495. Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses?

The Gulf States and China are spending billions to build stadiums and buy up teams — but what are they really buying? And can an entrepreneur from Cincinnati make his own billions by bringing baseball to Dubai? SOURCES:Simon Chadwick, professor of afroeurasian sport at Emlyon Bus ... Show More

Before she decided to become a poker pro, Maria Konnikova didn’t know how many cards are in a deck. But she did have a Ph.D. in psychology, a brilliant coach, and a burning desire to know whether life is driven more by skill or chance. She found some answers in poker — and she’s ... Show More

Cory Booker on the politics of fear, the politics of hope, and how to split the difference. SOURCES:Cory Booker, senior United States Senator from New Jersey. RESOURCES:"'When Are More Americans Going to Speak Up?'" by The New Yorker Radio Hour (2025)."Cory Booker’s Marathon Floo ... Show More

Why is it that the boss never seems to know what they’re doing? The famous “Dilbert principle” asserts that companies promote incompetent employees into middle management to get them out of the way. But Professor David Dunning, co-creator of the competing “Dunning–Kruger effect”, ... Show More

Middle managers are in charge of implementing the slew of changes taking effect in workplaces nationwide — and polling shows it’s making them miserable. A new report from the Future Forum finds that middle managers are more stressed than any of their co-workers. Why? According to ... Show More

Narcissism. Overconfidence. Low EQ. Why do we persist in selecting for leadership traits that hamper organizational progress—and leave the right potential leaders in the wrong roles? In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, author of Why Do So Many I ... Show More

Companies around the world are struggling to fill open positions, while millions of unemployed people look for work. What's going on? Zeynep Ton, professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, says that organizations need to start offering better jobs. While old-school manageme ... Show More

Low pay is obviously terrible for workers, but a growing body of research proves that it’s bad for businesses, too. Smaller paychecks lead to higher turnover, decreased productivity, and poor sales. Will low-wage employers in the grocery, retail, and restaurant industries ever un ... Show More

Have we over-expanded the remit of people managers? As the world and the workplace have become increasingly complex, management requirements and expectations are expanding exponentially. So, what steps can People Professionals take to support managers, to relieve the risk of bein ... Show More

Organizations regularly reward devoted workers who put in long hours. At the same time, “always-on” communication spurred by the pandemic and new digital tools encourage workaholism. But research shows that it’s not just individuals who are harmed by overworking. Their employers ... Show More

Sari Wilde, a managing vice president at Gartner, studied 5,000 managers and identified four different types of leaders. The surprising result is that the “always on” manager is less effective at developing employees, even though many companies encourage supervisors to give const ... Show More

Many people blame the shortage of low-wage workers on the enduring impact of the pandemic. But management professor Joseph Fuller and senior researcher Manjari Raman of Harvard Business School say that the real reason has been long in the making. Their studies show that companies ... Show More

Can companies operate better without managers? We talk about it and teach you vocabulary.