Research in academic laboratory settings — that is, within controlled experiments with voluntary participants — has shown that individuals with deeper voices are perceived as having more leadership capabilities. Different research points to specific qualities attributed to individuals with deeper voices, including competence, persuasiveness, confidence and trustworthiness. What happens, however, in the real world? Are […]
Read More… from A Lower Voice Can Take You Higher Up the Leadership Ladder
In most hierarchies, power is malleable, which means that it can change. A leader at the top can lose his or her power, and be replaced by subordinates who have, usually through their superior skills and accomplishments, managed to rise through the hierarchy. One of the characteristics of highly skilled subordinates is their ability to […]
Read More… from Why Leaders Sabotage Their Own Teams
Previous studies have explored the link between CEO pay and future business performance with mixed results. In some cases, higher CEO pay is linked to better results; other studies show the opposite: the companies of the highest paid CEOs perform less well, on average, than their more moderately paid counterparts. A research team from the […]
Read More… from High CEO Pay Leads to Overconfidence and Poor Results
Does hiring compensation consultants result in higher pay for CEOs? Until recently, academic studies exploring this question have yielded no evidence that CEOs use compensation consultants to justify higher pay. A new disclosure requirement from the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), however, allows researchers to better differentiate the potential motives behind the hiring of compensation consultants […]
Read More… from How CEOs Strong-Arm Their Compensation Consultants to Get What They Want
No one would deny the importance of strong, capable leaders at the helm of a company. Successfully managing the transition from a departing leader to a new CEO or C-suite executive ready to step into the position is thus one of the most important functions of a board of directors. But the responsibility of such […]
Read More… from Seven Key Steps to Effective Succession Planning
Succession planning is a vital issue for corporations. As CEOs leave, the smoother transitions occur when a successor or a short list of successors has been groomed and is prepared to step into the position. Since it is the board of directors’ responsibility to replace a departing CEO, one would expect that they would be […]
Read More… from Succession Planning: Boards Need to Know Their Senior Managers
CEOs tend to be strong in decision-making and the financial elements of their jobs, but weak when it comes to managing their people and developing talent, according to a survey of 160 North American boards of directors and CEOs. Specifically, ‘mentoring skills’ was tied with ‘board engagement’ for first place in CEO weaknesses, followed closely […]
Read More… from What Boards Think of CEOs
‘Span of control’, a concept which refers to the number of people who report directly to a manager, has been part of the management lexicon for decades. New technology, which enables easier access to more comprehensive data, now allows researchers to study in greater detail the implications of span of control — specifically how the […]
Read More… from Small Vs Large Top Management Teams and the CEO’s Workload
Many managers believe that quality is something that they as managers and decision-makers can control. Quality is internal and stable, unlike prices, which are subject to changing market conditions. Although prices are set internally, of course, these outside market pressures effectively, in the view of managers, take price decisions out of their hands (for example, […]
Read More… from Do Your Managers – Responses to Market Results Damage Profits?
The decisions of C-suites and boards are influenced by the previous experiences of their members. In uncertain situations, organizations gain legitimacy — and reduce the costs of experimentation — by copying others. These common-sense principles are borne out in a large body of research that points to the importance of ‘interlocks’ — i.e. previous or current ties to […]
Read More… from The Curse of the Narcissistic CEO
