Humble Narcissists Make Great Leaders

by Quy Huy

Narcissism gives executives the self-confidence to aim high, but greatness requires more humble behavior.

In today’s business environment of racing competition and the increasing complexities of management, leaders are frequently finding themselves having to do seemingly opposite things at once. ‘Paradoxical management’ often relates to how leaders act – their ability, for example, to focus on short-term and long term goals, or cost-cutting and investment in innovation. But it can also refer to their psychological behavior.

Recent research examined leaders who were narcissistic yet humble (two seemingly oxymoronic traits) and found that not only could the two apparently contradictory personal attributes exist simultaneously in the same leader, but narcissistic executives who were able to temper, or counter-balance, their self-centered egocentricity with humility often proved to be superior leaders. (more…)

The Soul and Courage of a Leader

By Miriam Linderman

 

It is a painful truth that too many people today speak about the toxic environment of their workplaces where they experience their spirits, imagination, self-expression, self-authority and vision for a better world continuously squelched by the system. Politics, domination, competitiveness, bullying and other similar situations drain inspiration. People long for supportive and caring workplaces where they can make creative, meaningful and fulfilling contributions that resonate with who they are and that maximize their gifts.

Hearing these stories hurt my heart, and may hurt yours too. (more…)

What is top talent and how is that identified?

 

As a part of our talent acquisition engagements, we ask our clients how they define “top talent” and how they would assess those traits in the interview process.  Reflecting on the insightful comments we hear every day, we thought there would be great value in a new blog in which senior executives/thought leaders share their “Take on Talent.”

This is the third in a series of blogs/interviews with senior executives who are thought leaders in the areas of Talent Acquisition, Career Development and Leadership who will share their perspectives on this ever present question.

 

Andy W. Mattes was named president and chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Diebold, Incorporated in June 2013. He is responsible for driving the company’s global strategies and performance in the integrated self-service, security and services business.

With more than 25-years of experience in corporate management, executive oversight, mergers and acquisitions, growth strategies and equity management, Mattes has a strong record of driving growth and improving profitability in large, global businesses in the information technology and telecommunications industries – primarily with Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) and Siemens AG. Mattes most recently served as senior vice president, global strategic partnerships at Violin Memory, a manufacturer of flash memory computer storage systems. (more…)

Senior Program Manager, BPO

The Senior Program Manager, will lead multi-disciplined teams managed by IT and Business Operations Projects Managers driving a large complex program of work.  The jobholder will be responsible for financial/budgetary controls, program-wide resource requirements and program status reporting. Working closely with the client and commercial management teams on one of key client accounts.  The jobholder will provide exemplary people management, monitoring and maintenance of governance standards and enforcing corrective action where required with consistent delivery of timely, concise, accurate and relevant communications to stakeholders from Board level to front line, internally and to client. (more…)

Functional Architect

 

Unique opportunity to become a founding member of a new innovation team.

 

Want to stop talking about what we’re going to do and actually be given the freedom to create rapid prototypes? Are you a developer/hacker/maker in your free time always exploring new technologies as they come out? We want people who are great at coding to try out new things, then hand off the top solutions to a team to industrialize the assets. Come build with us in the Breakthrough Ideas and Tech Garage, a techy startup-like team that is exploring new technologies to amp up our offerings. We are interested in people who can work in an agile fashion and help us quickly assess new technologies to determine their fit for BPO. We will be creating rapid prototypes and MVPs that allow us to get immediate client feedback to see if an idea has legs and should be invested in further. Work in a fast-paced agile environment to try out the newest and coolest tech and bring it to BPO clients. (more…)