“A US psychologist, Carl Rabstejnek, has identified at least 100 management fads since the second world war, from ‘acceptable risk’ at one end of the alphabet to ‘zero defects’ at the other. He argues that fads reflect managers’ need to appear to be ‘in the know’ and to talk the language of change even when… Read More
Leading Virtual Teams
Leading a virtual team is a challenge faced by many, whether an organisation has one person working from home, to having a team spread around the world on different time zones. Citing research that estimates an 800% increase in virtual working over the past five years, the authors examine the critical leadership skills needed in… Read More
Seven Pillars of Leadership Wisdom
Can you learn leadership? And what is wisdom? These are teasing questions for many of us so an article looking at both wisdom and leadership is almost irresistible. Mike Clayton says leaders need to be smart – they need to know how things work and how to get things done. They need to motivate their team,… Read More
The Perils of Bias and Self-deception
Most leaders in private would probably admit that their decisions have more than a smidgen of ‘gut feeling’, even though in business the cultural norm is that of the rational animal. This piece flags up the perils of ignoring the science behind unconscious bias. Accepting that as decision-makers we are constantly subject to a variety of… Read More
The Measure of a Leader
Can leaders be identified by psychometrics? Spotting a good manager is hard. Some firms think psychometric tests help and, as a result, an industry has appeared to supply them. No one knows how big it is, but the vendors of such tests estimate it to be worth between $2 billion and $4 billion a year,… Read More
Update: Employment Law in April
Some employment law updates that may interest or apply to you: The rate of statutory sick pay (SPP) increased on 6 April from £85.85 to £86.70; The rates of maternity allowance and statutory maternity pay (SMP), statutory paternity pay (SPP), and statutory adoption pay (SAP) increased on 7 April from £135.45 to £136.78. The weekly… Read More
Big Data: Infallible Robots versus Fallible Humans!
How software helps firms hire workers more efficiently. The problem with human resource managers is that they are human. They have biases; they make mistakes. However, with better tools they can make better hiring decisions, say advocates of ‘big data’. Software that crunches piles of information can spot things that may not be apparant to… Read More
