U.S. engagement is 31%.

But 69% of employees are not fully engaged.

Holding steady is not the same as strong performance.

Engagement follows management.

When managers are disengaged, employees lose clarity, support, and connection.

Fixing engagement starts at the team level.

State of the Global Workplace Report Get the workplace trends, global engagement metrics and advice on how organizations can improve the workplace in the State of the Global Workplace Report.

Global engagement is down to 20%.

Gallup estimates disengagement costs $10 trillion in lost productivity.

This is not just culture.
It is performance.

If your best people aren’t on your top priorities, your strategy is already compromised.

Talent alignment isn’t an HR issue.
It’s a strategy issue.

New priorities without removing old ones = slow failure.

If leaders didn’t stop anything, capacity is already broken.

Strategy requires subtraction, not just addition.

“Great plan.”
No movement.

If nothing changed after your planning session, you don’t have execution. You have documentation.

Plans matter only when they change behavior.

Think your team is aligned?

Ask 5 leaders your top 3 priorities.

If you get 5 different answers, it’s not alignment.
It’s assumptions.

Alignment shows up in decisions, not slogans.

Most orgs don’t have a strategy problem; they have an activity overload problem.

If everything is a priority, nothing is.

If your plan doesn’t force tradeoffs, it’s not strategy. It’s a wish list.

The London School of Economics report shows remote work strengthens wellbeing and expands access to talent. Flexible work helps organizations compete beyond local labor markets and build a stronger workforce.

57% of firms report worse collaboration and idea generation in remote work . The issue is not remote work. It is that collaboration now needs to be intentionally designed.

Remote work success depends on management capability. The London School of Economics study shows firms with training and structured practices see better outcomes. It is not policy. It is capability.

The London School of Economics report shows remote work challenges center on coordination: collaboration, monitoring work, and culture. These are management system issues, not location issues.

Remote Work Isn’t the Problem—Poor Management Is, New Study Finds Managers need better training to supervise remote teams.

A recent Inc. article on London School of Economics research finds remote work is not the issue. Poor management is. Remote settings reveal gaps in clarity, communication, and accountability.

Why Storytelling May Be the Most Important — and Most Underrated — Leadership Skill of 2026 While companies invest heavily in technology and analytics, many leaders are overlooking the one skill that actually makes people listen.

Storytelling is a core management capability, shaping how people understand their work, connect to purpose, and act day to day.

Without story, strategy stays abstract. With it, strategy becomes real.

Managers should be intentional about the stories they tell.

Joining us at #ILA2026? Walk away with a storytelling framework for regenerative leadership, tools to build trust, strategies for collective narrative & greater confidence sustaining people and purpose. #LeadingWithStory

Storytelling is more than persuasion — it's a relational practice. Author Jeff Leinaweaver describes it as moving between communication and communion, reconnecting people to shared purpose. Essential for leaders navigating complexity. #Storytelling #ILA2026

Leaders aren't just navigating change — they're navigating prolonged disruption & fatigue, often with tools built for speed over sustainability. Regenerative leadership offers a different path. #ILA2026 #RegenerativeLeadership

28th ILA Global Conference – Toronto 28th ILA Global Conference Leadership in a Complex World: Innovations, Ethics, and Regeneration Toronto, Canada 28 October - 31 October 2026 Polarization. Climate crisis. Digital disruption. The…

Our workshop "Leading Renewal Through Story" was just accepted to the ILA Global Conference in Toronto this October! So excited to bring this work with Shannon Turner from StoryMuse to the world stage. #ILA2026

You may not need a new strategy.
You may just need a better way to execute it.

That’s where we come in.

Strategy must answer:
- Where are we going?
- What matters most?
- How do we measure it?
- Who owns it?

Miss one → execution breaks.

“We just need help implementing.”
→ 6 leaders
→ 6 different priorities

That’s not an execution problem: That’s a clarity problem.

lignment doesn’t happen.
It’s designed.
If your strategy isn’t connected to outcomes, you don’t have alignment—you have assumptions.

Most orgs don’t have a strategy problem.
They have a follow-through problem.
Execution is the whole game.

When performance slips, leaders often look at costs or operations.

Sometimes the better question is:
Do we still understand our customer?

Strategy begins with alignment between what you offer and what customers value.

Brand is often framed as messaging or marketing strategy.

Strong brands also grow through relationships with the communities they serve.

Nike’s renewed focus on athletes shows how brands gain strength when organizations stay connected to their core communities.

We are excited to be accepted to the @theila.bsky.social's AI & Leadership Virtual Summit.

We will lead a roundtable on aligning human and AI capacities in teams.

What changes when AI becomes a full member of the team?

Join us Thursday at 3:15p ET to explore the future of management and teamwork.

Customers do more than buy products.

They shape strategy.

Nike’s leadership is meeting with athletes and sports organizations to rebuild relationships.

Listening to your customers is one of the most powerful sources of strategic insight.

Nike’s renewed focus on athletes highlights an important question for leaders:

Who is your core customer?

Organizations often expand into new markets, but strategy stays grounded when leaders remain closely connected to the people who originally shaped the brand.

Nike’s new CEO is reconnecting the company with the athletes and sports communities that built the brand.

A reminder for managers: financial performance is the foundation, but results are built on relationships with the people you serve.

NYT article:

Two days of writing retreat takeaway:

Strategic clarity improves quickly when leaders create protected thinking time.

Strategy isn’t magic.

It’s structured thinking.

And it works best when treated as a discipline.