Should the purpose of corporations focus on maximizing shareholder value or on attending to the interests of all internal and external stakeholders and society in general? According to corporate purpose scholars Dorothy Lund and Elizabeth Pollman, framing the corporate purpose debate in such unambiguous battle-line terms obscures a fundamental characteristic of corporate purpose that greatly […]
Psychological safety—the belief that it is safe to take interpersonal risks within a group—is recognized as a key attribute of high-performance teams. Research has shown that when team members are afraid to share their views, ask for feedback, or take risks, the team will be less effective. Psychological safety is conceptualized as a shared belief—that […]
The leadership field is filled with suggested approaches, principles, and behaviours for effective leadership, often grouped into different leadership styles. Authentic leadership, charismatic leadership, empowering leadership, servant leadership, instrumental leadership, and transformational leadership are a few of the more popular leadership styles that proponents argue will make you effective, successful, and beloved by your people. […]
Leadership involves a dynamic relationship between leader and follower to which both parties contribute. The study of “followership,” focuses on the vital role that followers play in the leader-follower relationship and, consequently, the role that followers play in the success of the organization. For example, poor followership, such as blindly following an incompetent or unethical […]
The importance of a group’s culture cannot be overstated: generally, the group’s culture defines how members of a group are expected to think, feel, and behave. Because culture is typically entrenched and long-lasting, one may sometimes forget the origin, or antecedent, of the culture. From where did the culture of a particular group emerge? Management […]
Building on internal and external research, the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) has developed a framework that not only measures the impact of leadership development programs but also reveals the key contributing factors that influence their effectiveness. The framework measures the impact of a leadership development program at four different levels—individual, group, organization, and society—and […]
CEOs and corporate leaders come from diverse backgrounds, with a broad range of childhood experiences. While some CEOs were raised in affluent families, with all the privileges and opportunities that such an upbringing offers, other CEOs had difficult childhoods marked by poverty and challenging family situations. A team of researchers studying the impact of different […]
Prior research has revealed a ‘glass cliff’ phenomenon: Companies in crisis situations are more likely to appoint women top managers than companies that are not in trouble. These disproportionate crisis appointments often set up women executives to fail. Some have argued that companies in crisis appoint women as top managers because of stereotypical beliefs by […]
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 […]
Research has identified as non-productive the narcissistic tendencies of a leader, such as a grandiose sense of self-importance and need for constant admiration, that have a negative impact on the organization. In contrast, productive narcissistic tendencies, such as charm and the drive to push through adversity, can have a positive impact. A new study examines […]