Finding Growth in Difficult Workplace Moments
Part of my work involves workplace investigations, which means helping organizations navigate some of their most challenging situations. Sometimes I am contracted to bring the neutrality of a third party. Other times, I work with organizations that have never experienced a formal workplace investigation before and find themselves surprised by the complexity, disruption, and uncertainty the process can create. No organization hopes to need a workplace investigation. Yet the reality is that most workplaces will encounter a situation at some point that requires it. When that happens, it is easy to view the process solely through the lens of allegations, [...]
The Shrinking Engagement Premium: What it Means for Managers and Organizations
Leaders have long been recognized as a key driver of organizational success. They translate strategy into action, shape the employee experience, and influence whether people stay, perform, or disengage. In the past, research has shown that managers tended to be more engaged than individual contributors. But recent data suggests that may be changing. According to Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace report, the largest year-over-year drop in manager engagement occurred between 2024 and 2025—declining five points from 27% to 22%. In short, managers once benefited from an “engagement premium,” but are now increasingly only as engaged as the employees [...]
Culture in Moments
A couple of weeks ago, Sue wrote about why it’s so hard to be a good people leader and why character and commitment matter more than strategy. For my first Insight article with Leaps&Bounds, I wanted to write a piece to build on that idea from a different angle: what actually makes people feel that they matter at work, and why that’s harder than it sounds. The connection between engagement and workplace culture is well recognized, even if it is not always well understood. In my work with organizations, I regularly hear leaders wrestle with choosing language that will guide [...]
