Whitepapers

Popular wisdom will have you believe that a leader is someone who exudes confidence and charisma because they appear smart, interesting, and engaging. However, more often than not, these types of leaders wreak havoc on the workplace. A growing body of research suggests that humility is a far more important quality in a leader than charisma. Organizations tend to favor people who “seem”…

Every business I know is working to measure engagement. After all, the difference between good and great lies in discretionary effort. Drive higher engagement and get better results. What could be simpler? How to make it happen and where the responsibility lies is an interesting question. Often measured, evaluated, and benchmarked each year by HR through surveys – real ownership belongs to…

Does personality change? This is a question we receive regularly from our clients, along with a lot of hypotheses about when and why scores shift. Answering this seemingly straightforward question actually requires addressing three related questions: How often do scores on assessments change? When scores on assessments change, how large are those changes? Why do scores on assessments sometimes…

A burgeoning psychological field is revealing crucial leadership insights.   What Is Narrative Psychology? Narrative psychology is the perspective that, as Ted Sabin from UCSC said, focuses on “the storied nature of human conduct.”  The central thesis of this perspective is that narrative is a natural human process that is integral to our ability to make sense of the…

People who have power make decisions every day that affect those who have less power. They hire, promote or fire them. These decisions are usually based on work interviews with them, but this is the worst possible way to make a decision that has such an effect on a person’s life. My aim was to make employee evaluations – firings, promotions, hiring interviews – that is, the whole…