The worst mistake to make on Dragon’s Den / Shark Tank

There’s one simple tactic that makes entrepreneurs 6x more likely to get funding. 

At least that’s according to today’s guest on Nudge, Harvard Professor Leslie John. 

She’s spent her career studying decision-making and reveals why: 

- Flawed leaders inspire more trust

- Authenticity gets you job offers 

- And how crying at work is perceived 

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Unlock the Nudge Vaults: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults

Leslie’s book Revealing: https://amzn.to/3RkFTAq 

Leslie’s website: https://www.proflesliejohn.com/ 

Join 12,199 readers of the Nudge Newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew/ 

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Today’s sources:

Jiang, L., John, L. K., Boghrati, R., & Kouchaki, M. (2022). Fostering perceptions of authenticity via sensitive self-disclosure. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 28(4), 898–915.

John, L. (2026). Revealing: The underrated power of oversharing. Riverhead Books.

John, L. K., Jeong, M., Gino, F., & Huang, L. (2019). The self-presentational consequences of upholding one's stance in spite of the evidence. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 154, 1–14.

Moore, C., Lee, S. Y., Kim, K., & Cable, D. M. (2017). The advantage of being oneself: The role of applicant self-verification in organisational hiring decisions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(11), 1493–1513.

Wolf, E. B., Lee, J. J., Sah, S., & Brooks, A. W. (2016). Managing perceptions of distress at work: Reframing emotion as passion. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 137, 1–12.