A colleague opens up to you and says that he’s interviewing for a new job. He asks you to be his reference. Should you say yes? And if you do, what can you say to a potential new employer to best convey the applicant’s skills and expertise? Providing a reference for a worthy employee is…
Even in societies and organizations that value gender equality and invest in initiatives to reach it, women are underrepresented in most senior-level leadership positions. Why does the gender imbalance in high-level positions persist? A series of recent studies that we conducted with Caroline Wilmuth of Harvard Business School points to a new explanation: Men and…
Earlier this week, I flew from New York to Boston and took off a full day to see a doctor about a medical condition I have. I went to these lengths because I understood him to be perhaps the world’s expert in this particular syndrome. Obviously, his reputation influenced my decision to see him, but…
In an age where talent, passion and authenticity are hailed as virtues and antidotes to the uncertainty of the workplace, so-called “overwork” may well be their dark side. As we are urged to have a romantic, rather than instrumental, relationship with work, we should not be surprised that it threatens our families, our productivity and…
A lot of talented people grapple with the disruption of having to switch jobs or careers and figuring out how their current profession’s skills can be applied in a fulfilling new way. The good news is that other industries may value your talents just as much, if not more, than your existing one. The challenges…
High performing organisations distribute leadership to wherever the best information and capabilities reside. Most people who work for major organisations are still stuck in old-style bureaucratic mazes of processes and centralised leadership. Directives are given and the troops on the frontlines implement tasks whether they agree with them or not. But this transactional approach to…
Presiding over layoffs is a “distasteful part of management that many people fear,” says Laurence J. Stybel, an executive in residence at Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School. It’s also a thankless task. “Nobody ever got promoted because they fire well. But your career can get sidetracked if you don’t treat people in a dignified way.”…
I once served on a committee led by a powerful woman. She had strong views, but what I remember most is that whenever I spoke, she nodded her head vigorously and affirmatively. Over time, I learned that her nodding didn’t mean she necessarily agreed with me. Even so, I always sensed that she was listening…
More than half of GCC career women aspire to reach senior or board-level positions in the next seven years, a new report reveals. According to the Pearl Initiative Women’s Report, which was launched at the inaugural Pearl Initiative and United Nations Global Compact Regional Forum in Dubai, 62 percent of those surveyed were also aspiring to…
When you feel like you’re just one email away from failure at work, it can seem ludicrous to take your eyes off of what you believe absolutely needs to get done to consider what you might regret in the future. But when you neglect to consider common time regrets, you not only put a lien…
