At ConantLeadership, we’re dedicated to lifelong studying and steady enchancment. In service to your management development, every month we curate this digest of assets from across the internet to:
- Share actionable recommendation from high management luminaries
- Have a good time a variety of viewpoints (inclusion isn’t an endorsement)
- Contextualize office tendencies by means of a management lens
- Illuminate cultural recalibrations on the earth of labor
- Assist your private improvement in life, management, & past
On this version of the Management That Works E-newsletter: Widespread misconceptions about psychological security, a survival information for American enterprise, stay regular in a wobbly world, studying the ‘Godzilla Methodology,’ and extra.
As at all times, we’re sharing the content material from our Management That Works publication right here on our weblog. In case you discover these hyperlinks enriching, you possibly can signal as much as obtain our publication proper right here.
‘Nice Leaders Make Which means’—2 Goal-Pushed CEOs on ‘Individuals First’ Management
In this new weblog recap of a dialog between Deanna Mulligan, CEO of Purposeful and former chair and CEO of Guardian Life Insurance coverage, and Doug Conant, Founder and CEO of ConantLeadership, these two purpose-driven CEOs share their suggestions for making work a extra significant expertise for everybody. They are saying the important thing to creating which means is adopting a “folks first” method to management and provide a number of suggestions for doing so. Listed below are 3 key takeaways.
Empathy Is a Management Talent. “Traditionally, empathy is ‘extremely priceless’ in instances of change and disruption and ‘is what will get us by means of, regardless of the place we’re on the political spectrum.’”
Rescale and Redeploy Present Expertise. Mulligan emphasizes the significance of “retraining, rescaling, and redeploying” workers slightly than solely chasing contemporary expertise or changing folks en masse with AI options, as a result of “it’s the best factor to do.”
Say and Repeat Your Goal. Conant says it’s very important to declare your function so folks study to work to the “regular drumbeat” of your management rhythm: “Your viewers wants to listen to you say it, must know that you simply imply it, that you simply’re keen to declare it. And that you’ve each intention of strolling the discuss.”
Get the complete story right here.
**Registration is now open for our ninth BLUEPRINT Management Summit, a digital assembly of high management luminaries, on September 15-19, 2025. Full agenda and lineup shall be introduced quickly and you may safe your free spot right here.
Widespread Misconceptions about Psychological Security
“Psychological security—a shared perception amongst workforce members that it’s OK to talk up with candor—has develop into a preferred idea. Nonetheless, as its recognition has grown, so too have misconceptions about it,” say Amy C. Edmondson and Michaela J. Kerrissey in this Harvard Enterprise Assessment article that seeks to set the report straight about what psychological security is, and what it isn’t. Leaders who can successfully talk in regards to the idea shall be higher outfitted to “cease incorrect assumptions earlier than they achieve damaging drive, and preserve folks targeted on the worth to be gained from candor.” The authors share six widespread misconceptions within the full article, and listed below are three.
False impression 1 – Psychological Security Means Being Good. “Eager to be good, folks keep away from being trustworthy and, whether or not they understand it or not, collude in producing ignorance and mediocrity. As a result of with out candid suggestions and open sharing of knowledge—dangerous and good—coordination, high quality, and studying on a workforce or a mission undergo.”
False impression 2 – Psychological Security Means Getting Your Manner. “Psychological security is about ensuring leaders or groups hear what folks assume. It’s not about forcing them to agree with what they hear. The purpose is to succeed in determination or stop a defect in a product. It’s useful to consider psychological security not as a present for one participant however slightly as an setting for the entire workforce.”
False impression 3 – Psychological Security Requires a Commerce-Off with Efficiency. “Psychological security and accountability are distinct dimensions. To resolve which is extra vital is to impose a false dichotomy. When each are low, efficiency and morale clearly undergo . . . In any unsure setting, very good efficiency requires a dedication to each excessive requirements and psychological security.”
Get the complete story, together with directions for countering every of the six widespread misconceptions, right here.
**For extra on this, discover our protection of a dialog between Doug Conant and Amy C. Edmondson on psychological security, “It’s Not All Enjoyable and Video games and Ice Cream.”
A Survival Information for American Enterprise within the New Geopolitical Period
Matt Watters and Shubham Singhal, the authors of this McKinsey deep dive on the methods altering geopolitics are affecting American enterprise, say as we speak’s executives “see geopolitics as the best danger to financial development,” they usually largely “perceive {that a} reconfiguration of world commerce is underway” amidst tariffs and different markers of disruption. Whereas some leaders’ intuition could also be to scramble to react to looming adjustments, the authors say that managers ought to as a substitute double down on strategic pondering, to “be proactive and shift their mindsets from near-term danger mitigation to long-term worth creation.” Their beneficial method requires three key actions.
1. Accelerating development. “By analyzing a variety of development eventualities” throughout ten key worth drivers, “companies can discover alternatives for business acceleration and portfolio rebalancing.”
2. Optimizing core operations. “Enterprise leaders can increase organizational resilience and enhance cost-effectiveness with strikes throughout operations, provider relationships, world expertise capabilities, and know-how infrastructure.
3. Constructing new geopolitical capabilities and techniques. “To take efficient motion, corporations want a globally acutely aware company technique, fashionable authorized buildings, and the best groups and processes in place to reply to geopolitical occasions.”
Get the complete story right here, together with in-depth evaluation of ten key worth drivers, case research, analysis summaries, and extra granular recommendation for making use of these methods.
The ‘Keep Interview’ Is the New ‘Exit Interview’
“If the following time you sit down to fulfill with high expertise is throughout an exit interview, then it’s too late,” writes Shaun Aguilera in this Nice Place to Work piece in regards to the follow of retaining valued workers by means of an train referred to as “the keep interview.” He says a keep interview is a proactive, “casual, employee-focused dialog,” that gives managers a manner “to sit down down with their first stories to grasp how they’re feeling of their present function,” and to “achieve candid perception into the worker expertise.” Whereas keep interviews, like exit interviews, are a chance to pursue a deeper understanding of firm tradition, Aguilera says the important thing distinction is a give attention to making certain “your individuals are thriving throughout the group.” He cites 4 the explanation why organizations ought to think about conducting keep interviews.
1. Improved retention charges
2. Larger worker satisfaction and engagement
3. Early identification of office challenges
4. Strengthened belief between workers and leaders
Aguilera stresses {that a} keep interview shouldn’t be an appraisal of efficiency: “Listening is on the coronary heart of making a high-trust tradition. In contrast to an annual efficiency evaluation, a keep interview is a chance for management to lean in and hear.” Get the complete story right here.
How you can Stay Regular in a Wobbly World
1. Begin with a “What Issues” listing—not a to-do listing. “Write down 1–2 issues that genuinely deserve your care as we speak. Not what’s loudest. Not what’s urgent-but-unimportant. Simply what issues . . . defend that. Let the remainder flex.”
2. Create your “uncertainty script.” As a pacesetter, “You don’t want all of the solutions. What folks want most is somebody keen to call” the uncertainty clearly. Attempt: “Right here’s what we all know. Right here’s what we don’t. Right here’s what we’re watching.”
3. Select one joyful non-negotiable—and calendar it. “Don’t intention for an ideal wellness routine. Decide one factor that makes you are feeling such as you once more, and defend it like another assembly in your calendar. Pleasure is a technique for staying within the sport.”
Get the complete story, and extra methods for remaining regular when the world wobbles, right here.
Why ‘Authorship Is Possession’
“Imagine a office the place groups are empowered to make choices sooner and nearer to the shopper,” write Abbey Bonham and Anne Wilson in this Chief Govt put up on facilitate extra environment friendly determination making and follow-through. The authors suggest constructing what they name an “authorship is possession” tradition which is predicated on the concept that “individuals are extra invested in concepts and outcomes they’ve helped create.” They make clear that this tradition is “not about giving free rein to each concept however involving workers early in shaping the methods and initiatives they’ll later execute.” Bonham and Wilson spell out 4 clear steps “to embed ‘authorship is possession’ into your workforce’s DNA,” and listed below are the primary two.
1. Contain workforce members in determination making. “Relatively than relying solely on top-down directives, create structured alternatives for workers from related departments to share their experiences and insights . . . by deliberately partaking workers this fashion, they develop a way of possession and usually tend to help and act on the outcomes.”
2. Empower groups with clear steerage and adaptability. “Profitable organizations strike a stability between offering strategic route and inspiring the adaptability wanted to fulfill altering calls for. This begins with giving clear route and guardrails on the ‘what’ is anticipated after which permitting the workforce to determine the ‘how’ to get there.”
Get the complete story right here.
**For extra on this, learn our piece on why “change is a bunch effort” and leaders should first earn buy-in on any transformation.
Future-Proof Your Staff with the ‘Godzilla Methodology’
“The time period ‘Godzilla Methodology’ may sound like one thing from a sci-fi film, nevertheless it’s primarily based on strong technique,” writes Howie Jones in this Calendar put up on “put together organizations for moments of uncertainty and disruption.” He explains that the methodology is predicated “on navy pondering—particularly the ‘heart of gravity’ idea,” which includes discovering the “single most important level in a system that, if disrupted, may trigger all the system to break down.” This important level may very well be something, from “a provide line or a key chief” to “a workforce lead or piece of scheduling software program.” The Godzilla methodology goals to find the “heart of gravity” by simulating chaos so your key vulnerabilities are revealed by Godzilla “symbolically stomping by means of your processes.” Jones says the methodology is uniquely proactive as a result of it “doesn’t await catastrophe to strike. It actively seeks it out on purpose.” He says to “consider it as a hearth drill. You’re not hoping for a hearth however need to be ready,” so use the train to “stroll by means of worst-case eventualities and ask robust questions” e.g., “what if the mission lead disappears?,” or “what if the shopper strikes the deadline up by a month?” Asking these questions forces groups to think about “a Godzilla-sized disruption—like dropping entry to their calendar for a day or having a key participant out unexpectedly,” and permits them to extra clearly diagnose “operational and structural dangers—the place communication, delegation, or documentation is lacking or weak.” Get the complete story right here.
Stress Can Be as Contagious as a Chilly
“A big physique of proof exhibits that stress is a type of so-called emotional contagion and might, in actual fact, unfold amongst members in a bunch remarkably rapidly—and have a lingering impact that lasts for hours, even days,” writes Kari Molvar in this Vogue piece on bolster your defenses in opposition to contagious stress. She says the explanation individuals are innately attuned to the stress ranges of our fellow people is “hardwired into our biology for survival.” If we will acknowledge and internalize a menace to the group by being delicate to rising stress ranges in our friends, we will react rapidly to save lots of ourselves and others. In a contemporary setting, the place “the specter of being eaten by a predator is just about nonexistent,” Molvar says we nonetheless decide up on these indicators of exterior threats, even in refined methods, so it’s helpful to study some methods for dealing with contagious stress and stopping “the unfold to these in your circle.” She shares a number of suggestions for coping with secondhand stress and listed below are two.
Maintain Area and Breathe. First, it’s useful to do a psychological verify to determine if the stress you’re feeling is admittedly yours or another person’s. That creates a “psychological buffer” which permits you the attitude essential to calm your self down with breathwork. One technique is to “Inhale slowly for 4 counts, maintain the breath for 4 counts, after which exhale for 4 counts,” and repeat for “4 minutes.”
Sit with the Dangerous Emotions. In case you can’t immunize your self from ambient stress fully, some consultants recommends using out the troublesome feelings with a coping approach referred to as RAIN: “Acknowledge what is occurring; Enable the expertise to be there; Examine what emotions come up for you; and Nurture your self with constructive options.”
Get the complete story right here.
**For extra on bolstering your capability to cope with exterior stressors, discover our 6-step BLUEPRINT course of which helps you develop a powerful management Basis that empowers you to resist the winds of change.
New from ConantLeadership
‘Be the Keeper of the Flame’—How you can Create Inspiring Office Cultures
In Doug Conant’s dialog with Amanda Poole, Chief Individuals Officer at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), each leaders share suggestions for creating office cultures that encourage folks and drive innovation.
Doug Conant on the LeaderSHOP Podcast
In Doug Conant’s dialog with Rodger Dean Duncan on the LeaderSHOP podcast, he shares his journey from being fired to redefining management with function and fervour. In case you’re navigating your profession and questioning present up as your greatest self, this episode is for you
Doug Conant In LEADERS Journal: ‘Belief Is Mission Essential’
In this current interview in LEADERS Journal, Doug Conant shares insights from a profession as a turnaround CEO: “In my expertise, constructing belief is the one approach to create a permanent enterprise and lasting worth.” He says place to start out “is by getting only one step nearer to folks than you may have up to now. Be current with others and hear. Attempt to do just a bit bit higher tomorrow than you probably did as we speak.” Learn the complete interview right here.
March’s Management That Works E-newsletter
In final month’s publication: Change your habits, leverage your ‘tribal instincts,’ embrace ‘zigzag’ work, develop an ‘inspirational imaginative and prescient,’ make higher choices, and extra.
In regards to the Writer: Amy Federman is ConantLeadership’s Director of Content material and Editor in Chief, and co-author with Doug Conant of the WSJ bestseller, The Blueprint.
(Header photograph by Natalie Kinnear on Unsplash)
