153 articles in Leadership
Heifetz and Laurie distinguish between technical problems (solvable with existing knowledge) and adaptive challenges (requiring new learning and changes in values). Leaders must mobilize people to tackle tough problems, regulate distress, maintain disciplined attention, and give the work back to people. A cornerstone of Harvard Kennedy School's leadership curriculum.
Kotter's classic distinction between management and leadership. Management is about coping with complexity; leadership is about coping with change. Leaders set direction (vs. planning), align people (vs. organizing), and motivate (vs. controlling). One of the most-cited articles in organizational behavior courses.
The leader's mood is literally contagious due to the brain's open-loop limbic system. Identifies six leadership styles: visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and commanding. The best leaders flexibly deploy multiple styles. Research shows emotional intelligence accounts for up to 90% of what distinguishes star leaders from average ones.
Cialdini's research distills decades of influence research into six universal principles: reciprocity, commitment, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity. Each principle operates as a mental shortcut that can be applied ethically to improve persuasion in sales, leadership, and negotiations. The article emphasizes that the most sustainable influence strategies align these principles with genuine value rather than manipulation.
From Jim Collins' research for Good to Great. Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company. They are a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. A foundational text in leadership education and executive development programs.
Four qualities of inspirational leaders: they selectively show their weaknesses (revealing vulnerability builds trust), they rely heavily on intuition to gauge timing and action, they manage with tough empathy (caring intensely about employees while giving them what they need, not what they want), and they reveal their differences (capitalizing on what is unique about themselves).
How managers unknowingly create a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure. When a boss perceives a subordinate as weak, they increase control and reduce autonomy, which decreases motivation and performance, confirming the boss's original perception. Provides a framework for breaking the cycle through candid conversation and gradually rebuilding trust. A classic in organizational behavior.
Research-backed exploration of how top management teams can engage in vigorous conflict over substantive issues without descending into interpersonal hostility. Identifies six tactics that enable productive debate, including focusing on facts, generating multiple alternatives, and using humor.
Michael Porter's definitive article on competitive strategy. Operational effectiveness is not strategy. Strategy rests on unique activities: choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value. Introduces strategic positioning, trade-offs, and fit. The single most-assigned reading in strategy courses at business schools globally.
Kotter's eight-stage process for leading organizational change, derived from studying 100+ companies. Establish urgency, form a guiding coalition, create a vision, communicate it, empower action, generate short-term wins, consolidate gains, and anchor changes in culture. The most-cited framework in change management education worldwide.
Kanter examines why some strategic alliances thrive while others fail, identifying eight criteria that distinguish productive partnerships from disappointing ones. The article shows that the strongest alliances are characterized by mutual benefit, shared commitment, and interpersonal connections at multiple levels.
Defines what separates real teams from working groups. A team is a small number of people with complementary skills, committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. Covers the team performance curve from working group to high-performance team. A foundational text in organizational behavior courses.
Mintzberg's seminal study of what managers actually do (vs. what management theory says they do). Based on structured observation, he identifies ten managerial roles in three groups: interpersonal (figurehead, leader, liaison), informational (monitor, disseminator, spokesperson), and decisional (entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, negotiator).