The Leading Edge
What distinguishes effective leaders from weak ones? That question has spurred a bevy of psychological research on leaders themselves, as well as the people who follow them.
Women leaders who show dominance may face backlash -- but data suggest that implicit forms of dominance, such as body language or facial expressions, may not harm women’s status.
Dominant group members tend to view others as either allies or foes as a way of evaluating their usefulness.
Asking for help can improve decision-making, but also prompt others to question your competence, especially if you're a man.
An emerging body of research on face perception suggests that getting to the top of the corporate ladder may depend, at least in part, on the structure of a person’s face.
Faces that are seen as competent are also perceived as more masculine, research reveals.
Experiments show that people who display the powerful, confident body language associated with leadership tend to dominate decision making—even when their ideas were entirely incorrect.
Introverted people don’t expect to enjoy being in charge — but research suggests these predictions are often wrong.
While black men and white women are often jeered for being assertive and aggressive leaders, black women are expected to adopt dominant leadership styles usually associated with white men.
Research suggests that reminding leaders of their own mortality may be one way to encourage them to make better, or at least less selfish, decisions.
