Rosabeth Moss Kanter Books

One of the book’s most important insights is that confidence does not live solely inside an individual mind; it is created and sustained in relationships. People often talk about confidence as a personality trait, something some people naturally possess and others lack. Kanter challenges that assump...

From Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End

Success rarely arrives as one isolated event. More often, it compounds. Kanter explains that winning streaks begin with a few positive outcomes that reshape expectations. Once people start believing that progress is possible, they invest more energy, communicate more positively, and take smarter ris...

From Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End

Failure becomes dangerous not only because of poor results, but because of what repeated setbacks do to interpretation, relationships, and behavior. Kanter shows that losing streaks create a vicious cycle. A disappointment lowers morale, reduced morale narrows thinking, narrower thinking produces we...

From Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End

A central strength of Kanter’s framework is its optimism: decline is not destiny. Confidence can collapse quickly, but it can also be rebuilt through deliberate action. The key is understanding that recovery does not happen through slogans alone. It happens when leaders interrupt the cycle of doubt ...

From Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End

Leaders do more than set strategy; they shape the emotional weather in which strategy is executed. Kanter argues that leadership and confidence are inseparable because people look to leaders for cues about what is possible, what matters, and how setbacks should be interpreted. A leader’s tone can ex...

From Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End

Confidence is often discussed in emotional terms, but Kanter makes a crucial structural point: systems either sustain confidence or erode it. An organization can have inspiring speeches and still destroy confidence through bad processes, conflicting incentives, and bureaucratic obstacles. If people ...

From Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End