Keeping Remote Teams Engaged

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Brad Stulberg on goals: “Goals are like mountaintops. They are important insofar as they provide definition and direction for our journeys. They serve as targets, offering a wellspring of motivation. They keep us focused and prevent us from aimlessly wandering. Yet nearly all of our growth, development, and meaning occur not at the point of accomplishing a goal but during its pursuit. There is no greater illusion than thinking the accomplishment of some goal will change your life. What will change your life is how you are tran…

THE causes of job strain, burnout, and poor mental health at work are well understood — and so are the solutions. Workload can be managed. Jobs can be designed with autonomy and voice. Leaders can be trained to create psychological safety. Systems can be built that reward recovery and fairness, not just output. Which means harm to our workers isn’t inevitable — it’s a design choice. Organizations that fail to design for good work will pay for it in absenteeism, turnover and disengagement. But the deeper cost is borne by the workers. People don’t thrive when they’re confused, unsupported, or underused. They thrive when they feel capable and valued. Research by organizati…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Nicole Vignola on learning as default thinking: “The first major underpinning of a growth mindset is that people with this mindset understand that learning is a valuable opportunity in the face of adversity. When people believe that they can improve and grow from failure and setbacks, they are more likely to engage in challenging tasks and persist through difficulty. When people know and understand that the brain is malleable and are willing to adapt to circumstance, they are more likely to persist in the face of obstacles. Th…

MOST leaders reach a point where they can see exactly where their company needs to go. The vision is clear — more sophisticated, more scalable, more aligned with the leader they’ve become. They didn’t get to this point by accident. The clarity they have now is the product of a commitment to transformation expressed through years of building, learning, and evolving. But the company is still organized around an earlier version of their leadership. The revenue is real. The clients are happy. On paper, it works. But the routines, the roles, the decision-making patterns were designed for a different stage. Maybe a different strategy entirely. As the founder, every day pulls …

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Carey Nieuwhof on large and loud opponents to change: “The loudest people affected by a proposed change are those who are most opposed. The more opposed people are, the louder they tend to become. The problem arises because the noise of opponents to any change will make you a bad mathematician. “You will confuse loud with large. And you will confuse volume with velocity. You will begin to believe that because opponents are loud, they are many, and because they have volume, they have momentum. Those are the two traps almost ev…

THERE’S a phrase that seems to be everywhere in the business world right now, but it is likely missing from most companies’ crisis management plans: Artificial Intelligence (AI). Crack open any decent crisis planning playbook, and you’ll find detailed roadmaps for navigating natural disasters, system failures, and traditional cyberattacks. These risks are well understood, and crisis management planners have often seen how other organizations have handled these setbacks or even dealt with them themselves. Although AI now touches on great swaths of our professional and personal lives, it is still a very young technology. And while most people vaguely understand that AI in…

HERE'S A LOOK at some of the best leadership books to be released in May 2026 curated just for you. Be sure to check out the other great titles being offered this month. Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better by David Epstein We live in a world that gives us seemingly infinite choices and prizes freedom above all else. We have an unprecedented number of options regarding what to do, who to be, and how to spend our time. All that choice is wonderful; it is also overwhelming. The irony is that total freedom can be paralyzing, and unlimited resources don’t necessarily lead to the biggest breakthroughs. In fact, overvaluing complete freedom can be disastrous for ev…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Paul Ingram on values: “When you know your values-really know them-you unlock something vital. You get clarity when things are uncertain. You gain confidence when decisions get hard. You find resilience when life throws something unexpected your way. And you create deeper connections with others because you’re leading from a place that’s honest and grounded.” Source: What Do You Really Stand For? The One Question That Will Transform Your Work and Life II. Stanley McCrystal on the ends justify the means: “It is the ‘end jus…

Here is a selection of Posts from April 2026 that you will want to check out: VIDEO: AI Is Replacing Leaders Who Can't Do This One Thing by @cnieuwhof Worth watching! If You Get the Chance by @tedlamade via @collabfund Comfort in the Chaos? via @LBBOnline In periods of instability - economic pressure, cultural fragmentation, a constant sense of flux - people look for grounding. Lincoln Leadership Failure | Succession Planning by @jamesstrock 6 Reasons People Pleasing Hurts Your Leadership by @DanReiland What Hollywood Taught Me About Getting Ahead by @PhilCooke 5 Hidden Forces That Will Undermine Your Leadership Decisions by @WScottCochrane Why designers make better en…

MY go-to definition of leadership is “helping others do better.” I use it because it is simple, inclusive, and focused on the practical impact leaders have. Leadership is ultimately about having a positive effect on other people, teams, and organizations. But my best advice for achieving that starts by looking inward. By leading oneself—what I call ‘personal leadership’—a leader is better able to affect others positively. In more than three decades of research and teaching on leadership, the most powerful tool for personal leadership that I have come across is to leverage the leader’s own values. Doing this requires an upfront investment by the leader in work to clarify…

While Companies Race to Adopt AI, Many Lack the Skills to Make It Work AI isn’t the top workplace advantage, human skills are. TalentSmartEQ, the world’s premier provider of emotional intelligence (EQ) solutions, has released its 2026 State of EQ Report, examining how leaders and organizations navigate rising economic uncertainty, rapid change and the acceleration of AI adoption. The report reveals that the human skills required to make technology effective are now the strongest predictor of organizational performance in an AI-driven world. Drawing insights from nearly 700 leadership, HR and L&D professionals and EQ data from more than 23,000 individuals, this yea…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Rachel Barr on recall: “When we switch from books to screens, we’re also changing how we interact with information. Which introduces a new variable time. Online searches deliver results instantly, but this speed can flood our working memory—the brain’s sketchpad for holding and manipulating information in real time. Working memory has its limits, and scribbling too many notes too quickly can mean the ideas get muddled and lost. By contrast, the slower pace of searching through a book naturally aligns with the brain’s capacity …

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Nir Eyal on change: “Positive thinking alone so often fails to create lasting transformation. Simply telling yourself you have control isn’t enough. Your brain needs direct evidence that change is possible. Every small victory that proves our actions matter helps build beliefs that override our default passivity.” Source: Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Breakthrough Results II. Paul Ingram on values-based leadership: “Individuals are more motivated when they are responding to int…

YOU can have an amazing business plan and strategy, but if there are issues with recruiting and keeping your people, your strategy will fail. Finding the right people and incorporating essential elements so that they will stay, are key to managing your organization’s greatest asset — your people. It starts with hiring for fit. Let’s say, hypothetically, that you could have two companies in the same industry in adjacent buildings. They may have very similar business models and customer bases; however, the two owners have very different values and personal philosophies — which lead to very different cultures and, therefore, very different strategies and plans. The target …

IN MANY organizations, productivity is flat while stress and burnout are climbing. While many blame the unmanageable workload, the problem is really the overwhelming thoughtload. Thoughtload is the invisible tax on performance and productivity that comes from a treacherous triad of rising cognitive demands, escalating emotional burdens, and declining energy reserves. As thoughtload increases, it’s less likely that team members will be productive, creative, or collaborative. Managers need to support their teams in reducing each component of thoughtload, but first, they need to address their own chaotic experience. It’s impossible to manage the madness if you’re creating i…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Greg Satell on change: “It is never enough to merely state grievances to challenge the status quo. To create meaningful change, you must put forward an affirmative vision for what you want the future to look like. This is not about messaging. It’s not enough to merely express your grievances more artfully. You have to define an alternative that is actually better, not just for those who agree with you, but for the vast majority of those who will be affected by the change you seek.” Source: Cascades: How to Create a Movement th…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Frank Barrett on Provocative Competence: “Leadership as design activity means creating space, sufficient support, and challenge so that people will be tempted to grow on their own. The goal is the opposite of conformity: a leader’s job is to create the discrepancy and dissonance that trigger people to move away from habitual positions and repetitive patterns. I’ve come to think of this key leadership capacity as ‘provocative competence.’” Source: Yes to the Mess: Surprising Leadership Lessons from Jazz II. Jeff Brown and Mar…

HERE'S A LOOK at some of the best leadership books to be released in April 2026 curated just for you. Be sure to check out the other great titles being offered this month. Design Love In: How to Unleash the Most Powerful Force in Business by Marcus Buckingham Think about the last time you said, "I love that." Maybe it was about a product that exceeded expectations, a service experience that built instant loyalty, or a moment when your work brought out the best in you. That reaction isn't just emotional—it's electric. In the organization, it fuels engagement, strengthens performance, and drives lasting success. Yet most leaders don't even acknowledge it, let alone measu…

Here is a selection of Posts from March 2026 that you will want to check out: Difficult Conversations Don't Have To Be So Difficult by @davidburkus Why Your Leadership Training isn't Working by @stopyourdrama Marlene Chism Lindy Library: The 0.1% Of Ideas I've Found by @george__mack Excellence Is Not a Performance Target via @AdmiredLeaders Beneath the Surface of Leadership Development by @DanReiland The Quiet Signals Every Great Leader Notices (That Others Miss) by @WScottCochrane Why Being Good, Fast and Cheap Is the Most Radical Thing a Brand Can Do via @MusebyClio by John Stapleton If Your Email Is Too Long, Your Thinking Isn’t Finished by @PhilCooke Before hitting…

BEST practices are often viewed as the key to success in the business world. Certifications to prove practitioners are competent in accordance with a best practice make sense at the surface. However, they’ve become psychological cover that create mediocre results at best. It’s reassuring to be able to point at the protocol and say, “I followed the best practice. It’s not my fault.” Take project management, for example. Most project managers I’ve met (my younger self included) come from technical backgrounds who love best practices. I genuinely thought project management was about following the best practice and forcing people to follow my plan. Spoiler alert: That didn’t…

EVERY year, organizations spend billions of dollars developing leaders in strategy, finance, and operational execution. Organizations sponsor employees through MBA programs, leadership academies, and executive coaching. They teach how to read a balance sheet, build a competitive moat, and manage a P&L. What rarely makes the curriculum is the inner work — the cultivation of self — that actually shapes how leaders make decisions under pressure; how they treat people when no one is watching, The word "spirituality" makes most boardrooms uncomfortable. It conjures images of incense and meditation retreats, not quarterly earnings calls and market strategy. And yet, the qu…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Jenna Nicholas on hope: “Real hope is not a spectator state of mind but rather a passionate mobilization to get up and join forces with the world around us. This kind of hope dares us to transcend fear and indifference by taking deliberate steps toward building a better future through our relationships and our work. Optimism is not just a nice feeling; it’s a courageous pledge to action, a belief in the possibility of change, and a summons to support solutions of hope-whether they’re grand and sweeping or just a tiny next step…

A former rancher turned finance leader explains why the “costume of conformity” is costing you clients, credibility, and the career you actually want. EARLY in my finance career, a client and I hit it off over the phone. We had a natural personality match — easy conversation, good rapport, real trust building in real time. When he came to my office for a face-to-face consultation, he saw me from across the room before we’d been formally introduced. He walked out. Didn’t say a word. He wasn’t going to trust the largest transaction of his life to what he saw as an immature individual who didn’t look the part. At the time, I was doing everything I’d been told to do. I’d com…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. John Kenneth Galbraith on power: “An important tendency in all modern political comment is to exaggerate the role of personality in the exercise of power. What rightly should be attributed to the property or organization surrounding them is thus accorded to their personality. Vanity also contributes to the exaggeration of the role of personality. Nothing so rejoices the corporate executive, television anchorman, or politician as to believe that he is uniquely endowed with the qualities of leadership that derive from intelligen…

LEADERSHIP clarity rarely comes from comfort. More often, it’s found in moments of disruption, when certainty disappears and only what truly matters remains. For more than four decades, I’ve helped leaders learn through experience rather than theory. Across more than 50 countries, I’ve designed leadership development programs built around challenges: ropes courses, night orienteering, search-and-rescue scenarios, scuba expeditions, and even dogsledding in remote environments. The approach draws heavily from the experiential leadership model used by Outward Bound, where I served as both an instructor and board trustee. The premise is simple: place people in unfamiliar si…