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Jan 14, 2025 | 
imd.org | Jennifer Jordan
Authenticity is a buzzword heard everywhere in leadership circles today. Weâre constantly bombarded with injunctions to be our âauthentic selves.â But what does authenticity mean in the context of the workplace? It can be defined as the state of self-actualization and congruent behavior where our actions are in harmony with our values (but because it is, by definition, a subjective concept and self-reported, it is hard to objectively quantify).
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Jan 10, 2025 | 
imd.org | Jennifer Jordan
Once you’ve gained formal authority in the workplace, it makes you a power holder – but you now need to gain active recognition of that authority from colleagues to lead them effectively. This is because you can have a formally designated base of power (such as a job title), but not have what is called status, which is other people’s recognition of that power and openness to your influence.
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Dec 11, 2024 | 
imd.org | Jennifer Jordan
When I was finishing my PhD in 2005, every business school wanted an ethics professor in their ranks. That was hardly surprising. The deep shadow of the accounting scandals at Enron and Worldcom still loomed large, and there was a high demand for ethical leadership training. Despite their intellectual and analytical powers, leaders were making unethical decisions while being praised for their performance.
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Dec 10, 2024 | 
imd.org | Jennifer Jordan
When it comes to knowing what kind of feedback to give someone, it’s easy to assume that positive feedback is generally more effective than negative. But that doesn’t hold good in every leadership scenario – of course, you want to give positive encouragement wherever possible, but you also need to advise on how to improve. However you present this, it comes under the heading of negative feedback.
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Nov 7, 2024 | 
imd.org | Jennifer Jordan
In general, higher status is assigned to individuals who are perceived as virtuous. In other words, status is socially given by others and allows an individual to be admired by their peers. In the workplace, status confers such benefits as the ability to influence others (which could help employees in terms of career advancement).
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Nov 5, 2024 | 
imd.org | Jennifer Jordan
Teams tend to do better than individuals in terms of achieving joint gains because the more smart people there are at the table, the better a full range of issues can be discussed and understood. Teams trust each other less than individuals do because, in team dynamics, there is a clearer ‘us/them’ (or ‘in group/out group’) boundary between the two sides. There is also a greater feeling of unknowingness in relation to the other side compared to individual negotiators.
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Oct 29, 2024 | 
imd.org | Jennifer Jordan
Power generally only leads to unethical behavior when it’s combined with a lack of accountability and a lack of desire to serve others when in a position of power. In fact, research shows that a much more consistent predictor of unethical behavior than the degree of power held by an individual is trait-level dominance.   As a personality type, trait-level dominance manifests in being narcissistic and inclined to feelings of entitlement.
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Oct 28, 2024 | 
imd.org | Jennifer Jordan
As discussed earlier in this series, it pays to make the first offer in a negotiation. And when both parties are committed to talks, that first offer should be as precise as you care to make it.  Example When offering a salary to a job candidate, it’s better to offer them €126,000 or €155,000, rather than a round figure such as €120,000 or €150,000. Reason The more precise your offer, the more likely it is to act as an anchor for the other side.
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Oct 25, 2024 | 
imd.org | Jennifer Jordan
Here are five interconnected strategies for individuals and organizations to transform errors into valuable lessons. When you make a mistake, resist the urge to hide it, as attempting to conceal errors often leads to bigger problems. Instead, follow the example of one HR manager who accidentally sent a redundancy briefing to the affected employee and described how she quickly rushed to where the employee was sitting and apologized personally to the individual concerned.
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Oct 14, 2024 | 
imd.org | Jennifer Jordan
This could be seen as a simple moral or values-based question. Even if there are no consequences to withholding the information, you should own up: itâs the right thing to do.   If thereâs any chance of someone else discovering your wrongdoing, itâs best to steal their thunder and own up first.
