The Leadership Cost of ‘Needing to Know’
The Leadership Cost of ‘Needing to Know’ Last week we explored how uncertainty shifts leadership behavior. There is another response that often appears when pressure rises. Leaders tighten control. They add steps and lean on structure to create a sense of stability. Control can begin with good intentions but it rarely creates meaningful change. People do not shift because a process tells them to. They act based on what they believe. When control replaces curiosity, initiative fades and compliance often hides beneath the surface. The most effective leaders notice this early. They ask questions when answers start to dominate. They hold standards while staying accessible and open. Structure...
PAST ISSUES
You Can’t Collaborate With a Negotiator
You Can’t Collaborate With a Negotiator In every relationship—personal or professional—we eventually face friction. And when we do, we tend to show...
Your Culture Is Measured in Silence
Your Culture Is Measured in Silence One of the most dangerous signals in any organization isn’t conflict. It’s silence. Leaders often chase...
Culture Captures the Cost Savings
Culture Captures the Cost Savings In this week’s CEO Daily Brief, I spoke with labor strategy expert John Frehse about the growing pressure leaders...
What Becoming a Death Doula Has Taught Me About Change Management
What Becoming a Death Doula Has Taught Me About Change Management After five years volunteering in UC Davis’s No One Dies Alone program, I recently...
You Have a Leadership Problem
You Have a Leadership Problem Accountability gets tossed around in every leadership meeting, but most companies still get it wrong. It often shows...
The One Question That Changed My Career
The One Question That Changed My Career This question—What is your boss’s boss worried about?—has changed the way I work, lead, and think. It’s the...
Good Leaders Lie
Good Leaders Lie We’ve all heard the phrase “good leaders lie”—and not because they’re malicious, but because they think they have to. To protect...
Why That Offsite Didn’t Fix Anything
Why That Offsite Didn’t Fix Anything You can spend a fortune on a company offsite, deliver inspiring keynotes, fill whiteboards with arrows, and get...
AI is Here. Three CEOs Responded—One Got It Right.
AI is moving fast. Some leaders are using that momentum to inspire progress. Others are hiding behind it to justify layoffs, confusion, or fear....
“On Second Thought…”
I’m currently reading Destructive Generation: Second Thoughts About The Sixties, a memoir of ideological disillusionment by David Horowitz and Peter...
A Culture for All Generations
Disrupting the way we think about generations to attract, engage, and retain all employees
There’s a real benefit in dismantling the perceptions behind Gen Z or X, or whatever the next trendy label is! Citing extensive academic research from her book, Unfairly Labeled, Jessica provides a refreshingly enlightening and data-driven perspective on how multi-generational organizations can strip away stereotypes and and biases that hinder performance and prevent progress toward a common purpose.
