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What 100 Years of Research Tells Us About Effective LeadershipEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
What do we actually know about effective leadership? One hundred years of research on the topic has led to some clear answers. First, are leaders born or made? The answer is both, but more made than born. Leadership is a complex and sophisticated social role. Although certain qualities do predispose some people to attain leadership positions and be better at leading, effective leaders actually hone their skills through experience, conscious self-development, education, and training. Second, does leadership training work? Relatively recent an...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 20, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D. Tags: Work amp nbsp crucible development education development efforts different company effective leadership followers great leaders leaders share leadership ability leadership development leadership positions leadership situation l Source Type: consumer

My New New BossEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Shuffle Ball change. That's the current dance step in so many offices.It's ironic in a way. With the job market frozen so that even the unhappiest amongst us are advised to take a deep breath and endure for the nonce, some companies are undergoing internal change at an unexpected pace."It's my third boss in two years." said one Assistant Superintendent in a school district where School Superintendents have the life span of fruit flies.‘We merged again." explained a banking investments advisor. "And while I'm singing the grateful-to-have-a-job anthem, which is the god's honest truth, I inherited a boss from the gang that ...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 19, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Dr. Judith Sills Tags: Work anthem assistant superintendent banking investments ceos dance step deep breath family business fruit flies honest truth life span new boss nonce outsider power structure printing sales repositioning sales director Source Type: consumer

How to fight Recession Fatigue at WorkEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This recession has gone on long enough. Jobs are still scarce. Layoffs are still happening. While the end looks in sight one day, the next day it seems to disappear.Last fall, when the bottom fell out of our economy, anyone who still had a job was willing to do the work of three people. That person understood that their supervisor's bad mood was caused by stress.O.K., that was over a year ago and many people are still dealing with stressed out bosses and doing the work of three people. Others struggle with fear and anxiety over their job search process.Emotions are high: fear, panic and stress are in the air like the H1V1 ...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 19, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Kathi Elster Tags: Work anxiety attitude attitudes bad mood disposable society emotions fear flu great shape job search matter of time mortgages Possessions promotions recession Recession Fatigue search process stress supervisor thoug Source Type: consumer

Will I Be Part of “Gen U,” the Generation Unretired?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Many of us grew up with a stereotypical life plan: I'll go to school, college, get a job, get married, have a family, get a home, and maybe even have a white picket fence and a dog. “Then magically, at 65, I will retire and can finally relax.” Some of these notions have faded into oblivion - in fact, “retirement” has been virtually redefined.We have reached a critical mass in which Baby Boomers now say they do not plan to retire. Retirees are applying for jobs, either out of economic necessity or the realization that it’s not “greener” on the golf course or tennis court. These individuals comprise what ...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 19, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Lynn Taylor Tags: Work aarp baby boomers bad dream boss behaviors career critical mass dotcom boom economic necessity education financial freedom freedom style gen x gen y generation golf course Grandparents junior staff mentor microco Source Type: consumer

Procrastination, guilt, excuses and the road less traveledEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent. (Bob Dylan). I certainly agree with the first part of this Dylan quote, but I'm quite sure that there's more to it than repentance, including: distraction, forgetting, trivialization, self-affirmation and denial of responsibility to name a few.Since the 1950's with Leon Festinger's (and his students') initial work on cognitive dissonance, psychologists have spent countless hours studying how acting counter-attitudinally leads to a negative emotional state. Why? Well, most people try to maintain a consistent and positive sense of self. Most peop...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 19, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Timothy A. Pychyl, Ph.D. Tags: Procrastination Work attitude change behavior change bob dylan cognitive dissonance conflict conflicts coping countless hours denial different places distraction doctoral student emotional state excuses initial work inten Source Type: consumer

The Secret for People Who Don’t Believe in VooDooEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The latest fad in motivation is the Law of Attraction or more popularly The Secret after the motion picture and book by Rhonda Byrne. The idea being that if you use the power of The Secret you will attract health, wealth and friends to you in abundance. The Secret takes an old idea and repackages it for today’s society. The core idea is that your thoughts control the world around you. If you have positive thoughts, good things come your way. If you have negative thoughts then bad things come your way. In other words, if you wish hard enough for the...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 18, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Robert Wilson Tags: Happiness Philosophy Self-Help Spirituality Work abundance atomic level brain waves carnegie hall concert pianist core idea health wealth latest fad law of attraction lesson in my life motion picture Napoleon Hill Negativ Source Type: consumer

Genes and JobsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The Genetic Non-Discrimination Act (GINA) comes into full effect this Saturday, November 21st. Employers need to take note, and employees should be aware of their rights.Congress passed GINA almost unanimously, and President Bush signed it on May 21, 2008. Described by the late Senator Ted Kennedy as "the first civil rights bill of the new century of the life sciences," GINA protects individuals from genetic information discrimination in health insurance and employment. A detailed description can be found here.Even some well-informed commentators seem to have missed this landmark piece of legislation. So ...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 17, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Pete Shanks Tags: Law and Crime Media Politics Social Life Work andrew sullivan commentators criminal background check criminal background check policy daily dish discrimination act dna testing employment employment practice full effect geneti Source Type: consumer

Fair PlayEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Recently, while finishing up delivering a talk in Silicon Valley, I found myself struck by a deep sense of dread. I hadn't brought enough copies of hand out materials for the unexpectedly large group. This meant that at any moment a small mob of otherwise friendly people might turn against me, driven to expressing mild rage from a sense of unfairness. It was enough to put me on edge for some time until I labeled what was going on.Fairness is the fifth and final domain of threat or reward I have written up in a series of posts, the others being Status, Certainty, Autonomy and Relatedness. These five ideas together make up t...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 15, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: David Rock Tags: Neuroscience Social Life Work autonomy being ethical deep sense dread enormous sums ethics fair fair play fairness fairness issues injustice large group mundane situations pain and pleasure political clashes relatedness Source Type: consumer

What can psychology contribute to our work lives?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I am delighted to enter this world of blogging; I hope that my passion for the psychological exploration of working is intriguing to some of you and, ideally, helpful. In this blog, I will introduce some of my ideas and relate them to the challenges that individuals face in the world of work and to the challenges faced by employers and organizations.I have recently written a book entitled "The Psychology of Working" that has presented my thinking about work. Over the course of the next few entries, I will outline my perspective with a focus on various issues that all of us face. For now, I want to respond to the question t...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 14, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: David L. Blustein, Ph.D. Tags: Work blog blogging bottom line challenges crying wolf decades economists insecurity passion perspective proposal psychological exploration psychology recession self determination significant improvements survival unempl Source Type: consumer

Top Level Leadership: The Triumph of Humility Over ArroganceEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This has been a very good two weeks, immersed in the study and discussion of leadership. Last week was the Peter Drucker Centennial Celebration, and many of the most renowned leadership thinkers were present. This week I am in Prague for the annual meeting of the International Leadership Association, and it too is occurring during another anniversary celebration: the Velvet Revolution and the fall of the Iron Curtain. Last night a personal video made by President Vaclav Havel opened the ILA conference (he had an important meeting elsewhere, but made this video to discuss his thoughts on leadership). What I was struck most ...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 12, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D. Tags: Work anniversary celebration artifact authentic leadership centennial celebration doing the right thing fall of the iron curtain importance of humility international leadership jim collins key role leadership association peter druc Source Type: consumer

Workplace Violence -- How to recognize its warning signalsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Last week's shooting at Fort Hood was a criminal act of senseless violence against innocent victims who'd done nothing to harm their assailant. As the FBI, army officials, police investigators and forensic psychologists continue to piece together the events and motives behind this brutal act, many of us scratch our heads wondering what could have led a seemingly quiet, caring army psychiatrist to snap and decimate his own colleagues.In the world of psychology, it can be tempting to analyze and diagnose criminal behavior as if it were ultimately understandable or even excusable. Nothing excuses the senseless killing of anot...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 10, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Katherine Crowley Tags: Work academic settings afganistan army officials assailant criminal act criminal behavior detecting potential violence. warning signs forensic psychologists Fort Hood Fort Hood shootings innocent victims jason rodriguez loner m Source Type: consumer

The Top Five Mistakes in Law School Personal StatementsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
It's law school application time and my office is located next to the office of our pre-law advisor for Liberal Arts Career Serivces, Tatem Oldham. I see a steady stream of students meeting with Tatem trying to decide everything from whether they should go to law school in the first place to determining which law school is the best choice. As she is every year at this time, Tatem is immersed in personal statements: good, bad, and ugly.Law schools base their admission decisions on several factors: your grade point average, your LSAT scores, your background and experiences, and your personal statement or essay.The personal s...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 10, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Katharine Brooks, Ed.D. Tags: Work admission decisions admissions application time boston college famous quote grade point average law school law school application law school personal statements law schools lawyers liberal arts career lsat scores personal Source Type: consumer

From Speech Worrier to Speech Warrior: How to Give a Better SpeechEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I'm sure you've read advice on how to become a better public speaker. Classic counsel is to know your subject and practice your speech. While this instruction is considered timeless for a reason, I add this thought: Whatever. I'm taking these two as an automatic given. Here's what you really need to appreciate, those subtle nuances most speakers never think to contemplate and use. Here we go.  1. Oral briefings by their name and nature are just that: brief segments of information transfer. Here, time limitations are paramount and you're correct to offer data in a direct bottom-line format. If people seek ...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 10, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: LisaMarie Luccioni, M.A., A.I.C.I., C.I.P. Tags: Anxiety Happiness Self-Help Stress Work aesthetic appeal alcohol American Presidents attention attention getter audience audience members beautiful thing brainstorming brochures clarification classic counsel common ground Source Type: consumer

How the Navy Seals Increased Passing RatesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
It was 10 PM, pitch black and I was in the middle of the woods in North Carolina. My job was simple. I had to erect a 30 foot antennae that would be used to gather radio transmissions so our artillery platoon could conduct fire missions. I had been dropped off from a Humvee along with another soldier in another platoon. We were all alone. He had the same mission but had to set up his antennae about 100 yards from mine.It was one of many such missions my unit conducted as ‘practice' in the Army. In the snow, in the rain, in the summer heat we practiced the science of artillery. At least half of the year, every year, we sp...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 9, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Bakari Akil II, Ph.D. Tags: Work army History Channel Matthew Broderick Navy Seals The Brain war games Source Type: consumer

How the Navy Seals Increased Passing Rates with Simple PsychologyEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
It was 10 PM, pitch black and I was in the middle of the woods in North Carolina. My job was simple. I had to erect a 30 foot antennae that would be used to gather radio transmissions so our artillery platoon could conduct fire missions. I had been dropped off from a Humvee along with another soldier in another platoon. We were all alone. He had the same mission but had to set up his antennae about 100 yards from mine.It was one of many such missions my unit conducted as ‘practice' in the Army. In the snow, in the rain, in the summer heat we practiced the science of artillery. At least half of the year, every year, we sp...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 9, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Bakari Akil II, Ph.D. Tags: Work army History Channel Matthew Broderick Navy Seals The Brain war games Source Type: consumer

Interview with an Irreverent IntrovertEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Meet Larry Underwood*, the founding father of Enterprise Rent-a-Car in the Desert Southwest. We’re chatting about his 26-year experience as an irreverent senior corporate manager who some people might be surprised to learn is an introvert.He doesn't like meetings. But he likes to make people laugh. He inspires his staff, takes care of his customers, and knows how make an operation wildly profitable. And he doesn't always go with the flow. Underwood's most recent achievement is his book, Life Under the Corporate Microscope, which offers a glimpse behind the curtain from his days at Enterprise.Here’s how I connected with...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 9, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Nancy Ancowitz Tags: Work amazon reviews big boss book self bookstores career curtain desert southwest donuts enterprise rent a car founding father glimpse introversion introvert irreverent larry underwood leadership maverick microscope s Source Type: consumer

Business: Work/Life Balance: Part IIEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In the September issue of Prime Business Alert!, I introduced you to my perspective on work/life balance: what it is, the causes of work/life imbalance, and the basic process for how you can create better balance in your work and personal lives. This issue will focus on specific and practical strategies you can use to actually establish better work/life balance.Warm FuzziesIf your life is out of balance, perhaps too many hours and too much energy devoted to your work and not enough time and energy available for other important aspects of your life, ask yourself what is missing. I call these the "warm fuzzies," namely, what...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 9, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Jim Taylor, Ph.D. Tags: Work business alert businesspeople clarity commitments efficiency element family and friends focus food time good food inefficiencies multitasking open communication other important aspects personal lives perspective prim Source Type: consumer

Leadership Vs. Management: What’s the Difference?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We just finished the Peter Drucker Centennial celebration in Claremont. The world's foremost leadership and management scholars spoke at the week-long event, including Jim Collins, Stephen Covey, Ken Blanchard, Charles Handy, Frances Hesselbein, Warren Bennis, and a host of others.Several of the speakers discussed the difference between leadership and management. Typically this is that leaders engage in the "higher" functions of running the organization, while managers handle the more mundane tasks. But I think it's all about semantics. Successful and effective leaders and managers must do the same things. They need to set...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 8, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D. Tags: Work business centennial celebration charles handy critical roles difference between leadership and management everyday vocabulary frances hesselbein I/O psychology ken blanchard leadership management management departments managem Source Type: consumer

Fort Hood FalloutEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Psychologists call it illusory correlation. The idea is that when we think about others, we tend to overestimate the association between groups and actions that are distinctive. It's one of the ways in which societal stereotypes are perpetuated and endure over time. And it's exactly what has many an American Muslim concerned in the wake of this week's tragic shooting spree at the Fort Hood Army base.Consider the following research study: you're shown flash cards with information about individuals from two different groups, X and Y. For both groups of people, 75% of the individuals are described as having engaged in some so...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 7, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Sam Sommers Tags: Law and Crime Media Morality Politics Psychiatry Social Life Stress Work deviant behavior Eric Rudolph Fort Hood illusory correlation Muslim stereotypes Nadal Malik Hasan shooting terrorism Timothy McVeigh tragedy Source Type: consumer

On Crazy ShrinksEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Our patients. Clients. Call them what you will. They suspect us all the time anyway. That we are secretly the crazy ones; they the stolid norm. They come for our help and often we heal, but still that resentful suspicion lingers. They may sit in the patient chair, but always slightly the doctor is devalued as much as he is idealized.We live our professional and social lives turning the jabs to plowshares. The anxious jokes acquaintances make about whether they are being analyzed. (They are not, not unless they are paying customers. But we cannot help how much they reveal without our making the slightest effort. Quit ...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 6, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Dr. Judith Sills Tags: Work boot straps catastrophic loss chants contempt crazy ones crazy shrinks jabs jokes malik hasan nidal norm pint plowshares poison pot power imbalance psychiatry psychotherapists psychotherapy rage suspicion w Source Type: consumer

Business: President Obama and Transformative LeadershipEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Over the past two years, we have seen what some have called a transformative demonstration of leadership. This process culminated on January 20th with the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. Whether or not you agree with his politics (and Prime Business Alert! is decidedly nonpartisan), you have to respect his journey and appreciate his leadership capabilities. You can also learn a great deal about effective leadership and sustained, high-level performance by studying his improbable and meteoric rise.From humble beginnings, having to prevail over the dual "handicaps" of race and fatherl...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 5, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Jim Taylor, Ph.D. Tags: Work 44th president Barack Obama business alert campaign organization candidacy clintons effective leadership fatherlessness handicaps high level performance humble beginnings inauguration landmark achievement leadership capabi Source Type: consumer

Disproving MyselfEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This is my first blog post for Psychology Today and I will jump right in. The already-active bloggers were asked for this month's print issue to describe one psychological finding that they have used to change their own behavior. My answer comes from an old study showing that people usually seek information that confirms their own theories rather than more helpfully seeking information that could disprove their theories. P.C. Wason examined this in 1960 in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. Suppose I ask you to suggest the next item in the number series 2, 4, 6... I will tell you whether that number fits the...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 5, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Nelson Cowan, Ph.D. Tags: Cognition Politics Work belief that bloggers journal of experimental psychology p c wason Psychology Today quarterly journal of experimental psychology religious beliefs superstitions thinking and reasoning true one whole numbers Source Type: consumer

The Anti-Leader: How Bad Leaders Get Everything WrongEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I'm coaching a professional colleague who is encountering the very worst sort of leadership imaginable. The tales of this leader's bad and vicious behavior are truly remarkable. In an effort to better understand how such bad leadership operates, I thought of this: Let's take a theory of good leadership - transformational leadership - and flip it around. If bad leadership is the opposite of good leadership, then we should be able to take the components of transformational leadership and see how this exceptionally bad leader does the opposite.So, here goes. The first component of transformational leadership is idealized infl...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 5, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D. Tags: Work blind loyalty budget cuts decisions followers intellectual stimulation leadership leadership style misstep motivation narcissism personal gain personality positive role model professional colleague rewards sociopath Source Type: consumer

Healthy Success: Create a Successful Life Without Killing YourselfEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
From the first time I met Maria, she awed me with her careless beauty, impeccable style, and spontaneous hilarity. I secretly hoped that when I reached my 50's, I'd manage to be a little bit like her. It wasn't until she became a client that she told me a secret that few others know: Maria has multiple sclerosis. Before you start feeling sorry for her, you need to know one more thing: she got diagnosed almost thirty years ago. In her early 30's when the disease hit, she had a high-level corporate job, a business on the side, and was raising four kids in her spare time. She wanted it all and was determined to get it, unti...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 4, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Susan Biali, M.D. Tags: Health Resilience Self-Help Social Life Stress Work Annie Dillard auto immune disorder Choices corporate job corporate wellness countless times family and friends fashion and fame health and happiness healthy success hilari Source Type: consumer

Good Girls and Alpha GuysEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
"I cannot stand to disappoint him. It goes way beyond doing my best. It's doing my best with a claw in my chest." -- Third year associate, speaking of the law partner to whom she is assigned. "He's my profile: talented, arrogant, picky. Married of course, and I'm not going that route. But I'm smiling up at him like I'm Princess Diana, and the thing is, I don't even like him. I can't seem to help myself." -- Vice-President for Global Sales, referring to one of her fast track direct reports.It's an invisible emotional puppet string. When a certain kind of man yanks it, a certain woman responds. It might well be for better - ...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 3, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Dr. Judith Sills Tags: Gender Work 360s alpha male boss colleagues dominant man Source Type: consumer

Introverts: Stretch and Get AheadEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
New York was crawling with Madonnas and Madoffs, Blagos and Jackos, and no shortage of Sarah Palins this past weekend. Would you benefit from taking an occasional holiday from your workaday persona? Who were you for Halloween? And who are you on the other 364 days of the year? If you’re an introvert, you probably avoid drawing attention to yourself (although an occasional mask and a costume can be a clever workaround if you enjoy taking on a different persona!).In the context of work, you probably spend more time immersing yourself in the tasks at hand than creating buzz about what you've accomplished. Sound familiar? H...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 3, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Nancy Ancowitz Tags: Work buzz career advancement civvies colleagues Comfort zone cues day of the year days of the year exercises halloween mask having fun improv improvisation improvisation class insights introversion introvert jackos Jo Source Type: consumer

Finding Purpose in Labor (and Labor Economics)Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In philosophy, religion, work and play, human beings tend to seek for meaning in their lives. We enjoy occupations that have meaning, and we can become quickly frustrated if we sense the pointlessness of a task. In the psychological literature, meaning is sometimes viewed as one of the strongest motivating factors in human behavior; a concept that fits well also with common intuitions of what drives human behavior.Despite the seemingly obvious importance of meaning in determining occupational choices, only few economic studies appear to consider the role that a job's "meaning" may have on the behavior of labor market parti...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - November 1, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Daniel R. Hawes Tags: Behavioral Economics Philosophy Work drazen economic behavior economic studies experimenters human behavior intuitions kamenica labor labor economics labor market participants lego pieces lego toys legos manipulations mea Source Type: consumer

Who is setting your Agenda?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In the 1970's, Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw set out to understand how news organizations affect what people view as their most pressing civic issues. In their study they examined local (Chapel Hill, N.C.) newspapers and news broadcasts and then asked residents to list what issues they were most concerned about.What they found was telling.A majority of the respondents cited concerns that matched the front-page and lead stories in their local newspaper and TV news broadcasts. They also found that the news stories that newspapers and broadcasts devoted less time and space to ended up being on the bottom of the respondents'...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 31, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Bakari Akil II, Ph.D. Tags: Work Agenda Setting Theory approach best places Chapel Hill civic issues co worker common sense dating relationships Donald Shaw itinerary lateral direction lead stories line of reasoning Maxwell McCombs media news broadcas Source Type: consumer

Great ideas vs. confidence: Which counts more?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
What's better? Having a great idea or being confident that you have a great idea?Granted, it's not always a choice between confidence and a great idea - sometimes you really can have both. But keep those two things in mind as you read about this experiment done with business students at MIT. The subjects were a group of up-and-coming business executives gathered at MIT to present their business plans to their peers. Their incentive was the promise that the best ideas would be recommended for funding.The first experimental twist here is that the group members were not the only ones watching and evaluating the bu...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 31, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Prof. Alex "Sandy" Pentland Tags: Work accuracy business executives business plan business plans business students confidence final decision group members informational content listeners measurements mimicry nbsp peers pitch social channel social content Source Type: consumer

Reality MiningEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We live our lives in digital networks. We wake up in the morning, check our e-mail, make a quick phone call, commute to work, buy lunch. Many of these transactions leave digital breadcrumbs - tiny records of our daily experiences. Reality mining, which pulls together these crumbs using statistical analysis and machine learning methods, offers an increasingly comprehensive picture of our lives, both individually and collectively. This new science of reality mining looks at the world the way that people do, sensing patterns of human interaction and rhythms of groups and organizations in a way that mirrors our human "social s...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 31, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Prof. Alex "Sandy" Pentland Tags: Work accelerometers computational models crumbs digital networks e mail emerging technologies honest signals human behavior human interaction mining works name badges new science patterns of communication professional success Source Type: consumer

Can We Adapt to Big Cities and to Little Nature?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Some people say that we don't have to worry that we're destroying the natural world, and that we increasingly live in increasingly large, congested, and polluted cities. At the core of their argument usually lies three claims, which sound something like this: (i) "Well adapt." (ii) "Adaption is how we evolved." And (iii) "adaptation is good for us."It's a pernicious argument.Granted, the first claim is true. We will adapt. It is that or we will go extinct, and I doubt that will happen. The second claim is also true. Adaptation is part of our evolutionary heritage. But the third claim is not always true. It is possible to a...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 30, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Peter H. Kahn, Jr., Ph.D. Tags: Evolutionary Psychology Happiness Health Morality Social Life Stress Work adaptation adaptations adaption biological systems Choices cities darkened area evolutionary heritage harmful ultraviolet radiation hemoglobin huma Source Type: consumer

You Majored in What? And You're Going to Med School?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In the world of linear career thinking we often take comfort in what we know to be "true." Pre-med students should major in biology, of course. Pre-law students should major in political science or economics. The problem is that the truth isn't nearly as obvious as it might seem. Or even true.While waiting to do a television interview about my book yesterday, I had an interesting conversation with a dentist who was waiting to do an interview about good and bad Halloween candy. (By the way did you know that pretzels and raisins can be worse for your teeth than candy? But I digress...) When he learned that my book was about ...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 30, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Katharine Brooks, Ed.D. Tags: Work admissions art classes business courses chaos theory college majors college student cosmetic dentistry dental school faculty members halloween candy law school law students linear response lsat MCAT med students medi Source Type: consumer

Business: Top Ten Qualities of Prime LeadersEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In my work with CEO's and other business leaders throughout the world, as well as, top coaches and professional and Olympic athletes, I have identified ten qualities that I have found to be woven, without exception, into the very fabric of these highly successful individuals. If you look at the business leaders whom you admire, I'm sure you will also see these attributes in them.#1: Identity. Prime Leaders have a strong sense of their corporate identity, that is, their unique qualities, capabilities, and contributions, in other words, who they are, what they can do, and what they have to offer their industry. Identity acts...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 29, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Jim Taylor, Ph.D. Tags: Work attributes breadth business leaders CEO corporate identity crisis crystal balls ener fabric failure fame futures happiness laedership links to the future olympic athletes ownership passion and purpose prime leade Source Type: consumer

Emotional LeadershipEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This will be a blog about emotion in the workplace. Basically, it will be an ongoing discussion of the wolf in the sheep's suit we all wear to work.Thought is the widely esteemed, publicly presented office sheep. Rational thought is the wellspring from which we presumably derive business models, shrewd decisions, problem solving skills, critical analysis, five-year plans, short-term goals, and daily to-do lists. To be less plodding and give logic its' due, excellent thinking also spawns product innovation, process improvement, technological leaps and such ingenious solutions as the production line and the cubicle. Yo...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 29, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Dr. Judith Sills Tags: Work business decision business models career strategy critical analysis Cubicle daily to do lists emotion ingenious solutions interview technique leadership paycheck power of passion problem solving skills process improvement Source Type: consumer

Four Things You Can Do to Become a Better LeaderEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Research clearly shows that transformational leaders - leaders who are positive, inspiring, and who empower and develop followers - are better leaders. They are more valued by followers and have higher performing teams. By working on the 4 key components of transformational leadership, we can all become better leaders (and better persons, in general).1. Be a Positive Role Model. Set a positive example and don't ask others to do what you yourself are unwilling to do. Alexander the Great was a successful military leader who was adored by his troops, because Alexander was out in front leading the charge into battle.2. Be Opti...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 29, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D. Tags: Work alexander alexander the great assets attitude business exceptional leaders experiences followers innovation leadership military leader personal development personal gains play games positive regard positive role model Source Type: consumer

Deadlines WorkEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
As I sit here writing this column against the deadline, I’m reminded of my days as a young advertising copywriter when I occasionally needed a deadline as motivation to finish a boring project. The deadline did more than motivate me to finish -- more often than not, it was what finally stimulated enough creative thinking to move me forward -- in other words, it motivated me to think outside of the box. “Thinking outside of the box.” Boy, has that phrase become overused. People are so often telling us that we need to think outside of the box that it has fallen into the ...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 29, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Robert Wilson Tags: Creativity Happiness Procrastination Self-Help Work advertising copywriter cliche creative thinking creativity and innovation deadlines desire disability freedom illustration ingenuity legs marathon motivation nbsp ph Source Type: consumer

Are We Entering The Age of Empathy?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Greed is out. Empathy is in. That's how Frans de Waal begins his book, The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons For A Kinder Society. De Waal is a biologist, professor of psychology and director of the Living Link Center at Emory University. In 2007, Time magazine selected him as one of the world's most influential people. The global financial crisis of 2008, together with the election of a new American President representing a vastly different political and social perspective, has produced a "seismic shift in society," argues de Waal. The distinguished scientist says it is long overdue that we jettisoned our beliefs about h...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 26, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Ray B. Williams Tags: Work american president animal species animals species biology emory university empathy examples of cooperation frans de waal global financial crisis greed human existence human society human species humans and other animals Source Type: consumer

Sustainability: The Second Business Bottom LineEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Business can no longer operate from the perspective of short-term financial gain only. The world has become too complex, and social and environmental concerns now make financial profits at the expense of everything not only short sighted but dangerous. And we need only see the leadership debacles of an Enron, Worldcom and the recent Wall Street fiascos to see what selfish financial gain reaps on everyone. There is increasing support for the notion of a business triple bottom line: financial profits, social responsibility and sustainability. Tim Sanders, in his book, Saving The World at Work, says "the responsibility revo...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 25, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Ray B. Williams Tags: Work business commercial carpet tile effluent financial gain financial profits gallup organization greenhouse gas emissions industrialist Interface interface inc kyoto protocol manufacturing companies paul hawken petrochemical Source Type: consumer

Reclaiming CreativityEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Discussion group at the European Academy of Management on "Managing Creativity for Innovation". I presented a framework to explain how we could delineate different types of creativity, the different stakeholders concerned and how we might evaluate the efficacy of any creative effort. The diagram below is an outline of that framework... The 3D framework distinguishes at the... Level at which creativity is operating (i.e. ranging from the level of the individual through to the breadth of society). We may further distinguish the... Facet(s) implicated (like the processes involved, the environmental surroundings or press ...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 25, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Mark Batey, Ph.D. Tags: Creativity Work artistic product brainstorming bricks and mortar communication descriptive accuracy diversity issue elephants few words innovation intricacies mad men marketing monks orchestra conductor organization organ Source Type: consumer

Media, The Knowledge Gap Hypothesis and Staying in the LoopEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The Knowledge Gap Hypothesis is an idea put forth by scholars Tichenor, Olien and Donahue. They claimed that an ever-increasing gap in knowledge develops between ‘elites' and the ‘less fortunate' as media and its channels evolve. Those who have access to this media due to their social or economic position have a higher quality of information available to them. As a result, they are able to make more informed decisions that ultimately lead to a better quality of life.However, there is another side to this equation. It can be found where the lack of access to media is not due to social or economic reasons, but beca...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 25, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Bakari Akil II, Ph.D. Tags: Work academic interests Apple iTunes breadth campus visit campuses dean donahue economic issues economic position economic reasons elites extreme ways free time gap horizons hypothesis interview ipod job search jour Source Type: consumer

Don't Retire, Keep Working To Stay HealthierEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study supported much earlier studies, such as a study at a major hospital in 1920 that showed that people who worked after retirement lived longer and a Yale University study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, that showed being laid off or fired close to retirement or old age had a devastating effect on an individual's health, with particular reference to stroke. The American Geriatrics Society reported that people over age 65 who worked as volunteers had half the death risk of those who did not.The benefits of continuing to work, other than financial resources, are social interaction, and oppor...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 24, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Ray B. Williams Tags: Work aarp age sex american journal of industrial medicine baby boomers cancer lung functional decline great depression health health researchers high blood pressure journal of occupational health journal of occupational health psyc Source Type: consumer

Public Speaking for Private PeopleEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I just had my first book launch event for Self-Promotion for Introverts®. As I was preparing a speech to deliver at the event, I recalled what my colleague, PJ Lehrer, a plucky adjunct lecturer who teaches advertising at New York University, recently shared."I heard about a rock star who threw up before he performed and thought, 'Why would he keep doing that if it made him sick?'," said Lehrer. "But then," she adds, "I was asked to do a spontaneous radio interview. I went into the bathroom, threw up, and came back out and did the interview. Afterward, I thought, 'I feel just like a rock star!'"Many introverts and extrover...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 23, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Nancy Ancowitz Tags: Work adjunct lecturer black hole book launch center stage fades giving a presentation horror flick introversion introvert introverts launch event low budget many headed monster mother tongue new york university preparing a Source Type: consumer

Workplace Doom and Gloom: What if there is no light at the end of the tunnel?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
It has been a few weeks since our last posting. Aside from time and craziness from working on our electronic publishing venture Knowledge Genie, we have been a bit stymied with writer's block. Things are pretty awful out there and the news continues to be pretty bad. One of the challenges of writing on the topic of work is trying to find a positive slant and proactive angle in the face of difficulties that millions are experiencing.What are the problems? First, there is the employment climate. According to the September report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction, manufacturing, government, and retail job...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 21, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Thuy Sindell, Ph.D. and Milo Sindell, M.S. Tags: Work affiliation anxiety; job; economy bureau of labor bureau of labor statistics challenges character type craziness crossroads electronic publishing employment climate frustration genie glimmer hero Heroes monster nbsp Source Type: consumer

Business: Why Change is So Hard, and How to Make it EasierEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Change is essential for your growth and development as a person and a business leader. Without change, as the old Texas adage goes, "If all you ever do is all you've ever done, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got." Your ability to maximize your performance and productivity depends on your ability to change in positive ways.If there is something that you don't like about yourself or you find something that is interfering with the pursuit of your goals, well, just change it. Seems simple, doesn't it? But, as anyone who has ever tried to change knows, it is far from simple or easy. Change can be slow, frustrating, an...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 21, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Jim Taylor, Ph.D. Tags: Work action steps adage adult adulthood boss business leader change commitment confidence control anger courage emotions experience emotions fear of failure frequent types goals growth and development ingrained habits Source Type: consumer

Are Emotions Driving You at Work?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Ever wonder how much time you spend at the office on emotional issues? It's easy to let emotions drive what you do - or drive you to distraction. They are often triggered by those around you - and can create a logjam between you and the work at hand. A simple task takes much longer due to wasted energy.A manager's unexpected barb, a co-worker taking credit for your project, or even something you said that you later regret are common examples.Just because we're sitting in an ergonomic chair versus a comfy TV room couch doesn't change the fact that we're human, dealing with human sensitivities, instincts, egos, hopes and fea...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 21, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Lynn Taylor Tags: Work amount of time bad behavior bad boss barb chemistry co worker co-workers communications courtesies distraction egos emotional intelligence emotional issues emotions ergonomic chair Fears focus great news hopes Source Type: consumer

More Psychology of Good and Bad LeadershipEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In the last post, we were exploring tactics used by bad leaders, what I called "cheap psychological tricks," to control and subjugate followers. A variation on the abuse of requiring follower obedience to authority is when leaders call on the ultimate authority - God. Many despotic leaders throughout history have declared themselves gods, from the Egyptian pharaohs, to modern times, such as North Korea's Kim Il Sung.Leaders of cults, such as Peoples Temple founder, Jim Jones, (leader of the Jonestown, Guyana mass suicide in 1978) declared themselves "god" so that followers who disobey the leader's orders are seen as blasph...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 19, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D. Tags: Work Abraham Lincoln almighty creator and workplace personality bandwagon effect blasphemers cheap psychological tricks dangerous path egyptian pharaohs founder jim god is on our side Jim Jones jonestown guyana kim il sung lead Source Type: consumer

The Myth of Management EfficiencyEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The current recession has produced a flood of management "experts" and many leaders of organizations whose only strategy for dealing with the downturn in the economy is cutting costs, layoffs and more efficiency based strategies. The mantra for business for much of the last century has been operational efficiency. So leaders look for ways to cut costs and make the operations lean and mean. Yet much of the rationale for and evidence supporting efficiency as a key management strategy is questionable. In a great article by Adam Hartung in Forbes, titled The Myth of Efficiency, he outlines how leaders have mistakenly used effi...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 19, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Ray B. Williams Tags: Work autho company profits consultancy company doblin group efficiency frederick winslow taylor incremental improvements industrial engineer innovation innovation research innovation resources international business school jill l Source Type: consumer

Can an Introvert Sell Well? Real-Life StoriesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I go into a cell phone store and approach a salesman. Actually, I jump up and down until one we’ll call Cell Phone Sam pays attention to me. Once he starts talking, I hear a combination of a late-night TV hair-replacement commercial, an auction at Sotheby’s, and Charlie Brown’s teacher, all in a blaring chorus of rebates and Anytime Minutes.I butt in to ask Cell Phone Sam to explain my options for a service upgrade for my cell phone. I try taking notes, but I can’t keep up. I try asking questions, but his responses come in unlimited data speak—all as he helps three other customers.So I inch my way backward, blast...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 18, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Nancy Ancowitz Tags: Work cabbie cell phone store charlie brown cues empathy free cell hair replacement introversion introvert late night tv lexington avenue listening mimicking nonverbal signals pay attention purse rebates recesses rhine Source Type: consumer

The Psychology of Good and Bad LeadershipEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Good leadership is hard work. In comparison, bad leadership is relatively easy. Bad leaders know or learn that they can easily take advantage of followers. People all too often fall prey to self-serving and exploitative leaders - leaders who know how to manipulate and use psychological tactics to gain power.Let's look at some tactics - we'll call them "cheap psychological tricks"-- that bad leaders use to easily gain control over and dominate followers. Then, we'll see what good leaders do (or should do) to lead effectively.First tactic: Using the in-group, out-group bias. This is sometimes called the "we-they feeling." It...
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 16, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D. Tags: Work animosity axis of evil bad guys bad leaders bias cheap psychological tricks commonalities constituency evil empire follower followers good guys good leaders good leadership human nature international struggles partis Source Type: consumer

Branding Part 2: Avoid the Kitchen Sink ResumeEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I recently conducted a branding exercise to prepare for a local television interview. I looked at how the job-seekers were presenting themselves to employers: what was their "brand" so to speak. (To learn the basics of branding see my previous post. And check out Dan Schawbel's Personal Branding Blog.)The people I reviewed were all mid-career professionals who had been laid-off. One person was in marketing, one in consulting, and another in journalism. Three careers where one would assume the job seekers possessed a lot of marketing savvy. And they did. Their online presence was generally good....
Source: Psychology Today Work Center - October 13, 2009 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Katharine Brooks, Ed.D. Tags: Work accomplishment antithesis association meetings branding career professionals competitions egos embarrassing photos google job postings job search engines job seekers journalism kitchen sink mid career nbsp profession Source Type: consumer