Good leaders make their work look easy. But the reality is that most have had to work hard on themselves — by managing or compensating for potentially career-limiting traits. To grow as an executive, you need to recognize and manage your strongest tendencies.

Susan Cain’s new book “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking” argues that introverted people who value quiet and solitude to be creative are as able as extroverts to be transformative leaders.

Does talking about plans undermine productivity? Research says yes, sometimes — that when you talk about intentions you run the risk of creating a “premature sense of completeness.”

John Shook’s prize-winning article on NUMMI explains how, if you want to change a company’s culture, you have to change people’s behavior first.

MIT Sloan’s Andrew McAfee, speaking at the Enterprise 2.0 conference, says that old-fashioned bosses with hot new computers equal a nightmare scenario.

Complex supply chains with many agents are more prone to problems, and on occasion, to spectacular collapse. Examples from the last few years include the subprime mortgage crisis; the failure of the Peanut Corporation of America; and dioxin-contaminated Irish pork. Without a doubt, today’s complex supply chains are vulnerable to opportunistic behavior leading to sometimes catastrophic failure. But there are five steps managers can take to protect their companies.

We’ve long been able to personalize what information the Internet tells us — but now comes “Web site morphing,” and an Internet that personalizes how we like to be told. For companies, it means that communicating — and selling — will never be the same.

A new book explains the surprising extent to which activist communities can influence the adoption of radical innovations.

Lying is a central aspect of human behavior. Negotiators need to learn about every tool that will protect their interests.

Information and knowledge management models that exclude the influence of national and regional culture seriously undercut their potential effectiveness.

Is it appropriate to integrate spirituality into the management of an organization? Does spirituality make a company more profitable?