By Kelley Reynard.

Interesting research published recently by Nikolai Roussanov, Professor of Finance from The Wharton School, has explored the topic of whether marital status and changes to marital status affect risk-taking decisions by CEOs. His findings indicated that behaviours in organisations of those who are led by single CEO’s differed greatly compared to those organisations who are led by CEO’s who are married. Roussanov discloses that companies led by single CEO’s engaged in much more aggressive investment behaviour than companies led by CEO’s who were married.

However tenuous the relationship between marital status and risk-taking behaviour as suggested in Roussanov’s findings, the research points to a perhaps more palatable notion of the correlation between an individual’s style in building close interpersonal relationships and their leadership behaviour. Indeed, Oppeus International’s Principal Consultant, Dr Marcele De Sanctis, explored exactly this in her doctoral research completed at Deakin University in 2013. Exploring the links between attachment style (defined as the relationship histories and internal working models of individuals that yield chronically accessible attitudes, behaviours and expectations about relationships) and leadership, Marcele’s research indicated that attachment style differences shape different leadership behaviours which in turn have direct implications for follower performance and ratings of leadership effectiveness.

Click the below link if you are surprised by the findings and intrigued to learn more.

https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/risk-single-ceo/