Publications

11 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

Feeling Seen: What to Say When Your Employees Are Not OK

verbally recognizing how employees feel, particularly when they are sad, upset, or angry, helps coworkers form a much deeper connection. The team’s paper, Emotional Acknowledgement: How Verbalizing Others’ Emotions Fosters Interpersonal... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

Article

The C-Suite Skills That Matter Most

By: Raffaella Sadun, Joseph B. Fuller, Stephen Hansen and PJ Neal

Landing a job as a CEO today is no longer all about industry expertise and financial savvy. What companies are really seeking are leaders with strong social skills. That’s what the authors discovered after analyzing nearly 7,000 job descriptions for C-suite roles.... View Details

Keywords: C-Suite; Skills; Skills Development; Social Skills; Management Skills; Interpersonal Communication; Talent and Talent Management

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

September 2017
Case

Sensing (and Monetizing) Happiness at Hitachi

By: Ethan Bernstein and Stephanie Marton

Inspired by research linking happiness and productivity, Hitachi had invested in developing new “people analytics” technologies to help companies increase employee happiness. Hitachi had begun manufacturing high-tech badges that quantify a wearer’s activity patterns.... View Details

Keywords: People Analytics; Japan; Sociometers; Wearables; Interpersonal Communication; Human Resources; Happiness; Technology Industry; Japan

29 Jul 2021
Blog Post

Exploring the Intersection of Business & Health Care: Summer Fellow Derek Soled (MD/MBA 2022)

Equity Team in the Vaccine Operations Center, whose goals are to achieve maximum vaccination levels in New York City, to close the vaccination gap between different boroughs and ethnic groups, and to tackle structural racism in healthcare through public health... View Details

May 2011
Article

The Power of Small Wins

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer

What is the best way to motivate employees to do creative work? Help them take a step forward every day. In an analysis of knowledge workers' diaries, the authors found that nothing contributed more to a positive inner work life (the mix of emotions, motivations, and... View Details

Find at Harvard

12 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 12, 2019

The organization pays for the individual to enhance his or her skills—and résumé—and thereby benefit from participating. The second is the gap between the skills that executive development programs build and the skills that organizations require—particularly the View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

22 Mar 2021
Research & Ideas

How to Learn from the Big Mistake You Almost Make

Steinberg, and Ann Raldow, and medical physicist Nzhde Agazaryan. A spectrum of close calls The research team wanted to understand the role of psychological safety—defined as “the shared belief that interpersonal risk-taking is safe”—in... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Health

Web

Career Re-Entry & Flexible Work - Alumni

Learning to create an effective network, improve your interpersonal skills, access new information, and connect with important organizational stakeholders in this self-guided course. Resume Maintenance Make it a habit to document your... View Details

April 2023
Article

Learning Down to Train Up: Mentors Are More Effective When They Value Insights from Below

By: Ting Zhang, Dan Wang and Adam D. Galinsky

Although mentorship is vital for individual success, potential mentors often view it as a costly burden. To understand what motivates mentors to overcome this barrier and more fully engage with their mentees, we introduce a new construct, learning direction, which... View Details

Keywords: Mentoring; Learning Direction; Interpersonal Communication; Learning; Leadership Development

Find at Harvard

17 Aug 2010
First Look

First Look: August 17

their resources-knowledge of each other and knowledge of their work-into superior performance. We develop and test theory linking these resources to communication quality. We demonstrate that interpersonal... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

Student Research - Doctoral

They Express Passion More Frequently and More Diversely By: Kai Krautter , Anabel Büchner and Jon M. Jachimowicz Passion is stereotypically expressed through animated facial expressions, energetic body movements, varied tone, and pitch—and met with View Details

Web

Negotiation Course Online | HBS Online

dimension of negotiation and explore interpersonal dynamics, bargaining styles, tactics, and emotions. Highlights D-H Onboarding Emotionally Preparing for Negotiation Bargaining Style and Process: A First Glance Show Hide Details Concepts... View Details

October 2003
Case

Henry Tam and the MGI Team

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Ingrid Vargas and Hillary Anger Elfenbein

Within a short time frame, seven diverse team members assemble to write a business plan for a new company and struggle to define their roles, make decisions together, and resolve conflict. Henry Tam, a second-year Harvard MBA student, who joins an aspiring start-up... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Business Plan; Groups and Teams; Decision Making; Jobs and Positions; Leadership Style; Human Resources; Management Teams; Conflict and Resolution; Diversity

September 2023
Technical Note

Note on Difficult Conversations in the Family Enterprise

By: Christina R. Wing

The best time to have a difficult conversation is, ideally, as soon as possible. Engaging in challenging conversations early can produce beneficial results for several reasons, such as resolving issues, improving communication, preserving relationships, and increasing... View Details

Keywords: Conversation; Family Business; Interpersonal Communication; Conflict and Resolution