sean carr

When Darden did away with traditional performance reviews, it took an employee-centric approach to develop an iterative, productive feedback process. Here’s how.

As we close Women’s History Month, some of Darden’s many female faculty experts share wisdom on leadership and business. Here they offer guidance in advancing to leadership positions, creating trust, race in the workplace, leading mindfully through crisis and supporting female entrepreneurs in emerging economies.

Americans cherish the idea of the truly self-made man or woman. So why does an elite pedigree often win the day when it comes to hiring for the top jobs? What prevents managers from rewarding those who make the leap from one social class to another, and more importantly, what are we missing when we favor the well born?

An expert in leadership, social class and ethics, Martin’s research addresses how organizational and societal contexts impart values and beliefs onto leaders and followers, and how those values influence their behaviors and experiences.

Growing up rich or poor has a tremendous impact on your life — studies show it affects health, prospects, confidence — what about the quality of your leadership? Darden Professor Sean Martin discusses the ripple effect that means childhood affluence may prove a liability in the workplace.

Phishing scams: The same instincts and signals people use consciously or unconsciously to establish trust in the “real” world are the very same that get us into trouble online. Such vulnerability is due to the very nature of how human beings make judgment calls when it comes to trust. Understanding why we’re at risk is the first step.

Social mobility in the U.S. is increasingly rare. How does that play out in the workplace? Contrary to the arguments past studies posed about workers coming from lower social class positions, the upwardly mobile are just as likely as their high-class counterparts to speak up and share ideas at work. So what could be the barriers to advancement?

As a culture, we applaud proactivity. Just glance at job boards and you’ll see plenty of postings looking for “self-starters,” “innovators” and “go-getters” to join workplace teams. But are highly proactive people always a positive force in groups? Does loading your team with hustle help?

When we unconsciously want to justify self-interested choices, we may rationalize with “moral disengagement.” Darden Professors Jim Detert and Sean Martin have studied eight common verbal cues that may indicate we’re disengaging.

Leadership matters more in challenging times. How does a team’s captain preserve confidence and commitment to the group, even when performance dips? New research shows that successful team dynamics may have a good deal to do with ethical leadership.