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Resources VIEW RESOURCE Organizational Bullshit Perception Scale Learn more about how much bullshit your organization may be surrounded by bullshit with the OBPS (Ferreira, Hannah, McCarthy, Pitt, & Ferguson, 2022). VIEW RESOURCE Book Discussion Guide for The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit A book discussion guide for a book now being used with high school students in AP English classes. VIEW RESOURCE Bullshit Detection Quiz Most everyone believes they have a good bullshit detector. Let's see how you fare on our test. VIEW RESOURCE Weighted-Additive Model Calculator If you have multiple decision alternatives with multiple features that vary in their importance, the W-ADD model calculator is a wonderful friend to have. VIEW RESOURCE Financial Facts Survey Most every finance expert believes they have a good finance bullshit detector. Let's see how you fare on the FBBTS (Kienzler, Västfjäll, & Tinghög, 2022) . VIEW RESOURCE Financial Meaningful Statements Survey Most every finance expert believes they have a good finance bullshit detector. Let's see how you fare on the FBSS (Kienzler, Västfjäll, & Tinghög, 2022) . Connect with John

Research As an experimental social psychologist, my research involves experimental social cognition and judgment and decision making. My specific research interests include bullshitting behavior, bullshit detection and disposal, attitude strength and persuasion, counterfactual thinking and metacognition. Bullshitting Behavior and Bullshit Detection/Disposal. Bullshitting is a pervasive social behavior involving intentionally or unintentionally communicating with little to no regard or concern for truth, genuine evidence, and/or established semantic, logical, systemic, or empirical knowledge. Bullshitting is often characterized by, but not limited to, using rhetorical strategies designed to disregard truth, evidence and/or established knowledge, such as exaggerating or embellishing one’s knowledge, competence, or skills in a particular area or talking about things of which one knows nothing about in order to impress, fit in with, influence, or persuade others. Bullshitting is different from lying in that the liar is actually concerned with the truth – the liar tries to divert us from the truth. The bullshitter doesn’t really care what the truth is, he/she isn’t even trying – the bullshitter may be correct in his/her claim but wouldn’t know it. What are the antecedents, consequences, and utilities of this seemingly pervasive and inevitable behavior? Under what social conditions and/or mental states is bullshitting attenuated or augmented? Under what conditions are people receptive and/or sensitive to bullshit? How can people better detect and dispose of bullshit? Attitude Strength and Persuasion. How do various components of attitude strength (e.g., attitude certainty, attitudinal ambivalence, and attitude accessibility) affect attitude change and resistance to persuasive attempts? How do sub-components of such attitude attributes influence the attitude-behavior link, attitude stability, persistence, and resistance to persuasive attempts? Counterfactual Thinking. Counterfactual thinking involves mentally simulating alternatives to reality and playing out the consequences of those alternatives (i.e., “could have,” “would have,” “should have,” or “if only” thinking). What role does counterfactual thinking play in reactions to general and specific cases? How does it affect memory for previous events? What role does it play in learning and performance on tasks? How does counterfactual thinking affect a physician’s diagnostic and treatment selection decisions? Metacognition. Metacognition involves thinking about one’s thoughts and thought processes. How do metacognitive components of attitude strength affect attitude change? How does a metacognitive aspect of counterfactual thinking (i.e., counterfactual potency) influence affect, judgments of social targets, and decisions? Connect with John

Publications Disclaimer: Articles provided on this website as pdfs were published by journals and in edited volumes and thus copyrighted to them. These links are intended to facilitate the accepted practice that authors distribute copies of their articles to interested parties for personal use only. No commercial use may be made of the articles nor is mass-production of the articles permitted. Should you download them, you may be violating copyright laws. Books Petrocelli, J. V. (2021). The life-changing science of detecting bullshit . St. Martin’s Press. Publications Petrocelli, J. V., Li, Y., Wang, E., & Curran, J. M. (in press). Bullshitting and bullibility: Conditions and consequences. Social Psychology . A Petrocelli, J. V., Curran, J. M., & Stall, L. M. (2024). Bullshit can be harmful to your health: Bullibility as a precursor to poor decision making. Current Opinion in Psychology , 55 (1), Article 101769 . A Albarracín, D., Conway, P., Laurent, S., Laurin, K., Manzi, F., Petrocelli, J. V., Rattan, A., Salvador, C. E., Stern, C., Todd, A., Touré-Tillery, M., Wakslak, C., & Zou, X. (2024). Inaugural editorial. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 126 , 1-4. A Petrocelli, J. V. (2023). Persuasive bullshitters a nd the insidious bullshit hypothesis. Skeptical Inquirer , 47 (5), 26-30. A Petrocelli, J. V., Silverman, H. E., & Shang, S. X. (2023 ). Social perception and influence of lies vs. bullshit: A test of the insidious bullshit hypot hesis. Current Psychology , 4 2 , 9609-9617. A Petrocelli, J. V., Seta, C. E., & Seta, J. J. (2023). Lies and bullshit: The negative effects of misinformation grow stronger over time. Applied Cognitive Psychology , 37 , 409-418. A Stall, L. M., & Petrocelli, J. V. (2023). Countering conspiracy theory beliefs: Understanding the conjunction fallacy and considering disconfirming evidence. Applied Cognitive Psychology , 37 , 266-276. A Petrocelli, J. V. (2022). Politically oriented bullshit detection: Attitudinally conditional bullshit receptivity and bullshit sensitivity. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations , 25 , 1635-1652. A Petrocelli, J. V. (2021). Bullshitting and persuasion: The persuasiveness of a disregard for the truth. British Journal of Social Psychology , 60 , 1464-1483. A Petrocelli, J. V. (2021). Expert bullshit detection. Skeptic , 26 (3), 47-53. A Vohs, K. D., Schmeichel, B. J., Lohmann, S., Gronau, Q. F., Finley, A., ... Petrocelli, J. V., ... & Albarracín, D. (2021). A multi-site preregistered, paradigmatic test of the ego depletion effect. Psychological Science , 32 , 1566-1581. A Petrocelli, J. V., Watson, H. F., & Hirt, E. R. (2020). Self-regulatory aspects of bullshitting and bullshit detection. Social Psychology , 51 , 239-253. A Petrocelli, J. V. (2020). Bullshit and its detection: The conditions under which common, everyday bullshit is most likely to emerge. Skeptic , 25 (2), 50-55. A Street, R. L., Petrocelli, J. V., Amroze, A., Bergelt, C., Murphy, M., Wieting, J. M., & Mazor, K. M. (2020). How communication “failed” or “saved the day”: Counterfactual accounts of medical errors. Journal of Patient Experience , 7 , 1247-1254. A Taha, A. E., & Petrocelli, J. V. (2020). Advertising opinions. Tulsa Law Review , 56 , 77-108. A Petrocelli, J. V. (2018). Antecedents of bullshitting. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , 76 , 249-258. A Petrocelli, J. V., & Whitmire, M. B. (2017). Emotion decoding and incidental processing fluency as antecedents of attitude certainty. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 43 , 924- 939. A Petrocelli, J. V., Rubin, A. L., & Stevens, R. L. (2016). The sin of prediction: When mentally simulated alternatives compete with reality. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 42 , 1635-1652. A Petrocelli, J. V., Williams, S. A., & Clarkson, J. J. (2015). The bigger they come, the harder they fall: The paradoxical effect of regulatory depletion on attitude change. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , 58 , 82-94. A Petrocelli, J. V., Kammrath, L. K., Brinton, J. E., Uy, M. R., Cowens, D. F. L. (2015). Holding on to what might have been may loosen (or tighten) the ties that bind us: A counterfactual potency analysis of previous dating alternatives. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , 56 , 50-59. A Seta, C. E., Seta, J. J., Petrocelli, J. V., & McCormick, M. (2015). Even better than the real thing: Alternative outcome bias affects decision judgments and decision regret. Thinking and Reasoning , 21 , 446-472. A Taha, A. E., & Petrocelli, J. V. (2015). Disclosures about disclosures: Can conflict of interest warnings be made more effective? Journal of Empirical Legal Studies , 12 , 236-251. A Dowd, K. W., Petrocelli, J. V., & Wood, M. T. (2014). Integrating information from multiple sources: A metacognitive account of self-generated and externally-provided anchors. Thinking and Reasoning , 20 , 315-332. A Taha, A. E., & Petrocelli, J. V. (2014). Sending mixed messages: Investor interpretations of disclosures of analyst stock ownership. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law , 20 , 68-77. A Petrocelli, J. V., Clarkson, J. J., Whitmire, M. B., & Moon, P. E. (2013). When ab ≠ c – c’: Published errors in the reports of single mediator models. Behavior Research Methods , 45 , 595- 601. A Petrocelli, J. V. (2013). Pitfalls of counterfactual thinking in medical practice: Preventing errors by using more functional reference points. Journal of Public Health Research , 2 , 136-143. A Petrocelli, J. V., Seta, C. E., & Seta, J. J. (2013). Dysfunctional counterfactual thinking: When simulating alternatives to reality impedes experiential learning. Thinking and Reasoning , 19 , 205-230. A Petrocelli, J. V., Seta, C. E., & Seta, J. J. (2012). Prefactual potency: The perceived likelihood of alternatives to anticipated realities. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 38 , 1467- 1479. A Petrocelli, J. V., Seta, C. E., Seta, J. J., & Prince, L. B. (2012). "If only I could stop generating counterfactual thoughts": When counterfactual thinking interferes with academic performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , 48 , 1117-1123. A Petrocelli, J. V., & Harris, A. K. (2011). Learning inhibition in the Monty Hall Problem: The role of dysfunctional counterfactual prescriptions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 37 , 1297-1311. A Petrocelli, J. V., Percy, E. J., Sherman, S. J., & Tormala, Z. L. (2011). Counterfactual potency. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Attitudes and Social Cognition , 100 , 30-46. A Petrocelli, J. V., Clarkson, J. J., Tormala, Z. L., & Hendrix, K. S. (2010). Perceiving stability as a means to attitude certainty: The role of implicit theories of attitudes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , 46 , 874-883. A Petrocelli, J. V. (2010). Validity of research conclusions. In N. J. Salkind (Ed.), Encyclopedia of research design (Vol. 3, pp. 1596-1599). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. A Petrocelli, J. V., Martin, J. L., & Li, W. Y. (2010). Shaping behavior through malleable self-perceptions: A test of the forced-agreement scale effect (FASE). Journal of Research in Personality , 44 , 213-221. A Petrocelli, J. V., & Sherman, S. J. (2010). Event detail and confidence in gambling: The role of counterfactual thought reactions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , 46 , 61-72. A Petrocelli, J. V., & Crysel, L. C. (2009). Counterfactual thinking and confidence in blackjack: A test of the counterfactual inflation hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , 45 , 1312-1315. A Petrocelli, J. V., & Dowd, K. (2009). Ease of counterfactual thought generation moderates the relationship between need for cognition and punitive responses to crime. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 35 , 1179-1192. A Sherman, J. W., Kruschke, J. K., Sherman, S. J., Percy, E. J., Petrocelli, J. V., & Conrey, F. R. (2009). Attentional processes in stereotype formation: A common model for category accentuation and illusory correlation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Attitudes and Social Cognition , 96 , 305-323. A Petrocelli, J. V. (2008). [Review of the book Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (2nd ed.)]. Journal of Social Psychology , 148 , 775-777. A Petrocelli, J. V. (2007). The utility of a computer-assisted power analysis lab instruction. Teaching of Psychology , 34 , 248-252. A Kay, A. C., Jost, J. T., Mandisodza, A. N., Sherman, S. J., Petrocelli, J. V., & Johnson, A. L. (2007). Panglossian ideology in the service of system justification: How complementary stereotypes help us to rationalize inequality. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 39, pp. 305-358). Academic Press. A Petrocelli, J. V., Tormala, Z. L., & Rucker, D. D. (2007). Unpacking attitude certainty: Attitude clarity and attitude correctness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Attitudes and Social Cognition , 92 , 30-41. A Johnson, A. L., Crawford, M. T., Sherman, S. J., Rutchick, A. M., Hamilton, D. L., Ferreira, M., & Petrocelli, J. V. (2006). A functional perspective on group memberships: Differential need fulfillment in a group typology. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , 42 , 707-719. A Petrocelli, J. V., & Smith, E. R. (2005). Who I am, who we are, and why: Links between emotions and causal attributions for self and group-discrepancies. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 31 , 1628-1642. A Glaser, B. A., Calhoun, G. B., Petrocelli, J. V., Bates, J. M., & Owens-Hennick, L. A. (2005). Depression and somatic complaints among male juvenile offenders: Differentiating somatizers from non-somatizers with the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI). Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology , 16 , 566-576. Cohen, P. J., Glaser, B. A., Calhoun, G. B., Bradshaw, C. P., & Petrocelli, J. V. (2005). Examining readiness for change: A preliminary evaluation of the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA) with a male incarcerated adolescent sample. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development , 38 , 45-62. Strano, D. A., & Petrocelli, J. V. (2005). A preliminary examination of the role of inferiority feelings in the academic achievement of college students. Journal of Individual Psychology , 61 , 80-89. Trusty, J., Thompson, B., & Petrocelli, J. V. (2004). Practical guide for reporting effect size in the Journal of Counseling & Development. Journal of Counseling and Development , 82 , 107-110. Scarborough, Z., Glaser, B. A., Calhoun, G. B., Stefurak, J., & Petrocelli, J. V. (2004). Clusterderived groupings of the Behavior Assessment System for Children among male juvenile offenders. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation , 39 , 1-17. Petrocelli, J. V. (2003). Hierarchical multiple regression in counseling research: Common problems and possible remedies. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development , 36 , 9-22. A Petrocelli, J. V., Calhoun, G. B., & Glaser, B. A. (2003). The role of general family functioning in the quality of the mother-daughter relationship of female African American juvenile offenders. Journal of Black Psychology , 29 , 378-392. Petrocelli, J. V. (2003). Factor validation of the Consideration of Future Consequences Scale: Evidence for a short version. Journal of Social Psychology , 143 , 405-413. A Petrocelli, J. V. (2002). Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Where’s the ambivalence? American Psychologist , 57 , 443-444. A Petrocelli, J. V. (2002). More on the consequences of savage reviews. APS Observer , 15 (2), 7. Petrocelli, J. V. (2002). Effectiveness of group cognitive-behavioral therapy for general symptomatology: A meta-analysis. Journal for Specialists in Group Work , 27 , 92-115. Petrocelli, J. V. (2002). Processes and stages of change: Counseling with the transtheoretical model of change. Journal of Counseling and Development , 80 , 22-30. A Glaser, B. A., Calhoun, G. B., & Petrocelli, J. V. (2002). Personality characteristics of male juvenile offenders by adjudicated offenses as indicated by the MMPI-A. Criminal Justice and Behavior , 29 , 183-201. Glaser, B. A., Campbell, L. F., Calhoun, G. B., Bates, J. M., & Petrocelli, J. V. (2002). The Early Maladaptive Schema Questionnaire–Short Form: A construct validity study. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development , 35 , 2-13. Petrocelli, J. V., Glaser, B. A., Calhoun, G. B., & Campbell, L. F. (2001). Personality and affect characteristics of outpatients with depression. Journal of Personality Assessment , 77 , 162-175. Petrocelli, J. V., Glaser, B. A., Calhoun, G. B., & Campbell, L. F. (2001). Cognitive schemas as mediating variables of the relationship between the self-defeating personality and depression. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment , 23 , 183-191. Petrocelli, J. V., Glaser, B. A., Calhoun, G. B., & Campbell, L. F. (2001). Early maladaptive schemas of personality disorder subtypes. Journal of Personality Disorders, 15, 546-559. Petrocelli, J. V. (2000). [Review of the book Scientist-practitioner perspectives on test interpretation]. Psychotherapy: Theory/Research/Practice/Training , 37 , 106. Connect with John

featured news articles article Persuasive Bullsh*tters Short of lying, bullshitting involves communicating something with little to no regard for the truth, established knowledge, or genuine evidence. Although most people believe bullshit is relatively harmless... Read More article , video Evidence-Based Leadership with A/B Testing From intuition and common-sense (i.e., conventional management strategies) to maturity and sound A/B testing, better information often lends to better decisions... Read More article Artificial Intelligence Many of us will soon find ourselves embracing generative artificial intelligence (AI) in our daily lives. Those who resist will be akin to those who clung to those outdated library card catalogs... Read More article Business Leadership BS The wonderful thing about the marketplace of business ideas and the leadership development advice industry is that they're full of ideas. 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See More podcasts and videos audio Puffery, Bullshit and Lies 10-16-2024 Robots and AI are being portrayed in overly optimistic videos, television shows and advertisements. Tesla’s Optimus robot is a prime example. In this episode Dwain Allan and Christoph Bartneck interview John Petrocelli and Nick Lee on how this puffery, bullshit and lies affect consumers and vulnerable people... Read More video John V. Petrocelli Psychology Prof. and Juliet Jeske of Decoding Fox News 4-28-2024 John V. Petrocelli is an experimental social psychologist and Professor of Psychology at Wake Forest University and author of The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit breaks down propaganda on Fox News with Decoding Fox News founder, Juliet Jeske... Read More audio Ep 289: The Art of Detecting Teen B.S. 5-13-2024 John Petrocelli, author of The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit, explains how parents can identify when their teens are bullshitting and how to raise teens who critically evaluate the information they encounter... Read More audio Interview with John V. Petrocelli author of The Life-Changing Science of Detecting BS 12-26-2023 John V. Petrocelli is an experimental social psychologist and professor of psychology... Read More audio How to detect bullshit with professor John Petrocelli 12-6-2023 Do you know when someone is bullshitting? What is the difference between lying and bullshitting? To help us answer these questions and many more we have invited Professor John Petrocelli... Read More audio The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit with John Petrocelli 12-13-2022 Did you know the world “bullshit” might just be an Australian invention? 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Unfortunately most people don’t have time to research and wade through the mountains of available information and so they trust what they’re told and hope for the best... Read More audio EP 140: Bullshit, Lying, and the Truth with John V. Petrocelli 9-30-2021 In this episode, Kimberly and John discuss his newest book “The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit” which explains the differences between bullshitting, lying, and deciphering the truth. John explains many different facets of how humans are susceptible to bullshit... Read More audio The LawBusiness Insider with Steve Murphy: Interview with John V. Petrocelli 9-23-2021 Bullshitting is a pervasive social behavior involving communication with little to no concern for evidence and/or established semantic, logical, systemic, or empirical knowledge. Bullshitting is different from lying in that the liar is actually concerned with the truth... Read More audio The Truth or Make Believe with Ed Fulbright on Mastering Your Money Radio 9-13-2021 Would your life change if you can detect someone is telling you a BSer? I know mine would. Part of this is determining who is telling you truth or the whole truth... Read More audio Primal Blueprint Podcast, Featuring John V. Petrocelli #519 9-8-2021 Elle Russ chats with John V. Petrocelli – an experimental social psychologist who researches, writes, and speaks about the science of communication and decision making... Read More video EPISODE #207 John Petrocelli — The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit 9-7-2021 Bullshit is the foundation of contaminated thinking and bad decisions that leads to health consequences, financial losses, legal consequences, broken relationships, and wasted time and resources... 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Read More video Why BS is more dangerous than a lie | John Petrocelli | TEDx University of Nevada 2 -28 -2019 BS'ing (communicating with little to no regard for truth, established knowledge, or evidence) is a major problem polluting our communicative climate. Based on empirical research, John Petrocelli discusses the consequences of BS and how understanding its causes... Read More in the news FactCzech | Prerequisites and Consequences of Cowarding | 5/22/2018 WXII News 12 | Is Cheap In and Posh Out? 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Detector Is Rusty: It’s Time to Sharpen It | 7/14/2021 Center for Inquiry, Skeptical Inquirer Presents | Persuasive Bullshitters and the Insidious Bullshit Hypothesis | 11/5/2020 Psychology Today | The Psychology of Bullshit | 7/2/2020 The Guardian | No Word of a Lie: Scientists Rate the World’s Biggest Peddlers of Bull | 3/31/2019 Money Magazine | How Financial Fraudsters Like Melissa Caddick Can Fool Anyone | 8/4/2021 NEVADAToday | Community Support for TEDxUniversityofNevada Larger than Ever | 2/26/2019 Nevada Sagebrush | 2019 TEDxUNR Captivates Crowd with Thoughtful Array of Speakers | 2/25/2019 Winston-Salem Journal | Higher Education Notebook | 2/22/2019 Science Trends | Communicative Climate Change: Cloudy With a Chance of Bullshit | 12/17/2018 Government Executive | Men Have Trouble Speaking Up At Work, Too | 10/9/2018 Leader Says What | A Leadership Guide to Bullshitting: 5 Ways to Become a Human Bullshit Detector | 7/9/2018 Psychology Today | A Recipe for BS | 7/1/2018 Psychology Today | What a Bunch of Bull: The Art and Science of BS | 6/30/2018 Paul Taylor | The Rise Of Business Bullshit – And How We Can Fight It | 6/19/2018 DiscoverMagazine.com | What Makes Us Okay With Bullshitting? | 6/4/2018 Big Think | The Results are in From the First Study of What Encourages and Deters People From Bullshitting | 6/1/2018 Quartz at Work | Are You Inadvertently Encouraging Your Colleagues to Bullshit You? | 5/30/2018 Ladders | New Study Explains How to Deter BS in the Workplace | 5/29/2018 The British Psychological Society: Research Digest | The Results are in From the First Study of What Encourages and Deters People From Bullshitting | 5/22/2018 Skepchick | The Scientific Study of Bull**** | 5/17/2018 NiemanLab | You See It, You Buy It: Just Being Exposed to Fake News Makes You More Likely to Believe It | 5/11/2018 Smithsonian.com | Study Looks at Why We All Spew So Much BS | 5/11/2018 Poynter | This Study is All About What Makes People Bullshitters | 5/7/2018 PsychCentral | The psychology of bullshitting: 7 revelations | 4/25/2018 The Wall Street Journal | It’s Time to Tune Up Your B.S. Detector | 3/20/2018 Popular Science | Head Trip: When Should You Change Your Mind? | Spring 2018 iBloomBerg Reports | 9/22/2015 The Wall Street Journal | Conflict Resolution | 9/21/2015 Wake Forest News | Let the Games Take Over | 5/30/2009 Connect with John

Authenticity in Leadership THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2023 | COMMEN T So many of the gurus of the leadership development advice industry preach about authenticity. Authentic leaders do this, authentic leaders do that… Some have positioned authenticity as the “gold standard of leadership”. But, what might the readily available evidence concerning authenticity and its link to effective leadership lead us to believe? Authenticity is often valued and considered an important characteristic of effective leadership. Yet, authenticity may not always be the most important or sufficient on its own. There are several reasons for this perspective: Contextual Variability: What is considered authentic can vary depending on the cultural, organizational, or situational context. Authenticity in one context may not translate well to another. Great leaders often need to adapt to different situations and environments, which may require them to behave differently to meet the needs and expectations of those they are leading. Balancing Authenticity and Adaptability: Effective leaders must strike a balance between being authentic and adapting to the needs of their team or organization. While being true to oneself is important, rigidly adhering to one’s authentic self can be detrimental if it hinders the leader’s ability to connect with and motivate others. Ethical Considerations: Authenticity is not a blanket justification for any behavior or action. Some leaders might claim authenticity to justify harmful or unethical behavior. Great leadership includes a strong ethical foundation that goes beyond simply being true to oneself. Communication and Influence: Effective leadership often requires the ability to communicate, influence, and inspire others. This may involve framing messages and actions in ways that resonate with the audience. Authenticity alone may not be sufficient for effective communication and influence, as it doesn’t guarantee that the message will be well-received or understood. Developing Leadership Skills: Leadership skills can be learned and developed over time. Leaders may need to acquire new skills and behaviors that are not necessarily part of their authentic selves. This process of growth and development can be crucial for success as a leader. Team and Organizational Goals: Leaders must prioritize the goals and needs of their team or organization. Sometimes, this might require them to set aside their personal preferences and act in a way that is in the best interest of the collective. Authenticity alone might not always align with these broader goals. Emotional Intelligence: Emotional intelligence, which involves recognizing and understanding the emotions of oneself and others, is a critical component of effective leadership. Great leaders use their emotional intelligence to navigate interpersonal relationships, make sound decisions, and motivate their teams. While authenticity is important, emotional intelligence goes beyond mere authenticity to encompass empathy, self-awareness, and effective interpersonal skills—and helps to avoid breaking the no asshole rules of finer leadership. In conclusion, it is quite clear from the available empirical evidence on authenticity as a characteristic of effective leaders that authenticity is a valuable quality in leadership, but it must be considered in conjunction with other leadership traits and skills. Effective leadership often requires a blend of authenticity, adaptability, ethical behavior, strong communication skills, and a focus on organizational goals. The importance of each of these characteristics may vary depending on the specific leadership situation and the needs of the team or organization being led. Still, many would concur that authenticity holds significant value. We often prefer to associate with, or be led by, individuals who are genuine rather than those who feign their true selves. Embracing behaviors that resonate with truth, transparency, and a genuine connection to one’s core identity is crucial and constitutes an admirable trait in leadership. Nevertheless, there’s a caveat to this authenticity principle: when your true self exhibits negative qualities, being unfiltered can lead to issues. In practice, we’ve noticed that some executives have used the pursuit of authenticity as a justification for undesirable conduct. It’s vital to recognize that authenticity encompasses not only the positive aspects, such as your values, aspirations, and cherished qualities. For many, their unfiltered selves can also manifest unpleasant traits. When your authenticity manifests as excessive criticism, poor communication, coarseness, judgmental attitudes, or inflexibility, you might be displaying your most genuine self, but you’re not necessarily displaying your best self . Often, these most authentic aspects of a leader require the most management. When urging executives to become their best selves, we often encounter resistance. People resist changing behaviors that feel most natural, even when everyone agrees that change would be beneficial. For instance, we had a recent client, a national magazine head, who insisted on using her preferred process, which felt most natural to her, to produce each issue. When asked to consider changing her process to make life easier for the team, she responded with, “This is just how I work.” She was being authentic, staying true to herself, but this authenticity was obstructing her team from reaching a happier and more productive state. Her excuse, “this is just how I work,” can be conveniently justified by the recent emphasis on authenticity, cautioning leaders not to pretend to be someone they’re not. However, hiding behind the authenticity excuse serves as a convenient way to evade the truth about our true selves, our actual behaviors, and their reasons. Instead, consider following these steps: 1. Gain insight into how others perceive you. Ask a trusted colleague what challenges they encounter when working with you. Listen without offering explanations or justifications, and write down their feedback in their own words. 2. Reflect on the feedback. In private, respond in writing to your colleague’s criticisms. Consider your thoughts and justifications for your actions. List them all, using your crankiest, most defiant, yet authentic voice. Read it aloud to acknowledge that this voice is a part of you. 3. Seek an alternative approach. The next time you feel compelled to engage in the behavior that makes you challenging, determine a different course of action. 4. Make amends. Reconnect with the colleague and apologize for your challenging behavior. Commit to a plan to rectify the situation. If you repeat the same behavior, despite your intentions, plan how you will address the consequences. 5. Impose consequences. Pledge to face consequences for misbehavior. If you engage in the problematic behavior again, what will it cost you? Perhaps you’ll offer coffee or lunch to the affected individual, or compose an apology poem. The consequence should be constructive but carry a personal cost. While your authentic self should serve as the foundation of your leadership style, it’s prudent to examine your true self critically before presenting and defending everything that comes naturally. Admiring leaders like Jack Welch (CEO of General Electric between 1981 and 2001, and author of Winning) is one thing, but don’t delude yourself into believing that unleashing your authentic self entirely is the key to effective leadership. Watch Leave a reply/comment: Name Email (will not be published) Website Subject Your message Send Thanks for submitting! Connect with John

Business Leadership BS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2023 | COMMENT If today’s leaders aim to transform the world amidst the abundance of leadership failures, frequent career setbacks, and workplaces poisoned by disengaged and mistrusting employees, they’ll need to start considering the cold, hard facts of reality and transcend the dangerous half-truths and self-serving narratives that dominate the leadership mythos. Many of the commonly espoused conventional ideas about leadership are founded more on optimism than empirical evidence, on desires rather than factual information, and on convictions rather than scientific rigor. It is not only impera- tive to challenge much of this conventional wisdom but also to conduct a scientific inquiry into the functioning of leadership—both its strengths and shortcomings—and provide leaders, both current and future, with evidence-based guidelines. People frequently embrace the feel-good narratives surrounding leadership without critical examination, which hinders their grasp of reality and their ability to effect positive change. The counsel that leaders/managers receive from the extensive and ever-expanding pool of business leadership literature, articles, experts, and consultants is remarkably inconsistent. Consider the following contradictory recommendations extracted directly from popular business books: Select a charismatic CEO / Opt for a humble CEO. Embrace complexity theory / Aim for simplicity. Transition into a strategy-focused organization / Minimize the time invested in strategic planning due to its limited value. In fact, the more one digs into this, the more perplexing and confounding it all becomes. For instance, Simon Sinek’s most promoted claims, such as his “Golden Circle” concept, which centers around the idea of “Starting with Why,” have been popular in the realm of leadership and motivational speaking. However, the extent of empirical evidence supporting his claims can vary, and it’s essential to consider that his work is more conceptual and based on observations rather than empirical scientific research. While Sinek’s ideas have resonated with many people and organizations and have been applied in practical settings, they are not necessarily grounded in rigorous scientific research. His concepts are more anecdotal and provide a framework for thinking about leadership, motivation, and communication. It’s important to acknowledge that the field of leadership and motivation is vast, with various theories and models, and there isn’t one universally accepted approach. Therefore, the value of Sinek’s claims depends on how well they resonate with your personal or organizational values and goals. But, if you’re looking for empirical evidence in the field of leadership and motivation, you may want to explore academic research, studies, and theories that have been subject to more rigorous scientific scrutiny. While Sinek’s ideas can be inspiring and thought-provoking, they may not always have the same level of empirical support as theories developed through formal research. Marketplace of Business Ideas The wonderful thing about the marketplace of business ideas is that it’s full of ideas. The problem with the marketplace of business ideas is that it’s full of ideas based on very shaky evidence, if any evidence at all. How do business leaders know how to evaluate these ideas, how to know which are correct and which will work for them, and how to know which ones to really invest in? Seriously, whom should we believe with so many clashing ideas that are all pitched as the only management solutions we’ll ever need? Here are just a few of the ever-increasing number of books on business leadership development: What They Teach You at Harvard Business School: My Two Years Inside the Cauldron of Capitalism vs. What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School: Notes from a Street-smart Executive Grow Global: Using International Protocol to Expand Your Business vs. Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less Never Ever, Ever Give Up: An Inspiring True Story about Leadership, Commitment, Resiliency, Happiness and Making Your Dreams Come True vs. Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away Charisma: Seven Keys to Developing the Magnetism That Leads to Success vs. Leading Quietly: An Unorthodox Guide to Doing the Right Thing Leading the Revolution: How to Thrive in Turbulent Times by Making Innovation a Way of Life vs. Managing for the Short Term: The New Rules for Running a Business in a Day-to-Day World Love Is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends vs. Business Is Combat: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Winning in Modern Business Warfare The Peaceable Kingdom: Building a Company Without Factionalism, Fiefdoms, Fear and Other Staples of Modern Business vs. Capitalizing on Conflict: Strategies and Practices for Turning Conflict to Synergy in Organizations Managing by Measuring: How to Improve Your Organization’s Performance Through Effective Benchmarking vs. Managing with Passion: Making the Most of Your Job and Your Life The Quest for Authentic Power: Getting Past Manipulation, Control, and Self-Limiting Beliefs vs. What Would Machiavelli Do? The Ends Justify the Meanness Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies vs. Corporate Failure by Design: Why Organizations Are Built to Fail In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies vs. The Myth of Excellence: Why Great Companies Never Try to Be the Best at Everything Out of the Box: Strategies for Achieving Profits Today and Growth Tomorrow through Web Services vs. Thinking Inside the Box: The 12 Timeless Rules for Managing a Successful Business Seriously—there is a business leadership book with the title “Thinking Inside the Box”? What might our 3rd grade art teacher think about this? What's even more troubling is that, due to the challenge of distinguishing sound advice from poor counsel, managers are consistently lured into adopting flawed business methodologies. This is exacerbated by the fact that consultants and other purveyors of ideas and techniques are primarily incentivized to secure business, occasionally acknowledged for delivering quality services, and rarely assessed on whether their advice genuinely improves performance. The incentive structure can even be more counterproductive, as a consulting firm may benefit from only partially resolving a client company's issues, which paves the way for additional engagements. Despite the extensive literature, online content, blogging and public speaking on leadership, as well as the billions of dollars in financial investments poured into the leadership development advice industry every year, it is quite evident that these efforts have yielded minimal success in transforming workplaces or enhancing individuals’ career achievements. On one side, we witness an ever-expanding leadership industry encompassing a vast array of resources such as books, articles, speeches, workshops, blogs, conferences, training programs, and corporate leadership development initiatives. These resources have been in existence for many years, fostering a fairly consistent set of research-backed suggestions for enhancing group and organizational performance. These recommendations include, among others, the importance of leaders inspiring trust, exhibiting authenticity, practicing honesty, prioritizing service to others, especially their colleagues, displaying humility and self-effacement, demonstrating empathetic understanding and emotional intelligence, and other similarly sensible guidelines. However, on the flip side, there is a wealth of compelling evidence pointing to workplaces filled with disengaged and dissatisfied employees who lack trust in their leaders. Their most commonly expressed desire is to seek alternative employment opportunities. The consequence of this dichotomy is twofold: dysfunctional workplaces are prevalent, and leaders themselves face challenges, including shorter job tenures and an increasing likelihood of experiencing career setbacks and terminations. The leadership development advice industry has failed. Despite having good intentions, there is scant proof that any of the suggestions and recommendations of the loudest voices have yielded favorable outcomes. And, I’m not the only one to see this. Barbara Kellerman, a professor specializing in leadership at Harvard's Kennedy School and the creator of the Center for Public Leadership, concurs. She has recently stated that the field of leadership studies “has failed over its roughly forty-year history to in any major, meaningful, measurable way improve the human condition” and that “the rise of leadership as an object of our collective fascination has coincided precisely with the decline of leadership in our collective estimation.” A significant issue arises from the fact that a substantial portion of leadership training and development has transformed into a kind of casual sermonizing. It involves narrating inspiring tales of remarkable leaders and exceptional organizations, which, in turn, momentarily boost the spirits of the audience without causing substantial alterations in the typical workplace dynamics. Empirical studies show that relying on inspiration as the primary basis for effecting substantial change is highly ineffective. This also sheds light on why and how the leadership anecdotes we encounter, which frequently lack substantial validity, tend to exacerbate situations, potentially to a significant degree. In fact, there is evidence indicating that, on occasion, it is reasonable for leaders aiming to progress in their careers to consider taking an opposing approach to conventional prescriptions. No Obstacles to Entering the Leadership Development Advice Industry A major issue that contributes to the limited progress in workplaces and career development is the complete absence of any barriers to entry in the leadership sector. No formal qualifications, rigorous research, comprehension of pertinent scientific data, or any other prerequisites are necessary to establish one’s credibility as a leadership authority. It's open to all – anyone can author a book, engage as a leadership speaker or blogger, provide consulting and guidance, or establish a leadership development or consulting company. On certain occasions, it appears that almost everyone ventures into this field. Celebrity status and fame can also catapult one’s attempt to gain a share on the leadership development advice industry. From what I can gather, there appears to be little correlation between possessing substantial knowledge about leadership and achieving success as a leadership expert. To illustrate this point with just one of the many instances that come to mind, a group in search of a leadership speaker for a conference informed me that they selected a particular speaker because, as per an insider from the selection committee, she was charismatic and visually appealing. Such common anecdotes align with the perspective that a significant portion of leadership education, whether in academic settings or within corporate environments and at the numerous conferences and conventions, prioritizes delivering entertainment, or “edutainment”, rather than truly aiding leaders or addressing workplace issues. 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Artificial Intelligence THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2023 | COMMENT Many of us will soon find ourselves embracing generative artificial intelligence (AI) in our daily lives. Those who resist will be akin to those who clung to those outdated library card catalogs. Prominent examples of this technology include ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, Anthropic’s Claude, and Inflection’s Pi. Productivity-enhancing AI tends to boost our output, altering how we work without necessarily reducing our overall work hours. Recently, major U.S. tech companies have revealed their intentions to deeply integrate generative AI into the everyday tools we rely on, making avoidance nearly impossible. In the past two weeks alone, Microsoft announced the comprehensive integration of generative AI tools into Windows 11, Google updated its Bard AI to draw from all your documents, emails, and calendar data, Amazon showcased enhanced generative AI capabilities for its Alexa smart assistant, and Meta introduced chat-based assistants and celebrity-driven chatbots across Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook. Even Apple, in the process of developing its own text-based generative AI, introduced a new accessibility feature for iPhones using a different form of generative AI to replicate a user’s voice. While the accessibility and prevalence of generative AI tools do not guarantee their widespread use, early adopters are already benefiting from their utility, suggesting broader adoption on the horizon. However, one potential challenge with using AI in this manner is its proclivity to generate incorrect information (i.e., BS), an inherent aspect of its functioning that may be difficult to eliminate. This limitation somewhat reduces its value, requiring human oversight for all AI-generated work. Nevertheless, AI excels at handling routine tasks, such as generating standard code or text, transforming its users into editors rather than content creators. AI has become an essential tool, and not embracing it means missing out on its potential benefits. Ultimately, AI is all about trying to achieve better results with less effort. Watch Leave a reply/comment: Name Email (will not be published) Website Subject Your message Send Thanks for submitting! Connect with John

Better Information, Better Decisions BOOK JOHN Pohl Consulting and Training, Inc Keynote Speaker TOPICS AND KEYNOTES Decentselling Author John’s books feature insights from social science and practical applications for improving your work and life. SEE BOOKS Featured Articles article , video Persuasive Bullsh*tters Short of lying, bullshitting involves communicating something with little to no regard for the truth, established knowledge, or genuine evidence. Although most people believe bullshit is relatively harmless... Read More article Artificial Intelligence Many of us will soon find ourselves embracing generative artificial intelligence (AI) in our daily lives. Those who resist will be akin to those who clung to those outdated library card catalogs... Read More article , video Evidence-Based Leadership with A/B Testing From intuition and common-sense (i.e., conventional management strategies) to maturity and sound A/B testing, better information often lends to better decisions... Read More article Business Leadership BS The wonderful thing about the marketplace of business ideas and the leadership development advice industry is that they're full of ideas. The problem with the marketplace of business ideas and the leadership development... Read More Connect with Johnvpetrocelli

Virtual Keynote Speaker Today, work includes working from anywhere. Hence, events and training involve conducting them from anywhere. Dr. John V. Petrocelli and his team can help bring an entertaining and enlightening experience to your virtual meeting, and one that prepares everyone to promote an evidence-based culture from anywhere. Change how your organization approaches decision-making with better information, innovation, collaboration, and productivity. As a skilled researcher who actually conducts research on the topics he discusses and an inspiring communicator, John is one of the foremost minds shaping the future of work behavior. Provocative and persuasive, John shares captivating stories and practical takeaways that give audiences compelling insights into how organizations and individuals can do their best work. Take a look at his virtual keynote speaking topics below and let us know how John can tailor these ideas to your needs. The Michael Shermer Show segment Center for Inquiry segment Coaching WBECS segment Executive Forum segment Featured Topics THE LIFE-CHANGING SCIENCE OF DETECTING BULLS#!T From every angle, whether it be from colleagues, meetings, or the marketplace of business ideas, business leaders constantly encounter bulls#!t that plagues their judgments, beliefs, and decisions. Short of lying, the sources of bulls#!t pay no attention to truth, evidence, or established knowledge, and use a broad array of rhetorical strategies to sound like they know what they are talking about when their obligations to provide an opinion far exceed their actual knowledge. How informed can beliefs about anything—and decisions based on those beliefs—be if they are based on bulls#!t-reasoning and communication? How can bulls#!t in the workplace be better detected and disposed? This session directly addresses commonly encountered bulls#!t in the workplace and its unwanted effects in the ways of better detection, better disposal, and better decisions. PROMOTING AN EVIDENCE-BASED CULTURE IN THE WORKPLACE What is bulls#!t and why is there so much of it? What effects does bulls#!t have on workplace communication and how can its unwanted effects be replaced by the many benefits of evidence-based communication? Apart from choosing to be smarter, there are critical benefits that, Dr. John Petrocelli suggests, our current way of thinking and communicating in the workplace often ignores. It’s time to stop the bulls#!t with better detection and better disposal of this insidious communicative substance. Based on Dr. Petrocelli’s latest TEDx Talk, Why BS is More Dangerous Than a Lie, his own empirical research, and his new book, The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit , Dr. Petrocelli presents an eye-opening, groundbreaking, and evidenced-based tour of the causes, dysfunctions, and costs of bullshit, showing how it operates in our communicative culture and how you can make significantly better decisions in the workplace. We’ve long assumed that bullshitting is a harmless social activity. Perhaps this is why it is such a common social activity. In fact, research shows there are over three dozen situations and reasons people bulls#!t in the workplace. However, social psychological research suggests we couldn’t be more wrong. Bulls#!t communications, at the expense of evidence-based communication, have devastating effects on beliefs about what is true, memory, attitudes and opinions, as well as judgment and decision making. Dr. Petrocelli explores causes of bullshitting, how to best detect bullshit in the workplace, how to properly dispose of it, and how best to replace bullshit reasoning and communication with its antithesis—evidence-based reasoning and communication. THE ARTS AND SCIENCES OF PERSUASION AND INFLUENCE AT WORK Buy-ins on ideas and best practices do not occur on their own. Without buy-in from the team, any leader is just another tuned-out voice. That is why the single greatest ability that a leader can develop in the ways of selling a product, motivating a team, or growing a company is their ability to communicate persuasively. Dr. John Petrocelli is an experimental social psychologist and an expert on attitudes and persuasion. In this talk based on his empirical research, Dr. Petrocelli takes the audience on a journey to understanding principles of influence and the best alpha and omega strategies of social influence proven to reduce resistance and improve persuasion. In order for things to emerge as best practices within an organization you have to know the behavioral science in order to hone your messages properly and understand how these factors have the greatest impact, leading to the greatest persuasive success. Coming from someone who actually conducts empirical research on the topics of persuasion and influence, he’ll share simple strategies, based on scientific research and proven effective for how to maximize influence and inoculate the established influence from unwanted influences in the way of establishing and promoting best practices. BEST PRACTICE DECISION MAKING THROUGH EVIDENCE-BASED MANAGEMENT Dr. John Petrocelli is an experimental social psychologist and an expert in judgment and decision making and one of the world’s foremost experts on evidence-based communication. He is a firm believer in the well-established belief that better information does not always lead to better judgment and decision-making, but that better judgment and decision-making almost always requires better information. Clearly, reaching successful outcomes in organizations will require halting some common ways of making decisions that are so widely accepted and recommended that they are rarely questioned, yet deeply flawed, such as casual benchmarking other organizations, false analogies that pass for best practices, and dogmatism of deeply endorsed, but unexamined ideologies. Yet, there is good news for leaders and their organizations, because every day there are opportunities to use better information to gain advantages over their competition. Doing so simply entails using evidence-based management. The foundations of evidence-based management are the scientifically-supported assertions that recognizing much of the conventional wisdom about management is built on dangerous half-truths, using better logic, employing facts to the extent possible, facing the hard facts about what works and what doesn’t, and rejecting total nonsense that too often passes for sound advice, all empower leaders and organizations to perform better. As Dr. Petrocelli will show you, the practice of evidence-based management is neither mysterious nor extraordinarily difficult to implement. More importantly, evidence-based management produces superior results. Even better, evidence-based management can generate sustained competitive advantages because so few organizations and their leaders do it—let alone do it well—that the probability of imitation will not be high. Previous Clients Include Pohl Consulting and Training, Inc Contact To learn more about having John as a keynote speaker for your event, please complete the brief contact form below: Name Email Organization Event date How did you learn about John? Tell us more about your event: Send Thanks for submitting! Connect with John

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About John Social Psychologist Dr. John V. Petrocelli has the goal of helping organizational leaders better position themselves and their organizations to reach their fullest potential. With strategies rooted in scientific research, that’s exactly what he does, empowering organizational leaders with proven tools for improving communication, strengthening influence, and establishing a foundation of evidence-based management. A provocative and convincing speaker, Dr. Petrocelli offers practical and immediately actionable strategies that actually enhance the chances of successfully meeting professional and organizational goals. By emphasizing social science and the things that successful organizations do consistently and effectively, he shows organizations and their employees a clear path to accomplishing their goals. Dr. Petrocelli offers keynotes and seminars on a variety of leadership, communication, and evidence-based management topics that are critical to high-performance in business management, market intelligence, technology, behavioral design, finance, education, and health care. John V. Petrocelli is represented by Les Tuerk of BrightSight Speakers , 609-924-3060 or les@brightsightgroup.com [see Dr. Petrocelli’s Speaker page at BrightSight Speakers ]. Be first in line for new content and actionable ideas by joining John’s popular email newsletter. Each week, he shares educational (and entertaining) videos, articles, and podcasts that will help you and your team to use better information to make better decisions. Over 40,000 leaders just like you have subscribed. Enter your email now and join us. Enter Your Best Email below Subscribe Thanks for subscribing! Connect with John