Search results for ""author todd l. pittinsky""

Moving beyond mere tolerance Us-versus-them is the costly mind-set in which organizations, communities, and whole nations too often find themselves trapped. In fact, recognizing difference as a positive force can bring astonishing value to even the most diverse organizations. In Us Plus Them, leadership scholar Todd Pittinsky introduces a groundbreaking new science of diversity that: * Debunks the assumption that wherever there is difference there will be inherent tension and animosity * Challenges the effectiveness of our standard attempts to fight prejudice and combat hate in our schools and workplaces, our civic and religious lives * Reveals how we benefit from the mixing of different ethnic, racial, national, social, and religious groups in a globalized world Through a wide range of examples--from Maine and Michigan to Rwanda and Bhutan, and from small-town classrooms to corporate boardrooms--Pittinsky opens our eyes to misunderstood yet useful aspects of us-and-them relations, including many of the neglected positive dimensions of difference. He provides a bold new assessment of the popular and scientific approaches to the issue, proving that it's time to move beyond mere tolerance to build communities in which the two sides of the us-and-them equation engage each other because they both want to. Much as Martin Seligman and positive psychology have shifted the focus from mental illness to mental healthiness, this book shifts our mind-set to diversity as a positive force. Understanding the science and practical use of that energy will help us build the schools, neighborhoods, companies, and nations we want, and not simply avoid the ugliest problems of the past. Pittinsky shows us that our great diversity experiment hasn't failed--it hasn't even begun.

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Bringing groups together is a central and unrelenting task of leadership. CEOs must nudge their executives to rise above divisional turf battles, mayors try to cope with gangs in conflict, and leaders of many countries face the realities of sectarian violence. Crossing the Divide introduces cutting-edge research and insight into these age-old problems. Edited by Todd Pittinsky of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, this collection of essays brings together two powerful scholarly disciplines: intergroup relations and leadership. What emerges is a new mandate for leaders to reassess what have been regarded as some very successful tactics for building group cohesion. Leaders can no longer just "rally the troops." Instead they must employ more positive means to span boundaries, affirm identity, cultivate trust, and collaborate productively. In this multidisciplinary volume, highly regarded business scholars, social psychologists, policy experts, and interfaith activists provide not only theoretical frameworks around these ideas, but practical tools and specific case studies as well. Examples from around the world and from every sector - corporate, political, and social - bring to life the art and practice of intergroup leadership in the twenty-first century.

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Humans have always been caregivers. Yet caregiving for children, the sick, and the elderly is shockingly undervalued and underaccommodated. Given how little value is placed on caregiving, the work-life movement has been stalled for decades, stuck on women and their children like a skipping record. There are more women in the workforce, but not significantly more in the top leadership positions. Most importantly, many women-- and increasingly some men--experience their efforts to have careers and care for dependents as a battle against themselves or their own wellbeing. Most of this conversation is centered on helping mothers succeed in the workplace, with little attention to how we think about caregiving more broadly. Commonly construed as a duty, obligation, or responsibility, caregiving is, for many people, something very different: a goal, a desire, an ambition. Society's failure to acknowledge caregiving as an ambition on par with career aspirations has created real consequences, including a troubling lack of caregiving for each other, stubborn gender gaps in leadership, and widespread dissatisfaction with life. This evidence-based, reflective, and practical book on caregiving ambition pushes beyond the "mommy wars" that divide women, and increasingly men, by how they care, uniting them instead on why and how much they care. Through firsthand quantitative and qualitative empirical research, plus a wealth of research reviewed, the authors bring together psychological theories and cutting-edge management research to illuminate how ignoring caregiving as an ambition perpetuates the status quo. This book shows the path forward: an honest discussion about caregiving ambition will make our individual and collective lives more humane, caring, and productive.

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Published for The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), the Journal of Social Issues (JSI) brings behavioral and social science theory, empirical evidence, and practice to bear on human and social problems. Each issue of the journal focuses on a single topic — recent issues, for example, have addressed poverty, housing and health; privacy as a social and psychological concern; youth and violence; and the impact of social class on education.

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