Professor of Leadership
BA, MA (University of Heidelberg), PhD (University of St Gallen)
My research interests include the social dynamics between leaders and followers. I examine, for example, how charismatic leaders affect followers, how emotions spread through organisations, and how leaders build emotional intelligence into organisational systems. My research relies on experimental, archival, survey and field studies. I’m a member of the Organisational Behaviour subject group at Cambridge Judge Business School, which aspires to promote our understanding of behaviour within organisations and translate our scientific research into practical applications.
Professional experience
Jochen’s research has been published in top-tier academic outlets such as the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. He regularly writes for Harvard Business Review and his discoveries have been featured in two TEDx talks and the media around the world, for example, by the BBC, CNN, The Economist, The Financial Times, Le Monde, The New York Times, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, and Die Zeit.
In his research, teaching and consulting, Jochen has worked with a diverse set of companies and organisations including the Adecco Group, the Boston Consulting Group, British Telecom, Daimler, easyJet, the European Commission, Google, Grey, Jaguar Land Rover, L’Oréal, Media Arts Lab, Microsoft, Nordea, Rolls-Royce, Trivago, the UK’s Cabinet Office, and the World Bank. As a co-founder of the Global HR Valley, a future-of-work ecosystem that is part of the Reskilling Revolution of the World Economic Forum, he builds a platform together with prominent businesses, organisations and governments to prepare leaders and organisations for a changing world of work.
Jochen has lectured at all academic levels and received multiple best teacher awards. He has also taught at startup incubators such as Plug and Play in Silicon Valley and the Venture Café Foundation in Boston, as well as at prestigious military academies, such as the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK and the Center for Leadership in Germany. Jochen is amongst the founders of the Experimental Laboratory at Cambridge Judge Business School. He is an Associate Editor for the Academy of Management Discoveries and a member of the Editorial Board of The Leadership Quarterly; previously, he was a Consulting Editor for Emotion and served on the Editorial Board of the Academy of Management Journal. He is a Subject Matter Expert of the Academy of Management and an executive board member of the International Society for Emotional Intelligence. He is also an expert member for the Emotion Revolution in the Workplace project by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.
News and insights
Leadership and organisational behaviour
The power and peril of charismatic leadership
Leadership that inspires awe in followers can bring unity and purpose to organisations, but beware the dark side of worship as well as hubris. Professor Jochen Menges and other Cambridge Judge researchers explore the interplay of charisma, awe and narcissism, and develop a framework to help firms channel inspiring leadership for the common good rather than aggrandisement.
AI and technology
How AI is changing the way we work and how we’re governed
We should get used to the fact that our workplaces and interactions with government will change dramatically with the emergence of AI – but should we be concerned? Job losses, privacy infringements and rights erosion are growing themes in the media, but in this article we look beneath the hype and use the latest research from Cambridge Judge to explore the growing influence of AI and what the means for the future of human agency, potential and inclusion.
AI and technology
Beyond AI: what about the human side of the future of work?
How the focus on artificial intelligence and other technologies risks obscuring the essential role that human emotion and ingenuity play in how the modern workplace will develop.
Media coverage
Phys.org | 3 November 2022
Why keeping it in the family can be good news when it comes to CEOs
A study co-authored by Jochen Menges, Associate Professor in Organisational Behaviour at Cambridge Judge Business School, is mentioned in this article about CEOs in family firms. According to the study “Research suggests that firms with family CEOs differ from other types of businesses, yet surprisingly little is known about how employees in these firms feel and behave compared to those working in other firms.”
“There has long been a conundrum in family business research: why do many such firms thrive despite anachronistic management structures and low investment in employees?” says Jochen. “This study helps unlock that paradox by focusing on the positive role of emotions tied to family CEOs.”
The Times | 15 September 2022
Why admitting your flaws may earn your start-up more investment
Cambridge Judge Business School is mentioned in this article about how showing nerves when pitching may secure start-up founders more money from investors than if their presentations are perfect. The study is co-authored by Jochen Menges, Associate Professor in Organisational Behaviour .
Workplace Insight | 1 August 2022
Employees who practice mindfulness are more likely to think their job is stimulating
Study titled “It’s so boring – or is it? Examining the role of mindfulness for work performance and attitudes in monotonous jobs”, co-authored by Jochen Menges, Associate Professor in Organisational Behaviour at Cambridge Judge Business School, is mentioned in this article about employees practicing mindfulness at work.
“Monotonous jobs are held by millions of people around the world and more research needs to be done about those jobs. Our research now seeks to redress the balance in favour of blue-collar workers. We find that more mindful employees perceive their monotonous job as less boring and have higher job satisfaction and are thus less likely to leave,” Jochen says.