‘open to new ideas’, or ‘controlling’, ‘autocratic’, and ‘micromanaging’? Whatever the answers, there is […]
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How Travelling Abroad Builds Trust and Tolerance
Spending time overseas has long been associated with the development of a more open and optimistic view of humanity and the world. In his 1869 autobiographical work Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain described travel as “fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness”, arguing that “broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating […]
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The Speed of the Ascent: Which Leaders Get the Top Jobs?
The profile of leaders has changed over the decades, with a significant shift away from the notion of lifetime employment. The employee of the mid-twentieth century who climbed the ladder of progression to reach the top is a rare beast nowadays. Recent research shows how over the last 30 years the executive profile has evolved […]
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Self-Reflective Job Titles Reduce Emotional Exhaustion
A research team from Wharton and London Business School discovered the benefits of self-reflective job titles almost by accident. Wharton professor Adam Grant, PhD candidate Justin Berg, and London Business School professor Daniel Cable were investigating the impact of a series of initiatives by the Make-a-Wish Foundation’s CEO. These initiatives had the goal of fostering […]
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Priming Power to Influence and Persuade
Previous research demonstrated that a sense of power can give a person increased confidence and reduce that person’s stress — two outcomes that can only enhance the effectiveness of that person in interview or meeting settings. Through two experiments, a team of international researchers confirmed the interpersonal impact of momentary changes in power that can […]