Talks and videos
I enjoy talking about research to audiences outside universities. My talks draw on more than 30 years of work on personality, learning and leadership: why some people become mavericks, how sensitivity to reward and threat shapes behaviour at work, and what separates constructive leaders from destructive ones.
Mavericks: the champions of isolation
“We should question the teamwork research juggernaut as being always suitable for all people. Putting everyone into teams can turn off your most talented people.”
Greta Thunberg, Steve Jobs, Donald Trump and Gina Rinehart all have one thing in common, they like to work alone. Mavericks are eccentric, unconventional, risk-taking, and disruptive – whilst also success oriented and goal directed. They are comfortable making decisions and persevering in actions which go against the status quo. Conventional wisdom is clear – teamwork, collaboration and diversity lead to better learning and decision making, but what happens when teamwork doesn't make the dreamwork? Are some individuals better left alone?
Listen to the podcast UNSW Centre for Ideas
More videos on YouTubeTopics I speak on
Mavericks at work
Who breaks the rules for good reasons, what predicts it, and why teams are not the right setting for everyone.
Based on Gardiner & Jackson, 2012, 2015
Reward, threat and the working brain
How sensitivity to reward and threat (Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory) shapes motivation, risk and performance in organisations.
Based on Jackson, 2009
Personality is potential
How learning and goals turn the drive to explore into success or into trouble: the hybrid model of learning in personality.
Based on O'Connor & Jackson, 2008
The leader who never says well done
What disinhibition has to do with leaders who fail to reward good work.
Based on Jackson, Criado-Perez, Walker & Purvee, 2025
Entrepreneur or psychopath
The shared root of disinhibition in entrepreneurial intentions and subclinical psychopathy, and what separates the two.
Based on Walker, Jackson & Sovereign, 2020
Survivalists among us
What preppers' personalities tell us about self-preservation and malevolence, in society and in leadership.
Based on Jackson, 2018
Evidence before opinion
Why managers collect evidence, why they ignore it, and how organisations can make better decisions.
Based on Criado-Perez, Jackson & Collins, 2024
What the Romans knew about leadership
Gravitas, Pliny's imperial virtues and what 2,000 years have added to leadership theory.
Based on Jackson, 2020, 2021
Talks and appearances
- 2023EventAnnual innovation and entrepreneurship research conference
UNSW innovation and entrepreneurship research group - 2019ArticleFestive gestures: What the gifts you give say about you
UNSW BusinessThink (with N. Garg)
What gift giving reveals about personality. - 2019EventMaster of Ceremonies, Peter Farrell Cup
UNSW student entrepreneurship competition - 2018TalkPersonality meta-theories and survivalist leaders
Australian Conference on Personality and Individual Differences, Bond University
Conference presentations on personality meta-theories and on survivalist leaders. - 2018MediaHow survivalist leaders present a toxic danger
UNSW BusinessThink
A feature on my research into the personalities of survivalists and what they mean for leadership. - 2017ProfileArticles for The Conversation
The Conversation - 2014TalkLaughing at yourself: when it helps and when it doesn't
ANZAM Conference, University of Technology Sydney
One of four papers presented at the 2014 ANZAM conference. - 2009TalkUsing the hybrid model of learning in personality to predict performance in the workplace
8th Industrial and Organisational Psychology Conference, Manly
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For keynotes, panels, podcasts and media comment on personality, leadership, mavericks and entrepreneurship.