The first few weeks in a new leadership role are crucial as they set the tone for your tenure and shape how your team perceives you. In today’s episode, I’ll share three critical strategies you must master during this pivotal period.

From the moment you step into your new role, your reputation begins to form, whether you realize it or not. Today, you’ll learn how to build a positive image by being approachable and showing genuine interest in those you meet.

We’ll also discuss the significance of ensuring your story is clear, concise, and consistent across all interactions. By approaching these early days with caution and avoiding early involvement in company politics, you’ll set the stage for long-term success.

Tune in for actionable insights on how to navigate the first four weeks in a new leadership role and establish yourself as a strong and effective leader.

In this episode:

- Why every interaction counts

- Crafting a clear and consistent message

- How to avoid early political pitfalls

- Summary and key takeaways

- How to preorder Nicolas’ book, “Mammoth in the Room”

Join the waitlist to Preorder Nicolas’ book “The Mammoth in the Room”

👉 https://mammothleadershipsciences.com/book/

Citations for this episode:

Hogan, R., & Kaiser, R. B. (2005). What we know about leadership. Review of general psychology, 9(2), 169-180. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232604395_What_We_Know_About_Leadership

Vugt, M. V., & Ronay, R. (2014). The evolutionary psychology of leadership: Theory, review, and roadmap. Organizational Psychology Review, 4(1), 74-95. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2041386613493635

Get in Touch with Me:

🌐 Website: https://www.mammothleadershipsciences.com

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolaspokorny

▶️ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@MammothLeadershipSciences

Have you ever considered how much weight your first impression as a leader carries when meeting your team for the first time? That initial interaction could set the tone for your entire leadership journey with them. So what happens if you get it wrong?

Today, you’ll learn how to choose the content and format of the first meeting, essential soft skills for effective communication, and practical tips for creating a positive, inclusive, and collaborative environment, such as being on time and focusing on team achievements rather than personal accolades.

Tune in to discover how you can make that critical first impression count and set the stage for long-term success as a leader.

In this episode:

- The importance of first impressions in leadership

- How to set up the first meeting

- Choosing the content for the first meeting

- Essential soft skills for that first interaction

- Research and evolutionary psychology of leadership

- How to get Nicolas’ book, “Mammoth in the Room”

Join the waitlist to Pre-Order Nicolas’ book “The Mammoth in the Room”

👉 https://mammothleadershipsciences.com/book/

Citations for this episode:

Vugt, M. V., & Ronay, R. (2014). The evolutionary psychology of leadership: Theory, review, and roadmap. Organizational Psychology Review, 4(1), 74-95. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274471020_The_evolutionary_psychology_of_leadership_Theory_review_and_roadmap

Hogan, R., & Kaiser, R. B. (2005). What we know about leadership. Review of general psychology, 9(2), 169-180. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232604395_What_We_Know_About_Leadership

Get in Touch with Me:

🌐 Website: https://www.mammothleadershipsciences.com

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolaspokorny

▶️ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@MammothLeadershipSciences

Are you aware of the game theory models in your organization? Team members constantly evaluate each other’s reputations and perceptions of fairness. Consequently, understanding and managing group behavior dynamics is critical for effective leadership.

In this episode, we will explore the application of game theory models in corporate leadership. Using the ultimatum, dictator, and sanction game models, we’ll discuss how self-interest and group dynamics interplay in corporate settings.

Through real-life examples and theoretical models, you’ll learn how to balance fairness, cooperation, and power to build stronger teams.

If you are a corporate leader or aspiring to be one, join the conversation to learn how to leverage evolutionary and biological truths about human behavior to create a thriving work environment.

In this episode:

- Personal anecdote: the tough manager dilemma

- Understanding human behavior through game theory

- The ultimatum game

- The dictator game: power dynamics

- The sanction game: enforcing fairness

- Applying game theory in the corporate world

- Key takeaways on human behavior and leadership implications

Citations for this episode:

Fehr, E. & Schmidt, K.M. (2000). Theories of Fairness and Reciprocity - Evidence and Economic Applications (December 23, 2000). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=255223; or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.255223; https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gametheory.asp

Kumar, R. (2024): An Introduction to Game Theory. Irish Interdisciplinary Journal of Science & Research (IIJSR), Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages 01-07, January-March 2024; https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691130613/theory-of-games-and-economic-behavior; https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1994/nash/facts/

Nash, J.F., 1950. The bargaining problem. Econometrica, 18(2), pp.155-162; Kreps, D.M. (1989). Nash Equilibrium. In: Eatwell, J., Milgate, M., Newman, P. (eds) Game Theory. The New Palgrave. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20181-5_19

Inagaki, T. & Eisenberger, N. (2016). The Neurobiology of Giving Versus Receiving Support: The Role of Stress-Related and Social Reward-Related Neural Activity. Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine; Fehr, E., Fischbacher, U. & Gächter, S. (2002). Strong reciprocity, human cooperation, and the enforcement of social norms. Hum Nat 13, 1–25 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-002-1012-7

Get in Touch with Me:

🌐 Website: https://www.mammothleadershipsciences.com

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolaspokorny

▶️ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@MammothLeadershipSciences

A positive business culture is the most important differentiating factor for success or failure. Such a culture drives higher shareholder returns and makes the company resilient during change. How can business leaders build a winning corporate culture?

Today’s episode answers this question, emphasizing the significance of aligning individual goals with the company’s objectives. This approach contrasts with the common strategy of prioritizing company goals over personal aspirations.

We’ll use the evolutionary theory of human behavior to understand how genetics and environmental factors shape how people behave in a business context.

Tune in for science-backed strategies for managing your employees’ self-interest, collaboration, and competition paradigms to transform your company's culture and drive unparalleled success.

In this episode:

- Why a positive business culture is important

- How to create a winning corporate culture

- The science of human behavior: proximate and ultimate sequences

- Darwin's theory and its implications for human behavior

- Misconceptions of the group selection theory

- Using science to build a winning corporate culture

Citations for this episode:

Alcock, J (2009). Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach, Ninth Edition, Sinauer Associates (Imprint of Oxford University Press): https://a.co/d/8M5nJak

Tinbergen, N. (1963). On the Aims and Methods of Ethology, Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie (renamed Ethology in 1986) 20: 410 – 433: https://www.esf.edu/biology/faculty/documents/Tinbergen1963onethology.pdf

Sherman, P.W. (1988). The level of Analysis. Animal Behavior 36: 616 – 618: https://finchwrangler.com/download/sherman-1988.pdf; http://darwin-online.org.uk

Wynne-Edwards, V.C. (1962). Animal Dispersion in Relation to Social Behavior. Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh: https://a.co/d/2DTxFNB

Williams, G.C. (1966): Adaptation and Natural Selection. A Critique of Some Current Evolutionary Thought. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ: https://a.co/d/1RrwvKC

Get in Touch with Me:

🌐 Website: https://www.mammothleadershipsciences.com

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolaspokorny

▶️ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@MammothLeadershipSciences

McKinsey & Company Research in 2018 revealed that companies in the top quartile for culture achieve a 60% higher return to shareholders than median companies and 200% higher than those in the bottom quartile. Further, organizations with unhealthy cultures face a 50% higher chance of failure during times of transformation.

In this inaugural episode, we’ll unbundle these statistics and explore the pivotal yet complex factor behind business success or failure: human behavior. We will use parallels between ancient mammoth hunting and modern business collaboration to understand human behavior in a corporate setting.

You’ll also discover the impact of leadership on employee satisfaction and organizational performance and how culture, which is difficult to replicate, can significantly influence a company's success.

Tune in as we explore the critical factors influencing business success today through the lens of human behavior and science.

In this episode:

- The mammoth hunt: a metaphor for business

- Parallels between ancient hunts and modern business

- The challenge of leading human behavior

- Defining and measuring a positive business culture

- The mammoth in the room: human behavior

- Closing the knowledge gap with science

- What to expect in future episodes

Get in Touch with Me:

🌐 Website: https://www.mammothleadershipsciences.com

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolaspokorny

▶️ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@MammothLeadershipSciences

Can leaders learn how to harness the evolutionary foundations of human behavior to create better business outcomes? How much do evolutionary forces shape our own individual behaviors, decisions, and group dynamics? In each episode, multinational executive leader and author Nicolas Pokorny shares practical, research-based strategies, and stories about how to align humans around common goals and lead them effectively through ever-changing markets and times.

The Mammoth in the Room is an engaging listen of interest to leaders who wish to better lead their people by understanding the evolutionary foundations of human behavior and how to harness them.