The Elite Leadership Insights newsletter publishes Weekend Reads each Friday with resources from some of the top academic and business leadership minds. It is a resource for you to utilize as you continue your leadership journey and packaged so you can casually read them over the weekend. Continuous learning is a critical part of leadership improvement. In each Weekend Reads you will find links to articles, videos, podcasts and other resources, as well as some recommended leadership books.
We curate resources from Harvard Business Review, McKinsey & Company, PwC strategy+business, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, Kellogg Insight, Fortune, Knowledge at Wharton, MIT Sloan Management Review, Chief Executive Group, Korn Ferry and many others.
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Here are this week’s Weekend Reads. Enjoy and feel free to share this with your colleagues.
Most Bosses Regret How They Mandated Workers Return to the Office. They Blamed it on not Having Enough Data, Fortune, August 14, 2023. Four in five (80%) of bosses told workplace software firm Envoy that had they had a better grasp on their workplace data, they would have taken a starkly different approach to their return-to-office plans. The problem, they said: They didn’t have access to data that would help them make their decision. In a white paper report, Envoy surveyed 1,156 U.S.-based executives and workplace managers whose employees operate on some form of hybrid schedule.
Regulating Emotions At Work: The Underlying Strength Of Effective Leaders, Forbes, August 16, 2023. In the fast-paced arena of the modern workplace, where the boundaries between personal and professional are often blurred, emotional intelligence has become a critical component of effective leadership. As companies evolve and challenges multiply, leaders who can regulate their emotions stand out, not only for their resilience but also for their ability to guide teams through tumultuous times.
Identify Critical Roles to Improve Performance, MIT Sloan Management Review, August 14, 2023. Leaders like to show that they value employees. They proclaim that everyone on the team is critical to the organization’s success. As uplifting as that sentiment is, it simply isn’t true. Talent can be a source of competitive advantage only if great people are in the most critical roles. Having stars in jobs that aren’t critical is just a waste of talent.
6 Ways to Grow as a Leader Without Burning Out, SmartBrief, August 16, 2023. Raise your hand if you’ve experienced burnout at some point. I spent the last four years of my career as the spokesperson for the FBI in Northern California. The news cycle doesn’t recognize weekends, vacations or time at the beach. I was on call 24/7 for the entire four years. By the end, I was irritable, impatient and without a support network because, guess what, I had no time for interpersonal relationships.
Bonus Articles:
Countering the Corporate Diversity Backlash, MIT Sloan Review, August 9, 2023. Diversity backlash puts companies in a difficult position. Bowing to pressure from anti-diversity groups may cost them the goodwill they have tried to cultivate among other consumers; Target’s capitulation to conservative pressure earned it blowback from progressive activists. Backing down can also encourage conservative activists to push their demands further. While it might temporarily reduce the pressure on companies, giving in to anti-diversity forces could hurt them over the long term.
Leadership Blindspots That Make Employees Trust You Less, Forbes, August 16, 2023. In today’s ever-changing business landscape, building trust with employees is a key ingredient of effective leadership. Trust is the foundation upon which healthy working relationships, open communication, and employee engagement are built. Leaders who prioritize building trust with their employees reap numerous benefits, including increased job satisfaction, enhanced collaboration, greater well-being, and improved overall performance. While all that might sound like common sense, it’s not common practice.
How to Craft a Culture Change at Your Organization, SmartBrief, August 11, 2023. Everyone we know who has tried to implement a new business strategy has inevitably run into the same problem — their organization’s culture is incompatible with their new strategy. Whether you’ve decided to invest in new product innovations and your company’s culture does not value learning from failure; or you’ve decided to expand globally and your company’s culture values remaining local; or you’ve decided to decentralize and your company’s culture values centralization — sooner or later, your new strategy is going to conflict with your company’s culture.
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