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?

Culture

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Fostering Humanity in Community Leadership

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Fostering Humanity in Community Leadership

As communities (both at work and in life) grapple with shifting values and ethics, steering away from a shared sense of humanity, the perilous path of individualism and vested interests looms. This phenomenon of individualism finds its roots in a focus on personal feelings and self-actualization, championed by great minds like Emerson and Thoreau. However, I would argue that in order to find ourselves, we have lost each other. The antidote to strict individualism lies in the love of humanity, a force that transcends self-interest and places communal well-being at its core.

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Creating Pragmatic Hope In Your Community

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Creating Pragmatic Hope In Your Community

Hope can be a faint glimmer on the distant horizon. It can keep us moving on the journey of community, belonging and love. Hope is a way of thinking - a cognitive process - or as C. R. Snyder called it a trilogy of: goals, pathways and agency.

Yes, hope is also based in emotions and can greatly inspire us to reach the highest heights, however its core is in ‘function.’  We experience hope when we can set realistic goals, when we can stay flexible and develop alternative pathways, and when we believe in ourselves or “agency.”

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Building Bridges: The Transformative Power of Hospitality in the Workplace and Communities

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Building Bridges: The Transformative Power of Hospitality in the Workplace and Communities

Community, a term encompassing our town halls, spiritual centers, workplaces, and backyards, holds diverse meanings for different people. It can signify gathering, progress, workplace teams, civic justice, or merely the coming together of a people. Amid these various perspectives, one often overlooked concept stands out as a powerful force capable of transforming communities from the inside out: hospitality.

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Craving Connection: The Deep Roots of Belonging in Human Existence

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Craving Connection: The Deep Roots of Belonging in Human Existence

In the intricate tapestry of human existence, one common thread binds us all – the innate need for belonging. Recent research underscores the significance of finding a sense of belonging within close social relationships and communities for overall well-being. At our core, we are social beings, interdependent on one another for survival, and the ability to belong is a powerful force shaping our lives.

Culture vs. Community: Navigating the Truth of Connection

Culture vs. Community: Navigating the Truth of Connection

Culture and community are two intertwined concepts that shape the fabric of societies, defining the uniqueness of each group. While culture helps us differentiate societies, community goes beyond mere description, fostering a sense of fellowship among individuals who share common attitudes, interests, and goals within a specific area

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The 4 Things You Need To Be a Great Remote Leader

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The 4 Things You Need To Be a Great Remote Leader

When it comes to remote work or some variation of it (hybrid work), the only negotiable is the speed at which we are willing to change our workplaces, not the change itself. Hopefully these 4 elements will give you a head start in adapting your workplace. Don’t wait to go completely remote, these tools work well with traditional workplaces too!

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How Do We Begin To Evaluate the Success of Organizations?

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How Do We Begin To Evaluate the Success of Organizations?

The list provided is about attaining objective, quantifiable data. It is not about the single opinion of the executive leader, the marketing campaign or the board president. Facts over opinions. True success over the need for money or your vote. Or as Deming is famous for saying, ”In God we trust. All others must bring data.”


Building a Long-Lasting, Great Company By Answering These Fundamental Questions

Building a Long-Lasting, Great Company By Answering These Fundamental Questions

Thesis: If you don't know who you are, where you're going (or want to take other people like your customers) or why you're doing this (the business), no amount of marketing in the world will help you create a great, lasting company, product or service. The story you share with your customers and could-be customers has to be true, authentic, passionate and align with your internal self (as a business).

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Using a One Page Strategy To Get People To Buy Into Your Vision

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Using a One Page Strategy To Get People To Buy Into Your Vision

The One Page Strategy (OPS) has helped many pull together strategic and yearly plans and goals all on one sheet. The idea is that by putting it on one sheet you can look at it throughout the year to make progress on those goals. Not only are all your goals and projects on one sheet, it also holds you and your team accountable as you look at it from time to time throughout the year to measure your effectiveness in achieving your goals.

Why your organization’s new vision is failing and what you can do about it

Why your organization’s new vision is failing and what you can do about it

When I start to tackle a vision for a new project, committee or for an organization, I think of it as “change.”  You are asking a group of people to go from where it’s comfortable, familiar and the way they’ve always done something to a new place that can be scary, as well as exciting.  That’s a big ask.  You’re asking people to change and realize your vision. Implementing a successful vision shouldn’t be left to the elite or once-in-a-generation geniuses.  You can do it too.  You’ve heard the quote 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration.  I think there’s a lot of that quote in the implementation of vision statements.