Conventional wisdom has it that diversity helps creativity, in that people in homogenous groups are similar to one another with similar ideas and therefore less divergent thinking occurs. Also most research into group creativity assumes that creativity is unleashed by removing conventional constraints. This research, from Professor Jennifer Chatman of the UC Berkeley Haas School […]
Read More… from How Political Correctness Increases Creativity in Mixed-Sex Teams
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 […]
Read More… from Turn Employee Envy into a Tool for Personal Development
Love is not a word often found in management literature, although the consensus now recognizes the power of emotions in motivating (or demotivating) people. Daniel Goleman and others have popularized the influence of emotions in effective leadership. But even in discussions involving emotions, rarely does the word ‘love’ come up. Love in the workplace? Don’t […]
Research in recent years has consistently shown emotional intelligence (EI) to be a key determinant of performance for leaders and employees. Broadly defined as a set of competencies for identifying, processing and managing emotions, EI has been linked to many individual outcomes, such as job satisfaction and engagement. But what about at the team level […]
Read More… from Can Emotional Intelligence Shape a Team’s Collective 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 […]
Read More… from How Seeing Things Employees-Way Builds Performance
Being able to make the right decisions at the right time is a crucial part of leadership. Too often, however, lack of a proactive attitude gets in the way, causing not only decisions getting delayed but leaders failing to effectively resolve key business challenges. Ultimately, a lack of proactive leadership can have profound effects on […]
Read More… from How Procrastination Undermines Pro-Active Leadership
Virtuous organizations are organizations that create an environment in which everyone works for the good of all: employees, customers and the community. There will be challenges and setbacks, however, and the ability of managers and employees to overcome these challenges in ways that help them learn and grow is essential to sustaining the virtuous organization. […]
Read More… from How Showing Emotions Builds Individual and Team Resilience
In Shakespeare’s Othello, the eponymous lead’s passionate jealousy motivates all of his actions, including ultimately the murder of his own wife. Similarly, in the corporate world, there exist executives whose quest for power or professional success can generate jealousy that consciously or unconsciously affects their decisions. In an article published in the European Business Review, […]
Read More… from Is Othello Boss Syndrome Affecting Your Organization?
Once understood as something exceptional, change is increasingly seen as part of everyday working life. (The notion of the organization, somewhat paradoxically, now incorporates both change and stability.) Change management has become a dominant modus operandi for many companies. Despite this, there’s little evidence that the management of change is getting better or that organizations […]
Read More… from Back to the Future: Managing Change with Retrospection
What distinguishes good leaders from great leaders? This research suggests that the key lies in the way they approach the task of leadership and coaching, inspiring others to achieve their best rather than instructing them to do so. The notion of ‘coaching with compassion’ hinges on leaders making a strong positive connection with those around […]
Read More… from Accentuate the Positive – the Art of Coaching with Compassion
