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Why feeling guilty may make you a better boss Every November its the same. In countless offices, factories and shops, the boss is asking for a volunteer. Someone needs to organise the Christmas party. Its not a big job, recent joiners are assured. You just need to find a venue - nothing special, just somewhere that caters for vegans, carnivores, the wheat-intolerant and those on diets. With at least four pricing options. You will need to take the orders to the restaurant - make sure they dont mess them up or you will get the blame. And as for the money for the deposit, well, your colleagues should pay you back by Christmas this year or, failing that, Christmas next year. But although organising the office Christmas party is often a thankless chore, someone always volunteers to do it. This was exactly the kind of situation that intrigued Rebecca Schaumberg, a graduate student at Stanford Universitys School of Business. Why would people take charge in a group situation when theres not really an incentive to do so? We started thinking maybe they just feel really guilty about not doing it. Many psychologists believe we vary widely in the extent which we are susceptible to feelings of guilt, and that the emotion can be a spur to action. Some people stay late on a Friday night to finish a piece of work, knowing they wont enjoy their weekend unless they do. Other people go home and watch a movie. The emotion is really uncomfortable and its something that we tend to want to get rid of but the drive to reduce our feelings of guilt can actually propel us to act in really positive ways, says Schaumberg. Its that sort of anticipation of feeling guilt that might lead individuals to emerge or take on leadership roles. She and her colleagues conducted experiments with volunteers in the US. The participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire containing a number of hypothetical scenarios, such as You are driving down the road, and you hit a small animal. Each scenario was