Guides to the glass cliff
Ten original guides for leaders, boards and researchers. Each one is sourced, practical and updated as new research appears.
Start here
- What is the glass cliff? The complete guideWhere the term came from, what the evidence shows, why it happens, and what leaders and boards can do about it.
- Glass ceiling, glass cliff, glass escalator, broken rung: the terms explainedSix metaphors for barriers in leadership, what each one actually describes, and how they fit together.
- Twenty years of glass cliff research: what the evidence says, and where it disagreesA plain-language tour of the key studies, the null findings, and what a careful reader should conclude.
For leaders weighing or starting a role
- Twelve red flags in a leadership offer, and the question to ask about eachA due-diligence checklist for anyone weighing a senior role in an organisation that is struggling.
- How to negotiate a turnaround role: the protections to ask forThe terms that separate a fair crisis appointment from a set-up, and how to ask for them.
- The first 100 days of a turnaround leadership roleA three-phase plan for leaders who start in a crisis: diagnose, stabilise, commit.
- Is a crisis role a career accelerator? When to say yesCrisis roles can make careers as well as end them. A decision framework for the offer in front of you.
For boards and appointing panels
- For boards: how to appoint a crisis leader without setting them up to failA governance guide for chairs, nomination committees, CHROs and search panels.
- Race, ethnicity and the glass cliff: understanding the 'saviour effect'How the glass cliff extends beyond gender, and what happens when under-represented leaders are replaced.