Tag Archives: Europe

The leadership ‘X’ factor that can fix any business

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By Mike Myatt

Businesses don’t fail – products don’t fail – projects don’t fail – leaders fail.

I have little use for leaders who can effortlessly call upon the right clichés and buzzwords in conversation, but fail to put into practice what they so frequently wax eloquent about. Words matter; but they matter more when put into action, when they become real, when they make a difference. If you’re a CEO prone to rambling on about culture, only to be blind to the reality of the culture you’re stewarding, today’s column is written just for you. Continue reading →

The Need for Entrepreneurial Leadership

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by Randel Carlock

Entrepreneurship is not just for startups. It’s a lens through which all organisations should view strategy and leadership in the 21st century to address societal problems.

Management theories come about in response to particular problems. At the turn of the 20th century, the most notable organisations were large and industrialised and carried out routine tasks to manufacture a variety of products. This led Frederick Taylor to develop the scientific management theory, which advocated optimising tasks by breaking big complex jobs into small ones, measuring what workers did and linking pay to performance.

Management practice of that era was designed to seek out efficiencies, improve productivity and make “the trains run on time.” Theory started to evolve by the 1930s, when unions began to reject the dehumanising effects of earlier practices. This formed the beginning of the human relations movement when researchers started realising that treating people nicely was even better for productivity. Continue reading →

“Leadership qualities” vs. competence: which matters more?

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Sarah CliffeBy Sarah Cliffe

There’s sometimes a disconnect between how we talk about leadership qualities (we tend to use words like authority, power, and emotional intelligence) and what we actually require from the people leading teams and other working groups (arguably, competence and a deep knowledge of the specific work that needs to get done).

In a forthcoming Journal of Applied Psychology article, researchers from Stanford and Erasmus University explore which set of qualities matters most to team performance. The paper also looks at when power differences contribute to team success, and when they damage it.

I spoke with Stanford’s Lindred Greer about the research; an edited version of our conversation appears below. The other authors on the article are Murat Taraki (lead author) and Patrick Groenen, both at the Rotterdam School of Management. Continue reading →

What If Management Ideas Actually Mattered?

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by Gianpiero Petriglieri

In August 1993, Professor Donald Hambrick gave a memorable address to the annual gathering of the Academy of Management. As its president, his question to the thousands of members in the world’s largest association of management scholars could hardly be dismissed: What if the Academy actually mattered?

Hambrick’s “actually” referred to the men and women, outside the Academy, occupied with actual management in actual organizations. The picture of academic provincialism that he painted was a stark yet familiar one.

More than 20 years later, Hambrick’s address has been cited nearly 500 times in publications by fellow academics. An established genre has emerged from critiques that management research lacks relevance and management education lacks impact. And management “gurus” who work within and alongside academia — writing about supposedly relevant matters in accessible fashion — are called into question just as often. Continue reading →

What Really Happens When Companies Nix Performance Ratings

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By David Rock and Beth Jones

The move away from conventional, ratings-based performance management continues to gain momentum. By November this year, at least 52 large companies had shifted from the practice of once-yearly performance appraisals; estimates are that hundreds of other companies are considering following suit. A wide range of industries are represented, from technology (39% of the 52) to business services (19%).

At the NeuroLeadership Institute, we’ve conducted in-depth research with 33 of these 52 companies to find out what really happens when companies remove performance ratings. Here are some of our high-level findings:

1. The frequency of manager-employee conversations increases dramatically.
All of the companies increased the recommended number of manager interactions with their teams. Of the 33 U.S.-based companies we studied, 76% had previously recommended an annual performance conversation. After moving away from ratings, 68% moved to a recommendation of, at minimum, quarterly conversations.

The focus has clearly shifted to conversations happening throughout the year. Managers are being urged to use their judgment about a conversation frequency that best supports employee performance. Some companies are also asking direct reports to play a more proactive role in owning the responsibility for scheduling and preparing for performance conversations. Continue reading →