Organisational Promotion and What it has to do with Chimpanzees - Andrew O'Keefe

One of the great mysteries of organisational life is how some people, who don’t seem so capable to their peers, just keep getting promoted. A few years ago two staff members were overheard sharing their frustration about their boss as they left a meeting with him, one colleague saying to the other, “Sooner or later, in a moment of madness, someone will promote him.” Let’s add a clue to solving the puzzle of moving up, or down, the pecking order. First let’s go to basic instincts in the animal world.

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Creating Passion with Managed Emotions - Dan Rockwell

Passionate leaders are intensely focused on clear targets. Emotional leaders express unmanaged feelings that typically hinder progress and hamper relationships. Leaders need passion. On the other hand, unmanaged emotion is counterproductive. John Maxwell expresses the benefit of focused intensity when he says, “A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion…” Effective leaders embrace their passion. At the same time they manage their emotions. How can leaders who lean toward the emotional side manage their emotions? I suggest, turning your emotions inward rather than releasing them like an avalanche on others. I know I’m breaking with established thinking. Everyone seems to say, “Express don’t suppress your emotions.” However, turning emotion inward isn’t suppression. It’s embracing, internally managing, and intentionally focusing emotional energy.

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R.D Laing on the Nonsense of Categorisation, Homogeneity and Modernity

Famous Scottish psychiatrist, Dr R.D Laing offers prophetic insights given this video was originally recorded in the 1980's. The implications of categorization and homogeneity, in a modern world dominated by IT infrastructure, for creative leadership means it has become harder and harder for an individual to express and have accepted unique views if they cannot be categorized for later tagging on the world wide web. This video beautifully captures the nonsense of this prevailing ideology and suddenly we begin to see the cultural damage of homogeneity forced on the world by the IT industry.

The Power of Ordinary Practices — HBS Working Knowledge Interview with Dr Teresa Amabile

Teresa M. Amabile's research centers on how the work environment can influence the motivation, creativity, and performance of individuals and teams. A recent study focused on the influence of team leaders on these factors. Professor Amabile and New Business publisher Mike Roberts recently discussed her research. New Business: Teresa, tell us about the general context of your research. Teresa Amabile: With all the focus entrepreneurs and business executives place on strategy, they can lose sight of the people "in the trenches" who actually have to implement the strategy—the knowledge workers who are carrying out the work of the organization. In my research we look at how entrepreneurs and executives can think about the day-by-day management of those people in the trenches,

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Narcissism and the Importance of Partnership and Strategy - The Conversation - Harvard Business Review

As the great Nebraskan Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, Omaha, 1899) used to sing, "There may be trouble ahead..." An article in the latest issue of Academy of Management Learning and Education reports that over the past 25 years college students in the U.S. have scored steadily higher on tests for narcissism. Professors Bergman, Westerman and Daly note that "the mean narcissism score of 2006 college students on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) approached that of a celebrity sample of movie stars, reality TV winners and famous musicians." Fabulous. If that weren't bad news enough, "Narcissism in Management Education" (Academy of Management Learning and Education, 2010, Vol. 9, No. 1, 119-131) also cites research indicating that "narcissistic tendencies such as materialistic values and money importance tend to be particularly evident in business students." Most studies of narcissists in business focus on their usually awful eventual effect on co-workers.

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