SquarePatch

10/02/2025

The latest question I’m working on is:

“When does an employee thrive personally and professionally?

And how?”

——

The works of Daniel Pink and Hamel/Zanini both point to one critical factor:

Autonomy and upside

When employees are seen as a commodity resources doing community work, it diminishes their agency and potential.

However, when people are seen as adding value to the organization and given autonomy (and upside) to other work, just about every measure is increased: performance, engagement, and purpose.

09/01/2024

Managers wait for their supervisor to give them direction.

Leaders see a need a make something happen. If you're a manager that feels stuck, try these practices (see slide 2)

06/20/2024

High five them. Praise them in a meeting. 👏 clap! Share what they did well.

05/29/2024

The work of the corporate chaplain.

05/23/2024

I asked a few organizations recently to map themselves on the organizationallife cycle. One said they were in their prime. The other said, they didn’t know. And the last one knew that theywere in decline.

The second question I asked them is when they thought it was best to renew their vision. The first one got it right. The other two felt the sense of loss.

God makes beautiful things out of dust. There can be new life after death. But something does have to die and there will be loss in order to make room for the new.

05/21/2024

I absolutely love this. As a chaplain at a car dealership, I don’t hold a position with authority. But I have a basic attitude towards life, one that works on MAKING something happen.

For years, I heard the plight of employees feeling like they were at the mercy of undeveloped managers. “What can I do about it?”

I now encourage employees to think about ways to transform the culture, making something happen. Maybe it’s learning to have productive conflict, addressing the elephant in the room. Maybe it’s just being the best worker they can. And sometimes (not many), it’s moving on to something new.

We are not helpless. The struggle can be real and can feel like a curse, but we seek to be light and make something happen.

05/20/2024

“What distinguishes a leader from a non-leader is not position or office or role but rather, a basic attitude to life. Others wait for something to happen; leaders help make something happen. While others curse the darkness, a leader lights a light.“

Jonathan Sacks
Lessons in Leadership

06/05/2023

Listening is a skill that is deeply needed today.

Book recommendation: “You’re Not Listening”, by Kate Murphy

04/28/2023

Evolving from Reactive anxiety to a Creative mindset is a needed developmental shift in today’s workplace and is a sign of growth and mature adulthood.

1) get a coach or someone who can help you develop from reactive anxiety to creative energy.

2) stay curious and empathetic with yourself and others.

3) foster trust and faith. The other road of fear leads to continuous wounding and frustration.

04/26/2023

"People who are courageous are passionate about their purposeful work and cultivating a healthy workplace culture. When we practice courage, it aligns us more towards who we long to be because the opposite of fear is love. And when we practice courage, we are practicing forms of love and common good."

Workplace Courage Practice Two: Facing your fears Courage :  committing to do the right thing even when it is scary I recently heard someone say that courage feels a lot like fear.  I connected with that.  The virtue of courage is like a muscle that has to be exercised