Skip to content

Category Archives: Management Trends

Book Review: Emotional Capitalists – The New Leaders

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

The notion that raw intelligence alone might not only be insufficient to predict success, but also an insufficient indicator of a person’s overall ability, effectiveness, and influence has actually been around for a long time. It has been suspected, faintly perceived, and cautiously hinted at for millennia. But people would listen to pithy quotes on the topic, nod their heads in recognition, and then, when push came to shove, make selection and promotion decisions on the basis of traditional intelligence assessments. For the past quarter of a century, though . . .

Also filed in Book Reviews, Management Skills | | Comments (1)

A doctor in the house

Friday, July 17, 2009

Some years ago, at an early peak in the frenzy stirred up by the modern leadership movement’s gurus, doctorates in fields generally related to leadership began to appear in universities across the United States. Most of these were designed to create PhDs in something called “leadership studies;” the intent, presumably, to develop the field into a professional avenue of scholarly study. Given the true state of our understanding of leadership at the time – what it is, where it comes from, how it works – that was at once a problematic and perhaps an overdue ambition. . .

Also filed in Individual Leadership, Training and Education | | Comments (4)

Delegating authority

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Your greatest problem as a manager is not the weight of responsibility you bear. That is, of course, a very real burden. But the reason it is not your biggest concern is precisely that there is nothing you can do about it. Except . . .

Also filed in Decision-making, Management Skills | | Comments (3)

Reconciling leadership

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The concept of the democratic workplace has gained a good bit of ground in recent times. A particularly interesting aspect of it is the idea that employees should be given “ownership” of the decisions they implement. One version of this theme goes so far as to insist that the more important the decision, the larger should be the group that makes it. The problem, though, is that in politics the core tenet of democracy is that . . .

Also filed in Corporate Governance, Organizational Leadership | | Comments (4)

Roundup: Holiday gift-giving guides

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

A potpourri of ideas for the holidays:
Gifts for your ego. Did you know that you should buy your partner perfume that you like – not that you think he or she will like, or that some random fellow shopper in the store likes. Please see this illuminating essay from The Economist for the secrets behind [...]

Also filed in Personal Observations | | Comments (5)

A random roundup

Monday, December 22, 2008

Loss-making subsidiaries. Anyone who can effectively work the phrase “torpid portentiousness” into an essay is worth a read. Please see this Mark Steyn piece, from National Review Online, comparing GM to the relative titan, Bed, Bath and Beyond – and more. Many thanks to Michael Wade for the tip.
Dull diligence. Would you have thought that [...]

Also filed in Corporate Crime, Personal Observations | | Comments (3)

Fatal and futile fads

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Two weeks ago, we discussed the question of management fads, their causes and effects (academics, consultants, management). Author and consultant Ravi Tangri pointed out in a comment that some of the management ideas commonly viewed as fads are actually productive concepts that do much good when properly conceived and applied. That this is true only adds to the problem. . .

Also filed in Corporate Governance, Peter Drucker | | Comments (2)

Bad Behavior has blocked 960 access attempts in the last 7 days.