In the business literature, diversity is often painted as a magic elixir that brings different perceptions and knowledge to a team or an organization, which then effortlessly leads to greater innovation and better results. The truth is more complicated. A new study, based on a survey of 326 individuals working on a total of more […]
Read More… from Without Team Identification, Diversity Fails
Conversations with new people are an important part of most people’s social and professional lives. After such conversations, people often seem to underestimate whether the other person in the conversation enjoyed the conversation and liked them. A series of five studies confirmed what the researchers call the ‘liking gap.’ In the first section of the […]
Read More… from Why Workplace Conversations Are More Successful than You Believe
The ideal candidates for a new job are highly competent and highly sociable. They are knowledgeable and skilled in their fields while at the same time have collegial and easy to work with personalities. Nobody is perfect, however, and many candidates will be stronger on one dimension than the other — they will come across […]
In the 21st century interconnected, global, cross-functional, flat-hierarchy, silo-busted world of business, collaboration and teamwork are viewed as one of the foundational pillars of success, at both the organizational level and individual level. Such is the generally accepted wisdom. Even collaboration, however, is not immune to the dangers of ‘too much of a good thing.’ […]
Read More… from Too Much of a Good Thing: Collaborative Overload
What makes a good leader? The answer is often given in the context of the leader’s impact on followers — a natural response since the effectiveness of a leader is defined not by what he or she does, but by what he or she is capable of getting others to do. For this reason, theories […]
Read More… from Understanding Follower Attitudes Helps Decipher Leadership Success
The quality of the relationship between a leader and a follower or subordinate can have a major impact on the satisfaction and happiness, and ultimately the performance of that subordinate. Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory is the theory that studies leader-follower relationship quality and its impact on the success of the individuals involved and the organization […]
Read More… from Why You Need to Mend Any Poor Relationships With Your Employees
Diverse backgrounds on top management teams (TMT) can lead to the creation of knowledge-based faultlines. These faultlines are the result of top managers clustering into TMT subgroups based on shared knowledge and expertise. Researchers debate whether these subgroups are positive or negative: some believe the subgroups allow better information processing, while others believe that they […]
Read More… from Bridge-Building CEOs Unite Divided Management Teams to Succeed
The theory of leader-member exchange (LMX) focuses on the quality of the relationship between a leader and individual members of his or team, and how that relationship affects overall performance and the leader’s relationships with other team members. Low LMX quality would indicate a relationship that is limited to the contractual obligations: neither leader nor […]
Read More… from Leader-Team Member Relationships 2: Impact Job Satisfaction, Trust and Empowerment
Leader member exchange (LMX) theory is a theory that assesses leadership based on the relationships between leaders and followers (rather than the specific traits or behaviours of leaders). Thus, for example, LMX theory predicts that a trusting and open relationship between a leader and an employee will result in greater morale and job satisfaction, and […]
Read More… from Leader-Team Member Relationships 1: Impact on Performance
A company in the facility engineering industry took on a large and complex project that presented both technical challenges and was subject to legal regulations that affected customer requirements. Unfortunately, the steering committee (SC) in charge of the project never really understood the key trade-offs and risks in the project. Unaware of the technical or […]
Read More… from Supervising Projects Despite Limited Time and Expertise
