Leaders drive the process of organizational learning and adaptation by providing time and space, granting the freedom to explore and fail, and by encouraging those around them to look at things in new ways. This research examines the characteristics of a core set of leadership relationships, providing insights to help leaders reflect on their own […]
Subject: Executive Development
How to Limit Ambiguity of Responsibility and Learn from Failure
The nature and dynamics of today’s organizations are such that failures are almost inevitable; the failure of a new product initiative or the failure of an existing strategy to meet changing organizational demands are common examples. Management and psychology research has focused on highlighting tools and resources designed to help people learn from failures, and […]
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How Reflection Aids Performance: The Thinker as Learner
The concept of learning has captured the attention of management researchers around the world, particularly as it has become well-recognized that knowledge plays an important role in the productivity and prosperity of organizations. Most literature, however, tends to focus on the actual learning (i.e. the ‘doing’ part), whereas the effect that thinking about what has […]
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The Pros Vs Cons of Online Management Education
The explosion of Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) has led to management education being viewed in a new light. More and more organizations have decided to utilize online qualifications programs, and many leading business schools have started incorporating online modules into their existing programs. Ashridge Business School, for example, is delivering its Executive Masters in […]
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An Holistic Approach to Leadership Development
Traditionally, research on leadership development has put behavioural competencies under the spotlight; training, coaching, on-the-job experiences and mentoring are all intended to facilitate the development of these behaviours. But are these models too simplistic and incomplete for today’s complex business environment? In a White Paper published by the Center for Creative Leadership, Marian N. Ruderman, […]
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How Humility in the CEO Improves Management Performance
Unconstrained exercise of power and high self-regard on the part of leaders can have damaging consequences for organizations. Previous research has consistently demonstrated the negative and potentially detrimental effects that these traits on the part of CEOs can have, which has led to the concept of humility being explored more and more in psychology and […]
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Understanding Dreams: A New Tool for the Executive Coach?
Everybody dreams. Phantasmagoric ‘night journeys’ are part of life. It’s estimated that by the age of 60 most of us will have dreamed 197,100 dreams over 87,000 hours. The reasons why we dream, however, remain unclear. Oneirology, the study of dreams, has failed to produce a consensus. Some people argue that dreams are random firings […]
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How Valuable is Integrity for Mid- and Top-Level Executives?
Integrity — defined as the ability to act with honesty and strong moral principles — is often considered a crucial character strength for top executives. But what about middle-level executives? These managers are in line for top-level leadership positions in future, and play a vital role in any organization, from leading many different people and […]
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Changing Attitudes to Business Ethics: Insights from South Africa
Recent decades have seen increased focus on corporate governance and business ethics — and an increased number of ethics-based courses at business schools. While this is true of countries across the world, South Africa can be considered a special case. In South Africa, dramatic changes to the corporate governance regime have coincided with — and, […]
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Can Stress Improve Experiential Learning for Leaders?
Research suggests that executives tend to learn more from negative work and life experiences than positive ones, as failures and the threat of failure may force an individual to revisit the way they do things; positive experiences and successes, on the other hand, may lead to complacency. So what happens in your brain during such […]
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