The Insightful Leader
A Weekly Newsletter
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Don't get duped by AI
Sent to subscribers on September 18, 2024
Good morning,... more
Stop romanticizing failure
Sent to subscribers on September 11, 2024
“I failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”... more
A brand identity crisis
Sent to subscribers on September 4, 2024
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Teams see bias. Their bosses don’t.
Sent to subscribers on August 28, 2024
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What’s up with the economy?
Sent to subscribers on August 21, 2024
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How to reward risk-taking
Sent to subscribers on August 14, 2024
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Are you a bad influencer?
Sent to subscribers on August 7, 2024
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Leadership lessons from the NFL
Sent to subscribers on July 31, 2024
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How to pass the torch
Sent to subscribers on July 24, 2024
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Think bigger than a billboard
Sent to subscribers on July 17, 2024
Good morning,
Think of your favorite commercial. Maybe it makes you laugh out loud or tugs at your heart strings.
Now, imagine that every ad you see online speaks to you like this. It’s almost as if the advertisers know you, your personality, and the things that matter to you.
Welcome to... more
When entrepreneurship is a lifeline
Sent to subscribers on July 10, 2024
Kylie Hwang has heard all sorts of anecdotes from people who blossomed into successful entrepreneurs after their release from prison. Most often, they became small-business owners operating mom-and-pop shops like construction companies, bakeries, or catering businesses.But while some shared that... more
How to be memorable
Sent to subscribers on July 3, 2024
“What do you do?”
You probably get this question so frequently that you have a boilerplate response. “I’m in sales.” “I design enterprise software.” “I work in a hospital.”
In other words: yaaaawn. “That’s just boring,” says Craig Wortmann, a clinical professor of marketing at Kellogg. And why be... more
Permission to splurge?
Sent to subscribers on June 26, 2024
Americans receive more than $743 billion in refunds from returned retail purchases—more than double the $335 billion they get in tax refunds. So what happens to all this money? Do customers spend it as they ordinarily would, cash being fungible and all? Or does something a little … different... more
The stereotypes that lurk in our language
Sent to subscribers on June 19, 2024
Happy Juneteenth.
As the newest federal holiday on the block, Juneteenth isn’t (yet) in the lexicon of many Americans, particularly those who are not Black. As more states and companies celebrate, that should change. This got me thinking about how language evolves and what its evolution might tell... more
Where is your team working?
Sent to subscribers on June 12, 2024
More than four years since the initial Covid-19 lockdowns, it appears that for many knowledge workers the five-day commute is a thing of the past. Hybrid is here to stay.
“We’ve moved to a new status quo that is hard to change,” says Benjamin Friedrich, an associate professor of strategy at the... more
When bad behavior gets a pass
Sent to subscribers on June 5, 2024
You’ve probably heard that inequality is rising in much of the world. This has a bunch of consequences, including negative impacts on life expectancy, infant mortality, and even happiness for those on the lower end of the economic spectrum. At the societal level, increased inequality hurts economic... more
The end of noncompetes?
Sent to subscribers on May 29, 2024
For people who think a lot about competition, and particularly how organizations can and can’t legally circumvent it, it’s been a busy stretch.
Just last week, the Justice Department sued Live Nation, asking the court to (at a minimum) order the divestiture of Ticketmaster. This follows on the... more
Failure happens. What can we learn from it?
Sent to subscribers on May 22, 2024
Failure stings. It puts a dent in our egos, exposes us to criticism, and leaves us feeling vulnerable. But according to Kellogg’s Sanjay Khosla, having the courage to acknowledge failures—and the humility to learn from them—is essential for top executives.
Never fear. Kellogg Insight’s very first... more
Who takes a risk on new tech?
Sent to subscribers on May 15, 2024
Okay, this may sound obvious, but bear with me here: companies are made of people. Which means that, when we talk about companies deciding to enter a market or launch a product or integrate AI into their workflow, what we’re really talking about is people deciding to do these things.
This makes the... more
Beware of intellectual isolation on your team
Sent to subscribers on May 8, 2024
With the rise of remote work, many knowledge workers today have come to expect more autonomy. Fewer meetings. Less chitchat around the water cooler. Plenty of time to concentrate on projects at their own pace.
And yeah, I’ll be honest: that sounds pretty good to me, too. But this way of working can... more