Keeping Remote Teams Engaged

HERE'S A LOOK at some of the best leadership books to be released in April 2025 curated just for you. Be sure to check out the other great titles being offered this month. The Psychology of Leadership: Timeless principles to perfect your leadership of individuals, teams… and yourself! by Sébastien Page The Psychology of Leadership offers a fresh take on leadership through the lens of groundbreaking research in positive, sports, and personality psychology. Leaders will develop what feels like mind-reading abilities for interpreting workplace personalities, hidden motivations, and group dynamics. They will learn how to inspire their organization to move mountains, improv…

HERE'S A LOOK at some of the best leadership books to be released in May 2025 curated just for you. Be sure to check out the other great titles being offered this month. Another Way: Building Companies That Last…and Last…and Last by Dave Whorton with Bo Burlingham Dave Whorton went on a journey to find a better way to build companies, a way focused on long-term stability and steady growth, funded through profitability; a way in which leaders were committed to a purpose beyond personal wealth generation, to putting their people first, and to setting up their companies to endure. He calls these companies "Evergreen." Another Way combines Whorton's inspiring story with hi…

HOW do people learn? Simply put, when the reality does not meet the expectation. When we make mistakes. When we fail. And when we learn from those mistakes, we learn not only the correct way to go, but we gain a deeper understanding of the issue and thus are able to more easily apply it to similar situations. In other words, if we try to solve the problem before we are told how to do it, we learn better. Manu Kapur wrote Productive Failure with this in mind. “The idea of Productive Failure is to be proactive; that is, if failure is so powerful for learning, then we should not wait for it to happen. We should intentionally design for it for deep learning.” Kapur began h…

Here is a selection of Posts from April 2025 that you will want to check out: The Opportunity Behind Every Closed Door via @TheDaily_Coach How Embracing A Low Point In Life Can Help You Grow Stronger by @LaRaeQuy A Few Short Stories by @morganhousel 3 Reasons To Challenge Outdated Assumptions by @JosephLalonde The 3 Daily Habits That Separate Champions from Everyone Else by @BrianKDodd The Top 3 Mistakes Leaders Make During Bad Days by @WScottCochrane There may be a book inside you. Should it stay there? by @wallybock Which Kind of Leader Are You? Reactors, Adapters, or Disruptors by @gavin_adams Canadian Nationalism No Longer an Oxymoron by @jamesstrock Canada is demo…

WHEN the path ahead is clear, leadership feels easier. You can plan, predict, and rally your team around certainty. But real leadership shows up when the road disappears. In uncertain times, leadership doesn’t collapse from lack of effort. It collapses because leaders mistake activity for clarity. In doing so, they lose momentum when it matters most. When the next move isn’t obvious, when conditions change faster than plans can adapt, leaders make their mark — not by guessing, not by waiting, but by having clear priorities, guiding principles, and a shared purpose strong enough to move through uncertainty. Forward leading involves the kind of thinking that turns obstac…

MOST business leaders assume that if they roll out the right strategy, success will follow. But the truth is, even the best strategy will fail without full buy-in from your team. Lack of buy-in is the silent killer of growth. It’s why so many marketing initiatives fall flat, why sales teams resist new processes, and why companies struggle to implement real change. If your employees aren’t aligned, your customers will feel it. And if your customers feel it, they won’t trust you. The Real Reason Strategies Fail The biggest mistake CEOs make is assuming that once they decide on a direction, their team will automatically follow. But people don’t resist change because they’…

UNCERTAINTY is dominating business planning. The tariffs announced on April 2 could trigger “a self-induced, economic nuclear winter,” according to hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. Businesses and nations are locked into a complex, international web of trade networks, just-in-time supply systems, currency exchanges, and mutual competition. And much of it is underpinned by the US dollar. Far from the US being “forced to sit on the sidelines as other nations got rich and powerful,” US GDP per capita is much higher than that of any other large country. Consequently, global shocks — perhaps arising from unilateral decisions on international trade, climate change, or a pandemi…

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. Dan Thurmon on testing yourself: “When uncertainty and randomness strike, whether the immediate perception is threatening or exciting, you don’t take it personally. You simply see it as a new factor to incorporate into your life. This is not about the challenge coming at you. It’s about the challenge coming from you. It’s not what’s testing you, but how you are choosing to test yourself.” Source: Positive Chaos: Transform Crisis into Clarity and Advantage II. Dean Williams on helping people face challenges: “The first chal…

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. Rich Diviney on the notion of peak performance: “Repetitive peak performance is unrealistic because performance is often conditional. It typically requires a predictable and familiar environment. Repetitive peak performance is unrealistic because uncertainty is life’s foundational state. True success in life and business hinges instead on optimal performance, which means delivering your “best” in the moment, whatever your best looks like in that moment. However, sometimes your best is about persevering, moving forward step-by-…

ACHIEVING sustained success hinges on consistent and well-conceived preparation. If you fail to work hard and think hard during preparation, no amount of talent or performance under pressure is going to save you. This is something so simple and easy to understand, yet it’s a shortcoming I see over and over in sports, business, and life. I was the head coach of the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team for 13 seasons. It was a terrific ride that included three visits to the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament, a Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship, and three SEC Coach of the Year awards. Preparation was key to our success. To give a very basic example of the …

OUR internal conversations may seem inconsequential, but they determine the success of every interaction. They hold secrets to how we can have authentic conversations with others. When CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard recently testified before the Senate regarding the breach of security using Signal’s group chat during an attack on Yemen, their carefully measured responses revealed something profound. As they faced direct questions about the Signal chat, including an accidental text that included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, viewers witnessed a rare moment when the divide between Ratcliffe and Gabbard’s…

AS organizations navigate the complexities of the 21st century — marked by rapid technological advancements, evolving workforce demographics, and global socio-political shifts — the need for a fresh approach to leadership has never been more pressing. One of the most significant shifts in leadership thinking is the emphasis on inclusion as a core strategic imperative. Inclusion isn’t simply a fashionable term or corporate social responsibility checkbox; it’s a critical driver of long-term organizational success. Why inclusion is so important, and why now? Inclusion has become a focal point in organizational strategies because the world we live in is more interconnecte…

THE group(s) we identify with influence who we are – our thinking and behavior. We are a reflection of the groups we identify with. In The Collective Edge, Colin Fisher explains that “Understanding human behavior means understanding group dynamics—the obvious and hidden ways in which our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are shaped by groups.” In addition, “Whether you want to change yourself, your work group, or the world, you need to work with the invisible forces of group dynamics instead of being mindlessly pushed around by them.” We tend to think in terms of individual actors rather than groups, especially when it comes to leadership. Whether things go right or wro…

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. Math teacher Dan Meyer on real-world problem solving: “What problem have you solved, ever, that was worth solving where you knew all the given information in advance? No problem worth solving is like that. In the real world, you have a surplus of information and you have to filter it, or you don’t have sufficient information and you have to go find some.” TED Talk: Math Class Needs A Makeover II. Bob Goff on focus: “We need to block our view of the things that hardly matter at all, stop returning to the patterns that do n…

WE experience a tsunami of chaos in our environment, creating cross-pressures to achieve what appear to be contradictory goals at the same time. The solution is what Robert E. Siegel calls Systems Leadership. “Leaders face pressure to do opposing things at the same time, which can make them feel like no matter what they do or how well they do it, they are getting it all wrong.” The Systems Leader by Robert Siegel is based on systems thinking as made accessible in Peter Senge’s classic book The Fifth Discipline. In it, he “emphasized the interplay of actions and reactions between components of any kind of system, and the importance of studying those relationships holistic…

HERE'S A LOOK at some of the best leadership books to be released in October 2025 curated just for you. Be sure to check out the other great titles being offered this month. A CEO for All Seasons: Mastering the Cycles of Leadership by Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, Vikram Malhotra and Kurt Strovink In the high-stakes world of corporate leadership, becoming a Fortune 500 CEO is an Everest-like ascent—with only the savviest managing to avoid falling off the mountain. In A CEO for All Seasons,you’ll find an essential climbing route that will take you through every stage. Unique in applying a number of sophisticated metrics to isolate the world’s top 200 CEOs, reduce them to…

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. Hermann Hesse on things we all can do: “To hold our tongues when everyone is gossiping, to smile without hostility at people and institutions, to compensate for the shortage of love in the world with more love in small, private matters; to be more faithful in our work, to show greater patience, to forgo the cheap revenge obtainable from mockery and criticism: all these are things we can do.” Source: If the War Goes on: Reflections on War and Politics II. Henry Ford on the importance of giving value before you ask for valu…

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. Jeffrey Hull and Margaret Moore on humility and performance: “Humble leaders, and their organizations, may not perform better than those led by leaders who are not humble. However, the performance and well-being of the workforce is better when led by humble leaders. A tentative conclusion is that leaders who lead with humility it for others’ benefit, not for the sake of their own performance.” Source: The Science of Leadership: Nine Ways to Expand Your Impact II. British essayist and novelist Pico Iyer on stepping back: “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. Matt Cooke on surrender: “Surrender isn't giving up; it's letting go of the need to control what's never been yours to carry. There's power in releasing the grip. In trusting the process even when you can't see the outcome. You weren't meant to figure it all out; you were meant to feel your way through it. When you surrender, you create space. When you trust, you allow movement. That's where things shift, not through force, but through flow. So, if it feels uncertain right now, that's okay. You're not lost. You're just in the …

Here is a selection of Posts from July 2025 that you will want to check out: 4 Lessons on Selecting the Right Leader for Your Organization from Guardiola and Silva by @BrianKDodd King's Legacy Continues to Serve by @jamesstrock Our Founders' Humanity Renders Their Example Compelling The Power of Self-Reflection: Transform Your Life from Within via @lifehackorg Leon Ho What is The Foundation of Achievement? 3 Leadership Lessons from Ichiro Suzuki’s Hall of Fame Speech by @BrianKDodd BREAK THE PLATEAU: How High Performers Raise Their Game When the Spark Fades by @AlanSteinJr Don’t Let Five Bad Minutes Steal Your Day by @TheDaily_Coach Our ability to pause, reframe, and …

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. Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter on cultivating a mental focus: “As Al continues to advance and become more integrated into our working lives, it’s likely to further exacerbate the challenges posed by our already-distracted and data-filled environment. This new reality needs—no, demands—a proactive stance. Leaders who want to be successful today and tomorrow must commit to a more rigorous practice of cultivating inner stillness. They need to develop a deliberate, meaningful approach to managing the inner game of leadershi…

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. Timothy Gallwey on learning to change behavior: “By the word ‘learning’ I do not mean the collection of information, but the realization of something which actually changes one’s behavior—either external behavior, such as a tennis stroke, or internal behavior, such as a pattern of thought.” Source: The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance II. Developer Nicoll Hunt on the first step: “The first step of any project is to grossly underestimate its complexity and difficulty.” Source: N…

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. Hemant Taneja on radical collaboration: “Lobbing ‘disruptive’ innovations like random hand grenades into such large, established, and important sectors usually only changes things on the fringes. Those who work on the inside, who have spent their lives in their professions, get the sense that outsiders are invading and telling them they are outmoded or worthless, so they understandably push back. They might outright reject the innovation—or lobby to get policymakers to regulate the innovation away. Systemic transformation gets…

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. Colin Fisher on group dynamics: “Being a member of a group changes how people see reality. Two groups can see the same event but believe wildly different things about it. Groups are a lens through which members view what is true. When a situation is new and uncertain, norms emerge quickly and most people fall in line rather than sticking up for their own (weakly held) points of view. In fact, many people adopt group norms so quickly, they don’t even realize they changed their own views.” Source: The Collective Edge: Unlocking …

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. Richard Daft on reflection: “Reflection is also a choice: that of thoughtful wisdom over instant reaction. The idea of reflection is to find deeper understanding of cause-and-effect relationships, because organizational problems often are more complex than they look. Things move so fast that often you may not know what you really think or feel about an issue. Reflection makes your mind proactive rather than reactive.” Source: The Executive and the Elephant: A Leader's Guide for Achieving Inner Excellence II. Antony Bell on h…