J.M. Huber Corporation: Testing the limits of resilience capabilities

The note outlines the transformative benefits of mindful leadership, including enhanced decision making, the cultivation of a powerful leadership presence, the development of emotional intelligence and improved stress management. It explains how mindfulness practices can lead to more objective decision making, foster creativity and improve the quality of interactions with team members. Practical implementation strategies are provided, addressing concerns about incorporating mindfulness into busy schedules. The note suggests starting a meditation practice using guided sessions, breathwork and body scans. It also introduces the concept of “micro-presence” practices that can be integrated into daily routines, such as brief breathing exercises, sensory check-ins and gratitude practices. The journey of becoming a mindful leader is described as a process of continuous growth and practice. The note emphasizes the importance of consistency over perfection and highlights how the benefits of mindful leadership can create a positive ripple effect throughout an organization. The goal is to provide leaders with the knowledge and tools to enhance their leadership effectiveness through mindfulness, offering a pathway to more focused, resilient and emotionally intelligent leadership in today’s challenging business landscape.

“Prudence in a maze of metaphors” follows a fictional day in the life of a woman to explore a variety of challenges individuals commonly face in their professional environments. Prudence’s story uses metaphors such as Sticky Floor, Glass Ceiling, Double Bind and Motherhood Penalty to illustrate her experiences. Although these metaphors are associated with gender-related barriers, the case could also be extended beyond gender to address broader systemic challenges related to race, socioeconomic background, disability and other factors that influence professional life. Prudence’s journey could become a representation of the invisible barriers faced by various groups, including issues of privilege, societal expectations and structural inequalities. We hope that this compelling compact case and teaching note will support instructors in navigating and unpacking powerful discussions about diversity and inclusion issues – a must-have conversation. The case provides a comprehensive framework for exploring complex topics, facilitates peer learning through shared experiences and encourages self-reflection on personal biases and structural barriers. Instructors have multiple options to navigate the “maze” of issues involved in creating inclusive cultures, which enables them to adapt the content to their own audiences. Crucially, this approach allows executives to develop and practice the skills needed to navigate difficult conversations constructively. The case also provides space to explore and address the perception some men may have of feeling “stuck” or challenged in advancing their careers, offering a chance to discuss how different groups experience and interpret barriers in the workplace. The insights gained from this discussion underscore the nuanced ways that gender dynamics affect both men and women, revealing how workplace barriers are experienced differently yet still have overlapping challenges that can be addressed through inclusive strategies.

Offshore infrastructure firm Heerema took an unconventional approach to communicating its net-zero ambition to win buy-in from employees and stakeholders.

Families are the most prevalent type of business owners in any global economy. But succeeding across generations is tricky, and only a few continue to prosper across generations. The Family Business Book is your comprehensive guide to building a s...

Family offices are uniquely positioned to drive positive change through impact investing by leveraging their wealth, influence, and values to create a legacy th

As companies gradually move from ESG compliance to implementation, the Italian espresso machine maker La Marzocco shows how to avoid the reporting trap and turn

We systematically review business research concerning the planetary boundaries framework: A natural science framework that identifies nine Earth system boundaries that govern the safe operating space for humanity. Ten years after the introduction ...

Older workers have much to offer but don’t always get the chance to show it. Mixed-generation teams could help.

In this study, we analyze how the performance-aspiration gap influences strategic change in family firms, providing evidence of the moderating role of family ownership in this relationship. According to socioemotional wealth (SEW) theory, family o...

In today’s rapidly evolving market environment, businesses face growing pressure to move beyond the outdated ‘take-make-waste’ model. The future belongs to thos