Nick Hobson: Director of Research at Potential Project

Release Date: January 18, 2022

Leadership is hard. How can you balance compassion for your people with effectiveness in getting the job done?

A global pandemic, economic volatility, natural disaster, civil and political unrest. From New York to Barcelona to Hong Kong, it can feel as if the world as we know it is coming apart. Through it all, our spirit is being tested. Now more than ever, it's imperative for leaders to demonstrate compassion.

Nick Hobson, PhD

Director of Behavioral and Data Sciences

Nick Hobson, PhD is the Director of Behavioral and Data Sciences at Potential Project and a behavioral science strategist for leading organizations and brands. An honest broker of science, he helps create knowledge communities where academics and practitioners can work together in order to achieve high-impact, evidence-based work for individual and organizational change. A trained social psychologist and neuroscientist, Nick’s academic research focuses on how people’s emotions and thoughts within groups impact their behavior, both individually and as a collective. His podcast, It’s All Just a Bunch of BS, is an award-winning show covering the promises and perils of applied behavioral science in work and life.

The Research

Nick and his team collect data from hundreds of companies and thousands of leaders and their teams around the world each year. This data get compiled and shared through a number of studies

The Human Leader is Potential Project’s bi-annual study of the critical attributes that constitute a new model of human-centric leadership. Based on data from 5,000 companies across 100 countries, The Human Leader provides ground-breaking insights into how leaders can relearn how to be more human at work.

The Mind at Work is Potential Project’s bi-annual study of how our minds work while we work. Using our proprietary digital diagnostic tool – Mindgrow – we assess employees’ moods and mental states within the flow of a work week. The study looks at variables such as focus, resilience, stress, sleep and meaning to paint an overall picture of employee well-being and organizational culture.

Published Work

Nick has published in leading academic science journals and is a regular content contributor for top media outlets including HBR, Forbes, Inc.com, New York Times, Business Insider, NPR, Vice, and Psychology Today. Below is a collection of some of his past published works.

Leaders: Your People Will Continue to Quit at Record Levels. Here’s What You Can Do to Stop Them
‍Inc.com

‍How Companies Can Improve Employee Engagement Right Now
Harvard Business Review

Compassionate Leadership is Necessary – But Not Sufficient
Harvard Business Review

Jacinda Ardern’s Facebook Livestream Gets Interrupted. Her Reaction Is the Best Lesson in Leadership I’ve Ever Seen
Inc.com

The 4 Nonverbal Cues That Signal Distrust
Forbes

3 Things Successful People do to Fight Stress
Forbes

Microsoft Research Reveals the Biggest Downside to Remote Work
Inc.com

Work with Nick

Nick is available for keynotes, in-house events, and more. His rich background in research spans various disciplines, research methodologies, and areas of behavioral and data sciences, including:

Neuroscience of emotions and leadership EQ
Neuroscience of flow / peak performance
Culture change and culture creation
Meaning making and purpose in organizations
Leadership decision-making
Behavioral science and behavioral change applications in organizations/leadership
Scientific methodology as a competitive advantage

Book Time with Nick

Articles by Nick

April 2023

When It Comes to Workplace Well-Being, Leaders Need to Think Like a Scientist

March 2021

The Year of COVID: Miserable but Meaningful

December 2020

Compassionate Leadership Is Necessary — but Not Sufficient

July 2020

Four Reasons Why Compassion Is Better For Humanity Than Empathy