The Insightful Leader
A Weekly Newsletter
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Love at first cite
Sent to subscribers on February 14, 2024
Happy Valentine’s Day! Here at Kellogg Insight, we may not have candy or roses to offer you, but we do have the next best thing: academic studies about marriage. And if this particular holiday is not your thing, never fear! We’ll also share some highlights from the 20th annual Kellogg School Super... more
Skip the script—but don’t wing it either
Sent to subscribers on February 7, 2024
Good morning,... more
Scared of AI? Here’s an optimistic take.
Sent to subscribers on January 31, 2024
Quick: guess how many of the 270 jobs listed in the 1950 census have since been eliminated by automation. Are you thinking a quarter? A third?“Just one,” says Kellogg’s Hatim Rahman, an assistant professor of management and organizations. “And in case you are wondering, that job was an elevator... more
Be yourself! No, not like that.
Sent to subscribers on January 24, 2024
Early in her career, Ellen Taaffe got some advice she didn’t like. Taaffe, who enjoys wearing bright colors, was told by her boss that her red blazers were making her stand out in the wrong way. She should wear a navy blazer, like the rest of her team.Taaffe, a clinical associate professor of... more
The recession that wasn't
Sent to subscribers on January 17, 2024
For much of 2023, the word on (nearly) every U.S. economist’s lips was “recession.” But here we are in 2024, and the widely prognosticated downturn has yet to materialize. What happened? Are we really in the clear?This week, we’ll hear from Kellogg’s Janice Eberly on the recession that wasn’t and... more
The virtue of having fewer opinions
Sent to subscribers on January 10, 2024
Pineapple on pizza: innovation or abomination? Coffee or tea? Bears or Packers? Heck, I don’t even follow football, and I kind of have an opinion on that last one (which I will not share, because I’m not out here trying to lose half my readers in the first paragraph).
Point is, modern life forces... more
When perks come with a price
Sent to subscribers on January 3, 2024
I did some traveling over the holidays. Naturally, the minute I got back, I started thinking about my next vacation. Destination: anywhere warmer and sunnier than Chicago right now. And like a lot of us, I wondered whether I could somehow game my credit-card rewards to snag a free trip. But new... more
It’s OK to talk about your charitable donations
Sent to subscribers on December 20, 2023
It’s the season of giving, so you’ve probably gotten lots of appeals from charitable organizations hoping for that year-end donation—or perhaps you’re the one trying to raise funds for a cause you care about. If so, you know that getting people to open their hearts (and wallets) is no small feat.... more
Your customer’s mindset
Sent to subscribers on December 13, 2023
If you’re a marketer worth your salt, you’ve probably thought deeply about your customers’ needs and desires. But when’s the last time you considered their mindset?
A mindset is a mental state that affects how we interpret and respond to things in our environment. In a recent The Insightful Leader... more
Inside the mind of a VC
Sent to subscribers on December 6, 2023
Over the last decade, clinical professor of strategy and venture capitalist Carter Cast has met with hundreds of entrepreneurs, listening to their pitches and reading their business plans. His aim: decide whether to invest.
So what, in Cast’s eyes, makes a company stand out? This week, we’ll hear... more
Managing a worrier
Sent to subscribers on November 29, 2023
It’s natural for employees to wonder whether they’re doing a good job and seek occasional feedback. But what should you do if you’re supervising someone who needs constant reassurance?
That’s one of the tricky management questions Harry Kraemer, a clinical professor of management and organizations,... more
AI comes with a big trade-off
Sent to subscribers on November 15, 2023
Have you started to incorporate ChatGPT or other generative AI tools into your daily life?
If so, you know the trade-off well: either accept the AI-generated output as “good enough” or put time—sometimes a lot of time—into personalizing it so that it faithfully reflects your unique style or... more
On purpose
Sent to subscribers on November 8, 2023
What’s your purpose?
It’s a question companies should ask employees more often, according to a Harvard Business Review piece by Maryam Kouchaki, a professor of management and organizations at Kellogg, and Isaac H. Smith of Brigham Young University.
Sure, companies have their own missions, Kouchaki... more
You’re the boss! Now what?
Sent to subscribers on November 1, 2023
Getting promoted is great. But having to manage your former peers? Not always so fun.
Over at The Insightful Leader podcast, Harry Kraemer had some advice for how to navigate that sticky situation.
If you don’t already know Kraemer, you’re in for a treat: He was chairman and CEO of a... more
What your portfolio says about you
Sent to subscribers on October 25, 2023
What’s in your portfolio? Are you betting big on lots of high-risk, high-reward stocks, or are you mostly playing it safe with U.S. treasury bonds?
How you answer this question likely reveals something important about your personality, according to some interesting new research by Kellogg associate... more
How to overhaul bad meetings
Sent to subscribers on October 18, 2023
Be honest. Do you know how to run a really good meeting?
Most people don’t, says Sanjay Khosla, a senior fellow and adjunct professor of marketing at Kellogg. The majority of meetings spend too much time rehashing the past—which immediately puts teams in a defensive posture—and not enough time... more
Pay, promotions, and merit
Sent to subscribers on October 11, 2023
Ever looked at your workplace’s org chart and speculated about how much money the people above you are making?It’s natural to wonder, especially in organizations where bonuses are rare and promotions are the surest (or only) path to a bigger paycheck. Learning your boss was making more than you... more
A career guide for introverts
Sent to subscribers on October 4, 2023
Is there hope for introverts who want to get ahead in their careers?That’s the question Leigh Thompson, a professor of management and organizations, tackled in a recent edition of her Substack newsletter, “Dear Professor.” For the naturally reticent, a fear of getting overlooked is reasonable,... more
How a luxury brand is born
Sent to subscribers on September 27, 2023
If you visit Canal Street in Lower Manhattan, you’ll find yourself surrounded by knockoff designer handbags. Gucci, Versace, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Chanel—they’re all there, all available for $100 or less, some virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.
So why are people still willing to put... more
Pitch your idea—and yourself
Sent to subscribers on September 20, 2023
Are you ready to take the plunge and make the business idea you’ve been honing a reality?
If so, you’re going to have a lot on your plate—conjuring a compelling new product concept, iterating on your idea until you feel you are ready to go to market, and building a trusted team to help you test and... more