The Psychology of Great Leadership – Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Feb 10, 2025
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Adam Galinsky, a social psychologist and leadership expert at Columbia Business School, delves into the nuances of inspiring versus infuriating leadership. He emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, personal values, and clarity of vision in effective leadership. Galinsky shares insights on how authentic communication and a genuine approach can empower teams and foster collaboration. He explores critical negotiation principles and how reflective leadership can enhance decision-making, particularly in times of crisis.
Identifying and ranking core values enhances self-awareness, leading to better personal and professional decision-making aligned with one's motivations.
Effective leadership can be cultivated through learned traits and shared storytelling, making leadership accessible to anyone willing to improve.
Authentic leaders who communicate genuine passion create an inspiring environment that fosters trust, connection, and commitment among their teams.
Deep dives
Understanding Your Values
Knowing one's core values is essential for personal and professional growth. At Columbia Business School, students are encouraged to identify their five core values and rank them in order of importance. This process promotes self-awareness, helping individuals stay true to their principles and make decisions aligned with their values. The practice has been shown to enhance job placement rates, as individuals who engage in value reflection remain connected to their motivations and goals.
The Journey to Leadership
Leadership is often perceived as an innate quality, but research suggests it can be cultivated and developed with practice. Effective leaders demonstrate specific characteristics that inspire others, primarily represented by shared stories of those who effectively motivated them or caused frustration in their leadership experiences. Insights reveal that inspiring leaders bend traits common to all cultures, which can be learned and practiced. This democratizes leadership skills, making them accessible to everyone who wishes to lead.
The Power of First Offers in Negotiations
Making the first offer in negotiations can yield significant advantages, according to impactful research. The person making the first offer often anchors the negotiation closer to their desired outcome, demonstrating that an ambitious approach can lead to superior deals. However, it's crucial to assess the dynamics of the negotiation context; if the other party possesses more information, they may benefit from making the first move instead. Ultimately, the research emphasizes the importance of strategy and preparation in achieving optimal negotiation results.
Authenticity and Passion in Leadership
Authenticity plays a key role in effective leadership, as leaders who display genuine passion for their work tend to inspire others. When leaders communicate their passions, it resonates with team members, creating an environment of shared enthusiasm and commitment. Conversely, inauthentic displays of passion can feel forced and diminish trust. Recognizing and harnessing one's true passions equips individuals to lead effectively and authentically, fostering connections and motivating others.
Mentorship and Empowerment
Effective mentorship involves empowering and elevating others, fostering a sense of belonging and respect. Inspiring leaders strive to create environments where team members feel valued and included, enhancing overall satisfaction and performance. Conversely, micromanagement leads to frustrations and diminished morale. By practicing empowerment, leaders can amplify their influence and create supportive networks that facilitate not only individual success but collective achievement as well.
Social psychologist and leadership expert Adam Galinsky has spent three decades building a method for determining when we are inspiring versus infuriating, and where various leaders—presidents, CEOs, coaches, teachers, parents, and a wealth of others—currently land on that spectrum. Galinsky shows how inspiring leaders can fill us with a wellspring of hope and possibility as they guide us to become better versions of ourselves with lessons on how to amplify impact, empower others, and cultivate authenticity.