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Leadership Case Studies

Here is a sample of three case studies from the book, Leadership Case Studies, that are most instructive and impactful to developing leadership skills.

For the past 30 years, I have conducted seminars and workshops and taught college classes on leadership.

I used a variety of teaching aids including books, articles, case studies, role-plays, and videos.

I recently created a book, Leadership Case Studies that includes some of the case studies and role-plays that I found to be most instructive and impactful.

Here is a sample of three case studies.

Peter Weaver Case Study

Peter Weaver doesn’t like to follow the crowd. He thinks groupthink is a common problem in many organizations. This former director of marketing for a consumer products company believes differences of opinion should be heard and appreciated. As Weaver states, “I have always believed I should speak for what I believe to be true.”

He demonstrated his belief in being direct and candid throughout his career. On one occasion, he was assigned to market Paul’s spaghetti-sauce products. During the brand review, the company president said, “Our spaghetti sauce is losing out to price-cutting competitors. We need to cut our prices!”

Peter found the courage to say he disagreed with the president. He then explained the product line needed more variety and a larger advertising budget. Prices should not be cut. The president accepted Weaver’s reasoning. Later, his supervisor approached him and said, “I wanted to say that, but I just didn’t have the courage to challenge the president.”

On another occasion, the president sent Weaver and 16 other executives to a weeklong seminar on strategic planning. Weaver soon concluded the consultants were off base and going down the wrong path. Between sessions, most of the other executives indicated they didn’t think the consultants were on the right path. The consultants heard about the dissent and dramatically asked participants whether they were in or out. Those who said “Out” had to leave immediately.

As the consultants went around the room, every executive who privately grumbled about the session said “In.” Weaver was fourth from last. When it was his turn, he said “Out” and left the room.

All leaders spend time in reflection and self-examination to identify what they truly believe and value. Their beliefs are tested and fine-tuned over time. True leaders can tell you, without hesitation, what they believe and why. They don’t need a teleprompter to remind them of their core beliefs. And, they find the courage to speak up even when they know others will disagree.

• What leadership traits did Weaver exhibit?
• If you were in Weaver’s shoes, what would you have done?
• Where does courage come from?
• List your three most important values.

Dealing with a Crisis Case Study

Assume you are the VP of Sales and Marketing for a large insurance company. Once a year your company rewards and recognizes the top 100 sales agents by taking them to a luxury resort for a four-day conference. Business presentation meetings are held during the morning. Afternoons are free time. Agents and spouses can choose from an assortment of activities including golf, tennis, boating, fishing, shopping, swimming, etc.

On day 2 at 3:00 p.m., you are at the gym working out on the treadmill, when you see Sue your administrative assistant rushing towards you. She says, “I need to talk to you immediately.”

You get off the treadmill and say, “What’s up?” Sue states, “We’ve had a tragedy. Several agents went boating and swimming at the lake. Randy, our agent from California died while swimming.”

(Background information – Randy is 28 years old. His wife did not come on the trip. She is home in California with their three children).

• Explain what you would communicate to the following people.
• Your Human Resources Department
• The local police
• The attendees at the conference (Would you continue the conference?)
• How will you notify Randy’s wife?
• If Randy’s wife and a few family members want to visit the location of Randy’s death, what would you do?
• What are some “guiding principles” that leaders need to follow in a crisis situation?

 Arsenic and Old Lace Case Study

Review the YouTube video, “ I’ll show them who is boss Arsenic and Old Lace.”   

Background Information

The Vernon Road Bleaching and Dyeing Company is a British lace dyeing business. It was purchased in bankruptcy by the father/son team of Henry and Richard Chaplin. Richard has been acting as “Managing Director” which is the same as a general manager or president of a company.

The company has had 50-to-150 employees with 35-to-100 being shop floor, production employees. The company produces and sells various dyed fabrics to the garment industry.

Gerry Robinson is a consultant who was asked to help transform methods of conducting business to save the company.

Jeff is the factory manager.

• What are Richard’s strengths and weaknesses as a leader?
• What could Richard have done to make the problems of quality and unhappy customers more visible to the workforce?
• What do you think Richard’s top three priorities should be for the next 12 months?
• What could Richard have done to motivate the workforce?
• Evaluate Jeff’s approach and effectiveness as a leader.

The book contains 16 case studies, four role-plays, and six articles. I hope you find some of the content useful and helpful in your efforts to teach leadership.

Click for additional leadership case studies and resources .

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The Ethical Leadership Case Study Collection

The Ted Rogers Leadership Centre’s Case Collection, developed in collaboration with experienced teaching faculty, seasoned executives, and alumni, provides instructors with real-life decision-making scenarios to help hone students’ critical-thinking skills and their understanding of what good leaders do. They will be able to leverage the theories, models, and processes being advanced. Students come to understand that workplace dilemmas are rarely black and white, but require them to think through and address competing claims and circumstances. Crucially, they also appreciate how they can, as new leaders and middle managers, improve decisions by creating realistic action plans based on sound stakeholder analysis and communication principles. These case studies are offered free of charge to all instructors.

Cases come in both long and short forms. The long cases provide instructors with tools for delving deeply into subjects related to a variety of decision making and organizational development issues. The short cases, or “minis,” are quick in-class exercises in leadership.

For both the long cases and the minis, teaching-method notes are provided, which include not only recommended in-class facilitation methods, but also grading rubrics, references, and student feedback.

Testimonials

“I have been invited to judge the Leadership Centre’s Annual Ethical Leadership National Case Competition since its inception. Each year, competitors are given a Centre’s case to analyze and present. These cases are like nothing else. They bring the student into the heart of the situation. To excel, students must not only be able to cogently argue the options, but also demonstrate how to implement a decision based on a clear-eyed stakeholder analysis and an understanding of the dynamics of change.” Anne Fawcett, Special Advisor, Caldwell Partners

“I have worked with the Ted Rogers Leadership Centre to both develop and pilot test case materials. Feedback consistently shows that the Centre’s cases resonate with students, providing them with valuable learning experiences.” Chris Gibbs, BComm, MBA, PhD, Associate Professor

"As a judge in the recent national Ted Rogers Ethical Leadership Case Competition, I was very impressed with the quality of the case study prepared by the Leadership Centre. It was brief but well-composed. It exposed the students to ethical quandaries, of the sort they may well face in their business careers. It not only tested their reasoning, but it challenged them to develop a plan of action when faced with incomplete information and imminent deadlines.” Lorne Salzman, Lawyer

We value your feedback

Please inform us of your experience by contacting Dr. Gail Cook Johnson, our mentor-in-residence, at [email protected] .

7 Favorite Business Case Studies to Teach—and Why

Explore more.

• Case Teaching
• Course Materials

FEATURED CASE STUDIES

The Army Crew Team . Emily Michelle David of CEIBS

ATH Technologies . Devin Shanthikumar of Paul Merage School of Business

Fabritek 1992 . Rob Austin of Ivey Business School

Lincoln Electric Co . Karin Schnarr of Wilfrid Laurier University

Pal’s Sudden Service—Scaling an Organizational Model to Drive Growth . Gary Pisano of Harvard Business School

The United States Air Force: ‘Chaos’ in the 99th Reconnaissance Squadron . Francesca Gino of Harvard Business School

Warren E. Buffett, 2015 . Robert F. Bruner of Darden School of Business

To dig into what makes a compelling case study, we asked seven experienced educators who teach with—and many who write—business case studies: “What is your favorite case to teach and why?”

The resulting list of case study favorites ranges in topics from operations management and organizational structure to rebel leaders and whodunnit dramas.

1. The Army Crew Team

Emily Michelle David, Assistant Professor of Management, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)

“I love teaching  The Army Crew Team  case because it beautifully demonstrates how a team can be so much less than the sum of its parts.

I deliver the case to executives in a nearby state-of-the-art rowing facility that features rowing machines, professional coaches, and shiny red eight-person shells.

After going through the case, they hear testimonies from former members of Chinese national crew teams before carrying their own boat to the river for a test race.

The rich learning environment helps to vividly underscore one of the case’s core messages: competition can be a double-edged sword if not properly managed.

Executives in Emily Michelle David’s organizational behavior class participate in rowing activities at a nearby facility as part of her case delivery.

Despite working for an elite headhunting firm, the executives in my most recent class were surprised to realize how much they’ve allowed their own team-building responsibilities to lapse. In the MBA pre-course, this case often leads to a rich discussion about common traps that newcomers fall into (for example, trying to do too much, too soon), which helps to poise them to both stand out in the MBA as well as prepare them for the lateral team building they will soon engage in.

Finally, I love that the post-script always gets a good laugh and serves as an early lesson that organizational behavior courses will seldom give you foolproof solutions for specific problems but will, instead, arm you with the ability to think through issues more critically.”

2. ATH Technologies

Devin Shanthikumar, Associate Professor of Accounting, Paul Merage School of Business

“As a professor at UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business, and before that at Harvard Business School, I have probably taught over 100 cases. I would like to say that my favorite case is my own,   Compass Box Whisky Company . But as fun as that case is, one case beats it:  ATH Technologies  by Robert Simons and Jennifer Packard.

ATH presents a young entrepreneurial company that is bought by a much larger company. As part of the merger, ATH gets an ‘earn-out’ deal—common among high-tech industries. The company, and the class, must decide what to do to achieve the stretch earn-out goals.

ATH captures a scenario we all want to be in at some point in our careers—being part of a young, exciting, growing organization. And a scenario we all will likely face—having stretch goals that seem almost unreachable.

It forces us, as a class, to really struggle with what to do at each stage.

After we read and discuss the A case, we find out what happens next, and discuss the B case, then the C, then D, and even E. At every stage, we can:

see how our decisions play out,

figure out how to build on our successes, and

address our failures.

The case is exciting, the class discussion is dynamic and energetic, and in the end, we all go home with a memorable ‘ah-ha!’ moment.

I have taught many great cases over my career, but none are quite as fun, memorable, and effective as ATH .”

3. Fabritek 1992

Rob Austin, Professor of Information Systems, Ivey Business School

“This might seem like an odd choice, but my favorite case to teach is an old operations case called  Fabritek 1992 .

The latest version of Fabritek 1992 is dated 2009, but it is my understanding that this is a rewrite of a case that is older (probably much older). There is a Fabritek 1969 in the HBP catalog—same basic case, older dates, and numbers. That 1969 version lists no authors, so I suspect the case goes even further back; the 1969 version is, I’m guessing, a rewrite of an even older version.

There are many things I appreciate about the case. Here are a few:

It operates as a learning opportunity at many levels. At first it looks like a not-very-glamorous production job scheduling case. By the end of the case discussion, though, we’re into (operations) strategy and more. It starts out technical, then explodes into much broader relevance. As I tell participants when I’m teaching HBP's Teaching with Cases seminars —where I often use Fabritek as an example—when people first encounter this case, they almost always underestimate it.

It has great characters—especially Arthur Moreno, who looks like a troublemaker, but who, discussion reveals, might just be the smartest guy in the factory. Alums of the Harvard MBA program have told me that they remember Arthur Moreno many years later.

Almost every word in the case is important. It’s only four and a half pages of text and three pages of exhibits. This economy of words and sparsity of style have always seemed like poetry to me. I should note that this super concise, every-word-matters approach is not the ideal we usually aspire to when we write cases. Often, we include extra or superfluous information because part of our teaching objective is to provide practice in separating what matters from what doesn’t in a case. Fabritek takes a different approach, though, which fits it well.

It has a dramatic structure. It unfolds like a detective story, a sort of whodunnit. Something is wrong. There is a quality problem, and we’re not sure who or what is responsible. One person, Arthur Moreno, looks very guilty (probably too obviously guilty), but as we dig into the situation, there are many more possibilities. We spend in-class time analyzing the data (there’s a bit of math, so it covers that base, too) to determine which hypotheses are best supported by the data. And, realistically, the data doesn’t support any of the hypotheses perfectly, just some of them more than others. Also, there’s a plot twist at the end (I won’t reveal it, but here’s a hint: Arthur Moreno isn’t nearly the biggest problem in the final analysis). I have had students tell me the surprising realization at the end of the discussion gives them ‘goosebumps.’

Finally, through the unexpected plot twist, it imparts what I call a ‘wisdom lesson’ to young managers: not to be too sure of themselves and to regard the experiences of others, especially experts out on the factory floor, with great seriousness.”

4. Lincoln Electric Co.

Karin Schnarr, Assistant Professor of Policy, Wilfrid Laurier University

“As a strategy professor, my favorite case to teach is the classic 1975 Harvard case  Lincoln Electric Co.  by Norman Berg.

I use it to demonstrate to students the theory linkage between strategy and organizational structure, management processes, and leadership behavior.

This case may be an odd choice for a favorite. It occurs decades before my students were born. It is pages longer than we are told students are now willing to read. It is about manufacturing arc welding equipment in Cleveland, Ohio—a hard sell for a Canadian business classroom.

Yet, I have never come across a case that so perfectly illustrates what I want students to learn about how a company can be designed from an organizational perspective to successfully implement its strategy.

And in a time where so much focus continues to be on how to maximize shareholder value, it is refreshing to be able to discuss a publicly-traded company that is successfully pursuing a strategy that provides a fair value to shareholders while distributing value to employees through a large bonus pool, as well as value to customers by continually lowering prices.

However, to make the case resonate with today’s students, I work to make it relevant to the contemporary business environment. I link the case to multimedia clips about Lincoln Electric’s current manufacturing practices, processes, and leadership practices. My students can then see that a model that has been in place for generations is still viable and highly successful, even in our very different competitive situation.”

5. Pal’s Sudden Service—Scaling an Organizational Model to Drive Growth

Gary Pisano, Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

“My favorite case to teach these days is  Pal’s Sudden Service—Scaling an Organizational Model to Drive Growth .

I love teaching this case for three reasons:

1. It demonstrates how a company in a super-tough, highly competitive business can do very well by focusing on creating unique operating capabilities. In theory, Pal’s should have no chance against behemoths like McDonalds or Wendy’s—but it thrives because it has built a unique operating system. It’s a great example of a strategic approach to operations in action.

2. The case shows how a strategic approach to human resource and talent development at all levels really matters. This company competes in an industry not known for engaging its front-line workers. The case shows how engaging these workers can really pay off.

3. Finally, Pal’s is really unusual in its approach to growth. Most companies set growth goals (usually arbitrary ones) and then try to figure out how to ‘backfill’ the human resource and talent management gaps. They trust you can always find someone to do the job. Pal’s tackles the growth problem completely the other way around. They rigorously select and train their future managers. Only when they have a manager ready to take on their own store do they open a new one. They pace their growth off their capacity to develop talent. I find this really fascinating and so do the students I teach this case to.”

6. The United States Air Force: ‘Chaos’ in the 99th Reconnaissance Squadron

Francesca Gino, Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

“My favorite case to teach is  The United States Air Force: ‘Chaos’ in the 99th Reconnaissance Squadron .

The case surprises students because it is about a leader, known in the unit by the nickname Chaos , who inspired his squadron to be innovative and to change in a culture that is all about not rocking the boat, and where there is a deep sense that rules should simply be followed.

For years, I studied ‘rebels,’ people who do not accept the status quo; rather, they approach work with curiosity and produce positive change in their organizations. Chaos is a rebel leader who got the level of cultural change right. Many of the leaders I’ve met over the years complain about the ‘corporate culture,’ or at least point to clear weaknesses of it; but then they throw their hands up in the air and forget about changing what they can.

Chaos is different—he didn’t go after the ‘Air Force’ culture. That would be like boiling the ocean.

Instead, he focused on his unit of control and command: The 99th squadron. He focused on enabling that group to do what it needed to do within the confines of the bigger Air Force culture. In the process, he inspired everyone on his team to be the best they can be at work.

The case leaves the classroom buzzing and inspired to take action.”

7. Warren E. Buffett, 2015

Robert F. Bruner, Professor of Business Administration, Darden School of Business

“I love teaching   Warren E. Buffett, 2015  because it energizes, exercises, and surprises students.

Buffett looms large in the business firmament and therefore attracts anyone who is eager to learn his secrets for successful investing. This generates the kind of energy that helps to break the ice among students and instructors early in a course and to lay the groundwork for good case discussion practices.

Studying Buffett’s approach to investing helps to introduce and exercise important themes that will resonate throughout a course. The case challenges students to define for themselves what it means to create value. The case discussion can easily be tailored for novices or for more advanced students.

Either way, this is not hero worship: The case affords a critical examination of the financial performance of Buffett’s firm, Berkshire Hathaway, and reveals both triumphs and stumbles. Most importantly, students can critique the purported benefits of Buffett’s conglomeration strategy and the sustainability of his investment record as the size of the firm grows very large.

By the end of the class session, students seem surprised with what they have discovered. They buzz over the paradoxes in Buffett’s philosophy and performance record. And they come away with sober respect for Buffett’s acumen and for the challenges of creating value for investors.

Surely, such sobriety is a meta-message for any mastery of finance.”

More Educator Favorites

Emily Michelle David is an assistant professor of management at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). Her current research focuses on discovering how to make workplaces more welcoming for people of all backgrounds and personality profiles to maximize performance and avoid employee burnout. David’s work has been published in a number of scholarly journals, and she has worked as an in-house researcher at both NASA and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Devin Shanthikumar  is an associate professor and the accounting area coordinator at UCI Paul Merage School of Business. She teaches undergraduate, MBA, and executive-level courses in managerial accounting. Shanthikumar previously served on the faculty at Harvard Business School, where she taught both financial accounting and managerial accounting for MBAs, and wrote cases that are used in accounting courses across the country.

Robert D. Austin is a professor of information systems at Ivey Business School and an affiliated faculty member at Harvard Medical School. He has published widely, authoring nine books, more than 50 cases and notes, three Harvard online products, and two popular massive open online courses (MOOCs) running on the Coursera platform.

Karin Schnarr is an assistant professor of policy and the director of the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program at the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada where she teaches strategic management at the undergraduate, graduate, and executive levels. Schnarr has published several award-winning and best-selling cases and regularly presents at international conferences on case writing and scholarship.

Gary P. Pisano is the Harry E. Figgie, Jr. Professor of Business Administration and senior associate dean of faculty development at Harvard Business School, where he has been on the faculty since 1988. Pisano is an expert in the fields of technology and operations strategy, the management of innovation, and competitive strategy. His research and consulting experience span a range of industries including aerospace, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals, health care, nutrition, computers, software, telecommunications, and semiconductors.

Francesca Gino studies how people can have more productive, creative, and fulfilling lives. She is a professor at Harvard Business School and the author, most recently, of  Rebel Talent: Why It Pays to Break the Rules at Work and in Life . Gino regularly gives keynote speeches, delivers corporate training programs, and serves in advisory roles for firms and not-for-profit organizations across the globe.

Robert F. Bruner is a university professor at the University of Virginia, distinguished professor of business administration, and dean emeritus of the Darden School of Business. He has also held visiting appointments at Harvard and Columbia universities in the United States, at INSEAD in France, and at IESE in Spain. He is the author, co-author, or editor of more than 20 books on finance, management, and teaching. Currently, he teaches and writes in finance and management.

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Good Leader vs. Bad Leader: 6 Key Leadership Scenarios

What's the difference between a good leader vs. bad leader? What do good leaders do differently?

It's an essential question every leader must ask themselves.

We all face challenges and situations every day that test our patience, skills, and mindset. Unfortunately, there is no magical, drama-free team. What separates a good leader vs. bad leader is how they handle the challenges they face every day.

Today, we take a look at 6 leadership scenarios that we all commonly face regularly, and that are handled very differently by leaders depending on their good or bad approaches. You'll see what the consequences are of those decisions and what path to take instead.

6 Leadership Scenarios that Separate a Good leader vs. Bad leader

We previously wrote a post looking at how a positive outlook can make a huge difference in your daily happiness and how you lead. Leaders told us they loved our good vs. bad storytelling approach, so we're bringing it back to highlight the differences in a good leader vs. bad leader again today.

Here's the leadership scenarios we're covering:

• 1) Handling an employee's idea
• 2) Taking questions from your team
• 3) Managing the unknown
• 4) Working with different personalities and cultures
• 5) Rolling up your sleeves
• 6) Promoting people on your team

1) Good leader vs Bad leader: An employee's idea

The situation:  An employee comes to you with a suggestion to help the team. As their leader, it's something you probably already should have done, but haven't gotten around to.

• Example of bad leadership: You feel a bit bothered when they try to tell you what to do. While they probably didn't mean anything by it, you find it annoying. You either ignore their suggestions completely, come up with reasons why you can't follow their advice, or criticize them.
• The Result: Your team member will learn making suggestions isn't worth the effort. Much will go unsaid, good ideas will lay dormant, and your team is likely to complain about you behind your back.

Or you could go another way...

• Example of good leadership: It's never fun to face harsh truths, but you embrace it. You recognize that your team needs to feel comfortable bringing concerns and ideas to you, so you thank them for the feedback. You also ask a few questions to be sure you understand their suggestion fully.
• The Result: Your team member feels heard, and you gain a new understanding of why you may want to bump an issue or opportunity up your priority list.

Feedback from your team is the lifeblood of good management; they see so much you don't get the chance to give all your responsibilities. If you've made a few mistakes and need to work on your team being more comfortable giving you feedback, this post can help you get more team feedback .

2) Good leader vs. Bad leader: Questions from your team

The situation:   An employee in a long meeting asks a tough question: they zoom out and question the value of the project you're all focused on. "How did we get here? What made us decide to do this in the first place?" 

• Example of bad leadership:  Shocked and offended, you think to yourself, "How dare they question my decision??" You glare at the team member and change the subject to focus back on the original discussion.
• The Result:   A chilling effect sweeps across your team. They know not to raise tough questions to you in meetings and just go along with things. Healthy debate is a phrase foreign to your team.
• Example of good leadership:   You take a deep breath and address the question head-on. Depending on the situation, you either explain the motivations for the decision they may not know for the benefit of the whole team, or you engage them Socratically to ask questions to them to reveal the reasoning. If the way they asked was disruptive, you talk to them about it in their next 1 on 1 or privately after the meeting.
• The Result:   Your team sees that with you, there are no dumb questions, and it's safe to challenge the status quo. This helps your team explore new ideas fully, and avoid missing the forest for the trees.

It can be hard to manage people who have strong opinions and ideas, but they can also be your greatest asset.  If you remember you're all on the same team and trying to win together, you can avoid feeling negative about their comments.

Best of all, if you work on your skill at asking questions, you can engage them and your whole team to more deeply understand where they're coming from and the best solution going forward. Learn more about the skill of curiosity and asking questions here.

3) Good leader vs. Bad leader: Managing the unknown

The situation:  You have someone on your team in a role you've never done yourself. You're not familiar with all the nuance of what they do, nor their keys to success.

• Example of bad leadership:  You feel a bit threatened by the hire, and some imposter syndrome, so you fake it. You pretend you know more than you do and go super hands-off with them. It's their job to tell you what you need to know, right?
• The Result:  Communication quickly breaks down between you and the team member. They roll their eyes when you pretend you know what they're talking about. Your relationship becomes adversarial as they try to manage you out of the way so they can just get their work done.
• Example of good leadership:   Recognizing your knowledge gap, you take it head-on. You spend time with them to learn from them and ask questions when you don't understand something. Together, you come up with a plan you can hold them accountable to for the work you're less familiar with.
• The Result:   You build more trust with them, and show that your team has a culture of humility for things they don't know. By having a plan, you can still tell how they're performing relative to expectations despite your relative newness to their field of work.

As important as developing the task relevant maturity of your team is, your task relevant maturity matters, too.  Embracing the need to learn new skills and admit when you don't know is a growth mindset well worth demonstrating. Learn more how to level up your task relevant maturity here.

4) Good leader vs. Bad leader: Working with different personalities and cultures

The situation:  Your company is dabbling in remote work, or recruiting from outside your region. You were raised in an area where everyone says things indirectly and gently, but your new hire is more direct. This video captures a somewhat humorous example of the difference:

In the workplace, it could then turn out this way:

• Example of bad leadership: Resentful of their communication style, you blame them for all communication issues. After all, you're the boss, so they should adapt to you. Using your preferred style, you drop subtle hints that they seem to be completely ignoring, much to your frustration.
• The Result: You both become increasingly frustrated with each other. You feel like they're abrasive, and they feel like they can't get a straight answer from you. It makes you both want to avoid the other, leading to poor teamwork.
• Example of good leadership: Recognizing their difference in personality, you make an effort to better understand them. You try to be more explicit in your communication with them, and not wince too much when they're more direct than you're used to. You also coach them on how to get a point across with slightly smoother edges.
• The Result:  While it's not easy, you work together to reach an understanding of how you each communicate. Finding some common ground leads to better results, and open communication keeps ideas flowing between you both.

Any time there's a problem on your team, it's important to start by looking in the mirror . There's always something you were doing (or not doing) to contribute to the issue.

A healthy dose of self-awareness can help you start from a perspective of how you can do your part to improve difficult situations. Best of all, when you lead the way taking problems head on, you make it easier for your team members to admit faults and do their part as well.  Learn how to improve your self awareness here.

5) Good leader vs. Bad leader: Rolling up your sleeves

The situation:  You get a coach to help you be a better leader. The coach tells you passionately you must do something you've never gotten around to.

• Example of bad leadership: You shrug off the advice thinking, "It's extra work, and I'm sure it can wait. I don't see them for a month anyways." You let your mind run and rationalize away why the advice doesn't apply or isn't as important as the 38 other things on your to-do list.
• The Result: You miss out on the impact your coach knew the effort could have. Compounding the issue, when they see you haven't made the change, they start to lose faith in your willingness to listen. Soon, they're less interested in coaching you, or avoid certain topics that could help but seem to fall on deaf ears.
• Example of good leadership: You recognize that you picked this coach for their experience and insights. If they're passionate about doing this now, it must be important. It's not easy making time, but you find ways to carve out enough to get it done.
• The Result: You complete the effort and you see how it starts to impact your team in ways you never expected. Your coach also becomes more confident in working with you seeing that it's a good investment of their time. They continue to challenge and push you to become better because of it.

There's never enough hours in the day to do everything we want to do. That's why it's so important to manage your schedule well so you don't fill it only with low-value tasks. Whether you choose to eat the frog first thing in the morning, or use the pebbles, sand, and water analogy to budget your time, making sure to get important things done is critical to your success as a leader.

Sometimes that can be especially hard because there's so many fires. This post can help you get out of that reactive management mod e if you're in deep.

6) Good Leader vs. Bad Leader: Promoting people on your team

The situation: You’re deciding who on your team is the best candidate for a promotion. Who you choose will change your team dynamics from current roles to what gets back filled, what you signal you’re rewarding, to who you’ll work more closely with going forward. 

• Example of bad leadership: You promote a team member based on their success in their current role. They’ve proven themselves before, so you assume they’ll do a great job. However, the new role is quite different from what they were doing up until now.
• The result: Unfortunately, doing well at one job doesn’t mean they’ll thrive in another one, nor have the skills and interest to succeed. Too often, leaders and the team members they hire and promote fail to think about how a new role may be different from what they’re doing today.  Not only may they lack the necessary skills, but it’s no certainty they’ll enjoy the work either if you haven’t talked about it in detail with them. All of this combines for a recipe for disaster: failed promotion, disappointed colleagues, and a questioning of your judgment as a manager. 
• Example of good leadership:  Instead of promoting people based on their success in their current role, a good manager considers the skills they’ll need in the new job. For example, if you want to promote a person from a blog writer to a manager, you wouldn’t consider their writing skills. You’d consider if they have great leadership qualities including :

1. Having empathy for others and an interest in helping with "people problems." 2. Being a good listener , so they can ask good questions and have empathy for their team. 3. Showing consistency , as well as being detail oriented and accountable in their work, so they set a good example to their team. 4. Have a growth mindset , so they continue learning new skills they need for the role. 5. Show interest in being a manager , so that you're sure they want the responsibilities that come with being a leader.

• The result: If you take time to think about the skills people need to succeed in a role, and clearly communicate them to people before promoting them, you'll have an easier time giving them roles where they can succeed. You'll also avoid someone taking a job for the wrong reasons.

Regardless of who you promote, it's important to view it as an ongoing commitment and decision. You need to talk to potential promotion candidates before they take the role, to make sure they have the skills and interest. Then, you also need to support them afterwards to make sure they have a smooth transition and the guidance they need to continue growing afterwards.

If you need to tune up your coaching, or are thinking about how to develop leaders on your team, start with these posts:

• Employee Coaching: Why it Matters and How to Become Great at It
• Developing Leaders: 6 Keys to Identify & Develop New Leaders
• Learn to avoid the Common Mistakes Companies make when Promoting from Within

Common Questions for New Leaders

If you’ve made some mistakes from the “bad leader” examples, how can you rebuild trust with your team.

It’s never easy to admit you were wrong, but it’s a critical first step. The key is to own the mistakes you made rather than make excuses. 

Lean into the issue by gathering everyone involved and sincerely apologize for your actions and the impact it had. Most importantly, make it clear what actions you’ll take to avoid repeating those behaviors going forward.

Over time, you’ll have to work to regain their trust. Your one-on-one meetings are a great time to have a judgment-free conversation listen to any of their lingering frustrations and get additional feedback. 

Remember to practice active listening skills to ensure you understand their perspective, and then follow through on any promises you make; doing what you say you’ll do is foundational to rebuilding trust and being a good leader.

What are some early warning signs that you may be slipping into some of the “bad leader” behaviors without realizing it?

Catching yourself early is key to preventing small issues from growing into larger trust problems. So here are some bad habits to avoid:

• You stop proactively giving praise or recognition to your team members for good work.
• You get annoyed or defensive when employees bring ideas or concerns to you.
• You find yourself criticizing people rather than coaching them through issues.
• Team members seem to avoid bringing up certain topics with you.
• You don’t ask questions in team conversations, instead defaulting to stating your opinions.
• You feel overwhelmed and fail to delegate tasks that could be handed off.
• You get frustrated with managing different personalities and communication styles

What is bad leadership behavior?

Bad leaders can slowly damage your culture and turn a great workplace toxic. Fortunately, spotting unhealthy leadership habits early allows you to course-correct or limit the harm. Here are some warning signs to watch for:

• Does the leader lack self-awareness about their behaviors? For example, do they fail to take responsibility when mistakes happen and are quick to blame external factors or other people?
• Do they lack empathy, warmth, and focus when interacting with direct reports? Do they see managing people as something annoying and a waste of time?
• Are they inconsistent in their actions? Do they fail to follow through on promises or enforce rules haphazardly across the team?
• Does the team seem afraid to share concerns, new ideas or important company information with them? Keeping people in the dark can be very frustrating. 
• Do they take credit for wins but defect blame on losses? Everyone notices a lack of integrity, and stealing credit can especially bother your top performers.

If you see any managers doing even a few of these things, you know you have a bad leader in your organization. 

We’ve barely scratched the surface here on what to do about bad leaders. For more expert advice on addressing unhealthy management behaviors, check out these additional posts:

• Bad Leadership: 5 Ways To Recognize Bad Managers At Your Company
• How To Stop Being A Bad Leader And Turn Around A Miserable Team
• 5 Signs Of A Bad Manager Senior Leaders Should Look For Before It's Too Late

There's a fine line between good and bad leadership - use these bad leadership examples to avoid common mistakes

The difference between a good leader vs. bad leader is often subtle. It's all in your mindset and your ability to take ownership of problems and opportunities in a positive way.

In all the situations above you can see how the same helpful people all around a manager can be met with either resistance or gratitude.

The good leader sees the glass half full and everyone wants to help them. Meanwhile, the bad leader is stressed out and can't figure out why everything is always so frustrating and trying to give them more work.

It's easy to read these and say, "I'll be the good leader, of course."  However, it's harder in the moment.

You need to have a growth mindset , manage external pressure, and fight any imposter syndrome that has crept into your psyche.

You can check out this episode of the "High Performing Teams" podcast to learn more about essential do's and don't's for managers including different ways to give and receive feedback, and get buy-in:

No one is a natural at all of this, so stay positive even when you slip. Teams respect leaders who admit when they're wrong and put in the work to make things right. The payoff is well worth your investment: loyalty, hard work, and seeing the best work from your team.

Learn something today? Share it so your friends can, too:

Jason Evanish

As the founder and CEO of Get Lighthouse, Inc , Jason and the Lighthouse team have helped managers grow their leadership skills in dozens of countries around the world. They’ve worked with a variety of companies from non-profits to high growth startups, and government organizations to well known, publicly traded companies. Jason has also been featured in publications including NPR, the Wall Street Journal, and Fast Company.

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Developing Leaders and Managers: A Case Study

• Author: Sheryl McAtee
• Management, Supervision & Leadership

Jeanette started the weekend frustrated. On Wednesday morning, she had asked Bob to have his team draft an executive summary about an emerging challenge for senior management.  Based on feedback from her own coach, Jeanette was working on being clearer with her team about action items, deadlines and the reasons behind them.

With that in mind, on Wednesday, she told Bob that she wanted a two-page draft no later than the end of the day Friday. She and Bob discussed an outline for the summary, with key points to incorporate. Jeanette told Bob she planned to finalize the summary over the weekend, so her boss would have it Monday morning.  Jeanette felt pleased by her clarity, and expected good outcomes based on the discussion.

The end of Friday came, so Jeanette wrote an email to Bob to check on the status. Bob acknowledged that his team had given him a draft by noon, but he had not had time to look at it before the end of the day, and he needed to log off for a family event.  Bob attached the unreviewed draft executive summary to the email, “just in case you need it now.”

Jeanette was irritated. Of course she needed it now! She has clearly explained on Wednesday that she would be working on it over the weekend, and Bob’s lack of focus on a mission-critical item seemed irresponsible. She opened the draft Bob had forwarded and became even more irritated. The document was full of technical jargon and was three pages long – a full page longer than her instructions. It was going to take hours to fix it.

Jeanette considered a few options:

• Insist that Bob take responsibility for the project, directing him to review the draft and send her his final version by noon Saturday. While this would contradict Jeanette’s commitment to work-life balance, Bob needed the pain of the negative consequence, so he would not make the same mistake again.
• Write to senior leadership, communicating a delay in the executive summary, so Jeanette would not have to spend her own time on the project over the weekend, and so Bob could “right the ship” upon returning to work on Monday.
• Finalize the executive summary over the weekend, as promised to senior leadership. Share the revision with Bob and set up a coaching/feedback session on Monday to discuss the problems and what should be done differently next time – both with the timeline and with the document itself.

Pause and think about how you would address this if you were Jeanette.  Would you have pursued one of these options? What other options do you see? What would you have done?

In the end, after taking some time to calm down, Jeanette chose the third option. While this required the most time for Jeanette, it got the senior leaders what they needed and Bob received the coaching that he needed. On Monday, Bob also shared the guilt he felt, recognizing that his boss had to work harder over the weekend because of his failure to manage his time and his team’s work better.

There are no right answers to this case study – how you address it depends on your personality, relationships, organizational culture and roles, as well as the project itself. The development lies in asking the right questions, owning your own development needs and considering the options that both build a better team and a better organization over time.

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How To Write A Leadership Case Study (Sample) 

Table of Contents

Writing a case study isn’t as straightforward as writing essays. But it has proven to be an effective way of teaching complex topics, even in organizations. Want to know how to write a leadership case study ? That’s not surprising. Leadership is a dynamic topic. Hence, a case study simplifies the analysis of various leadership techniques and complexities. Since you’ve got to learn how to write one, let’s talk leadership case studies .

What Is a Case Study?

A case study is a research method that analyzes an in-depth, detailed look at a particular situation or event . It may involve examining specific events or contexts in detail and considering their implications for similar events. A case study may require gathering information from multiple sources, like interviews or observations, to understand the context of a problem or phenomenon. The research results help you develop insights and an understanding of how individual experiences fit into the broader framework of their environment. Case studies are commonly used in business research, social science, education, psychology, and health sciences.

Benefits Of Case Study In Leadership

Case reports are time-consuming and tiring. But is it worth the stress? What are the benefits of the case study? Case studies in leadership can be highly beneficial, offering invaluable lessons and insights into becoming an effective leader. They provide a practical approach to understanding the complexities of real-world leadership experiences. Here are some of the benefits that case study in leadership provides: 1) Increased knowledge – By examining specific examples from history or current events, leaders can gain new perspectives on various leadership styles. 2) Improved decision-making – Case studies allow for critical analysis of existing data. It also covers potential future scenarios, which helps leaders make more informed decisions. 3) Greater self-awareness – Examining other leaders’ successes and failures gives insight into our values, beliefs, and biases, leading to better self-knowledge and development. 4) Enhanced problem-solving skills – Studying successful strategies used by other leaders provides ideas and frameworks for dealing with similar challenges in the future. 5) Increased collaboration – Through discussions surrounding case studies, team members can develop a greater understanding of each others’ viewpoints and work together more effectively.

How To Write A Leadership Case Study

A leadership case study effectively shares real-life leadership success or failure. To write such a study, one should include inspiring and educational details for readers. Begin by researching the subject thoroughly to ensure accuracy in facts and figures. Then, craft the narrative around this data, adding a personal flair with anecdotes and quotes from those who have worked directly with the subject. Emphasize key points with relevant examples and create impactful transitions between ideas. Finally, consider providing insight into possible lessons learned from the experience to help others facing similar challenges.

Leadership Case Study Example

Kiara, a tech executive at a startup, is an exemplary leader. She has been in her position for over two years and continues to be successful despite the challenges of managing a rapidly growing team. Kiara’s leadership style is based on empathy and trust-building. Her primary focus is creating an environment where each person can reach their fullest potential and feel supported by their colleagues. Kiara frequently facilitates meetings with open dialogue and encourages her team to voice their opinions without fear of judgment. She also emphasizes direct communication whenever possible so that everyone knows what is expected of them and feels connected to one another. Kiara puts forth additional effort when it comes to decision-making. Before any significant changes or initiatives are implemented, she thoroughly researches and solicits feedback from other leaders. She also consults experts within the company. This ensures that choices are well thought out and align with the organization’s mission. Kiara seeks regular employee feedback to continue fostering a healthy work culture. She holds weekly “check-ins” with individuals and teams to address issues as they arise. Ultimately she creates a congenial working atmosphere for all. Kiara exemplifies authentic leadership – putting the needs of her team before her own. She takes calculated risks, trusts her gut intuition, and communicates effectively with those around her. Through these actions, she demonstrates excellent tenacity and selflessness while pushing her team toward success. This case study highlights the importance of feedback and seeking quality counsel to make appropriate decisions for your organization. It shows that leaders who are willing to put more effort into communication can find ways to thrive even under challenging circumstances.

Final Words

A good leadership case study should be an engaging read. It’s crucial to present your expertise in clear language that is easy for readers to follow. Include real examples of successes or failures when possible, as this adds substance to your writing. Draw inspiration from the sample in this article to learn how to write a leadership case study . Or use INK’s Command Mode to craft a personalized case study!

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

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Want more good leaders? Companies should invest in early childhood development

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Déjà Leonard is a copywriter and freelance journalist based in Calgary.

• Research explores how early-life socioeconomic status influences leadership potential, finding that higher socioeconomic status during childhood is linked to better self-control and mental health, which correlate with leadership roles in adulthood
• Companies can create more inclusive leadership opportunities by investing in early childhood development for lower socioeconomic groups, employing diverse recruitment practices and providing continued support to bridge social network and opportunity gaps

Leadership has been a long-studied topic inside and outside of the workplace.

“It’s one of these things that feels sort of elusive or ethereal. We attribute when things go well to people, and when things don’t go well to people, says Nick Turner, a researcher at the University of Calgary. “I think people are intrigued by leadership because we want to hold the world accountable.”

It’s no wonder millions of people are drawn to thought leaders in the area such as Simon Sinek, who is known for his concept of “Start With Why,” and Brené Brown, a research professor who brings a human-centric approach to leadership.

Although so many individuals have the capacity to become leaders, Mr. Turner, along with other Canadian researchers Julie Weatherhead, Julian Barling, Shani Pupco and Steve Granger, recently published a study that takes a closer look at the early-life factors that affect who actually becomes one.

Who becomes a leader – and why?

Several studies look at how a person’s socioeconomic status (SES) affects their leadership style.

One referenced in Mr. Turner’s study shows that SES background affected the behaviour of chief executive officers. Those from either higher or lower SES backgrounds in the United States were more likely to take strategic risks than those from a middle SES background.

Another found that if someone lived through the Great Famine in China, between the ages of six and 13, it had “a negative and exponential impact on strategic risk-taking behaviour among children who later became corporate CEOs.”

Mr. Turner’s research looks at the relationship between socioeconomic status at birth and during early childhood, and how this status influences key developmental outcomes such as self-control and psychological well-being, which in turn affect leadership potential.

“The opportunities and the experiences afforded to people of varying socioeconomic backgrounds shape their self control and their mental health, and these factors occur at quite an early age,” he says.

To summarize the results, people with higher socioeconomic status, at birth and in their childhood, develop better self control at age 10. That self control enables people to foster better mental health, which was measured at age 16. For example, those with better mental health reported feeling happy within their circumstances, were confident in their appearance and didn’t want to change who they were. That, in turn, relates to the likelihood they have taken on a leadership position at age 26.

However, just because someone comes from a more affluent background and is more likely to become a leader, doesn’t mean they are the most capable.

“It’s also about potential that we don’t know,” Mr. Turner says of those who may have had a completely different life trajectory had they been from a more affluent family.

This challenges some of the conventional wisdom about what it takes to be a good leader.

He says people and companies often look at leadership as a skill that is strengthened through training and experience, without consideration for the early childhood factors that set the stage for whether many of us become leaders.

Recommendations for creating inclusive leadership opportunities

Mr. Turner says there are three strategies companies can adopt to help foster more inclusive leadership opportunities and “level the playing field”:

• Invest in early childhood development: Companies can support programs that enhance education and development for kids, especially from families with lower socioeconomic status. This could be through funding or even providing staff to volunteer.
• Diverse recruitment practices: Modify recruitment criteria to value a wider range of life experiences and backgrounds, including those who have overcome socioeconomic adversity. For example, ask candidates how they have overcome challenges in their lives and what they have learned from it, instead of focusing just on awards and accolades.
• Continued support: People of a higher socioeconomic status have access to certain social networks and job opportunities that others may not. Companies can create or support targeted mentorship and career-related programs that give people from different backgrounds the opportunity to close this gap.

“These sorts of investments in early-life circumstances and conditions, I think for leadership, mean that we’ll set up a talent pool that will be far richer than if we only focus on those who come to these opportunities through wealth or affluence,” Mr. Turner says.

What I’m reading around the web

• Mental health claims are on the rise in Canada. While this trend shows that more people are seeking the help they need, there is still work to do to break down the stigma and support mental health at work.
• The cost of living continues to rise and more Canadians are feeling “financial guilt” and haven’t been able to save as much money as they would like to. Here’s how to overcome that shame .
• If you’re looking to stay on top of everything AI, you’ll want to read this joint report from Microsoft and LinkedIn. It provides insight into why some leaders are slow to move on investing in AI and who is using it at work – and why they’re doing it secretly.

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Seven yalies to hone leadership skills as knight-hennessy scholars.

Top row, from left, Daviana Berkowitz-Sklar, Tilly Brooks, and Gabe Malek. Second row, Qusay Omran, Henry Smith, Lina Volin, and Barkotel Zemenu.

A Yale College senior and six Yale alumni are among 90 scholars from 30 countries to be named Knight-Hennessy Scholars at Stanford University. The scholars were selected for their independent thought, leadership, and civic-mindedness.

At Stanford, the cohort will pursue graduate degrees in 45 degree programs across all seven schools.

Knight-Hennessy Scholars is a multidisciplinary, multicultural graduate scholarship program that helps develop future leaders. The scholars receive up to three years of financial support to pursue graduate studies at Stanford while also engaging in experiences that prepare them to tackle global challenges.

The seven Yale affiliates named to the 2024 cohort of Knight-Hennessy scholars follows:

Daviana Berkowitz-Sklar ’23, who studied ecology and evolutionary biology as an undergraduate at Yale College, will pursue a Ph.D. in oceans at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Raised in Costa Rica and California, Berkowitz-Sklar aspires to develop collaborative, science-based solutions to improve the health of ecosystems and the people who depend on them. She is interested in marine spatial ecology and socio-ecological systems and has conducted research in Costa Rican fishing communities with the DynaMAR Project at Stanford. She was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship as well as a Yale postgraduate fellowship to research whale migrations at OKEANOS-University of the Azores and a Rohr Reef Resilience Fellowship to study coral reef resilience at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Berkowitz-Sklar is the co-founder and president of a nonprofit organization, Nature Now International, through which she leads programs to engage youth in community-based science and conservation, including hands-on work with wildlife, citizen science, and STEM education.

Tilly Brooks  ’23, who was a linguistics major as a Yale College undergraduate, will concurrently pursue a Ph.D. in linguistics at Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences and a J.D. at Yale Law School. Brooks, who is from New Haven, studied Indo-European philology at Yale before discovering an interest in action-based research and the relationship between language and law. Focusing both on the effects of law and policy decisions on marginalized linguistic communities and the application of linguistic theories, research methods, and tools to interpretive legal processes, she researches what she calls “the law of language and the language of law.” In the long term, Brooks aims to draw communities of legal scholars, linguists, and legal practitioners together with the common goals of advancing linguistic justice in the practice of law, and refining the use of linguistic evidence and tools for law and policy purposes.

Gabe Malek ’20, who was a double major in American studies and anthropology at Yale, will pursue a J.D. at Stanford Law School. He aspires to leverage commercial law, financial regulation, and tax policy to accelerate the clean energy transition. Malek has served as chief of staff at Fervo Energy, a next-generation geothermal power developer, and deputy chief of staff to Mark Carney, co-chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero and former governor of the Bank of England. He began his career at Environmental Defense Fund, where he helped formalize and scale the organization’s investor engagement strategy. At Yale, Malek received the Edward Sapir Prize for his research on international climate finance and the Institute for Social and Policy Studies Director’s Fellowship for his commitment to public service.

Qusay Omran ’21, who studied chemistry as an undergraduate at Yale College, will pursue an M.D. and Ph.D. in genetics at Stanford School of Medicine. He aspires to develop innovative therapies for cancers and immunologic disorders through research in chemical and synthetic biology. In college, he studied nucleic acid chemical biology at Yale and the National Cancer Institute, publishing his senior thesis on a novel self-splicing assay. Omran also led the Yale Review of International Studies, where he edited and published academic essays on global affairs solicited from around the world. Originally from Bahrain, Omran is a passionate advocate for displaced populations. He worked at Havenly, a nonprofit dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty for refugee women. He earned a Dwight Hall Community Response Fellowship and the Berkeley College Fellows’ Prize for his contributions to the greater community.

Henry Smith  ’22, who was a double major in mathematics and statistics at Yale, is pursuing a Ph.D. in statistics at Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. Through his Ph.D., Smith, who is from Hanover, Pennsylvania, aims to improve statistical understanding of machine learning algorithms so they can be more confidently applied across various domains. After graduating from Yale, he spent a year conducting research at the University of Cambridge, where he and a team developed a novel machine learning algorithm to solve a challenging problem in multi-drone flight. At Yale, Smith served as a leader of the Yale Votes Coalition to strengthen university voting policy and managed data for numerous political campaigns. He also spent three years preparing taxes for low-income New Haven residents. At Yale, Smith received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, an award for the best undergraduate thesis, and Yale’s Emerson Tuttle award for scholastic achievement.

Lina Volin ’19, who studied history at Yale, is pursuing a J.D. at Stanford Law School. Volin, who is from Hollywood, Florida, also holds a Master of Science degree in modern Middle Eastern studies from the University of Oxford. She aspires to advance access to health care and improve health outcomes through policymaking that centers equity and addresses intersecting social, economic, and legal issues. For three years, she served at the White House Gender Policy Council, most recently as director for health policy, where she worked on policy development and litigation response related to reproductive rights and helped to launch a new White House initiative aimed at closing critical research gaps in women’s health. Volin previously served as the council’s chief of staff and led efforts to advance pay equity and strengthen worker protections.

Barkotel Zemenu , an intensive physics major will graduate from Yale College this month, will pursue a Ph.D. in physics at Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. Zemenu, who is from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has conducted in research on three continents, including work that has spanned particle physics, quantum gravity, and observational astronomy. At Stanford, he plans to leverage this background to investigate fundamental questions in cosmology, with a focus on the elusive neutrinos and the hidden dark sector. As a Yale undergraduate, Zemenu was selected to join the 73rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Physics, named Top Oral Presenter at the annual international conference hosted by the American Physical Society, and awarded multiple national scholarships by the American Institute of Physics. At Yale, he enjoyed being a physics tutor and studying numerous foreign languages.

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CEOs Invest Less in Corporate Social Responsibility When Their Own Money Is At Stake

A study co-authored by Yale SOM’s Kelly Shue finds that when CEOs have a larger financial stake in their companies, or when they face stronger shareholder oversight, they cut back spending on corporate social responsibility efforts.

• Kelly Shue Professor of Finance

Should corporations invest in green production methods, offer employees generous health benefits, or allow employees time during the work week to volunteer? Whether and how for-profit companies should invest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and other forms of socially motivated spending is hotly debated. Some argue that companies have a responsibility to their broader society. Others insist that the sole focus of the corporation should be shareholder value.

Kelly Shue, a professor of finance at Yale SOM, says that both these arguments overlook a key factor: the incentives of the CEO. Shue studies the intersection of behavior and corporate finance; her research has found plenty of evidence that corporations are run by human beings with opinions and preferences who don’t always make management decisions that are in the best interest of the firm’s investors.

In a new paper written with Ing-Haw Cheng of the University of Toronto and Harrison Hong of Columbia University and NBER, Shue shows that when corporate do-gooding starts to affect the managers’ own personal income, or their standing with shareholders, their CSR efforts slow down considerably.

In other words, it’s much easier to do good when you’re spending other people’s money.

Shue and her fellow researchers approached their study with the view that CEOs are human beings, not robots. “Often managers want to be nice people,” she says. “Left to their own devices, it’s not obvious that they would pay workers low wages and be mean.”

In addition, CEOs may often have closer interactions with their workers than other stakeholders, which encourages them to see the workers as real people, not corporate assets. They want them to be happy, which in general, means higher wages and better benefits. CEOs also have definite preferences when it comes to CSR, and may see the opportunity to invest corporate money in a social or environmental cause as another perk that comes with the job.

The researchers conducted two tests to determine at what point managers cut back on CSR efforts in favor of making more money for the company.

The first used a mathematical model to examine the aftermath of the 2003 Dividend Tax Cut, which reduced the marginal federal dividend income tax rate from 38.6% to 15%. After that tax cut, Shue says, CEO after-tax ownership of the firm increased. Their model predicted that CEOs who owned moderate levels of stock in their companies would be the most strongly motivated by the dividend tax cut to maximize the businesses’ value, often at the expense of doing good.

Using MSCI ratings to determine levels of “goodness,” the researchers found that in 2003 and 2004, companies where managers owned a moderate amount of stock saw a sharp decline in CSR. There was less of a change in companies where CEOs either owned large amounts of stock or none at all, suggesting that CEOs who were major shareholders were already watching spending because they had a big stake in the outcome, while CEOs with no stock saw no change in their own dividends and therefore no reason to make any changes in the company’s CSR efforts.

In the second phase of their study, Shue and her fellow researchers compared shareholder proposals that narrowly passed to shareholder proposals that narrowly failed. They found that firms in which proposals narrowly passed experienced slower growth in “goodness” than the firms in which the proposals narrowly failed. This, they speculate, is because CEOs sense that shareholders are more closely monitoring their actions and watching to see how they perform their main job: maximizing profit.

“When a firm is well-governed, the CEO has the incentive to run a tight ship,” says Shue. “They negotiate hard against labor. They want to make the firm more profitable.”

Shue was not especially surprised by the findings. “It’s easier to be generous when it’s not your own money,” she says.

But these findings also advance the view that Shue and her coauthors have of CEOs as human beings. “We wrote this to challenge what we thought was the dominant narrative out there,” she says, “that CEOs are pure profit-maximizing machines that don’t have social preferences.”

Crafting Climate Policy That Sticks: An Arctic Case Study

Date and location.

​Climate change transcends terms of office and demands steadfast policy responses. The Arctic, which is warming three to four times faster than the rest of the world, is at the forefront of the climate crisis. Communities in the region are witnessing profound disruptions to their daily lives and livelihoods as their environment rapidly transforms.

Join us for a deep dive into how durable policies are critical for building the resilience communities impacted by climate change. The discussion will draw out lessons from the implementation of the U.S. Arctic Strategy, featuring insights from officials from the White House and the Department of Interior, climate scientists, and local leaders who are directly engaged in translating policy commitments into action. Learn how the strides made through this strategy are not just responding to current challenges but are setting the groundwork for a resilient future for the Arctic and all communities facing the impacts of climate change.

RSVP required. A Harvard University ID is required for in-person attendance; all are welcome to attend on Zoom . For questions or to request accessibility accommodations, contact Elizabeth Hanlon ( [email protected] ).

Speakers and Presenters

​​David Balton, White House Arctic Executive Steering Committee; Raina Thiele, Department of Interior; John Holdren, HKS Arctic Initiative; Jackie Qataliña Schaeffer, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium; Fran Ulmer, HKS Arctic Initiative

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How Announcers Talk About Female Climbers (A Case Study)

Name: Jaimie Jettmar   Advisor: Prof. Kira Hall, TA Velda Khoo  Class: Ling 2400: Language, Gender, and Sexuality Semester: Fall 2023 LURA 2024

Female and male athletes are not treated exactly the same in discourse, but in the case of rock climbing this may be a good thing, as it creates and redefines a new type of femininity. In taking the course Language, Gender, and Sexuality taught by Professor Kira Hall, I decided to investigate the way that female climbers are discussed in competitive situations. Dr. Hall and the teaching assistant Velda Khoo both nominated me for this award and I'm honored!

For my paper, I analyzed one competition in particular. I chose the most strength-based type of climbing competition (bouldering) to see if sport journalists use commentary that contradicts expected gender norms. Bouldering requires a ton of power, which resonates more with the stereotypical image of masculinity rather than femininity. For an up-to-date discussion, I chose the 2023 International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Championships in Bern, Switzerland, where six women competed for the world title in bouldering. The commentary provided by the IFSC was done by one woman and one man: retired female climber Shauna Coxsey, an English athlete competing from 2012 to 2021 with multiple golds in the Bouldering World Cup, and climbing announcer Matt Groom, who does not compete but is a climber himself and is currently the lead commentator for IFSC.

Throughout the 2 hour women's bouldering competition, a variety of adjectives and verbs were used to describe the way the athletes moved, behaved, or looked. Specific excerpts were selected for analysis, with attention to whether or not the commentary recognized how these women climbers balance their femininity with their participation in a more masculine sport. The guiding questions that helped identify key moments were the following: Are climbing announcers able to grapple with women doing traditionally masculine activities without belittling them? How do the announcers’ unique ways of talking about the topic of climbing reflect the climbing community’s perspectives on gender?

There are quite a few moments within the competition that provide answers to these questions, but the most key moments in my opinion would be, first, the commentary surrounding Natalia Grosman's attempt on the first of four boulders and second, the commentary surrounding Oriane Bertone's eventual completion (top) of the second boulder problem. With respect to the first key moment, sportscaster Matt Groom says the following:

The mention of a "big smile" is definitely a descriptor used more for female athletes than male athletes in competitions. In order not to be viewed as rude, women are expected to smile at almost all times. This is in sharp contrast to expectations for male athletes, for whom variation in facial expression (including just a resting face) is far more acceptable. Bucholtz and Hall’s (2010) model of identity would view this as a type of adequation, whereby Natalia is “adequated” (or described as sufficiently similar to) the traditional feminine. In this case, the commentary is delivered by a man, Matt Groom, who is strikingly underqualified in comparison to his co-anchor, Shauna Coxsey. This irony is interesting, to say the least, but as the competition continues it is clear that Matt means no disrespect. As seen in the passage below, he clearly admires every one of the athletes, including Oriane, who he describes in similar terms. 

In this passage, we also find lots of smile descriptors again adequating the athlete with the traditional feminine. Furthermore, Matt's failure to initially notice the nails, as well as Shauna's response "I think Zelia has the same too," both show that traditional gender norms are still quite present for these two announcers. The former comment suggests that women are discussed with attention to detail regarding their physical appearance, while such descriptions appear to matter much less in the male social sphere. Shauna's use of a hedge ("I think”), rather than being direct, further conforms to what has been described as the apologetic feminine (Dilley 2006), which is still quite pertinent and well known in social spheres.

Although Matt describes Oriane’s "wildness" in the above excerpt as a childish attribute, it can also be seen as a masculine attribute. Oriane’s deviance from the traditional masculine and traditional feminine is what makes her great in this context, carving out a space for the uniqueness that every one of these athletes brings to the competition. The complexity of this situation can be better understood through the lens of what Judith Butler (1990) calls gender performativity . In my paper, I ultimately argue that what is seen in these excerpts is not the illegitimation of female athletes, but rather the authorization and active creation of a new form of femininity. These women are competing for world titles with daintily painted nails and gorgeous braids, knowing full well that they'll be scraping the paint off on the wall and making powerful moves which will certainly loosen their neat hair. They embody certain elements of the traditional feminine, but they also subvert these displays through their actions during competitions.

These contrasts are legitimized by the commentary: the women athletes are not devalued for their gender but rather recognized and applauded for traits typically understood as both masculine and feminine. The climbing community’s recognition of a more powerful and boundless form of femininity will hopefully carry over into the broader perspective on climbing beyond the community, potentially allowing for this more complex understanding of femininity to break into general discourse and give women more than the social position of the traditional feminine.

Title Image Credit

Public domain pictures - free stock photos. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2022, from  https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/ .  

Appleby, K. M., & Fisher, L. A. (2005). Female energy at the rock’: A feminist exploration of female rock climbers.  Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal ,  14 (2), 10-23.

Bucholtz, M., & Hall, K. (2010). Locating identity in language.  Language and identities ,  18 (1), 18-28.

Butler, J. (1990).  Gender Trouble . ‎Routledge, pp. 191-193. 

Dilley, R. (2006). Climbing tales: Gendered body narratives and stories of strength.  Thinking Gender-the NEXT Generation .

International Federation of Sport Climbing. (2023). Women's Boulder final || Bern 2023 . YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QRsxEWRqFY .

Phillips, W., & Boroditsky, L. (2003). Can quirks of grammar affect the way you think? Grammatical gender and object concepts. University of California, 2003.

• LURA 2024-2

Jaimie Jettmar

Jaimie is a Bachelor's Accelerated Master's student in Linguistics at CU Boulder, with a Computer Science minor on her Bachelor's degree. They are a climber themself, and though she's not a competitive climber, she spends plenty of time on the rocks and enjoying the outdoors.  

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How Bad Leaders Get Worse over Time

A conversation with Harvard Kennedy School’s Barbara Kellerman on identifying and avoiding them.

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There’s plenty of advice on how to grow into a better leader. And it takes effort to become more effective. But bad leadership gets worse almost effortlessly, says Barbara Kellerman, a Center for Public Leadership Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School. She shares real examples from the public and private sectors of how bad leaders spiral downward, and how bad followership enables that negative trend. She gives her advice for recognizing and avoiding ineffective and unethical leaders. Kellerman is the author of the new book  Leadership from Bad to Worse: What Happens When Bad Festers .

CURT NICKISCH: Welcome to the HBR IdeaCast from Harvard Business Review. I’m Curt Nickisch.

When Volkswagen appointed a CEO in 2007, that leader came in with a firm reputation. Martin Winterkorn was known for unbridled ambition and ruling with an iron fist. VW set the goal of becoming the number one carmaker in the world. Winterkorn wanted the German car company to beat Toyota and General Motors in units sold, profits, and customer satisfaction within ten years.

At first, there were big successes. But in 2015, a scandal broke: Emissionsgate. Volkwagen had created a so-called defeat device. It let its cars meet pollution regulations only when they were tested, not when they were on the road.

Now those few lines of software were not Martin Winterkorn’s idea. But his leadership was widely criticized for making them possible. Looking back, you can point to a weak company board, compliant employees, and an enabling culture. So if the signs were there, why did no one act on them?

That’s something today’s guest has researched. She says if you want good company leaders, one of the worst things you can do is tolerate bad ones. Because that can easily spiral and make things much worse.

Barbara Kellerman is a fellow at the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, and she’s the author of the new book Leadership from Bad to Worse: What Happens When Bad Festers . Barbara, glad to have you on the show.

BARBARA KELLERMAN: My pleasure.

CURT NICKISCH: You write in the book, “Bad leadership is a social disease.” What makes you say that?

BARBARA KELLERMAN: Well, I have been interested in the question of how bad – bad leadership, and I might add bad followership – have persisted. So we are very good at attacking, trying to cope with physical diseases. We pour hundreds of millions into all of these every year and we pour hundreds of millions into mental diseases.

But for some reason we put up with bad leaderships, which is sometimes to say the obvious, extremely bad to the point of being evil, as if somehow we are completely incapable of tackling it. I compare it to a disease because it’s something that has forever plagued the human condition. It startles me that we put up with bad leadership, whether it’s in the workplace or in the body politic or in the military or in education, you name the domain, without having the slightest conception, virtually the slightest conception of how to stop or at least slow it.

CURT NICKISCH: We should define bad because I think when we say bad bosses or bad leaders, we immediately think we know what we’re talking about. But of course that can encompass so many different failures. How do you define bad when you think about bad leadership?

BARBARA KELLERMAN: I just wrote an article for a leadership journal about what has stopped us from taking on bad. And certainly one of the reasons is not only because bad is hard to define, but because of differences in values and opinions. So your definition of a bad leader could be my definition of a good leader.

But my overarching way of trying to acquaint audiences and students with what I mean is to have two simple axis. One of them is an axis from effective to ineffective. So very simply, along that axis, a leader is a good leader if he or she is effective and a leader is a bad leader if he or she is ineffective.

The other all-important axis, is the axis that is the continuum from ethical to unethical. So a leader is good if he or she is ethical, not to speak of being both ethical and effective. And a leader is bad if he or she is unethical, not to speak of being simultaneously unethical and ineffective.

CURT NICKISCH: So a good leader is ethical and effective?

BARBARA KELLERMAN: Exactly.

CURT NICKISCH: You have it in the title of your book that things go from bad to worse. You say that bad leadership can fester very easily if we don’t stop it and it doesn’t get better or rarely gets better. Its natural progression is to get worse. What did you see in your studies and research that tells you that?

BARBARA KELLERMAN: To me, it’s one of those things that’s so self-evident that it’s amazing we don’t act on it. But again, I think it’s a lot to do with… it’s not something we take seriously enough, as I said earlier. So I’m going to try to take a non-controversial example and simply point of Vladimir Putin.

Vladimir Putin has been in charge of Russia in one or another guise for over 20 years and the Vladimir Putin that we see in 2022, 2023, 2024, and I mentioned 2022 because that’s when he made the decision to invade Ukraine, is quite different from the Vladimir Putin that first took office in around the year 2000. He is a perfect exemplar of a leader who has gone from not so great to somewhat bad, certainly by the standards of an American liberal Democrat, to increasingly worse.

And now as we speak in 2024, worse in every possible way. Again, speaking from the perspective of a liberal Democrat, if by worse you mean oppressive and repressive both at home and abroad.

Bad leaders do not typically wake up one morning and say, “Golly gee, I’ve been bad. I need to change my ways.” They will stop being bad only if someone else or something else stops them. And if nothing stops them and no one stops them, they will go from bad to worse. I do talk about four stages or phases in my book, and I might add that the more time goes by and the worse they get, the more difficult they become to uproot.

CURT NICKISCH: You mentioned before that we are not very good at stopping bad leaders.. Are we bad at identifying it? Do we have bias against change? Do we feel powerless? I’m wondering what the reason is for the bad followership that you also talk about.

BARBARA KELLERMAN: So to your questions, Curt, the answers are yes, yes and yes, but your last word is one that I do want to pick up on. Leadership, it’s not a person, it’s a system. It’s a little bit more complicated than focusing only on the leader. So the system, what I call the leadership system, consists of three parts of equal importance.

Part one is the leader. Part two are the followers. You cannot have a leader without at least one follower. Part three, the contexts, plural, within which leaders and followers are situated. And you cannot tackle bad leadership unless you educate followers to, number one, the possibility that they might be able to do something about a bad leader. And then number two, provide followers with some tools for how they might go about doing this.

I never want to downplay how hard it is to uproot a bad leader, whether it’s in the workplace, whether it’s in the body politic, whether it’s in the military, whether it’s in a school. Upending bad leaders is often hard work and it is sometimes even quite risky. So I don’t want to make it seem easy to upend a bad leader. It is much more difficult to uproot a bad leader the longer we wait.

CURT NICKISCH: Well, let’s talk about the phases of bad leadership. You can end up with a catastrophic situation with a terrible leader. But as you make the point, it’s a progression. What are some of the early signs of bad leadership and ineffective leadership that you think followers should pay more attention to? And in this case that might be employees in a company, right?

BARBARA KELLERMAN: So stage one is watching out for a leader who seems to promise the moon and the stars. Every leader, especially when they take over, whether it’s in politics or in business or in the military or in a higher education, wherever, they promise changes and they promise that the changes they make will make things better.

But if you have a leader who seems to promise things that are almost fantastical, wildly ambitious, exceedingly ambitious, almost narcissistically ambitious, as if that was previous was bad and everything under their reign will be good, then I would argue that’s the initial warning sign.

Pay attention. If a leader promises you, as I said, the moon and the stars, if the promises seem unrealistic, almost fantastical, then I would say be alert, pay attention. I’m all for a leader being optimistic and determined and wanting to get to a better place, no question about it, that optimism is really, really important. But if it seems somewhat unrealistic, somewhat detached from reality, then I would be slightly suspicious.

CURT NICKISCH: And it’s interesting, promising the moon and the stars could be any entrepreneur nowadays, and it probably was in Elizabeth Holmes’s case, right? What other signs should followers look out for?

BARBARA KELLERMAN: Phase two is to acquire followers to expand and enlarge their base. But in this case, I’m talking about followers who seem to buy into that fantasy in an either excessively docile way or a way that at the other extreme is wildly enthusiastic and supportive.

In other words, the role of the follower, whether it’s, again, in the workplace or in a country or in any setting that we can possibly conceive of, is to be aware that leadership makes a difference and to be enlightened to the point of being willing to act if they see something or hear something that seems to them to be off base. So when you talk about the private sector, of Elon Musk’s board at Tesla, and you have the feeling that followers are so on board, so dedicated and devoted that they’ve reached the point of being largely, if not entirely uncritical, then you can assume that trouble might ensue.

So the nature of the followership, the size of the followership, if too many people are going along too uncritically, that’s phase two, then you could be running into trouble because there is no corrective that is being put in place. So phase one is promising the moon in the stars in ways that seem perhaps untethered to reality. And phase two, by promising such an abundance of good things, you acquire followers who are too often uncritical, unjudgmental, and conversely too enthusiastic about a leader who is promising things that cannot reasonably be attained without upending the system.

CURT NICKISCH: Let’s talk a little bit about exercising that control and recognizing that because it’s a judgment call, right? So do you have any recommendations for somebody who’s an employee at a company and they’re not sure if the leader is out of touch or just really ambitious and that could be a good thing?

BARBARA KELLERMAN: Absolutely. I think maybe implicitly you’re talking about tech entrepreneurs who often are visionaries and are seeing futures that the rest of us absolutely cannot, and how do we distinguish between the fantasist and the person who really is just able to have some kind of a vision that will lead to some kind of splendid outcome.

I would simply point out, Curt, that many of the tech visionaries grounded their early language in a global morality that turned out in relatively short order to be completely untrue. So if you go back to the young Mark Zuckerberg or you go back to the young Steve Jobs, or you go back to the young Larry Page, or you go back to even younger than he is now, Sam Altman. In every one of these cases, it wasn’t just about the technology per se, it was about persuading us, the public at large, but also persuading employees who then in many, many, many cases, as I do not have to tell you, became later wildly disenchanted; It is not uncommon for the technologies to evolve in ways that seem not just not in line with the original moral vision, but indeed the antithesis of it.

CURT NICKISCH: So that’s one, you might want to pay extra attention to that. Most people maybe vote with their feet, they leave the company if they feel like it’s not going somewhere. What can you do in that situation as an employee to maybe better suss out whether or not you have a good leader at the helm taking you into the future or a bad leader at the helm taking you the wrong direction?

BARBARA KELLERMAN: You know, anytime you talk about leadership and followership, you’re certainly not talking in exact science here by any stretch of the imagination. But I do talk about certain things that you can do. You know, so much of this is about, and I’m going to use a phrase that became popular first in the sixties and probably much more in the seventies and into the early eighties in the women’s movement, which has to do with consciousness. The phrase is consciousness raising, which is just being aware. Most of us go to work and we don’t think a lot about the mission of the organization that we’re a part of, and we don’t think a lot about the moral quality of the leadership of the organization.

So I think much of it is simply what I’m trying to do is consciousness raising. Pay attention, watch for the signals. Do not assume that what happened in 2022 is going to be the same thing that’s happening in 2024 or 2026. So it’s a lot about paying attention. And then if you start to become persuaded that something may not be going as well as you think, speak up and speak out. Do not be afraid to speak truth to power. But be aware, as I earlier said, of the risks that are involved and do so intelligently, which generally means don’t go out on a limb alone, try to work with other people, see if you have allies in the organization who are willing to speak up.

But you and I both know that there are plenty of people in virtually every – and I’ll go back to the tech companies who started mainly because they’ve evolved so quickly, who have worked at places like Meta and Google Alphabet and who started off thinking they were on the side of the angels only to realize in a certain amount of time that theirs was a business like any other, theirs was a profit-making enterprise like any other. And that if harm had to be done in order to increase profits, by and large people were not giving it a second thought. Some of these moral issues are actually quite profound.

CURT NICKISCH: I wonder, I don’t know, if you are advising a student or if you’re advising somebody in your family who’s taking a new job. Are there questions you think they should ask during the interview process? Wuestions that you think they should ask their manager as they go along to try to raise their consciousness. They want to be aware, but what are some of your favorite ways to do that in a safe way as they’re getting rolling and building up their confidence with it?

BARBARA KELLERMAN: I think it’s a great question because most people who are in the position of applying for a job and then getting the job are often so happy to get the job that they don’t ask the larger questions about the organization that, apparently, because they’re applying for the job in the first place, they’re eager to join. But I think looking at past performance, not just in terms of efficacy and efficiency, but in terms of morality, I’m going to go back to the two axis of what is not only a good leader and a good follower, but also a good place to work.

One is, is the place of potential employee effectively doing what it says it is intent on doing what its purpose is? And the other is the ledger of morality. Do I feel that this is a place based on past performance precisely because we’re unable to predict the future – but based on past performance, do I feel this is a place to which I could be not just professionally committed, but personally committed in that I believe not only in the mission of the company, but I believe that the mission is being adhered to as opposed to neglected, that the words have some meaning behind them?

So I would say that perhaps the best thing you can do is to be alert to the kinds of issues that you and I have been talking about, but then also to look at past performance. So a combination of consciousness raising, being aware of the concerns that you might have about performance, whether it’s personal, professional, ethical, efficacy, being aware of it. Number one, being aware. Number two, looking at past performance as some kind of indicator of future performance.

CURT NICKISCH: And then that’s a baseline that you work from when you’re in that job and you see things change or you see things that come up?

BARBARA KELLERMAN: Yeah, it depends. We all have many things that motivate us, Curt, as I don’t have to tell you, and I don’t underestimate the power of money, I don’t underestimate the power of safety and security. I have no doubt that many listeners are working in places that they wish could in some ways be different. And we all do our own personal and professional cost and benefit analyses to calculate when it’s worth saying something, when it’s worth protesting, when it’s worth even quitting.

CURT NICKISCH: Barbara, thanks so much for giving us some food for thought and some tools to make a difference when we choose to do so. I really appreciate you talking about this on the show.

BARBARA KELLERMAN: Thanks very much for the conversation. Appreciate it.

CURT NICKISCH: That’s Barbara Kellerman, fellow at the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and author of the new book, Leadership From Bad to Worse: What Happens When Bad Festers.

And we have nearly 1000 more episodes plus more podcasts to help you manage your team, your organization, and your career. Find them at hbr.org/podcasts or search HBR in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Thanks to our team: Senior Producer Mary Dooe, Associate Producer Hannah Bates, Audio Product Manager Ian Fox, and Senior Production Specialist Rob Eckhardt. Thank you for listening to the HBR IdeaCast . We have a special series episode for you on Thursday, and we’ll be back with a regular episode on Tuesday. I’m Curt Nickisch.

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