What the Office Party Really Reveals
In the run up to the holiday season, calendars quietly filled with events that no one quite knows how to feel about. The office party. Everyone has a story. What if the office party isn’t a sideshow but one of the most revealing leadership moments of the year?
Bright Young Stars Rarely Finish on Top – How To Build Your Career For Longterm Success
Those who show exceptional promise at a young age are rarely the individuals who dominate their field in adulthood, according to research published in Science. So how does excellence actually unfold to build your career for the long-term?
Why Year-End Gratitude Emails Often Backfire
Most year-end “thank you” emails don’t motivate. They reveal something else entirely. Business school research shows that generic gratitude often backfires because people don’t feel appreciated unless they feel noticed. Why saying “thank you” is easy, and why doing it well is much harder:
Fear In The Corner Office: How Insecure Managers Silence Talent And Sabotage Progress
Many organisations have encountered their own version of Steve Carell’s Michael Scott in The Office: managers whose authority depends less on enabling others and more on making sure no one outshines them. The result is a culture where people learn to hold back, where speaking up feels risky, and where initiative is carefully rationed.
Flattery Works… Until It Doesn’t – Why Being Candid With Leaders Matters
Despite being vocal in his disagreement with the US President, Zohran Mamdani's meeting with Donald Trump last month was unexpectedly friendly. We explore why endless flattery may leave a greater sour taste than critique...
The Influencers: James Clear on Small Changes, Big Results and the Quiet Power of Habit
The Influencers explores author James Clear’s core ideas - how habits are formed, why identity matters more than goals, and how small changes can transform careers, organisations, and lives. It also offers practical guidance on how to apply his thinking at work and at home, without relying on willpower or dramatic reinvention.
Once Upon a Time in the Job Market: How Business Schools Are Teaching the Art of Storytelling
In today's environment, storytelling is no longer a “soft” skill. It is a survival skill - the ability to frame decisions, explain trade-offs, humanise strategy and make people care. Business schools, once accused of teaching managers to speak in spreadsheets, are now quietly becoming finishing schools for corporate narrators.
Where Did The CEOs Of The 50 Best-Managed Companies in America Go To School?
BlueSky Thinking reviews the educational and professional backgrounds of the CEOs leading the top 50 companies in the 2025 Drucker Institute Company Ranking. These leaders represent a highly global, highly technical cohort, but with very few women.
