A growing number of studies in both the field and the laboratory demonstrate that people are imperfect co-operators — they tend to co-operate only if others do so, and a significant minority don’t co-operate at all. This pattern of behaviour causes unstable co-operation levels and often results in the disappearance of positive collective action over […]
Read More… from Co-operative Behaviour: Neuroscience Insights
What can statistics and data-based analyses reveal to us about meetings that are effective (leading to consensus and decision-making) and efficient (goals achieved in optimal time)? Because the science of meetings is still in its early stages, the raw data for study is still being accumulated. However, two researchers from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, […]
Read More… from Conducting Better Meetings – Can Data Help?
Based on interviews with more than 50 employees across 12 companies, as well as questionnaire data from more than 200 employees London Business School’s professor, Julian Birkinshaw, along with his fellow researchers, say that management should be about “seeing the world through the eyes of the employee.” In other words, it is a manager’s job […]
Read More… from Maximising Employee Performance
In the past research has consistently demonstrated the importance of ‘dominance’ as a personality trait in influential leaders. Understanding this, the authors through their new research found that dominant individuals achieve influence because they tend to appear competent to others, even when they actually lack competence. Furthermore, dominant individuals behave in ways that make them […]
Read More… from How Dominant Personality Trumps Competence in Teams
The authors set out to examine the leadership tools required to help managers rise to new challenges faced during uncertain times. Using case studies of prominent leaders of the past 50 years, they explore the keys of effective leadership. They find that in order to inspire others and lead change in difficult times, the two […]
Read More… from Leadership Tools: Magnet to Pull, Hammer to Drive
When it comes to personalities and employment roles, extraverts have traditionally done well, as they tend to express confidence, dominance and enthusiasm easily – all traits typically associated with good-performing employees. After all, someone expressing anxiety, emotional volatility and an overall neurotic personality in comparison will hardly make a better employee, right? Not according to […]
Read More… from Status in the Team: Extraverts Vs Neurotics
In a survey by Staples, Inc. in 2010, three out of four respondents admitted to ‘office-chair envy’ – that is, coveting a co-worker’s office chair. It may sound laughable, but various degrees and forms of envy in the workplace are a reality. Whether it is for the time and attention of senior managers or for […]
Read More… from Envy at Work – Pros and Cons for the Organization
In January 2011, a football commentator found himself unceremoniously fired after he made a remark about the appearance of a female match official, and questioned whether another was capable of understanding the ‘offside rule.’ Many called his comments sexist and ‘prehistoric.’ However, there were also some people that suggested the commentator’s termination was a result […]
Read More… from Political Correctness Helps Expression in Mixed-Sex Teams
Building on the latest research on leadership, as well as scores of interviews with CEOs and other leaders, Professor of Strategy and Leadership Sydney Finkelstein of Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business has identified four key capabilities that he argues are essential to strategic leadership. The first is intellectual honesty, that is, the capability of the […]
Read More… from Four Capabilities of Great Strategic Leaders
Derailment is the term assigned to the phenomenon of once-successful managers whose careers have ‘gone off the track.’ They are no longer effective in their functions or as leaders. They are no longer promotable. They are no longer contributing to the organization, despite years of experience and accumulated knowledge. What happened? Through a number of […]
Read More… from When Successful Managers Go off the Rails