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Leadership Development

A library’s worth of business and academic literature has been devoted to understanding and defining “leadership.” This section sets forth some common definitions of what leadership is and what it is not and also discusses the qualities, traits, behaviours and competencies that better suit the modern timeline.

Why Focus Matters to Your Leadership: Understanding Huawei’s Business Strategy

By David De Cremer Contemporary business develops at a rapid pace, with many uncertainties, internationally connected stakeholders, and little latitude to make mistakes. In such...
marketing strategy ideas

Closing the Gender Gap

A growing body of research and anecdotal evidence shows a positive correlation between gender-balanced corporate leadership and organisational performance. Despite this, a significant gap...

Coaching for the Future

Using the example of the Indian company J.K. Organisation, this article shows how the adoption of a coaching culture has transformed the organization, setting...

The 3 C’s of Growth Leadership: Culture, Capabilities, and Configuration

By George S. Day George S. Day’s new book Innovation Prowess: Leadership Strategies for Accelerating Growth is an essential guide to building a framework for...

Unlocking Leaders’ Potential

CareSource, one of the largest public sector managed care companies in the United States partners with ICF (International Coaching Federation) to deliver Leadership Transition...

Mindfulness, Mindlessness, and Work

By Michael Pirson While mindfulness was originally developed as an individual concept, it has been transferred to the organisational level in the context of research...

Making Capabilities Explicit is The Work of Leadership

By Richard Lynch, Amber Román And Derval Kennedy In “Clarifying Strategy Is Simple. Aligning Your Organisation Is Not.” (The European Business Review, Sept/Oct 2014) the...

Powerful Leadership Wins Employees Hearts + Minds…Gains Customers

This article explores how to use effective leadership strategies to win hearts and minds of employees to improve the bottom line. It draws attention...

Rise and Fall of Leadership

By Guido Stein Few concepts have received such widespread attention over the last two decades as that of leadership. Below, Guido Stein discusses the complicated...

Closing the Leadership Gap

By John Sutherland Traditional leadership development programmes operate with a one-size-fits-all mentality. Below, John Sutherland argues that the key to developing the right kind of...

Brilliant Senior Team Work

By John Sutherland A large number of businesses have a gap between the espoused strategy and what actually happens day by day. So much so...

Build High-Quality Connections

By Jane E. Dutton Jane E. Dutton explains why high-quality connections (HQCs) are critical building blocks for bringing out the best in people and...

Actions Speak Louder Than Words – Why Adaptive Non-Verbal Communication is a Key Leadership...

By Dr Connson Locke Non-verbal communication is extremely influential in interpersonal encounters, and knowing how to leverage non-verbal signals effectively can be a key leadership...

The Rise of the Functional Manager Changes Afoot in the C-Suite

By Maria Guadalupe, Julie Wulf & Hongyi Li Research shows that the recent transformation in the C-suite, that is, the skyrocketing number of executive team...

The Mindful Leader – Staying Resilient, Collaborating and Thriving in Complexity

By Michael Chaskalson and Megan Reitz Political and economic instability, climate change, globalisation, disruption, an unprecedented pace of change and overwhelming channels of communication –...

Is Compassionate Leadership a Driver of Huawei’s Business Success?

By David De Cremer and Tian Tao In this article, the authors trace giant telecom Huawei’s success to its founder’s commitment to compassionate leadership. In...

What Leaders Do… Requisite Competency for 21st Century Challenges

By Patrick R. Dailey
 From the earliest recorded leadership teachings of Confucius to contemporary theorists and practitioners, leadership has consistently been viewed as the decisive...

Leading Teams: Tools and Techniques for Successful Team Leadership from the Sports World

By Paolo Guenzi & Dino Ruta Sport can use some managerial know-how, and managers have a lot to learn from the world of sport. Below,...

Are Leaders Fair? On the Need to Understand Fairness Management in Organisations

By D. De Cremer, G. Houwelingen, C. Ilse, H. Niek, L. Brebels, M. Van Dijke & A. Van Hiel It is human nature to want...

Developing Multicultural Competence

By Luciara Nardon, Richard M. Steers & Carlos J. Sanchez-Runde In our globally expanding economy, it is no longer enough for successful managers to have...

Why Focus-Based Leadership is Important to Huawei’s Business Strategy

By David De Cremer and Jess Zhang Contemporary business develops at a rapid pace, with many uncertainties, internationally connected stakeholders, and little latitude to make...

CEOs, Mind Your Own Business! Why and How Corporate CEOs Should Pay More Attention...

By Andrew Campbell, Sven Kunisch & Günter Müller-Stewens The corporate office consists of the CEO and the corporate functions. It is the main vehicle for...

The Leader’s Checklist

By Michael Useem The Leader’s Checklist comprises fifteen mission-critical, time-tested leadership principles that vary surprisingly little among companies or countries. Taken together, they constitute a...

Leadership and the Structure of Trust

By Paul R. Lawrence and Robert Porter Lynch Trust enables everything to move faster more effortlessly,and with less conflict. In the business world, executives soon...

The Daily Practice of Leadership Communication During Times of Change

By Terry Pearce In this article Terry Pearce, the author of LEADING OUT LOUD A Guide For Engaging Others In Creating The Future, places authenticity...

The Importance of Being Expert… Contextually Expert

By Barbara Kellerman The article argues that leadership is not a person – it is a system. It is a system in which three parts...

The Quality of Working Life: Managers’ Wellbeing, Motivation and Productivity

By Les Worrall & Cary Cooper The recent economic crisis has created waves of turbulence that have rocked and even sunk many UK organisations....

Leveraging Your Collective Genius

Interview with Linda Hill Harvard Business School Professor and World Business Forum speaker Linda Hill gives The European Business Review her take on leading innovation. Linda...

What is Resilience?

By Adrian Furnham Can resilience be taught? If so, how? And are some organisations more resilient than others? This article considers how the notion of...

Creating Abundant Organizations

Interview with Dave and Wendy Ulrich In “The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations” (McGraw-Hill 2010), Dave and Wendy Ulrich set out...

Senior Team Development for the Unwilling

By John Sutherland Traditional team work over-emphasises the whole team approach far more than is needed for most practical purposes. In this article, John Sutherland...

Naturally Selected? Clues about Leadership from the Animal World

By Mark van Vugt When thinking of a “successful executive”, we often use the description of an “alpha”, most of the time a male one,...

Dominance and Prestige: Selecting the Leadership Approach that Fits

By Charleen R. Case and Jon K. Maner Maximising your organisation’s effectiveness requires leaders who tailor their leadership approach based on the organisational culture, their...

Who’d be a School Leader? Current and Future Challenges

By Peter Earley Strong school leadership is viewed as especially important for the regeneration of failing schools. Below, Peter Earley draws upon recent research into...

Identity In and Around Organisations

By Majken Schultz & Steve Maguire At the heart of any successful organisation lies a powerful conception of identity: the coherent way in which it...

The 7 Keys to Unlocking Organisational Greatness

By Sean Culey Sean Culey, member of the European Leadership Team of the Supply Chain Council and CEO of business improvement consultancy SEVEN Collaborative Solutions,...

Leadership with a Smile Managing Our Emotions as a Tool of Enacting Leadership

By Marian Iszatt-White Practicing leaders often have to manage their emotions as part of enacting their leadership role: whilst we all do this as part...

Evolving Leadership in the Digital Age

By Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries To become more effective and reflective leaders, executives need to learn to improve their behavioural reactions to difficult...

Why Leaders Fail

By Patrick R. Dailey “All too frequently, an exceptional executive encounters a corporate trap door, falls, and then derails. This article presents 21st century challenges—corporate...

Design Your Life: Leveraging Design Thinking For Better Executive Health

By Steven P. MacGregor Why does management development focus almost solely on the neck up, when the demands placed on managers and executives touch every...

Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader

By Herminia Ibarra In this excerpt from her book, Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader Herminia Ibarra discusses what she describes as the...

Developing Values in Business Education

By Nigel Duncan This article considers how we might best prepare students for ethical business practice. It considers recent developments in evolutionary research and neuroscience...

The Transformation Imperative Collaborative Leadership is Key For Future Success

By John Mattone In this article, John Mattone discusses how progressive leaders in the business world are moving away from a conventional leadership culture and...

Leadership Development: One Size Does Not Fit All Growing Leaders in Africa and Across...

By Dr Vanessa Iwowo Despite the diversity of business and social cultures around the world, we continue to teach and take part in a “one...

Ethics + Business: Ingredients for Great Leadership

By Claudia Peus and Armin Pircher Verdorfer Imagine you have been asked to support a company with their employee survey. You have done your research,...

How Political Intelligence Sets Successful Leaders Apart

By Gerry Reffo and Valerie Wark Leadership Alert! There are times when the classic development of leaders no longer fully equips them or their organisations...

50+20 Management Education for the World: PART 2: Understanding the Core of the Vision

By Katrin Muff, Thomas Dyllick, Mark Drewell, John North, Paul Shrivastava & Jonas Haertle This article continues from Part I (in the last issue of...

Leadership Dispatches: Business Lessons From A President Taking Charge

By Michael Useem, Howard Kunreuther, and Erwann Michel-Kerjan This article discusses the leadership of President Sebastián Piñera following the Chilean earthquake of 2010. The authors...

Through the Ceiling and Over the Cliff? Catch-22 for Women Executives

A new program for women executives combines business acumen with leadership development and career reflection. It’s an approach designed to strengthen the key skills...

Leading through Engagement: Creating Foundations for the Africa of Tomorrow, Today

By Sean Culey Africa is at a tipping point. It is poised for growth, but the question is whether this growth will be based on...

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Person using laptop with Ai Content Generator. Interaction with the Ai assistant to solve some tasks more easily.

AI Search Revolutionises Brand Discovery – Here’s How to Get Noticed

By Claire Snook In 2025, AI-powered search is poised to become the foundation of how brands connect with their customers. Advances like ChatGPT, SearchGPT, as well as the strategic pivot from traditional search engines toward...
Many small ideas lead to big innovation. Lawbreaker concept

The Lawbreaker: How Deliberate Rule-Breaking Drives Innovation 

By Doug Hall  Transformational ideas require a leap of faith. They require you to break free of your “adultness” to allow your mind to run free and unconstrained. This article presents one of the most...

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The Better Boards Podcast Series: Selling Bold Ideas in the Boardroom

The podcast and the article are brought to you by The Better Boards Podcast Series. Have you ever wondered how to sell a bold idea in the boardroom? Not just an idea different from what your...