Portfolio: The organisation of your dreams

Illustration: Makers Company

As engagement levels at organisations remain challenging, Professor Rob Goffee of London Business School asks a pertinent question: why should anyone work here? He tells Reflect how organisations can become more authentic by using the DREAMS model

Gareth Jones and myself wrote a book called Why Should Anyone Be Led By You? which had a central recommendation: be yourself more, with skill. We asked what is different about you as a leader that will lift, inspire and motivate others. Executives who we worked with liked this idea, but many of them turned round and said, “I’ll be more authentic if I work in an authentic organisation.” The more people who said this to us, the more we paid attention: what did they mean when they talked about an ‘authentic organisation’?

Netflix's leading ladies

My worst habit is undoubtedly that I watch far too much television. When I was younger, I used to be a bookworm, but studying literature at university sucked much of the enjoyment out of reading for me. Books have now been replaced with television shows, and more often than not, I'll spend my weekends catching up on the latest additions to Netflix, whether this is The Blacklist, Peaky Blinders or The Good Wife.