The Weekly Minute - August 11, 2023
I’m giddy. We had Vikings preseason action last night.
The English Premier League begins this afternoon. Yay.
While I try to keep this blog more centered around the business, branding, and strategy space– I will never be able to take the sports out of my life.
And this time always gets me so excited for a new fall sports season.
On to my content for this week.
What I Read - from HBR
5 Factors That Make for a Great Employee Experience (via Harvard Business Review)
1. Mutual trust
2. C-suite accountability
3. Alignment of employee values and company vision
4. Recognizing success.
5. Seamless technology to reduce employees’ day-to-day friction
The Simple Power of Communicating with Kindness (via Harvard Business Review)
In today’s world a host of issues are eating away at our connections with each other: Lack of focus, high-speed interactions, political polarization seeping into professional interactions, lack of trust. It’s easy to let daily civilities go by the wayside — or to approach difficult conversations with anger and ferocity — but, the author tells us, her experience as a corporate communications executive points to the benefits for leaders who double down on kindness instead.
She outlines three tactics that work:
Breaking down defensiveness with graciousness
Giving credit
Making space
What I Watched
Former President Barack Obama on ‘This is Working’ (via LinkedIn)
Obama's career advice for young people -- “Just learn how to get stuff done. What I mean by that is I've seen at every level people who are very good at describing problems, people who are very sophisticated at explaining why something went wrong or why something can't get fixed. But, what I’m always looking for is, no matter how small the problem or big it is, somebody who says, ‘Let me take care of that.’ If you project an attitude of whatever it is that’s needed, I can handle it, and I can do it. Whoever is running that organization will notice.”
This is so true and powerful for the next generation of leaders.
TED Talk: Give yourself permission to be creative (via TED)
Reflecting on moments that shaped his life, actor Ethan Hawke examines how courageous expression promotes healing and connection with one another -- and invites you to discover your own unabashed creativity. "There is no path till you walk it," he says.
One Quote
“Goals are for people who care about winning once.
Systems are for people who care about winning repeatedly.” - James Clear |
A Thought On Leadership
People will be more effective leaders when their behaviors indicate that they are one of us, because they share our values, concerns and experiences, and are doing it for us, by looking to advance the interests of the group rather than own personal interests.
Healthcare Corner
“Things I’m Watching in Healthcare 2023” (via Out Of Pocket Health)
Nikhil Krishnan highlights macro trends such as funding slowdown, companies optimizing for cash, customer concentration risks, and shedding of services components. In this, he explores the rise of generative AI companies in healthcare, focusing on back-office tasks, search interfaces, patient support, and more. He delve into challenges and potential of AI in healthcare, including data for AI tuning, AI video analysis, and compliance tech. Finally, Nikhil also discusses rural healthcare challenges and emerging tech-enabled solutions, biosecurity concerns in the pharmaceutical supply chain, opinionated care models, changes in contracting and payment processes, and shifts in small business insurance.
Cheers. Enjoy the weekend.
