Malcolm Gladwell’s thesis is that we have a flawed sense of what is an advantage or a disadvantage. However, when reading his book, I noticed that he primarily focused on this idea when, instead, he should have told us why some people can turn their disadvantage into an advantage.

Soon after the class of 2009 collected their degrees, they stepped into the worst job market in a generation. Hiring for new college graduates had dropped 35 to 40 percent in only a year. Hiring for new PhDs, lawyers, architects, and journalists had plummeted as well.

Trust in companies — which collapsed during the financial crisis — has improved in most countries, but according to our Edelman Trust Barometer, this recovery of confidence has stalled. CEOs are trusted by a mere 43% of the survey’s respondents; only government officials fared worse (36%).

If you’re a hiring manager, you’re probably happiest getting a sense of a candidate through unstructured interviews, which allow you to randomly explore details you think are interesting and relevant.

A CEO we’ve worked with – let’s call him “Gary” – prides himself on being a collaborative leader who invests in consensus and builds relationships. Gary cares deeply about his employees and is eager to deliver. When he was first hired a couple of years ago, the board was deeply impressed by Gary’s values, trustworthy demeanor, and his collaborative approach. Unfortunately, by the time we met Gary, his habits as a “nice CEO” were about to cost him his job.

How much does it cost you when your employees are chatting with recruiters from other organizations? The dust-up between two popular app-based car services, Uber and Lyft, has produced some very heated competing calculations of the economic damage of aggressive recruitment.

Companies like Zappos do a great service with their HR innovations, but that doesn’t mean you should simply copy them. HR and organization leaders should use them to pose good questions and have smart discussions.

What happens when an organization innovates? What does that process look like? It’s an important question if you want more innovation, because the answer will shape what you do as a leader.

Rafael Nadal, who just won the U.S. Open for the second time, is my hero. His athleticism is extraordinary. His focus is awe-inspiring. His skill is, clearly, second to none. His will is unremitting. Yet those are not the reasons he’s my hero. In fact, it wasn’t until after he was finished playing in this year’s final that he rose to role model in my book. So what was it?

Over the past 30 years, most companies have added new C-level roles in response to changing business environments. The chief financial officer (CFO) role rose to prominence in the mid -1980’s as pressures for value management and more transparent investor relations gained traction.