This week, we’re going to continue the discussion on the cultural impact of return-to-office policies and their impact on employee engagement by looking at the other side of the coin—the actions of employees. When talking about organizational culture and employee engagement, it’s critical to recognize that employee engagement is a two-way street.

Nothing says “I don’t trust you” more than draconian HR policies that are spread like peanut butter over the employee population in an attempt to snare a few bad apples who are likely disengaged and working against the best interests of the company and the rest of the team. The solution? Improve the skill level of managers across the organization through intentional learning and development programs and make it clear through incentives that excellence is rewarded and poor performance/disengagement are not. The bad apples will opt out and head for more fertile pastures to apply their mediocre skills and display their poor work ethic for all to see.

Today we’re going to continue our exploration of the growth trap. I define the growth trap as seeking business growth for the sake of business growth with little regard for operational or cultural implications.

However, like the budgeting process, c-suite magical thinking poses the biggest threat to value addition in M&A and can quickly turn what on the surface looks like a great idea and a big value-add into a transaction that ends up destroying corporate value.

The question today is this. Is bigger always better? In zucchini, the answer is a resounding no. In business, the answer is a bit more nuanced, but bigger is certainly not always better.

As leaders, we routinely fall into what I like to call the growth trap. The growth trap shows up in various forms, but it can be a huge morale killer and represent significant risk to the business.

My advice is instead of looking down your nose and denigrating members of the generations that follow you, lend a hand. Use your gifts to mentor, lift up, and inspire those who are less experienced than you are.

Working with Intention: Self-reflection and the use of the five whys requires an open mind and a strong ego in order to challenge potential unconscious bias and consider answers that may not be popular or fit neatly into existing narratives. Hence, it's seldom the case that meaningful results come solely from self-reflection exercises. To make more progress, we will need the help of our coaches and mentors.

I do my best to keep The Saturday Morning Muse out of the political spectrum, but this week I will make an exception. As we march toward election day on November 5, 2024, it’s important that our voices are heard and that we exercise our rights to free speech. This episode is on the longer side of things and should be watched in its entirety. To do otherwise would mean that what I have to say has a high probability of being taken out of context and twisted for political gain.

The sources of insecurity abound. Jealousy, unresolved failure, challenging relationships, lack of skill/education, poor planning, bullying, institutionalized bias, and the absence of a sense of belonging are but a few. To punch the point regarding the fluid nature of insecurity, just spend a little time with the preceding list and explore how easy it is to find examples where these issues apply both at home and at the office.

Everyone wins when “my word is my bond” becomes woven into the fabric of your organizational culture. Accountability and trust simultaneously improve as the nooks and crannies to hide half-truths, speculation, and agendas that run counter to the company North Star become fewer and farther between.

I fear that we are becoming anesthetized to what would be considered vicious, uncivil, unacceptable, and unproductive discourse to a prudent, independent observer.

One of the unpleasant truths of leadership is that the people who populate your organization (at all levels) are constantly trying to divine your position on myriad topics - everything from purpose and vision to the stack ranking of current-period priorities. Like it or not, as a leader, you are a significant topic of conversation and your position on issues matters.

The less visible you are, the more active the water-cooler will be. Infrequent communication from the top provides more oxygen for conspiracy theories and rumors to thrive. Conspiracy theories and rumors breed significant emotional waste that can negatively impact morale, engagement, and productivity.

The starting point for the journey to change your culture takes real courage and is an application of courage that doesn’t get nearly enough airplay. You see, the easy leadership road that leads to mediocrity is to hire people that look and talk like you and ensure that you remain the smartest person in the room.

The more difficult, but more rewarding path is to find the courage to hire people who have the potential to surpass you, who think differently than you do, and who are willing and able to challenge you.