Weekly News Brief: Leadership Theory & Practice, Diversity, Organizational Structure

•     "Toward a New Science of Leadership" 
        Author:  Sangeeth Varghese                                                                   
        Date:  August 23, 2010
        Source:  Stanford Innovation Social Review
        URL:  http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/23/handbook-leadership-theory-practice-leadership-managing-harvard.html                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   The recent publication Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice  is an outgrowth of the 2008 Harvard Business School conference, “Leadership:  Advancing an Intellectual Discipline,” at which prominent scholars from a variety of fields ranging from psychology to history to economics came together to assess current knowledge about leadership and identify areas for future research.  The book seeks to both provide rigorous scholarly research on leadership, which the authors feel is all too scarce, and to inspire scholars to develop new ideas and ways of thinking about leadership. 

 •      "The Four Keys to Success With Virtual Teams"
        Author:  Erin Meyer
        Date:  August 19, 2010
        Source:  Forbes
        URL:  http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/19/virtual-teams-meetings-leadership-managing-cooperation.html
Global virtual teams are more common than ever before, and the use of virtual teams is growing rapidly.  With this trend comes the need for leaders to develop a new skill set - a set of skills that “are not simply different from those needed for running co-located teams; they are often the exact opposite.”  In this article, Meyer describes four ways in which these leadership skills are different.

•    “Getting More Hispanics to the Top"
        Author:  Miguel A. Quinones                                                                                                      
        Date:  August 23, 2010
        Source:  Forbes
        URL:   http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/23/hispanic-cox-school-leadership-citizenship-training.htm                                                                                   

Due to the diversity of the workforce classified as “Hispanic,” it has been traditionally difficult to study trends in this demographic.  However, there are common cultural qualities among Hispanics which prevent them from advancing in their corporate careers, with many Hispanic leaders unable to advance beyond middle management.  To bridge this leadership gap, the National Hispanic Corporate Council, in collaboration with Southern Methodist University (SMU), is offering a year-long course through SMU’s Cox School of Business; the program uses case studies, discussion, and self-awareness exercises to assist participants in breaking free of their “cultural script” and thus be empowered to climb further up the corporate ladder. 

•    “Chip Conley Took the Maslow Pyramid, Made It an Employee Pyramid and Saved His Company"
        Author: Kermit Pattison                                                                                             
        Date:  Augsust 26, 2010
        Source:  Fast Company
        URL:  http://www.fastcompany.com/1685009/chip-conley-wants-your-employees-to-hit-their-peak 
 In this Fast Company interview, Chip Conley, CEO of Joie de Vivre Hotels, talks about actively engaging all employees at all levels of the organization to find sense of meaning and shared purpose in their work. He talks about the need for all employees to be recognized and respected as important contributors to the overall purpose of the team.