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Shaping Strategic Thinking

Unfortunately, most people navigate their decisions and daily lives guided by 'perception'—essentially, feelings-based responses to situations. These decisions are driven by emotions, reactions, and impressions rather than objective facts. While perception may seem intuitive, it often leads to distorted thinking because emotions are typically unreliable indicators of reality. Pareto’s Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, offers a useful...

Understanding the Truth of Learned Helplessness

Learned helplessness is a terrible condition where individuals believe they have no control over their circumstances, leading them to stop trying to change or improve their situation. This mindset often develops after repeated exposure to adverse events or environments where efforts to change the outcome consistently fail. Over time, the individual learns to believe that no matter what they do, they cannot influence the outcome, leading to a...

Epistemic Rigidity in Leadership

Epistemic Rigidity is a theoretical framework that explains why individuals and groups struggle to update their knowledge and discard outdated information. This framework integrates various cognitive biases, including the Einstellung effect, the Einstein effect, the Dunning-Kruger effect, and anchoring bias. Additionally, it encompasses factors like confirmation bias, motivated reasoning, cognitive dissonance, and heuristics. These biases and...

A Critical Analysis of Forbes’ Leadership Article

Recently, a student forwarded an article about leadership and development. The request was to evaluate the article and share my thoughts because he felt that the author got a few things wrong. Indeed, the Forbes article "Unlocking Hidden Potential In Next-Gen Leaders: Beyond Traditional Leadership Development" brings to light several crucial aspects of contemporary leadership, but it also leaves plenty of room for deeper exploration, at least...

Integrating Adam’s Equity Theory and Self-Determination Theory in Organizational Contexts

Organizations strive to motivate their employees effectively, leveraging various motivational theories to enhance performance and satisfaction. Adam's Equity Theory and Self-Determination Theory (SDT) are two prominent theories that organizations should consider. While SDT emphasizes intrinsic motivation and the importance of fulfilling psychological needs, Adam's Equity Theory focuses on fairness and perceived equity in the workplace. This...

Self-Help Books and Pep-Rally Leadership

Imagine being relatively assertive and being handed a self-help book about assertiveness. Or imagine having a big heart and going to a seminar on empathy. How effective or valuable are these programs or books really going to be for you? Sure, they might make you feel good by validating how awesome you are if you have these qualities, but will anything significant change in your life? Probably not. Self-improvement literature, seminars, and...

5 Secrets of Effective Leaders

Effective leaders are not born; they are developed. Effective leaders are not "naturals;" they practice. The path to leadership mastery involves continuous learning, self-reflection, mindfulness, strategic forecasting, and mentorship of others. In this article, we'll explore the five secrets of effective leaders. Learning Effective leaders are lifelong learners. They are constantly seeking knowledge, whether it is through development programs,...

Beware Terrible Leadership Advice

Leadership is a crucial aspect of any organization or community. Effective leadership involves guiding, directing, and motivating others to achieve a common goal. Learning how to do these effectively often comes from those providing leadership advice. However, not all leadership advice is created equal. Some advice, known as pseudo-leadership advice, can be detrimental to individuals and organizations. This type of advice is not based on sound...

The Power of Transformational

There are many different styles and theorems of leadership and countless frameworks for its development. Some are better than others. Of course, the leadership novice must be aware that some leadership styles are pushed without concern for either validity or scientific foundation (Robertson, 2022). However, if validity and effectiveness are important, and if transforming lives and organizations is the goal, then there is one style of leadership...

Leaders: Don’t Neglect Your Sleep

Not long ago, I had a student struggling to pay attention and focus. I asked about their sleep habits. The student responded by stating that "one must be willing to sacrifice sleep in order to be successful." So, I inquired about the source of this misguided belief, and the student informed me that it had been shared in a leadership group on LinkedIn. Let me say that leadership advice that encourages sacrificing sleep is highly misguided. The...