Professional Documents
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Working Knowledge Leadership
Working Knowledge Leadership
LEADERSHIP
A curated collection of articles about Harvard Business
School faculty research.
“When I think of Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, make life more fulfilling for all of us.
the book was filled with nontraditional
“When I think of rebels, I think of people
rebels, I think of takes on traditional Italian dishes. The
recipes astonished Gino, who grew up in
who break rules to explore new ideas
and create positive change,” Gino says.
people who break Italy, where culinary traditions are a
matter of great national pride.
“These are people who are doing good
For business leaders, this could mean A cardinal rule in improv is that one
introducing employees to things that aren’t person must always accept the premise
obviously related to the organization. of whatever another person says, and
Consider Chef Bottura’s dishes, which then expand upon the thought, such
are often inspired by music and visual as saying, “yes, and…” rather than
arts. (“Tribute to Thelonious Monk,” for “yes, but...” At Pixar, this technique
example: black cod served with white is called “plussing.” Gino explains how
daikon radish and green onion on a bed it works in Rebel Talent: “The point of
of squid ink, meant to represent the jazz plussing is to improve ideas without
musician’s keyboard.) Bottura aims to using judgmental language. You add to,
inspire his staff by playing music in the or ‘plus,’ what has been said. Instead of
kitchen during meal prep and hanging criticizing a sketch, the director will
paintings throughout the restaurant. build on a starting point by using the
“Even in the staff bathroom, you have expression, ‘I like Woody’s eyes, and
prints of different pieces of art,” Gino says. what if we…’ This encourages a
“And the reason that the art is there collaborative attitude. Someone else
is that when you look at it, you start might jump in and add her own plus.”
asking questions.”
04
02 REVEAL YOURSELF—
ENCOURAGE CONSTRUCTIVE AND REFLECT:
DISSENT: Rebel leaders focus on their strengths,
“As humans, we often focus on just one are honest about their weaknesses,
perspective, and generally it’s our own,” and make an effort to reflect on both.
Gino says. “Whether it’s in conversations “They don’t hide who they are, or pretend
or in meetings, we often seek out the to know, or be something that they are
opinions of people who have something not,” Gino writes. — QUIZ —
similar to offer. What rebels do is fight
that instinct. They find ways to steer some She cites Patricia Fili-Krushel, whose What Kind of Rebel
conflict or encourage disagreement.” jobs have included chair of NBCUniversal Are You?
News Group, president of ABC Television
Gino cites Rachael Chong, CEO of the Network, and CEO of WebMD. “As the Francesca Gino’s short quiz
New York-based nonprofit organization leader of WebMD, Fili-Krushel met a will help you learn which type
Catchafire, who seeks out dissenting group of engineers in Silicon Valley, all of rebel, out of four possibilities,
opinions from her workforce from the men,” Gino writes. “When they asked you tend to be. You’ll receive
get-go, including when she interviews her, right off the bat, what she knew a short explanation of your type
job candidates. “When she hires new about engineering, she made a zero and a few tips on how you can
people, she basically looks for people with her fingers. ‘This is how much I further deploy and develop
who disagree with her,” Gino says. know about engineering,’ she told them. your talents.
‘However, I do know how to run
03 businesses, and I’m hoping you can Take the quiz
OPEN CONVERSATIONS, teach me what I need to know about hbs.me/rebel
DON’T CLOSE THEM: your world.’”
“Rebels are willing to keep their minds “You reveal yourself, and, in the process,
open,” says Gino, who recommends you’re gaining respect and status in the
that business leaders take a cue from eyes of others,” Gino says.
the world of improvisational comedy.
06
FIND FREEDOM IN CONSTRAINTS:
Many people think they can’t innovate
“Rebels work through the constraints, because the parameters of their job are
too constrained. Rebels work through
and, if anything, the constraints become and even find inspiration in constraints.
Consider Captain Sullenberger, con-
a source for thinking differently about strained by federal regulations, not to
mention two disabled engines, when
the problem.” he made the creative and heroic decision
to use the Hudson River as a runway.
Or the author Dr. Seuss, who made a bet
with the cofounder of Random House
that he could write a whole book with
only fifty different words. The bestsell-
ing result: Green Eggs and Ham.
Key Benefits
Move beyond talent management to engage fully in
every aspect of senior leadership discussions. As you
The HR-Executive analyze core business challenges and opportunities
LEADING INNOVATION
IS THE ART OF CREATING
‘COLLECTIVE GENIUS’ The book, Collective Genius: The Art
and Practice of Leading Innovation,
was written by Hill, the Wallace Brett
Donham Professor of Business
Administration; Greg Brandeau, former
CTO of The Walt Disney Studios;
Emily Truelove, assistant professor of
business administration at MIT’s Sloan
School of Management; and Kent
Lineback, Hill’s cowriter on Being the
Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming
a Good Leader.
own brand of leadership. a lot of research on both. innovative, then found 16 leaders
within those organizations and studied
The coauthor of the new What she didn’t find, however, was
work linking the two. Specifically, what
how they worked.
book Collective Genius is the role of the leader in creating and Determined to feature a global
perspective, the authors include narra-
sustaining an innovative organization?
discusses what 16 of the Her 2014 book, written with three tives of executives within India-based
empowering
to develop the brand and a plan to
change how employees experienced
From 2005 to 2013, when Nayar led Since finishing the book, Hill has been
Key Benefits
Viewing innovation as an essential leadership capability,
Leading and Building this program goes beyond product and strategy development
to examine the social processes that enable and inspire
a Culture of Innovation routine, company-wide innovation. You will leave with a
richer understanding of what it takes to lead creative and
productive teams – and empower others to collaborate and
innovate each day.
Focused on driving organizational
performance and growth, this lab- Who Should Attend
This program is designed for general managers who lead
style leadership program will companies, business units, divisions, or other large-scale
immerse you in every stage of the organizations; executives with cross-functional responsibilities;
process. You will emerge ready and leaders from functional areas.
CRITIQUES OF AUTHENTICITY
By Bill George But recently three leading scholars
at INSEAD, Stanford, and Wharton
challenged the concept of authentic
leadership. Like all movements—
Harvard University Professor Michael
The debate over which form of leader- Porter’s famous five forces of strategy
Is “Be yourself” terrible ship works best seems settled, in my come to mind—growing acceptance of
the “authentic authentic leadership development are In Leadership BS, Stanford’s Jeff
Pfeffer says, “the last thing a leader
oversubscribed and expanding every
leadership” approach year. As the Harvard Business Review needs to be at crucial moments is
authentic.” Herminia Ibarra, formerly
to management, answers declared in January 2015, “Authenticity
has emerged as the gold standard of INSEAD, adds “We have to find
critics and outlines the for leadership.” a way to fake it till we become it.”
Wharton’s Adam Grant told the New
path for executives to be In 2003, our book Authentic York Times that, “‘Be yourself’ is
Leadership proposed a new kind actually terrible advice… Nobody
more effective. of leader, whose character was the wants to see your true self.”
Key Benefits
Leading Global Drawing on the diverse capabilities of a powerful faculty
team, this highly personalized program develops both
Businesses your global intelligence and your personal effectiveness in
leading a global business. You’ll learn how to create and
sustain global competitive advantage for your company,
continue developing your own global leadership, and build
As business becomes increasingly global, global leadership capacity throughout your organization.
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