All Insights Articles
What's the business case for diversity?
A range of often subtle biases around gender roles pervade the workplace. SOM's Victoria Brescoll discusses the impact these biases have on women and men, successful approaches to inclusivity, and the business case for making changes.
Do you need more power?
Does power corrupt? Stanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer suggests that power is instead a tool that you should make use of to advance your career and safeguard your interests against unfeeling organizations and unfair leaders.
Do leaders need to be authentic?
Roger Brown is the president of the Berklee College of Music. He previously cofounded Bright Horizons, a childcare provider that grew into a billion-dollar, publicly traded company, and ran relief operations in Asia and Africa. He talks about lessons he’s learned from these leadership experiences—including the importance of authenticity and the value of a little music.
What kind of leaders do we need now?
Rosabeth M. Kanter discusses her vision of the advanced leadership needed to address the unique challenges of the complex global environment of the 21st century.
What Can You Learn from Machiavelli?
“It is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong.” Advice like this, offered by Niccolò Machiavelli in The Prince, made its author’s name synonymous with the ruthless use of power. But Robert Harrison suggests you should be careful before looking for leadership lessons in The Prince.
How do you lead when lives are on the line?
Combat leadership involves making countless decisions, with limited information, shifting variables, and extreme time constraints. Colonel Rich Morales ’99 and soldiers from his battalion describe their 15-month deployment in Iraq.
Do we listen to opinion leaders?
Are there leaders in everyday life? A long body of literature argues that a small number of individuals have an outsize influence on what the rest of us buy, wear, and consume. But marketing professionals and scholars have been debating how to make use of these opinion leaders.
Are CEOs today's heroes?
All cultures and all eras have their heroes—individuals who set out on a quest and overcome great adversity to attain a glorious end. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld suggests that CEOs today are living out this age-old narrative. He explains why society is looking for its heroes in the corner office.
Are leaders one size fits all?
Should you take charge? Should you work to build consensus? Victor Vroom argues that effective leaders are sensitive to the nuances of their organizations, cultural environments, and short- and long-term objectives.
Who needs leaders?
Decisions made by those at the top of major companies, nonprofits, and government organizations can affect millions of lives. Yale’s president and SOM’s current and future deans discuss how business schools can train leaders with the long-term perspective and sense of integrity to create durable value in their organizations.
