Your Disengaged Employees Aren’t Checked Out. They’re Just Not Paying Attention
Seeing their manager as a baby gave the group more energy than a double espresso shot. Not literally, of course. But instead of her usual bookshelf Zoom background, she had swapped in an old baby photo of herself with a bald head, gummy smile, and all the things that make babies cute. The effect was […]
Stop Managing Your Team on Vibes
The scariest sentence in management is “Sarah seems off lately.” Sarah’s quieter in standups. Sarah’s energy is down. Sarah forgot to send the report on Friday. So the manager pulls Sarah into a 1:1, takes a deep breath, and says some version of, “Hey, wanted to check in. Is everything okay?” Sarah says everything’s fine. […]
Assessing Engagement Part 2: Scoring and Analyzing
In Part 1 of this Engagement Assessment series, you picked your person, you answered all 20 questions, and now you’ve got a column of numbers staring back at you. In Part 2, I’m going to show you where someone lands on the journey from Neutral to Level 5. Scoring Your Assessment Now it’s time to […]
Assessing Engagement Part 1: The Competence and Contribution Framework
Every leader dreams of building a high-performing, connected team of 3s, 4s, and 5s, where people show up not just because they have to, but because they want to. It’s like imagining a world where everyone actually reads your weekly newsletter. Wild, I know, but a leader can dream. Figuring out who’s thriving, who’s struggling, […]
5 Leadership Skills Employers Actually Want From New College Grads
Almost 9 out of 10 employers say they’d rather hire a freelancer, a retired former employee, or even a robot than bring on a recent college grad. Let that sink in for a second. You’ve spent four years pulling all-nighters, memorizing theories you’ll probably never use again, and perfecting the art of looking alert in […]
Employee Engagement Is Broken (And Pizza Parties Won’t Fix It)
The last person who quit your team probably smiled on the way out. I walked into an accounting firm last year to lead a leadership training, and before I even opened my mouth, the room told me everything I needed to know. One person had their arms crossed so tightly you’d think they were holding […]
Understanding the Engagement Pyramid: Level 5 (How can I help?)
This is the sixth and final post in my series on the Engagement Pyramid, a framework I developed to help leaders see the different levels of engagement on their teams and understand what drives each one. If you missed any of the previous posts, start here with Neutrals. We’ve worked our way up from the […]
Understanding the Engagement Pyramid: Level 4 (What’s next for me?)
This is the fifth post in my series on the Engagement Pyramid, a framework I developed to help leaders see the different levels of engagement on their teams and understand what drives each one. If you missed any of those, start here with Neutrals. Every leader has someone on their team who just gets it. […]
Understanding the Engagement Pyramid: Level 3 (What am I capable of?)
This is the fourth post in my series on understanding the Engagement Pyramid, a framework I developed to help leaders identify and engage their people based on where they actually are, not where we wish they were. The pyramid breaks engagement into six levels, from the disengaged at the base to the fully invested leaders […]
How Personalized Content Is Quietly Eroding Real Connection
I showed up to school on a Friday morning in 1997 and the entire hallway had chosen a side, Ross or Rachel? The night before, millions of us watched Ross and Rachel’s relationship implode on Friends. Rachel found out Ross had slept with someone else just hours after their fight, and Ross fired back with […]