Influence, diversity, inclusion, a-name-for-the-deadbeats-in-a-project-group, and office politics snagged our reading attention this past week and show up in our curated list of reading favs. Enjoy!
Why Inclusion is the New Competitive Business Advantage (Patty Rasmussen, Womenetics)
A great little interview that shreds some good light on how diversity is different from inclusion. “While diversity is certainly linked to inclusion, organizations can be diverse and not inclusive.”
How to Instill Purpose (John Baldoni, HBR)
Purpose gives our personal and professional lives meaning and direction. Here John offers four astute things for organizations to do to build purpose amongst their employee base. “Purpose, as savvy leaders know, is the foundation for creating vision, executing the mission, and abiding by the values of an organization. Culture emerges from purposeful organizations, because purpose is what shapes individual’s beliefs and organizational norms.”
Why Leaders Need to Learn the Art of Influence (Matthew Valle, Leadership in Action from CCL)
The team at BIG has always been fascinated with office politics. This article points out that not all office politics are unethical, yet the common thread between ethical and unethical politics is influence and how it’s used. Intriguing stuff.
Looking Past Limits (TED talk by Caroline Casey)
If you’ve constructed some limits for what you believe you can or cannot do, listen to this 15-minute TED talk and come away with an altered (for the better) point of view.
The Ringelmann Effect (George Brymer, The Vital Integrities Blog)
The BIG team loves to learn something new! “When working on a team project, perhaps you’ve observed that while you’re pulling your weight some others in the group are loafing. Researchers call that phenomenon the Ringelmann Effect.” Who knew it had a name?!
Musings on authenticity. If the question is not why I am so infrequently the person I really want to be, but why do I so infrequently want to be the person I really am? ~Oriah Mountain Dreamer
