Insights

Practical, people-centered ideas on management, engagement, and the people experience.

  • Top Books on People Experience

    If you want to deepen your understanding of people experience, these are the books we most often recommend to managers and executives. ๐Ÿ‘‰ View the full list here: People Experience Reading List

  • DRIVE-ing the Roundabout

    We often talk about motivation as something you either have or you donโ€™t. In reality, ๐ฆ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ž๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฅ๐š๐œ๐ž ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ž๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐žโ€™๐ฌ ๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ, ๐ฆ๐ž๐š๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ง๐ฌ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ. According to Edward Deci and Richard Ryanโ€™s Self -Determination Theory (2000), later popularized by Daniel Pink in Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us…

  • A “DOSE” of Feeling Seen

    We talk about helping people feel seen. Science shows it goes deeper than that. When people feel recognized, trusted, and valued, their bodies release ๐š โ€œ๐ƒ๐Ž๐’๐„โ€ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ง๐ž๐ฎ๐ซ๐จ๐œ๐ก๐ž๐ฆ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ž๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ-๐›๐ž๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž. As described by researcher Loretta Graziano Breuning in “Meet Your Happy Chemicals” (2012), this โ€œ๐ƒ๐Ž๐’๐„โ€ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ: ยท ๐ƒ๐จ๐ฉ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ž, which rewards progress…

  • ๐•๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐š๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ญ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง

    ๐€๐๐ฏ๐จ๐œ๐š๐œ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ž๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ . ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ญ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐œ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ ๐š๐ฉ๐ฌ . ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐ฆ๐š๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ . People count on their manager not just to amplify their work, but to safeguard it. Without that protection, contributions can be ignored, misrepresented, or quietly credited elsewhere. The result? Unfair evaluations, stalled growth, and broken trust. ๐Œ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐›๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐š ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ž๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ž๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฒ ๐ž๐ง๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž ๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐๐ข๐ญ…

  • ๐•๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐š๐ฌ ๐ˆ๐ง๐œ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง

    ๐•๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐›๐ž ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐›๐ฎ๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐ž๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ . The loudest voices, the people sitting closest, and the work thatโ€™s most obvious often get the most attention. But that leaves too many contributions overlooked. ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ž๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐ญ๐ž๐š๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ , ๐ซ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐ญ๐ž ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ , ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐›๐ž๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ -๐ญ๐ก๐ž-๐ฌ๐œ๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐๐ž๐ฌ๐ž๐ซ๐ฏ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐š๐ฆ๐ž ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐š๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฌ๐ž. Without it, their effort…

  • Visibility as Mutual Awareness

    Visibility isnโ€™t just about managers seeing their people. Itโ€™s about teammates seeing each other. Mutual awareness shifts the dynamic. When people see how their contributions fit into the bigger picture (and how their managerโ€™s responsibilities support that picture ) collaboration feels smoother. Teammates anticipate needs, coordinate more easily, and trust that the group is moving…

  • ๐•๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ as ๐€๐๐ฏ๐จ๐œ๐š๐œ๐ฒ

    Visibility isnโ€™t just about what managers notice. Itโ€™s about what they make sure others notice . When managers advocate for their people, they create upward visibility. That could mean spotlighting an individualโ€™s contribution in an executive meeting, naming people when sharing results, or inviting them to present their own work. This matters more than most…