Leaders today face complex challenges that can't be solved through skill development alone. Jack Mezirow's transformative learning framework, developed through three decades of research, is a useful tool to help leaders shift how they think and make meaning of their roles. In this piece, I explore Mezirow's transformative learning theory| Leading Sapiens
The executive stared out the window, shell-shocked and feeling blindsided. Her boss had just asked for her resignation. How did it come to this? This scene plays out in organizations more often than we think.Leadership derailment — when a once-promising leader stumbles and falls— isn't limited| Leading Sapiens
Confidence is overrated. A more effective, scientifically-grounded approach to improve performance is self-efficacy. We often hear about the importance of confidence. "Believe in yourself," the advice goes. Although intuitive, it's not as helpful. What exactly is confidence? Is it innate? Or can you work at it? Self-efficacy is a more| Leading Sapiens
Humility and inquiry aren’t usually associated with effective leadership. The traditional view is “loud”: vision, setting goals, and driving the team towards success. However, this overlooks a crucial but “quieter” aspect: asking questions and listening. Humble Inquiry, developed by Edgar Schein, challenges the traditional view by emphasizing how humility| Leading Sapiens
The ladder of inference is a powerful tool to make better decisions by uncovering hidden mental models and understanding how we reach conclusions.| Leading Sapiens
Leadership reflection is a critical mechanism to accelerate self-development of effective leaders.But it gets ignored due to stereotypes.| Leading Sapiens
For leaders and managers, the art and practice of doing regular reflection is essential to functioning at peak levels. The challenge is that the environment surrounding them enables anything but reflection. It's designed to do the exact opposite. Are there basic guidelines that can help to reflect more often and| Leading Sapiens
Our actions, and by extension performance, stem from thinking that is based on a set of hidden mental models. How do you uncover these mental models and change them? One way is to understand and practice the concepts of single-loop and double-loop learning. Professional sports teams use postgame films and| Leading Sapiens
Most common discourse on mental models takes an additive approach. But this tends to be half-baked, often useless in practice. There is equal value, even more so, in a subtractive approach to mental models. The key is in understanding the difference between hard and soft mental models. How is the| Leading Sapiens
Most managers suck at giving effective, constructive feedback. Equally, most of us are bad at receiving and processing constructive feedback. This is a lost opportunity for everyone. Edgar Schein, professor emeritus at MIT, was one of the foremost experts in organizational behavior and interpersonal interactions. He articulated a set of| Leading Sapiens
