Leaders acquire the power to affect the behavior of others by controlling access to valued resources. But often access involves an element of reciprocity, says W. P. Carey associate professor of management Kevin Corley, who studies and teaches leadership theory and skills. “How to Lead” is a two-part podcast produced for Business to Go: knowledge and skills that you can put to work today in your business and career.
One of the characteristics of leadership is the ability to spur others to follow your direction. But exactly how do leaders do it? Kevin Corley, an associate professor of management at the W. P. Carey School of Business, studies leadership. He says we often assume that what we need is coercive power in order to make people do what we want or need them to do. The key, however, is influence – not coercion.
Dinner and a movie is a classic night out, but during slow economic times, you could argue that these activities are non-essential. Still, many of these businesses are doing well. At their annual kick-off event, members of the Economic Club of Phoenix heard from executives representing two Arizona-based companies that are thriving despite a daunting business climate. Russell Owens, president and CEO of Fox Restaurant Concepts, and Dan Harkins, CEO of the family-owned Harkins Theaters, explain some of the ways how their companies do it.
In the past sixty years, advances in neuroscience have led to remarkable progress in the fight against disorders of the brain, from Alzheimer’s Disease to traumatic brain injury to addictions. Could the scientific discoveries of recent decades about how the brain works also be used to improve the functioning of healthy individuals? A team of researchers at the W. P. Carey School of Business, such as information systems Professor Pierre Balthazard, is trying to do just that. The investigators are using the tools of neuroscience, including brain imaging and neurofeedback, to identify leadership qualities in individuals and to discover ways to enhance those abilities.
Phil Francis is executive chairman of PetSmart, Inc. — the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. Before coming to PetSmart as president and CEO in 1998, Francis was president and chief executive officer of Shaw’s Supermarkets, Inc., a subsidiary of J. Sainsbury plc. Recently he was the guest speaker at one of the W. P. Carey School’s Executive Luncheons, a series of events designed to bring the corporate leaders to an audience of undergraduate students. Before his talk, Francis met with Josh Bowman, a junior majoring in marketing and the executive director of the luncheon series. Speaking from experience gained during a long career, Francis addressed the character qualities that underpin a successful life. You don’t have to be a student facing graduation to benefit from his ideas.
Every American throws away 4.3 pounds of trash per day. Multiply that by 307 million people and the total trash per day generated in the U.S. is 1.3 billion pounds. Since the 1960s, the amount of trash generated in the U.S. annually tripled to 250 million tons. Tod C. Holmes is executive vice president and chief financial officer of Republic Services, Inc., which provides non-hazardous solid waste collection services for commercial, industrial, municipal, and residential customers through more than 375 collection companies in 40 states and Puerto Rico. Holmes was the featured speaker at the Economic Club of Phoenix recently, where he told the story of how the industry as a whole and Republic in particular has evolved from waste disposal to waste management.
