Diversity at the top, it seems, can pay. Firms with female CEOs and CFOs produce superior stock price performance compared to the market average, and firms with a high gender diversity on their board of directors are more profitable and larger than firms with low gender diversity, according to a study from S&P Global Market Intelligence. “The evidence is getting louder,” says Beatrice Grech-Cumbo, head of Korn Ferry’s Advancing Women Worldwide initiative. The study builds on

Recently, the discussion on how to get employees to improve has taken on new intensity. The experiment in “radical transparency” at Bridgewater Associates and the "encouraging harsh feedback" and "intense and awkward" real-time 360s culture at Netflix are two examples of the belief that the way to increase performance in companies is through rigorous, frequent, candid, pervasive, and often critical feedback. In a recent HBR.org article, Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall di

Korn Ferry contributor Daniel Goleman describes the spontaneous joy, even rapture, of optimal mental performance, or "flow", as a state of neural harmony. The experience of losing yourself in a creative project, like developing an app or writing a story, or having competed at the top of your game, either athletically or mentally. Flow is a state that underlies our best performance on the task at hand as we channel positive feelings in an energized pursuit with an undistracted

A recent Chief Learning Officer article discusses how the practice of TM (Transcendental Meditation) has been growing in the financial services industry. In the past 10 years, the technique has expanded to companies large and small throughout the business world, including Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund in the world, and investment firm Quest Partners LLC. The TM method of meditation seems to be best suited for business environments because it is portable and e

SoapBox is a software solutions company that builds a culture of healthy communication that helps leaders, managers and employees have one-on-ones, team-meetings, and company-wide conversations about the things that matter most to motivation and performance. In a recent blog article, SoapBox dug into their Question Suggester data to see which questions get used most often to start productive conversations, and posted the top 10 questions asked in real-life one-on-ones by real

McKinsey Partners Scott Keller and Mary Meaney are onto ten timeless truths about how the leadership role becomes increasingly demanding as more work is conducted remotely, traditional company boundaries become more porous, freelancers more commonplace, and partnerships more necessary. While technology will solve a number of the resulting operational issues, technological capabilities soon become commoditized. Amid the myriad sources of advice on how to build a top team, Kell

Today's leaders know that speed and agility are the keys to any company’s success, and yet many are frustrated that their organizations can’t move fast enough to stay competitive. The typical chain of command is too slow; internal resources are too limited; people are already executing beyond normal expectations. As the pace accelerates, how do you inspire people’s energy and creativity? How do you collaborate with customers, vendors, and partners to keep your organization on