Leadership, Culture, People
Matthew Harrington
The Shifting Dynamics of Work: Remote, Hybrid, ...

Remote and hybrid work models have reshaped the workplace, with high-performing leaders often excelling due to their autonomy, discipline, and results-oriented approach, while lower-performing employees may struggle without direct supervision. Research, such as the Stanford University study, highlights the benefits of hybrid work, particularly in enhancing productivity and retention, though challenges arise when remote work is poorly managed. The future of work requires organizations to balance flexibility and accountability, fostering environments that empower diverse employees and adapt to changing expectations.

The Shifting Dynamics of Work: Remote, Hybrid, and the Leadership Question
Leadership, Culture
Matthew Harrington
Strategic Planning Season: The Importance of ...

This post explores the critical role of strategic planning and visioning in helping organizations navigate uncertainty and long-term challenges. It emphasizes the importance of staying at a strategic level, resisting the pull toward immediate tactical fixes, and focusing on the pillars that drive success: leadership, innovation, operations, and customer focus. With actionable steps and insights, it provides a framework for crafting meaningful, future-oriented plans that transform strategic dreams into achievable realities.

Strategic Planning Season: The Importance of Vision in Uncertain Times
Leadership, Culture
Matthew Harrington
The Overlap of Conflict, Vulnerability, Trust, ...

True innovation exists at the intersection of trust, vulnerability, and constructive conflict. As leaders, our role is to create the conditions for innovation to thrive. That means checking our egos, fostering trust, and modeling vulnerability. It means leaning into conflict, embracing discomfort, and having the courage to confront the most brutal facts of our current reality.

The Overlap of Conflict, Vulnerability, Trust, and Innovation
Leadership, Culture
Matthew Harrington
Putting Values Into Action: The Cornerstone of ...

When teaching or coaching emerging leaders, one topic I push hard on is values. Values refer to the fundamental beliefs and guiding principles that define what an individual, organization, or community stands for. These principles act as a moral and operational compass, influencing behavior, decision-making, and culture.  They are part of the magic three: mission, vision and values.

Putting Values Into Action: The Cornerstone of Leadership
Leadership
Matthew Harrington
Election Reflection: When Does a Vision Become ...

Reflecting on the recent election, the Harris campaign's lack of a clear and compelling vision became evident in contrast to Trump’s well-communicated stance, making it challenging for voters to see her future for America. Drawing from the change formula, a successful campaign requires acknowledging dissatisfaction, defining a visionary goal, and setting clear steps toward achieving it—elements that were more apparent in Obama’s 2008 campaign, where “hope and change” aligned with voters' aspirations and activated widespread engagement. Ultimately, the Harris campaign's struggles highlight the need for leaders to craft a vision that resonates powerfully and unites people around a shared purpose, as fear alone can often overshadow hope if it lacks sufficient clarity and preparation.

Election Reflection: When Does a Vision Become Lost—or Was It Never Realized in the First Place?

xpollination

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XPollination (Ep. 20) - Millennials and Talent Development

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XPollination (Ep. 20) - Millennials and Talent Development

Today we have special guest Bruce Tulgan, bestselling author of It's Okay to Be the Boss, Not Everyone Gets a Trophy and his most recent book, Bridging the Soft Skills Gap, joining us for our 20th episode. Bruce is internationally recognized as the leading expert on young people in the workplace and one of the leading experts on leadership and management. Bruce has worked with tens of thousands of leaders and managers in hundreds of organizations ranging from Aetna to Wal-Mart; from the Army to the YMCA.  Bruce was named by Management Today as one of the few contemporary figures to stand out as a “management guru.” Bruce also lectures at the Yale Graduate School of Management and writes articles for many different associations including TRAINING magazine and the Huffington Post.  Before founding his company, RainmakerThinking in 1993, Bruce practiced law at the Wall Street firm of Carter, Ledyard & Milburn.

XPollination (Ep. 16) - Millennials and Branding

XPollination (Ep. 16) - Millennials and Branding

Special guest Jacques Bastien: Millennial Marketer, Hustlepreneur, Professor, Speaker, Writer, Designer, Founder of boogie, Breadcrumbs, and Authenpic is joining us today on another edition of XPollination.  The founder of boogie (boogie.nyc), a disruptive social media and viral marketing agency helping brands engage with Millennials through photos, videos, music and conversations, Jacques has offices in Albany NY, Brooklyn NY and Los Angeles, CA .  He is also a partner/investor/founder at a few others startups, including Cased Up (casedup.co), Breadcrumbs (trybreadcrumbs.com), Authenpic (authenpicapp.com), and What The Fee (whatthefee.co).

Jacques’s passion is in technology, startups, entrepreneurship, fashion, and social media. He runs a blog called hustlepreneur.co to help inspire, motivate and educate other young entrepreneurs. He is currently writing a book with my wife about young relationships. This book will feature stories from their relationship.

Jacques was the featured speaker this week at Startup Grind, which is powered by Google for entrepreneurs, as an up and coming young entrepreneur to watch. 

XPollination (Ep. 12) - Millennials and Productivity

XPollination (Ep. 12) - Millennials and Productivity

Special guest Porter Knight with Productivity Vermont, a company dedicated to empowering busy professionals to achieve more at work, joins us on this XPollination episode. They believe that productivity doesn’t just happen; it begins with a conscious commitment. It requires skill and decision-making to thrive, and may need ongoing support to sustain. Productivity Vermont sets out to create a system that fosters these characteristics in the workplace.

Their powerful strategies have helped thousands of executives, employees, and entrepreneurs acquire a greater sense of purpose, hone their decision-making skills, and achieve greater life balance while boosting their performance at work.

XPollination (Ep. 11) - Young Professional Networks

XPollination (Ep. 11) - Young Professional Networks

We talk to special guests Kara Wilhelm, Chair of Albany, New York’s Young Professional Network (YPN) and Lauren Cataldo, Program Chair of that same YPN. The mission of the Capital Region YPN is to attract and retain a talented workforce in Tech Valley by serving as a catalyst to connect, develop, and empower young professionals.  Their vision is to be recognized as the premier young professional initiative in the Capital Region offering exceptional professional development, networking, and civic engagement opportunities to ensure a strong talent pipeline in Tech Valley.  Tune in to learn more about why a YPN should exist in your local community to support the development of young Millennialleaders.

XPollination (Ep. 9) - Leading Where You Stand in 2015

XPollination (Ep. 9) - Leading Where You Stand in 2015

Matthew Harrington is joined once again by co-author and partner Deborah Mackin as they discuss emerging trends, hotspots and pitfalls in leadership in 2015.  Join the dynamic duo as they bring practical, real-world experiences into the podcast and provide insight into where leadership is heading in the New Year.

XPollination Podcast: Young Leaders in Nonprofits (Special Guest Eli Harrington)

XPollination Podcast: Young Leaders in Nonprofits (Special Guest Eli Harrington)

Eli Harrington is the new Executive Director at Technology of Tomorrow.  As the Director he is responsible for working with the board of directors, volunteers, and program participants to rapidly increase the scope and scale of his nonprofit.  We sit down with him and discuss how he's developing new programs, community outreach and his interest in the Millennial generation.