Collaboration and teamwork are key elements of successful workplaces. Past studies have shown that gratitude—employees being aware and appreciative of the benefits they receive at work—inspires the generous, helpful behaviour toward other employees that underpins effective collaboration and teamwork. However, the pressure-packed, high-paced environment of today’s workplaces leaves little time for employees to contemplate and […]
Read More… from Mindfulness Sparks Collaboration and Teamwork
As human beings, we are spectacular at pulling off all the complicated tasks it takes to have a conversation. The one conversation challenge we have not mastered is coordinating the end of the conversation. In most cases, according to recent research, a conversation ends either later or earlier than either partner wants it to end, and for […]
Read More… from Conversations Don’t End When We Want Them To
A study based on an exhaustive review of the research related to personalized marketing—marketing that is tailored to the interests or personalities of consumers—dissects the psychological and contextual factors that impacts how consumers react to personalized matching, including whether the marketing is more or less persuasive. In addition to individual personality traits or interests, marketing […]
Read More… from Why Personalized Marketing Succeeds or Backfires
Repeatedly making decisions for extended periods of time is mentally taxing and leads to what psychologists call ‘decision fatigue’. As a result, the decision makers will revert to default decisions—decisions that require the least amount of mental work. For example, one study showed that judges tended to refuse parole at a greater rate during periods […]
What is charisma? Much of past research focuses on the outcomes of charisma and often within the context of leaders in an organizational setting—e.g., charismatic leaders generate emotions that inspire others to follow them. However, leaders are not the only people in our lives who exhibit charisma, argues a team of researchers from the University […]
Read More… from Charisma beyond Leadership: Influence + Affability
Research on power in organizations often treats power as unidirectional—how subordinates deal with superiors or how superiors deal with subordinates. Two researchers challenge this static, unidirectional perspective with a new theory of power framework built on the concept of a continuum of a sense of power. In their interactions with others, individuals are not always […]
Read More… from The Unique Psychology of Being a Middle Manager
Most attempts at persuasion are met by wary resistance. People are naturally suspicious of the motives of persuaders, ready to believe that persuaders will use devious means to achieve their goal of persuasion. Previous research has focused on linguistic cues—that is, the words that persuaders can use to overcome this natural resistance. However, in their […]
Read More… from Persuading with Pitch, Volume and Non-Verbal Cues
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, […]
The theory of evolution argues that survival depends on adaptation to the environment. Biological, psychological and behavioural characteristics in living things evolve or emerge in an ongoing battle to survive in a changing environment. Through the prism of evolution, leadership emerged because of the social needs of groups—that is, leadership is necessary for groups to […]
Read More… from Inspiring Hero or Humble Diplomat? The Core Functions of a Leader
An extensive review of innovation studies in leading academic journals reveal that constraints on innovation are not necessarily negative. In fact, according to this careful analysis of 145 academic studies, constraints increase innovation…. up to a certain point. When constraints are pushed too far, they stifle rather than enable and encourage innovation. The term ‘innovation’ […]
Read More… from Constraints Aren’t So Bad When It Comes to Innovation
