Although there is an endless list of leadership habits that differentiate high performers from the rest, some of the most wildly celebrated traits in popular articles rarely move the needle according to science. There is often a direct contradiction between the leadership attributes we celebrate and those that actually contribute to leaders’ success.

When it comes to the stuff that strong relationships are made of, there is no more precious commodity than trust. It takes time to establish and can be broken in a heartbeat. But those who achieve the highest levels have demonstrated over and over again the same patterns of behavior that make building trust look easy. Be reliable. Fundamental to trust is reliability. If you say you'll do something, you'll do it.

our speed at work might be hurting you more than you know. Do you know the difference between speed and velocity? Many of my clients use them interchangeably, but there's a critical distinction that can significantly impact your productivity and your ability to manage through uncertainty, disruption, and rapid change. Most business owners operate in a fast-paced, high-pressure, results-oriented environment.

All of us have heard guidelines about how to be physically healthy—eat well, exercise, wash your hands, get plenty of rest. But how many of us have thought seriously about our social lives—the strength of our relationships and our sense of belonging in a community—as key to staying healthy?

More than ever, today’s employees long for purpose, a sense of belonging, and opportunities to grow. This means workers are ready to roll up their sleeves and make things happen. And yet according to the American Psychological Association’s recent survey, employee happiness is down while burnout remains high. In fact, the survey found that 77% of U.S. workers said they experienced work-related stress,

What does your leadership canvas look like so far? Is it full of powerful images or is it quite sparsely populated so far? Is it mainly positivity and light, or is there some negativity and darkness that is in urgent need of being surrounded by something more hopeful? We’re going to add some broad brush strokes to your canvas in the form of a series of related questions.

Over the past decade, workplace leaders have preached about the importance of employee engagement. But as a leadership consultant, I have found that very few organizations actually take employee engagement seriously. It’s time leaders admit it. The moment has come when leaders must stop pretending we care about engagement. Let’s quit asking workers to fill out surveys that everyone knows are insincere, “check-the-box” activities

Success is a highly subjective concept defined by intentional achievement and aligning actions with personal values. It may mean earning a degree, securing a promotion or gaining confidence. However, the greatest barriers to success are often self-imposed. Your personality can be a significant hurdle, with traits like perfectionism or fear of failure sabotaging your efforts. Understanding and managing these traits is crucial to staying on track and achieving your vision of success.

Google has spent years, collected tons of data, and invested millions trying to better understand its people. One of its most prolific projects, Project Aristotle, aimed to crack the code on what makes a team super effective.

Google's big question: Why do some teams excel while others flop?

When it comes to getting a promotion at work, several factors can either hold you back—or help you get ahead. Elements like your performance and experience play a crucial role in determining your career trajectory, as well as things out of your control, such as the number of available positions and budget constraints. But when it comes to personality, are there traits that might hold you back from getting promoted?

U.S. employees are increasingly struggling with mental health challenges tied to their jobs, such as depression, anxiety, and burnout. We’re professors who research how employees interact and workplace well-being. After noticing that research on mental health and work had not kept up with the increasing prevalence of mental health challenges, we reviewed existing findings on mental health and work to see how scholars can best investigate these issues going forward.

Imagine having 12 extra hours per week -- that's how much time Thomson Reuters predicts AI-powered tools will save professionals in future. A new survey of more than 2,200 professionals by the information services company found that 77 percent of professionals think AI will have a "transformational" impact on their careers in the next five years. While those surveyed work an average of 46 hours per week, more than half of respondents said they feel they do not have enough time to do everything they want to.

Being a leader isn’t about a title or a role. Instead, it’s about taking the initiative to chart new paths forward and make innovation possible. Developing this capability makes professionals very valuable, but as the Harvard Business Review notes: “Innovation requires deviation.” And deviation can be scary. Working up the courage to challenge your workplace’s status quo is a start, but it’s not quite enough.

Are you a “boss” or a “leader”? What’s the difference, anyway? The terms are often used interchangeably, but they don’t point to the same skill set at all. A boss is someone who’s focused on the day-to-day operations, prioritizing things like scheduling, hiring, firing, supply management, processes, compliance — keeping the trains running and keeping people in line. Bosses are often guilty of micromanagement. They don’t trust people to be fully functioning adults.

A functional organization requires capable and engaged leaders at every level; from senior executives to front-line managers, engaged leaders can elevate daily operations and accelerate big-picture initiatives. Yet one of the main challenges learning and development (L&D) organizations face is tailoring training to leaders at different levels. Raising great leaders doesn’t happen by accident. It requires structured and individualized training throughout a leader’s career.

Starting a business requires a delicate balance of risk, passion, intel, research and confidence in yourself. You have to trust your instinct — and rest on the hard work you've done to prepare for business growth. You also have to weigh potential risks against the confidence and belief that you have what it takes to succeed. I know this dance well; I've started over 300 businesses.

Most of us can remember a couple of favorite ads. They’re funny, clever, thoughtful. Creativity can delight, even inspire. But does it generate business value? The short answer is yes. That conclusion came through clearly in McKinsey’s analysis of one widely recognized proxy for creativity. To have a quantitative measure that could be used to examine the linkage between creativity and business performance, we developed the Award Creativity Score (ACS)

As potential use cases for artificial intelligence continue to emerge, professionals across industries are discovering resourceful ways to leverage it to optimize their workflows. In the world of coaching, leaders are using AI to improve the efficacy and impact of their coaching methods and empower their clients to achieve their goals.

Roger Federer is going viral. This time, it's not for a tennis victory. Rather, it's for his remarkable commencement address, which he delivered on Sunday to the 2024 graduating class of Dartmouth College. Federer's speech is an amazing case study in emotional intelligent speaking: It's funny, motivating, inspiring. It's emotionally moving. And most important, it has valuable takeaways--

HR teams play a crucial role in driving organizational success. By strategically aligning talent management with business objectives, HR professionals can unlock the full potential of their workforce and drive growth. To do this, it's essential to attract and retain top talent, as well as foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.