Media

Wall Street Journal

As companies flatten hierarchy and preach collaboration among their ranks, a growing share of bosses’ time is spent coordinating, directing traffic and overseeing employees who may or may not report directly to them. Managers and executives complain that the push for teamwork, innovation and speed has left them little time to do real work. Rob Cross calls this collaborative overload. Often, top performers are put on high-value projects and sought by co-workers, and end up causing bottlenecks and risking burnout.

Harvard Business Review

Resilience is often described as the difference between successful and unsuccessful people, not to mention influences work satisfaction, and overall well-being. But resilience isn’t just a kind of solitary internal “grit” that allows us to bounce back. My research with Karen Dillon and Danna Greenberg shows that resilience is also heavily enabled by strong relationships and networks. Check out how in our latest Harvard Business Review article.

Harvard Business Review

With our connection to an ever-widening span of relationships at work and at home comes increased exposure to a steady stream of relationship-based micro-stressors. Through a program of research involving dozens of top tier companies and hundreds of people, we have identified 12 common “relational” drivers of stress that are likely taking a significant toll on your mental and physical well-being, without you necessarily being aware of their impact.

Harvard Business Review

Many successful, well-regarded leaders find themselves burning out or in crisis due to a gradual (and well-intentioned) over-focus on career. But a select group of people are top performers and they score high on measures of well-being by investing in critical social activities that create happiness.

Harvard Business Review

Always-on work cultures, encroaching technology, demanding bosses, difficult clients and inefficient coworkers create collaborative overload. But there is another enemy: individuals’ own mindsets and habits. Fortunately, people can overcome those obstacles and reclaim 18-24% of their time through practices that distinguish efficient collaborators.

MIT Sloan Management Review

Many leaders concerned with attracting and retaining top talent believe that nothing motivates people as much as the larger good they might be doing or the chance to change the world. Purpose is only one contributing factor. The level and quality of interpersonal collaboration actually has the greatest impact on employee engagement.

Harvard Business Review

Collaboration is indeed the answer to many of today’s most pressing business challenges. But more isn’t always better. Leaders must learn to recognize, promote, and efficiently distribute the right kinds of collaborative work, or their teams and top talent will bear the costs of too much demand for too little supply.