Archive for HBS = Harvard Business School

Having empathy is a crucial part of being emotionally intelligent and building good relationships. I define empathy as the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes. That means being present with them. Marshall Rosenberg in one of my favorite books, Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life, p. 91, defines empathy as, “Respectful understanding of [...]

The Dean of Harvard Business School, Jay O. Light, has written about the importance for leaders of having soft skills like self-awareness. CEO Magazine, Sept/Oct. 2008, p. 53, quotes Light: “Self-awareness, for example, is a very important leadership skill. To what extent can you teach self-awareness in a classroom?” Also on p. 53, The Dean [...]

Recently, I heard a lecture given to us Harvard Business School alumni by Bill George, Professor at Harvard Business School, on the topic, “Leadership in the 21st Century.” He asserted that many of the problems our corporations are in now, including the current mess on Wall St., are the result of bad leadership. Bad leadership [...]

Do you find your work meaningful? The Harvard Business School Alumni Bulletin for December 2007 on pages 34-35, has an article on “How Business Schools Lost their Way.” HBS associate professor Rakesh Khurana has written a book that points out problems including, “… business schools on average are not providing some way for them (students) [...]

When I was an MBA student at the Harvard Business School, professors rewarded strategic thinking. I excelled in strategic thinking and was therefore able to do well even though I was poor in math. In each case we needed to clarify what really mattered to an executive and the company. I could do this exceptionally [...]

Knowing What They Want is part of Emotional Intelligence. When I was an MBA student at the Harvard Business School, marketing professors kept saying, “Know what business you are in!” That seems obvious on the face of it. However, seeing below the surface is the trick. For example, if you answered, “In this case, the [...]

Primal leadership frees the best in people. Daniel Goleman in his book, Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence, Harvard Business School Press, 2002, on p ix, asserts that, “The fundamental task of leaders, we argue, is to prime good feeling in those they lead. That occurs when a leader creates resonance — a [...]

I noticed that my alma mater, the Harvard Business School, started publishing articles and books in 2001 on emotional intelligence in leadership. I recommend to you my favorite of HBS Press, Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman, et. al. A shorter, good publication from HBS Press is: “Best of HBR [...]