Executive Development Archives

How Leaders’ Origins Influence Their Roles

To become successful leaders, individuals must identify as leaders—that is, they must see themselves as legitimate leaders who have earned the right to be leaders. The path to claiming a leadership identity is varied. For example, some people believe that leadership is part of their personalities. They have always considered themselves as leaders of others, […]

What Makes a Good Corporate Strategic Thinker?

While businesspeople have a sense of what strategic thinking entails, defining this familiar concept in specific terms is a challenge. We know that strategic thinking and operational thinking are different, but what are the capabilities and mindsets that are required of strategic thinking? A wide variety of conceptualizations and definitions of strategic thinking emerge from […]

Building and Maintaining Mentoring Relationships

Scratch the surface of any leader’s great career and you will find the influence of one or more mentors who fully invested themselves in the leader’s development and advancement. The value of mentoring is such that access to qualified mentors is seen as one of the keys to inclusion and diversity. Yet, building a successful […]

The Future of Work Calls for Human-Centric Leadership

The workplace of tomorrow, according to a study of work in 2028, will be characterized by ubiquitous digitisation, disorientation in the face of constantly changing technology, and the continuous erosion of stability and familiarity: both life and work will be fluid and episodic with limited touchpoints between individuals and the organizations they work. Many people […]

Gaming Elements in Performance Feedback Inspires Effort

Effective performance feedback is a key factor in successfully managing and motivating employees. Companies recognize that what information the employee receives and how frequently can impact the effectiveness of the feedback. One variable not always considered, however, is how the feedback is delivered. Gaming offers some innovative ways to present performance feedback beyond the annual […]

Can Leaders Be Too Smart?

In general, previous research shows a linear relationship between intelligence and perceived leadership effectiveness, with the line heading steadily northeast (the more intelligent, the higher your actual and perceived leadership capabilities). Intuitively, this would seem to make sense: you need smart people to make the right decisions, to resolve problems or even to gather and inspire […]

Vertical Leadership Development Explained

Traditional leadership development focuses on adding more information, skills and competencies to a leader’s toolkit. Thus the leader might learn new ways to develop staff, for example, or new methodologies for communicating more effectively. Vertical development, according to CCL’s Nick Petrie, takes a radically different approach. The goal of vertical development is not to add […]

What Does It Take to Develop Globally Competent Leaders?

The annual leadership survey conducted by the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School was focused in 2015 on the development of globally competent leaders. Global competence is required for success as a leader in today’s ‘flat’ world, yet many leaders are weak in this area — and companies may not be training them with […]

Psychology-based Training Incentives Motivates Workers

While large corporations may have the bandwidth to organize mandatory, sustained in-house training programs, smaller companies must depend on outside organizations and the government to provide training. The challenge with such programs is that employees will only actively participate if they are self-motivated to do so. How can companies create or enable such self-motivation? According […]

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Subject: Executive Development