Digital Library Materials
Collaborating with Others
| Title | Content Type | Source | Summary | |
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples style manual | Website | Australian Government | How to use culturally appropriate and respectful language when writing with, for or about First Nations people. | |
| Collaboration and Communications – Definitions | Staff Intranet | Information about various communication and collaboration tools available at the University. | ||
| Emotional intelligence, moral reasoning and transformational leadership | Journal Article | Emerald Insight | This article used a sample of university staff to explore the association of emotional intelligence and moral reasoning to leadership style and effectiveness. Analysis showed that leaders who reported higher levels of emotional intelligence were perceived by their followers as higher in transformational leadership and more effective. | |
| Emotions and leadership: The role of emotional intelligence | Journal Article | SAGE Journals | This paper suggests that feelings (moods and emotions) play a central role in the leadership process. More specifically, it proposes that emotional intelligence, the ability to understand and manage moods and emotions in the self and others, contributes to leadership effectiveness in organisations. The article proposes that emotional intelligence contributes to effective leadership by focusing on five elements of leader effectiveness. | |
| Interpersonal Communication | Linkedin Course (42 mins) | LinkedIn Learning | In this course, learn strategies that can help you hone and master your interpersonal communication skills. | |
| Managing Neurodiversity at work | Podcast (25 mins) | ABC | You have staff who are neurodivergent, and you want to help them do their best work. What do you need to understand, and what supports should you put in place, to make that happen? We visit a neurodiverse workplace to find out and hear from a specialist recruiter who supports neurodivergent employees in large corporate firms. | |
| Say Anything to Anyone, Anywhere – 5 keys to successful cross-cultural communication | Book | ProQuest | The five steps to successful selling, negotiating, and managing multi-culturally Say Anything to Anyone, Anywhere gives readers five simple key guidelines to create rapport and organize strategies for success across different cultures. This book teaches to be proactive, not reactive, in your cross-cultural communications and shows how to use simple rapport tools to create trust with the cultures you work with or travel to. Learn how to organize productive interactions in person, on the phone, and by email. | |
| Words at Work: Building inclusion through the power of language. | Staff Intranet | . The way we speak to each other creates a culture in which everyone can feel valued, respected, and one of the team (included), rather than under-valued, disrespected, and out of place (excluded). |
Creative Problem Solving
| Title | Content Type | Source | Summary |
| Alive and well after 25 years: A review of groupthink research | Journal article | Science Direct | This article provides an extensive review of groupthink and its theoretical development. It highlights that groupthink leads to poor decision making in teams, reduced adaptability, and increases the likelihood that the team overlooks alternative explanations and have ethical miss steps. |
| Closed-mindedness and insulation in groupthink: their effects and the devil’s advocacy as a preventive measure. | Journal Article | Journal of Computational Social Science | This article explores the effects of groupthink in team decision making. It highlights that groupthink significantly reduces decision quality and limits the exploration of alternate solutions. Closed-minded groups tend to disregard external inputs, which can exacerbate the poor decision making. It also advocates for using a ‘devil’s advocate’ role for stimulating critical thinking. |
| Cognitive skills and leadership performance: The nine critical skills | Journal Article | The Leadership Quarterly | This article focuses on the cognitive skills essential for effective leadership problem solving. It highlights that leaders rely on case-based knowledge and mental models derived from experience to address complex challenges. The authors identify key skills such as problem definition, cause/goal analysis and planning which assists leaders. These cognitive skills can be strong predictors of leadership success, and help leaders navigate complexities of real-world problems. |
| Cognitive biases and decision-making strategies in times of change: a systematic literature review | Journal Article | Management Decision | This study reviews the impact of cognitive bias on strategic decision making. The authors highlight that decision making is influenced by internal factors such as perception, and external factors such as digitisation influences the quality of management decisions. The authors suggest the importance of mitigating cognitive bias and recommend strategies such as information filtering and structured decision-making processes. |
| Decision-Making Process: Steps, Tips and Strategies | Article | Atlassian | Tips for effective decision making |
| How to Make Creative Thinking a Habit | Linkedin Learning (29 mins) | LinkedIn Learning | Discover two foundational pieces of creativity: building wonder and rigor as available skills. Learn about opportunities to bring creative thinking into your workflow and adopt a courageous mindset to imagine more creative, innovative ideas, following tactical exercises from Natalie that can help fuel your imagination, wonder, and generative creative thoughts, as well as practical strategies to promote creative thinking, including restraints, rigor sprints, movement, and more. Upon completing this course, you’ll also be prepared to feed your creative thinking by using cutting-edge tools and techniques from generative AI. |
| Leadership and creativity: Understanding leadership from a creative problem-solving perspective | Journal Article | Leadership Quarterly | This article explores how leaders can foster creativity in their teams by supporting cognitive processes involved in problem solving. It emphasises that creative problem solving involves stages such as problem identification, information gathering, idea generation and idea evaluation. Leaders can enhance creativity by fostering an environment that encourages divergent thinking, offering clear guidance, clear communication, and providing time and resources for their employees. |
| Systematic problem-solving and its antecedents: a synthesis of the literature | Journal Article | Management Research News | This article contrasts intuitive problem solving (IPS), which offers quick fixes, with systematic problem solving (SPS), a structured approach addressing the root cause of the problem. The article suggests improving problem solving by using SPS for complex issues, supported by factors such as time, information, collaboration and leadership. It also advises a flexible strategy combining SPS for long term solutions with IPS for urgent or more simple problems. |
| What is Creative Problem-Solving & Why is it important? | Website article | Harvard Business School | An overview of creative problem-solving and why it’s important in business. |
| What is lateral thinking? | Website article | Interaction Design Foundation | Explanation and examples of lateral thinking. |
| 5 Steps to Fix Any Problem at Work | Video (11:52 mins) | Youtube | In a practical, playful talk, leadership visionary Anne Morriss reinvents the playbook for how to lead through change — with a radical, one-week plan to build trust and fix problems by following a step per day. |
| What is the Cynefin Framework? | Video (9:52 mins) | Youtube | The Cynefin Framework is a model for understanding the different types of problems we can face and therefore helps you understand what approach to take to: • Problem-solving • Decision-making the Cynefin Framework was developed by Dave Snowden and a great introduction is his 2007 Harvard Business Review article, ‘A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making’, co-written by David J Snowden and Mary E Boone. |
Demonstrating Accountability
| Title | Content Type | Source | Summary |
| Demonstrating Accountability as a Leader | LinkedIn Learning Course (15 mins) | LinkedIn Learning | Leadership accountability is at the heart of any organization’s ability to achieve optimal performance. At a time when we continue to experience accelerated change, increased complexities, growing pressures, and competing priorities, leaders set the tone in their companies and establish the culture by how they treat others and by how they live their values. Yet many organizations miss opportunities to demonstrate leadership accountability. In this course, learn about what leadership accountability is, why it matters to organizations, and what actions leaders should take to practice accountability. Instructor Dr. Shirley Davis describes strategies for taking ownership as a leader, making effective decisions, and demonstrating accountability in the way you communicate with others. |
| The Accountability Factor | Article | Physician leaders interested in approaching organizational culture from the perspective of “accountability” are encouraged to begin with quality of care and the patient experience. The “accountability factor,” an item in the CulturePulse© leadership culture evaluation tool, is a strong predictor of how providers and staff perceive the overall condition of the leadership culture of medical services organizations. | |
| Why Accountability is Not a Dirty Word | Video – length 14:27 | Youtube | Christi Scarrow adventures boldly into a challenge that faces us all; how to hold others accountable. She dares us to act differently, working against our natural instincts of blaming others or avoiding the difficult conversations. Her heart-felt stories remind us of the impact of not getting it right. She challenges us to stop thinking of accountability as a dirty word and instead as the ultimate act of respect. Christi Scarrow is a consultant, executive coach, keynote speaker and best-selling author of the book Truth Warriors. She is the Managing Partner at a consulting firm in Toronto called Lighthouse NINE Group, where she also leads the Insights & Organizational Accountability practice. |
| Leadership Accountability: What It Looks Like, Why It Matters | Article | Washington Post | A good leader sets clear goals, follows through on promises and cultivates a culture of responsibility within an organization. Leaders who acknowledge errors with humility and transparency earn their team members’ and stakeholders’ trust and respect, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and long-term success. |
| 3 Ways to Compassionately Hold Your Team Accountable | Article | Harvard Business Review | Why are some teams more successful than others when it comes to meeting deadlines, hitting targets, and growing revenues? Researchers at the NeuroLeadership Institute looked at the cognitive processes associated with leaders who cultivate accountability on their teams. They identified three distinct habits practiced by these leaders: They think ahead, own their commitments, and anchor on solutions. |
| The relationship between leadership and accountability: A review and synthesis of the research | Journal Article | Journal of Entrepreneurship Education | This article explores the connection between leadership behaviours and accountability within organisations, suggesting that accountability is essential for effective leadership. It emphasises the role of accountability in fostering ethical behaviour, transparency and organisational success. |
| Can Leaders Teach Accountability | Podcast (21:09 mins) | Youtube | Teaching accountability is one of the most important responsibilities of a leader. When we say “Accountability” we mean the willingness of the people you lead to accept responsibility for their actions and decisions and to be responsible for the results. |
Developing Others
| Title | Content Type | Source | Summary |
| Build a growth mindset | Infographic | N/A | Tips for building a growth mindset. |
| Coach Yourself Program | Book Chapter | N/A | Information and research results about the Coach Yourself Program developed by the University of Sydney. |
| Developing the Leader as Coach | Journal Article | N/A | his article presents some practical insights, strategies and tips about how to help organisations embed leadership coaching skills in the workplace following participation by executives and managers in ‘Leader as Coach’ development programs. Given that organisations globally are increasingly using such programs as part of leadership development initiatives, it is important that we develop effective methodologies for teaching and embedding coaching skills in organisations. We argue that an evidence-based approach to program design and solid alignment with the organisation’s goals, values and language are essential foundations for the process of embedding coaching skills. In addition to internally branding the program, using respected figures internal to the organisation as role models and champions and encouraging participants to personalise the coaching methods and models, we have found that regularly sending reminder tips on how to use coaching skills in emails or other web-based communications to be effective in prompting leaders and managers to use coaching skills on a daily basis. This article presents seven such tips and other ideas about embedding and sustaining leaders’ coaching skills in contemporary organisational settings. |
| From competencies to strengths | Journal Article | Proquest | This paper aims to introduce the strengths-based approach within the field of leader development. A strengths-based approach focuses on identifying and leveraging leaders’ strengths rather than focusing on weaknesses or deficits. The article presents a framework for identifying and nurturing these strengths, particularly character strengths, that will help in promoting a positive self-concept among leaders and promote human-centred leadership development. |
| GROW model | Infographic | N/A | A visual guide to the components of the GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Way forward) model. |
| Having Difficult Conversations | LinkedIn Learning Course (1 hr, 3min) | LinkedIn Learning | In this course, Marlene Chism explains how to have difficult conversations, build your communication skills, and improve your relationships, teamwork, and business performance. She explains how to identify underlying differences in work styles, goals, and power dynamics and change the way you view conflict. She provides a model to move the conversation in a positive direction and to determine next steps. Plus, learn how to check for resistance with a single useful phrase. |
| How to coach your employees | Article | Harvard Management Communication | Information and strategies for coaching employees in the workplace. |
| If it ain’t written, it ain’t coaching | Journal Article | Usyd Library | This paper explores issues related to reflection-in-action, an essential tool in the development of coaching expertise, and discusses how note-taking by the coach during the coaching conversation can help develop the coach’s skills in this area. Reflection-in-action is in-the-moment reflective use of experience and knowledge so as to better facilitate the coaching process. This requires a high level of self-insight – a clear understanding of one’s thoughts, feelings and behavior. Levels of self-insight can be developed by mindfully engaging in exercises designed to raise in-the-moment awareness during the actual coaching process. Structured note taking is one such approach that has been shown to be effective. The development of these skills allows coaches to be more agile in the coaching process, and helps them work in both structured and unstructured ways with their clients. Case-based examples are presented along with suggestions for the development of these skills. |
| Influence of managers’ mindset on leadership behavior | Journal Article | Usyd Library | The purpose of this paper was to explore the link between managers mindset (fixed versus growth) and their choice of leadership behaviours. The findings demonstrated that growth-minded managers consistently displayed more frequent use of leadership behaviours than their fixed-minded counterparts. These leaders are more likely to embrace challenges, persist when facing obstacles, inspire a share vision, challenge the status quo and enable others around them. Studies have shown that managers are generally more effective when they are seen engaging in leadership. |
| Personal life coaching or coaches-in-training | Journal Article | Usyd Library | Evidence-based approaches to coach training and education are vital if the coaching industry is to continue to mature. Drawing on past research on mandatory personal therapy for therapists-in-training, this paper reports a qualitative and quantitative within-subject exploration of the impact of compulsory participation in a personal life coaching program for coaches-in-training. Twenty-nine coaches-in-training set personal goals and completed a 10 to 12 week, five-session, solution-focused cognitive-behavioural personal coaching program. Three sessions were face-to-face, two by telephone. Following each coaching session the coach and the coachee independently completed a structured reflection exercise. Participation in the program was associated with reduced anxiety, increased goal attainment, enhanced cognitive hardiness and higher levels of personal insight. Participants also had higher end-of-semester marks as compared to a cohort that did not participate in the intensive personal coaching program. There was no change in participants’ levels of psychological well-being. |
| Positive leadership yields performance and profitability: Effective organizations develop their strengths. | Journal Article | Research Gate | The article discusses how a focus solely on problems in the workplace can have negative business outcomes such as a defensive work environment where there is low creativity and innovation, resistance to change and low employee commitment and morale. Comparatively, more effective organisations look to develop a strength based, positive approach to leadership by focusing on developing optimism and emotional intelligence in leaders. |
| Psychological health and safety | Staff Intranet | USyd Intranet | Information about psychological health and safety, the Wellbeing Framework and managing psycho-social hazards at the University. |
| Psychological safety: The history, renaissance, and future of an interpersonal construct | Journal Article | Usyd Library | This article is a comprehensive review of psychological safety by first reviewing the previous literature on psychological safety before critiquing the research at an individual, group and organisational level. At the group/team level the article documents the positive outcomes of creating a psychologically safe team environment such as; enhanced team performance, improved team learning, encouraging innovation, supporting conflict resolution and strengthening team dynamics. |
| Quick Scripts for Difficult Conversations | LinkedIn Learning Course (17 mins) | LinkedIn Learning | Professionals often want to have the hard conversations, but they may stumble over the actual words they should use. In this course, executive coach and leadership development expert Alisa Cohn presents scripts that you can use in the most common, most delicate, and most difficult workplace scenarios. Practice how to terminate someone, as well as the conversation to have before you terminate someone. Learn how to lay someone off with compassion. Explore scripts for positive feedback and for direct, diplomatic, difficult feedback. Rehearse ways to hold someone accountable without making them feel bad, then dive into scripts such as telling someone you’re putting a new leader over them, handling it when an employee gets defensive or starts to cry, and telling someone they didn’t get the promotion without demotivating them. Go into delicate conversations well-prepared to say exactly what you need to say, in the best ways possible. |
| SBI Feedback model | Infographic | Usyd Intranet | Guide to using the Situation, Behaviour, Impact (SBI) feedback model. |
| Social network approaches to leadership: an integrative conceptual review | Journal Article | APA PsychNet. | The article explores how leadership is shaped by the relationships and connections between people, rather than just individual leaders. It finds that leaders who are well connected in their organisations are more effective. The research suggests that leadership and social networks evolve together. |
| The ties that lead: A social network approach to leadership | Journal Article | Science Direct | This article investigates how social network theory can enhance leadership effectiveness by emphasising the importance of relationships, social embeddedness and structural patterns within organisations. For leaders, particularly new leaders, understanding these networks, leveraging social connections and managing the complexity of both formal and informal networks can influence leadership effectiveness. |
| Useful questions for the GROW model | N/A | Questions to use while implementing the GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Way forward) model. | |
| Wellbeing checks to incorporate into meetings | Leading Wellbeing Toolkit | Conversation guide to understand wellbeing and understand, prevent and support burnout | |
| Why Trust is Key to High-Performing Teams | Video, length 9:16 | Youtube | Trust is the foundation of any successful team and organisation, and it is the leader’s responsibility to create a trusting environment. |
| How to have a GROW coaching conversation? | Video, length 14:12 | Intranet/Youtube | Coaching is an essential skill for any manager and leader. It engages and empowers your team. Yet is often underused. In this video, Helen Bryant shares how to use the GROW coaching model, with example questions to help you try it out quickly. |
| Begin with Trust: The first step to becoming a genuinely empowering leader | Article | Harvard Business Review | This article explains how leaders can identify their weaknesses and strengths on these three dimensions and offers advice on how all three can be developed in the service of a truly empowering leadership style. |
Our University Context
| Title | Content Type | Source | Summary |
| Good Practice Guide | Usyd Intranet | As part of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Plan 2022-2024, the Good Practice Guide has been designed to support managers, supervisors, and human resource professionals to carry out their roles in building an inclusive and culturally safe environment and achieving the workforce targets set out in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Plan 2022-2024 and future Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment plans. The Good Practice Guide is a resource tool to help support the employment and recruitment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff to the University. | |
| Kinship teaching learning framework | Usyd | The Kinship On-line Module website and this Teaching & Learning Framework has been developed in response to a need for teaching tools which assist in embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) cultural knowledge and to improve Cultural Competence. | |
| Well Mob | Website | Well Mob | Social, emotional and cultural wellbeing online resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People |
| Managers D&I Essentials | Workday courses (27 hours) | Usyd | Essential diversity and inclusion training for all University of Sydney managers, covering anti-racism, creating culturally safe environments, disability confidence and LGBTQ+ inclusion. |
| Modern Slavery Statement | N/A | The University is committed to protecting human rights and recognises modern slavery is never acceptable in any of its forms. We are implementing a University-wide approach to identify and address modern slavery risks across our supply chain, operations and investments. Find out more about our work to address the global human rights issue of modern slavery and how to get involved in our efforts to effect positive change. | |
| One Sydney, Many People | Usyd Intranet | The University’s Indigenous Strategy, One Sydney Many People, expresses our whole-of-University commitment to celebrate and respect this increasing voice and the influence Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, knowledge, and people have on our campuses. It, and outlines how as a University we will contribute to the social and physical environment that makes our University special and contribute to our key goal of achieving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and student population parity by 2030. | |
| Sustainability Strategy | Website | Usyd Intranet | Our vision is to build and inspire communities to create a culture of sustainability both locally and globally. In our responsibility to care for Country on which our campuses lie, we will enact change. Putting our research and education into practice, we will enrich and transform lives now and for future generations. |
| Sydney 2032 Strategy | Website | Usyd Intranet | In August 2022, Senate approved the University’s Sydney in 2032 Strategy. The strategy sets a series of aspirations focused on delivering sustained and consistent excellence and ensuring the University develops the flexibility and resilience to keep pace with – or ahead of – the changes we will inevitably experience in an increasingly fluid and unpredictable world. |
Working Effectively
| Title | Content Type | Source | Summary |
| 9 Neuroplasticity Exercises to Boost Productivity | Article | Atlassian | In recent years, several researchers have posited that it’s possible to consciously direct neuroplasticity to optimize your brain function, improve your work performance, and even influence your team’s performance. Once you understand how neuroplasticity works, you’ll discover that the concept is much simpler than it sounds. |
| A Leader’s Challenge: Moving People From Busy To Productive | Podcast – length 24:50 | Corporate Solutions | One of the first shifts a leader needs to make is the shift from being a soloist to being the conductor of the orchestra. It’s easy to want to hang on to your individual contributor mindset and try to become super-soloist instead of taking the lead. Today, Chris and Perry discuss some ideas for making the move from soloist to conductor. |
| Atlassian: How to conduct a successful sprint retrospective | Team Playbook | Atlassian | A sprint retrospective gives you an opportunity to review your latest sprint and make improvements for future sprints. These meetings are essential because regularly assessing and improving processes leads to quality results and fewer obstacles. In this guide, we’ll talk about what a sprint retrospective is, why it’s important, and how you can conduct successful sprint reviews to make your team more effective |
| Atomic Habits: Book Summary | Book Summary | Adam Grant Website | Atomic Habits by James Clear is a comprehensive, practical guide on how to change your habits and get 1% better every day. Using a framework called the Four Laws of Behavior Change, Atomic Habits teaches readers a simple set of rules for creating good habits and breaking bad ones. Read the full summary to glean 3 key lessons from Atomic Habits, learn how to build a habit in 4 simple steps, and get a handy reference guide for the strategies recommended throughout the book. |
| Atomic Habits: How to Get 1% Better Every Day | Video (8 mins) | Youtube | James Clear is an author and speaker focused on habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Entrepreneur, Time, and on CBS This Morning. |
| Boosting your Team’s Productivity | LinkedIn Learning (39 mins) | Many managers unknowingly make things overly complex for their teams-and this can be a drain on productivity. In this course, coach Lisa Bodell shows how to boost productivity by letting go of complexity and adopting simplicity. | |
| Good Work Design – Knowing your team | PDF Resource | Australian Government | Your team is made up of people with different strengths, skills, motivations, working styles and personal lives. By harnessing individual differences, you can have the right person doing the right work and create a high performing team. |
| How to build a high-performing team | Article | Institute of Directors | In today’s fast-paced and competitive business landscape, organisations strive to achieve maximum success and efficiency. One proven way to attain this is through the development of high-performing teams that can continuously achieve exceptional results. In this blog, we will explore what high-performing teams are and uncover effective strategies for putting them in place and retaining them. |
| Overcoming Procrastination | LinkedIn Learning (24 mins) | Is procrastination preventing you from achieving the goals you want or need to accomplish? In less than half an hour, this course can help you identify why you delay and how you can overcome your procrastination habit once and for all. Instructor and Kelley School of Business senior lecturer Brenda Bailey-Hughes shows how to separate procrastination from other behaviors and identify what causes you to put tasks on the back burner. Throughout the course, Brenda helps you address your procrastination head on, providing strategies that address common reasons for stalling—from boring tasks to an overall lack of confidence. | |
| Prioritise All the Things | Team Playbook | Atlassian | Visualize the relative priority of your own team’s projects, then compare it to work requested by other teams. |
| Prioritise your tasks correctly | LinkedIn Learning Video (4 mins) | Being accountable is more than just being responsible for something—it’s also, ultimately being answerable for your actions. To hold yourself accountable, you must find the motivation to do difficult things. You need to amplify the urgency of your mission, know why it matters, and understand how taking responsibility helps you become the kind of person you want to be. In this course, personal branding expert Dorie Clark helps you adopt the accountability mindset. Dorie outlines specific, practical steps you can take to implement accountability. | |
| Project Hub | Resources | USYD Project Hub | Resources from the University Central Project Management Office |
| Why Leaders Should Focus On Strengths, Not Weaknesses | Article | Forbes | Motivating others is one of the most significant issues we face in leadership. Strength-based approaches can be a powerful tool for increasing motivation and performance. Comparing the impact and the cost of it, I believe strengths-based strategies are a worthy investment for leaders, yet it seems this approach does not get as much space in leaders repertoire as it deserves. In this article, I’ll be delving into two issues: what makes a stengths-based strategy so impactful and the ways leaders can better leverage the strength-based approach in the workplace. |