I used to be a mediocre leader.
Actually, mediocre might be generous. I struggled. After suffering through way too many sleepless nights and unproductive conversations, one mindset shift and two practices helped me get better quickly.
When I was a kid, I fell off my bike over and over again. My dad tried to help me learn, but my frustration grew as the scrapes and bruises added up.
I remember him picking me up off the ground one day and saying, “Don’t panic once you get moving. Just trust that you’re going to stay upright and you will.”
A manager told me she cared deeply about her team. I believed her.
Then we looked at her calendar.
Grant was consistent and proud of it. He told everyone he treated all his employees the same way.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how often organizations set out to change something and, despite good intentions, end up right back where they started.
Good intentions won’t keep your best people from leaving — but better leadership will.
I recently coached an executive named Dan, a smart, compassionate leader who was frustrated. Despite his long hours and genuine care for his team, he felt like he was losing control — and losing good people.
Everyone wants to feel connected to their company culture.
I did too.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about what it’s like to successfully lead a change initiative.
Keeping employees in the dark doesn’t protect your company—it undermines it.
A fascinating study from MIT found that companies with high information transparency saw a 38% increase in employee engagement compared to those with restrictive policies. Yet in countless boardrooms, the mantra “Just tell them what they need to know” lives on like a corporate zombie—mindless, but surprisingly hard to kill.
“If you have to force change, you’ve already failed.”
This became painfully clear when I learned why the majority of organizational transformations collapse…
Explore what the world is searching. Enter a search term or a topic.
