Weekly Posts and Insights
Status, Respect, and the 10–25 Brain: Rethinking Young Talent at Work I Season 1 Finale of Direct Application with Matt Harrington
In the Season 1 finale of Direct Application, host Matt Harrington sits down with Dr. David Yeager, bestselling author of 10–25: The Science of Motivating Young People, for a timely and practical conversation on leadership, motivation, and the future of work.
Dr. Yeager’s research challenges one of the most common — and costly — assumptions in organizations today: that young people ages 10 to 25 are inherently immature or incompetent. Instead, he reframes adolescence and early adulthood as a distinct developmental window where status, respect, belonging, and purpose are the primary drivers of engagement and performance.
Together, Matt and David explore how leaders, managers, and organizations can apply these insights directly in the workplace — without lowering standards or sacrificing results.
Getting the Most Out of Your Work Teams
A practical guide to building high-performance teams through trust, structure, shared accountability, and intentional leadership—designed for modern organizations and leaders.
Tuckman’s Team Development Wheel, Revisited — Part 3: The Norming Stage
Explore the Norming stage of Tuckman’s Team Development Model, where teams shift from conflict to cohesion and begin choosing collaboration over individuality. This post blends team-building methods with modern research on psychological safety, accountability, and shared mental models to explain how teams stabilize, strengthen trust, and build the foundation for high performance. Learn key coaching strategies for supporting autonomy, reinforcing positive norms, and guiding teams toward the Performing stage.
Tuckman’s Team Development Wheel, Revisited — Part 2: The Storming Stage
Explore the Storming stage of Tuckman’s Team Development Model and learn how teams navigate conflict, control issues, and growing pains on the path to high performance. This post offers practical strategies for leaders and coaches to guide teams through turbulence and into true collaboration.
The Team Development Wheel Revisited: The Forming Stage in Modern Teamwork
Discover how teams move through Tuckman’s Forming stage and learn practical strategies for building trust, structure, and early momentum. This post explores modern research on psychological safety, team norms, and effective coaching behaviors to help leaders accelerate team maturity and lay a strong foundation for high-performance collaboration.
Leading Beyond the Grind: Lessons in Learning Before Earning, Health, Hustle, & 20-Hour Work Week I Direct Application with Matt Harrington
In this interview episode of Direct Application we talk to Bennett Maxwell — entrepreneur, founder of Dirty Dough, now with Craveworthy Brands! Bennett’s journey is one of grit, reinvention, and radical transparency. He grew up knocking doors in Utah, dropped out of a pre-med track to chase communication and sales, built and sold companies in multiple industries, scaled Dirty Dough to more than 450 franchises sold, helped ignite a national “cookie war,” and then completely rebuilt his physical and mental health — losing 120+ pounds along the way.
Empowering People Too Early (And Why It Backfires)
A practical leadership guide to the IEE Continuum—Include, Engage, Empower—and why empowering employees too early leads to failure and frustration. Learn how to develop supervisors, managers, and rising leaders through intentional modeling, coaching, and earned autonomy. Includes real-world scenarios for applying the IEE model to performance conversations, meetings, and cross-department projects.
‘It’s Faster If I Do It Myself’… and Other Reasons Why Your Culture Lacks Accountability
This post breaks down why excellence starts with belief, not checklists, how psychological safety fuels accountability, why leaders must model the yardstick for quality, and how ownership—not oversight—creates a culture of accountability. This post is a guide for leaders who want to strengthen culture, elevate performance, and develop truly accountable teams.
Team Protocols: Help/Hinder List I Direct Application with Matt Harrington
In this episode of Direct Application, host Matt Harrington breaks down one of the most practical frameworks for high-performance teamwork: the Help/Hinder list — a simple, powerful first agreement that sets the foundation for trust, accountability, and inclusive excellence.
Leadership & Teams (and a Personal Story) I Direct Application with Matt Harrington
Building a team-based culture isn’t a retreat or an initiative that fades by November. It’s a long game - years, not months - and it begins and ends with leadership commitment. In this episode of my podcast, Direct Application, I reflect on those early lessons from Deb and what they still mean for leaders today: