Nicholai Popov

Nicholai Popov is a Doctoral Candidate with the University of Wollongong. His research interests include leadership development and examining ways leaders can be developed to improve the performance of their teams. Nicholai investigates ways a leader can improve workplace engagement, customer orientation and reduce staff turnover among organisational members. Nicholai focuses on improving leadership effectiveness and cultivating improvements in staff performance as a way of improving an organisation's ability to be more effective, improve the experience of their customers and ultimately cultivate sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. Nicholai Popov is part of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (BNHCRC). The BNHCRC draws together all the fire and emergency service organisations throughout Australia and New Zealand and was launched 10 December 2013. As part of his work with volunteers in the State Emergency Service (SES) and Rural Fire Service (RFS) of New South Wales, Nicholai has co-authored a publication:  Improving the retention of volunteers through the satisfaction of basic psychological needs. This paper was presented at the 2015 International Business Conference, New York City, USA. In 2012 Nicholai Popov was awarded the Executive Dean's Award for Academic Excellence and his academic pursuits continue to focus on how an organisation's performance, effectiveness and ability to compete in the marketplace can be improved through leadership practice. Nicholai has found that a tailored leadership development program, which includes the application of positive psychology may be an effective way to improve leadership effectiveness and staff performance. For more information visit http://www.nicholaipopov.com/