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?
Leadership
Matthew Harrington
Lincoln’s Leadership: A Blueprint for Resilient ...

As Election Day 2024 nears, reflecting on Abraham Lincoln’s legacy offers valuable insights into adaptive leadership, resilience, and unity. Known for his humility, conviction, and strategic flexibility, Lincoln showed how true leaders use disruptions to inspire lasting change. This election, we can look to Lincoln’s example of courage and empathy, guiding us to face challenges boldly and strive for a united future.

Lincoln’s Leadership: A Blueprint for Resilient Leadership Beyond Election Day
People, Leadership
Matthew Harrington
Navigating Conflict in the Workplace: The ...

Conflict at work is inevitable, but with the right tools, it can become an opportunity for growth. In this post we explore how leaders can guide teams through conflict by understanding how the brain processes emotions through the downstairs, middle room, and upstairs functions of the brain.

Navigating Conflict in the Workplace: The Downstairs, Middle Room and Upstairs of Resolution
Culture, People
Matthew Harrington
Belief-Behavior Conversations In Action: How ...

Belief-behavior conversations, as we discussed in our e-book: Revitalize and Retain Staff, aim to address the root causes behind actions, rather than merely correcting surface-level behavior. Pixar’s leadership used this approach to facilitate open, meaningful dialogues, helping the team uncover the underlying beliefs fueling their actions. Once these beliefs were identified, leaders guided team members toward reframing them, creating lasting behavioral change.

Belief-Behavior Conversations In Action: How Pixar Transformed Team Dynamics and Communication
People, Leadership, Culture
Matthew Harrington
Leadership Growth Lattice in Action: How ...

Discover how LinkedIn transformed employee growth and retention with the Leadership Growth Lattice, a modern alternative to traditional career ladders. By encouraging skill development, cross-functional teamwork, mentorship, volunteerism, and alignment with personal life goals, LinkedIn fostered a culture of continuous learning and flexibility. This holistic approach empowered employees, reduced turnover, and fueled innovation, positioning LinkedIn as a top employer in the competitive tech industry.

Leadership Growth Lattice in Action: How LinkedIn Embraced Holistic Employee Development to Drive Retention and Innovation

Culture

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Dissatisfaction with Status Quo and the Case for Change: Part 1

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Dissatisfaction with Status Quo and the Case for Change: Part 1

The Change Formula, a tool introduced recently, emphasizes the necessity of Dissatisfaction (D) with the status quo for meaningful change to occur. Dissatisfaction stems from various sources within communities or organizations, such as performance gaps, external pressures, cultural misalignment, and leadership issues. Addressing dissatisfaction is crucial as it can lead to resistance, decreased morale, missed opportunities, and hindrance to organizational growth. Real-life examples illustrate the importance of recognizing dissatisfaction and driving change, whether it's transitioning to a team-based organization, expanding regionally for impact, or adapting to evolving EMS models.

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How Do We Drive Change in our Communities

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How Do We Drive Change in our Communities

Have you ever found yourself wanting to implement some kind of change either in your community or at your place of business and realized you didn’t have the support to make it happen? Over the course of the next 3-4 weeks, we will explore each element of the Change Formula creating a pragmatic, directly applicable model you and your team can now start to follow when implementing change.

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Embracing Change: Navigating the Ever-Changing Landscape of Community Leadership

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Embracing Change: Navigating the Ever-Changing Landscape of Community Leadership

We must be change agents.  If change will already happen constantly, we must work as community leaders to guide that change for the better. We will spend some time over the next few weeks diving deep into change so that we can better understand, with fanatic discipline and empirical creativity, how we can master change.

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Creating Helpfulness In Community by LEADing

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Creating Helpfulness In Community by LEADing

When we are called to provide hope, humanity, humility and helpfulness through LEADing. We must first Look around and pay attention finding moments and opportunities to empathize. Empathize by perspective taking, being non judgemental, recognizing emotion, communicating and practicing mindfulness. Acknowledge the truth of the current situation. Decide what actions need to be taken (if any).

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Turning Community Building and Leadership Upside Down

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Turning Community Building and Leadership Upside Down

The Upside-Down Community Leadership concept envisions leaders at the bottom, serving and uplifting the community members. This inversion reflects a shift from self-centered leadership to a more altruistic and community-centric approach. The core principles of the Upside-Down Community concept align with virtues such as humility, compassion, and service to others. By adopting a servant-leadership mindset, community leaders prioritize the well-being of the community over personal gain. This model encourages leaders to lead by example, demonstrating that true greatness arises from selfless service and a commitment to the collective good.

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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.