Leadership & management

A likely result of the Smart Machine Age is the demise of the dominant business and leadership model built for the Industrial Revolution, which was designed to direct and produce high efficiency, standardization and reliability.

Seventeenth century philosopher Thomas Hobbes famously described the natural state of human life as “nasty, brutish and short.” A study co-authored by a Darden professor examines implications of how people view life.

Sustainable Living Beyond Borders gives low-income workers access to a wellness program and is a leading public-private partnership improving communities around the world.

In this Three Things video, Darden Professor Lynn Isabella explains three keys to the firehouse that will lead to more meaningful results.

As employees spend an ever-growing proportion of their time in teams at the workplace, companies and psychologists the world over have long been trying to decode the ideal mix of individual qualifications and group traits that make those teams operate as optimally as possible.

Myth: Bigger is always better. In fact, bigger is frequently more bureaucratic and complex.

Studies have shown that when people feel ambivalent and don’t know why, they’re prone to poor decisions. In a rush to end the discomfort of ambivalence, they fall back on biased assumptions, misinterpret facts or get sidetracked by irrelevant issues.

Darden Professor Luca Cian’s research shows that when a static image implies movement, it’s more likely make an observer inclined to act.

Darden Dean Scott C. Beardsley interviews alumna Carolyn Miles (MBA ’88), president and CEO of Save the Children. They discuss the protracted crisis in Syria, the successful partnership that facilitated the training of 34,000 community health workers in Ethiopia and why inspiring people is key to effective leadership.

Leaders communicate their expectations and priorities not only through words, but through their presence and actions. In short, a leader’s credibility and reputation can depend a great deal on how — and how much — he or she embodies the message.