Podcast on post-heroic leadership with Anita Krohn Traaseth

Early this month, I had an incredible honoring opportunity to act as guest speaker at the leadership podcast with Anita Krohn Traaseth, famous Norwegian multiple CEO, entrepreneur, board member, spiritus agens in European innovation ecosystem, and incredibly sincere leader as well as Hege Janson Skogen, young and aspiring leader that co-hosts the podcast. It is part of the conversations with leaders about leadership on the podcast Godt nok for de svina (Good enough for bastards). Even though I do not see myself anywhere close to the flattering description below, I also utterly enjoyed our conversation and welcome you to listen to it at Podimo.

Idea championing article

Just published, thanks to my amazing and persisent team of co-authors:

Černe, M., Kaše, R., & Škerlavaj. M. (2022): Idea championing as a missing link between idea generation and team innovation implementation: A situated emergence approach, European Management Journal, 2022, ISSN 0263-2373.

Abstract We examine idea championing as a key intermediary process of the idea journey linking idea generation and idea implementation in teams. Building upon multilevel framework of emergence we theorize about how compositional and compilational emergence of idea generation along with idea championing behaviors translate team members’ creative ideas into team-level innovative solutions. We adopt a two-study research design including a two-wave two-source field study (309 employees nested into 92 teams with direct supervisors) and an experimental study (423 students nested into 79 teams) to test our conceptual model. The results of field study show that team innovation process featuring strong compilational (selected actor-maximum) idea generating followed by compilational idea championing leads to best team-level innovative solutions. Using a sociometric approach as a part of an experimental study, we further show that individuals exhibiting the strongest idea generating activity are also significantly more likely the ones engaging in most intense idea championing behavior. While having team members exhibiting such exceptional behaviors is relatively more effective in an unstructured team innovation setup, structured idea journey setups result in better team-level innovative solutions, when idea championing behaviors are more equally distributed among team members. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Izšla je knjiga Postherojsko vodenje

Pri zbirki Maksima Ekonomske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani je izšla knjiga Postherojsko vodenje: kontekst, proces in rezultati. Gre za slovenski prevod angleškega izvirnika. Monografija obravnava kontekst, proces in rezultate postherojskega vodenja. Zahtevnost sodobnega poslovnega okolja, vključno z reševanjem problematike, ki jo prinaša covid-19 v vseh svojih dimenzijah, in z upoštevanjem osnovnega delovanja človeške psihologije, od nas zahteva spremembo paradigme pri dojemanju in izvajanju učinkovitega vodenja. Zapletene naloge v svoji definiciji od nas zahtevajo neodvisno strokovno znanje in prinašajo negotove posledice. Prav zato moramo narediti premik stran od dominantnega vodje in egocentričnega vodenja proti sodobnim oblikam vodenja, ki v ospredje postavljajo nalogo in kolektiv.

Monografijo lahko kupite v Centralni ekonomski knjižnici Ekonomske fakultete ali v spletni knjigarni Univerze v Ljubljani.

Škerlavaj, M. (2022): Postherojsko vodenje: kontekst, proces in rezultati, Zbirka Maksima, Založništvo Ekonomske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani.

Nordic leadership: Leave your ego at the door (feature in the Forbes)

What is it that Nordic leaders can teach the rest of us? This is the overall question journalist Sally Percy at Forbes asked Rebecca Piekkari (Alto University, Finland), Magnus Larsson (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark), and Miha Škerlavaj (having both perspectives from BI Norwegian Business School and University of Ljubljana through our numerous leadership interactions). We argue it is pragmatism, systemic view, as well as empowerment that makes the difference. Hope you will enjoy the read.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sallypercy/2022/06/27/leave-your-ego-at-the-door–what-nordic-leaders-can-teach-us/?sh=4c8ad519ba55

Governing corporate culture (manual for supervisory boards)

Slovenian Sovereign Holding, d. d. (SSH) has published the Guide for Supervisory Boards of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) entitled “Governing Corporate Culture”.  A direct goal of this paper is to equip Supervisory Boards with key guidelines, questions and tools to be considered, asked, and used when exercising their duties in terms of governing corporate culture. An indirect goal of this Guide is also to empower companies to operate effectively and efficiently by giving culture an appropriate focus within corporate governance practices.

The Guide was developed in cooperation with experts from the Centre of Business Excellence of the Faculty of Economics, Prof. Dr. Miha Škerlavaj and Luka Eržen, external experts, and SSH’s employees. The content of the Guide was also supported by the Managers’ Association of Slovenia and the Slovenian Directors’ Association.

Sound corporate culture governance is important for a healthy culture and more successful business performance and should therefore be a priority topic for the Supervisory Boards of companies. We also claim that “corporate culture can best contribute to business performance if it is consistent with the context, strategic goals, leadership, structure, actual treatment of people at work, and other determinants of business performance”.

Welcome to read the English translation of the manual Governing Corporate culture (originally published in Slovenian language).

Priročnik o upravljanju korporativne kulture

Slovenski državni holding, d. d. (SDH) je objavil priročnik za nadzorne svete družb s kapitalsko naložbo države z naslovom Upravljanje korporativne kulture, ki sva ga pripravila avtorja prof. dr. Miha Škerlavaj in Luka Eržen v v sodelovanju s strokovnjaki Centra poslovne odličnosti Ekonomske fakultete, zunanjimi mednarodnimi in slovenskimi eksperti ter zaposlenimi SDH. Priročnik sta podprla tudi Združenje Manager in Združenje Nadzornikov Slovenije.

S tem pripomočkom smo želeli opremiti nadzorne svete družb s kapitalsko naložbo države (in tudi poslovodstva družb) s ključnimi usmeritvami, vprašanji in orodji za njihovo delovanje z vidika upravljanja korporativnih kultur (angl. governing corporate culture). Posreden namen priročnika je tudi zagotavljati uspešnost in učinkovitost poslovanja družb s tem, da kultura dobi ustrezno mesto v okviru praks korporacijskega upravljanja. Vabljeni k soustvarjanju zdravih organizacij za zdrave posameznike.

Book Post-Heroic Leadership just published

Thrilled and excited about the fact that my brand new book Post-Heroic Leadership. The book sets out to categorize the context, process, and outcomes of post-heroic leadership. Complexities of the modern business environment along with the fundamental functioning of human psychology require us to make a paradigm shift in the way we perceive and practice effective leadership. I argue that in order for businesses to succeed in the times to come, leaders need to move away from ego-centered leadership toward post-heroic leadership – a leadership that emphasizes servant and shared practices puts task and collective front and center and leaders’ ego in the background. Providing a deeper understanding of the post-heroic leadership across industries and disciplines, the book starts by elaborating on the zeitgeist and need for a new type of leadership. It highlights the process and elements of post-heroic leadership in action, such as post-heroically leading change, developing a culture of trust with feedback, and sustainable and responsible post-heroic leadership. Finally, the book focuses on the outcomes of post-heroic leadership, including resilience and innovation. Featuring mini-case studies from leaders in healthcare, family entertainment, ICT, haute cuisine, and manufacturing to name a few, this book provides a thorough understanding of this new wave of leadership and a platform for further research.

Profoundly grateful to all the contributors!

Škerlavaj M. (2022): Post-Heroic Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

For those interested, the book can be acquired at https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-90820-1#toc with 20% discount by entering the following coupon code at checkout on link.springer.com PAt5ID7y6k1GqS (Valid Jan 7, 2022 – Feb 4, 2022).

Sreča na delovnem mestu

Na Ekonomski fakulteti univerze v Ljubljani v mesecu decembru tradicionalno obeležimo Raziskovalni dan EF. Tako smo storili tudi letos. Pogled nazaj nam pravi, da smo lahko ponosni na veliko doseženega. To zlasti iz vidika kvalitete, odmevnosti in relevantnosti naših objav ter orgnaizacijske kulture, ki vse to omogoča. Pogled okrog sebe nam pove, da je duh časa odločilen in hkrati tudi malo zmeden. Veliko novega se obeta v institucionalnem in podpornem okolju za raziskovalno delo. Upam, da boljšega. Pogled naprej nas usmerja k naslavljanju ciljev trajnostnega razvoja. Raziskovalci na EF prispevamo v svetovno zakladnico znanja praktično po celotnem spektru trajnostnega razvoja, še največ pa v razumevanje industrije, inovacij in infrastrukture (SDG 9), dostojnega dela in gospodarske rasti (SDG 8) in zdravja ter dobrega počutja (SDG 3).

Objave Ekonomske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani leta 2021 po ciljih trajnostnega razvoja (Vir: EF UL / SICRIS, avtor infografike: Damjan Rončević)

Ravno prepletu teh treh tem smo namenili pozornost tudi z vabljenim predavanjem uglednega profesorja harvardske poslovne šole Arthurja C. Brooksa, ki je z nami delil svoj pogled na srečo na delovnem mestu. Vabljeni, da prisluhnete izsečku njegovega predavanja skupaj s komentarjem v oddaji Sreča na delovnem mestu na Valu 202.

Pa srečno Novo leto 2022!

Poslovna konferenca Portorož 2021

Po letu 2020, ko smo se preselili na televizijski način, smo letos lahko ponovno izvedli tradicionalno Poslovno konferenco Portorož 2021 v živo. Izjemen nabor govorcev in sodelujočih top managerjev se je zvrstil, da bi skupaj osvetlili kako narediti horuk v nove čase oziroma kakšne izhodne strategije lahko pričakujemo v prihodnosti. Govorili smo o trajnostnem prehodu, o makroekonomskih in strateških projekcijah za prihodnost, o novih pristopih k vodenju in humanokraciji. Zahvala gre vsem udeležencem, sponzorjem, študentom in mentorjem programa IMB EF, kot tudi tudi celotnemu programsko-organizacijskemu odboru v sodelovanju Ekonomske fakultete ter Časnika Finance.

Omizje Zdravi ljudje, zdrave organizacije
Ekonomska fakulteta na PKP 2021

Kaj pa če kultura ne poje strategije za zajtrk?

… ampak z njo sedi pri isti mizi za zajtrk, kosilo, večerjo in še poobedek? To je bilo vprašanje na katerega sem ponudil nekaj kosti za glodanje zbranim marketingašem na 26. Slovenski marketinški konferenci. Odgovor: Pri isti mizi sedijo še vodenje, ravnanje z ljudmi pri delu, organizacijska struktura, in še kaj bi se našlo, kar vpliva na uspešnost organizacij. Vsaj tako kaže desetine empiričnih raziskav v zadnjih nekaj desetletjih. Še kako pa je res, da je c-situacija razkrila moč in nemoč organizacijskih kultur. Vsem nam skupaj pa omogočila izjemno priložnost zastaviti kulture na (še bolj) zdravih temeljih. Pogovarjali smo torej se o renesansi organizacijske kulture, zlasti z vidika njenega merjenja in oblikovanja. Za občutek nekaj utrinkov s konference.