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For two months, a financial services firm in New Zealand cut its workweek to four eight-hour days but paid for five days—and invited university researchers to study the impact on performance. Very quickly, the results became clear: workers showed up on time and creativity burgeoned. Productivity rose 20 percent. The policy became permanent. The idea of a shorter workweek is even trickling over to America. Interestingly, the sports world is providing some of the best evidence that these types of changes may help.

Every new leader faces challenges. But for those who are breaking barriers within nonprofits or family foundations, the challenges are even more pronounced. The new leaders must find their footing and navigate cultures that either overtly or subtly remind them that they are different, whether they are the first person of color, first woman, or first LGBTQ person to serve in a prominent role. The good news is there are now enough examples of trailblazing leaders to begin to see patterns, including key traits to take into leadership roles.

Wealthy individuals and family offices are increasingly looking to direct investments to enhance their returns. Other significant incentives for choosing direct investing include the elimination of management fees charged by investment firms. They can also serve as a vehicle to align investments more closely with the values and mindset of the investor. If you’re a family office contemplating a direct investment program, this article by NEPC outlines the key steps and guidelines to follow that will help set you up for success.

Every year, shareholders vote to appoint or reappoint boards to act on their behalf to ensure the company maximizes shareholder value. And enlightened boards are not waiting for activists but instead are pushing the “reset” button and reflecting on questions like “What are the characteristics of a high-performing board”? and “How do they benchmark themselves against this gold standard”? A model to use as a framework and then customize to your needs is the one established in the Blue Ribbon Commission on Board Evaluations.

In offices around the world Millennials are rapidly becoming managers and even senior executives. Some assistance from their employers could help, but at least right now, many organizations don’t prioritize grooming millennials as leaders. To some degree, the shift has caught many off guard. At the end of the day, the millions of millennials who are managers or soon will be are going to have to learn to own the fact that they are now bosses.

Organizations that want to develop or retain a competitive advantage should create a diverse and inclusive environment where all can thrive. This means addressing both the company-wide structural and behavioral issues that may be preventing people from achieving their full potential. It also means taking on an approach involving six choices and seeing how they can be applied effectively by underrepresented employees.

A global talent crisis is looming. Leaders who do grasp the situation’s gravity still struggle to make talent a priority. Inaction is not an appropriate response to the talent crunch. While the new economy means markets move so quickly they are difficult to predict, organizations can survive by developing a vision and employing models and scenarios to plan and prepare for ways the future may unfold.

Disruptive forces are driving the future of work. By analyzing the leadership profiles of 150,000 leaders, this study underlines the five key qualities of effective, future-focused leadership—qualities which correlate with a country’s ability to innovate and which correlate with a company’s likelihood of being an acclaimed brand. It also reveals how well leaders in 18 key global markets are performing in each dimension, and where improvement is urgently needed.

The main threat to responsible investing (RI) is the very success of the idea itself. There are now so many investors looking for RI investments that the usual financial industry fraudsters and unethical salespeople have come out in force.

Investors can diversify their portfolios through equity allocations to markets outside their home market. Despite this opportunity, investors on average have maintained allocations to their home country that have been significantly larger than the country's market-capitalization weight in a globally diversified equity index. This paper explores the potential benefits, and the factors to assess in determining portfolio allocations.