Brian Spisak
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Overview
I guide leaders on their digital journey using "Computational Leadership Science" (CLS) - a concept I developed connecting trailblazing science and technology, well-established leadership research, and invaluable knowledge gleaned from practice.
With CLS, leaders can better anticipate, address, mitigate, and even benefit from the tidal waves of disruption organizations are going to experience in the months and years ahead. CLS will strengthen interpersonal relationships and morale in the era of remote working, increase DEI by separating a leader’s biased wants from their actual needs in hiring and promotion, mitigate fragile, “just in time” supply chains, and help corner the market on complexity with the power of quantum computing – the so-called “quantum advantage.” CLS will also help leaders connect and coordinate “collective intelligence” from around the world to tackle society's biggest challenges.
My primary passion is helping leaders create opportunities. As a science advisor for the United States Office of Naval Research and NATO, I explored methods for reducing intergroup conflict, and I'm presently working with several organizations to increase their resiliency, innovative output, and sustainability in the "new normal." As a co-founder of HSC Analytics and a Research Associate at Harvard's National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, I'm also exploring (tech-driven) methods for increasing the pace and power of collective problem-solving.
My research is published in top academic journals such as Academy of Management Review, Psychological Science, and The Leadership Quarterly. In addition, my contributions are featured in popular outlets such as Harvard Business Review, New Scientist, TIME, and The Washington Post.
I'm originally from the USA and have since lived in the UK, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.
PhD, Social and Organizational Psychology
VU Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Bibliography
Large-scale decrease in the social salience of climate change during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spisak BR, State B, van de Leemput I, Scheffer M, Liu Y.
PLoS One. 2022. 17(1):e0256082. PMID: 35045090
Complex faces and naïve machines: A commentary on facial perceptions of age, gender, and leader preferences in the age of AI
Spisak BR.
Politics and the Life Sciences. 2021. 1-3.
Opening the black box: Uncovering the leader trait paradigm through machine learning
Doornenbal BM, Spisak BR, van der Laken PA .
The Leadership Quarterly. 2021.
Concerns regarding Covid-19 vaccine certificates
Spisak BR, McNulty EJ.
Politics and the Life Sciences. 2021.
Four Steps to Preserving Privacy and Debiasing Data-Informed Policy
Spisak BR, Spisak J, Trask A.
California Management Review Insights. 2021.
The cognitive costs of managing emotions: A systematic review of the impact of emotional requirements on cognitive performance
Hofstee G, Jansen PGW, De Lange AH, Spisak BR, Swinkels M .
Work & Stress. 2020.
Cue masking and cultural signals: Testing context-specific preferences for bald (ing) leaders
Blaker NM, Spisak BR, Tybur JM, Kandrik M, Arvey RD .
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2020. 88.
Tinbergen's take on the evolution of leadership: A framework for clarifying and integrating contributions
Spisak BR .
The Leadership Quarterly. 2020. 31(2).
Finding the right fuel for the analytical engine: Expanding the leader trait paradigm through machine learning?
Spisak BR, van der Laken PA, Doornenbal BM.
The Leadership Quarterly. 2019. 30(4):417-426.