Leadership & management

Not so long ago, CEOs were not the public face of their companies. But in the age of always-on media and the rise of superstar chief executives, CEOs must constantly give voice to the organizations they lead. Professor June West and Steve Soltis share what it takes for a CEO to succeed as a communicator.

It’s not uncommon for incoming CEOs to hire new senior staff when they join companies. But when they hire new CFOs, might those CFOs be pressured to manage earnings in a way that benefits the CEOs’ pay? New research examines these C-suite relationships and what they might mean for the long-term health of a company.

Do diversity and inclusion efforts do what they’re intended to? Professor Martin Davidson, Darden’s senior associate dean and global chief diversity officer, discusses workplace practices that encourage a culture of race-intelligent inclusion and greater understanding of the needs of black people.

Starting new jobs doesn’t just mean showing expertise or knowhow; it means entering new relationships, and how we handle people can affect the newbie and the organization. Professor Joe Harder offers tips on how to gracefully enter a new role and establish oneself as a valuable colleague.

Football is typically a major source of revenue for university athletics departments — so when game attendance shrinks, money’s left on the table. In this case in point, Professors Sean Martin and Jim Detert discuss ideas UVA explored to energize the fan base, as well as tenets of any strategic turnaround.

Technology is reshaping the way we live, work, play and interact. Darden Professor Roshni Raveendhran, whose research sits at the intersection of psychology and technology, shares her insights about the opportunities novel technologies, such as artificial intelligence, create for humanity and the risks they pose.

Despite its origins in manufacturing, lean thinking has shown the potential to transform other process-oriented industries, including healthcare. According to Darden Professor Elliott N. Weiss, when it comes to process improvement and eliminating waste, lean is as effective in the hospital as it is on the factory floor.

Case Foundation CEO and National Geographic Society Chairman Jean Case joins University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor Mary Margaret Frank in a discussion about what it means for entrepreneurs to “be fearless” and how established companies and entrepreneurs alike should think about mitigating risk versus valuing risk.