Robert Glazer’s Post

If you conduct an anonymous survey at your company and find people stating they are very unhappy or disengaged, you have a few options. 🛑 What you should not do is start a witch hunt to figure out who these people are. Because then, no one will be honest in the future. 👍 What you should do is share the data with the company and encourage people in these quadrants to come forward safely and talk about either how you can make it better and/or help them find a new job with a generous package to leave as soon as possible. We tend to be worried about the people who will quit our organizations, but the far more dangerous people at your company are the ones who “quit and stay”. Even after they leave, you find a trail of neglect and poor-quality work.  

This week on the Elevate Podcast, it was a pleasure to have Corey Thomas, Chairman and CEO of Rapid7, join me on the Elevate Podcast. Corey has excelled as a leader at some of the world's largest companies, has served as a Director on the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and served on the White House Council on Foreign Relations. In our conversation, he shares a treasure trove of lessons from a life of servant leadership--check it out wherever you get your podcasts.

Groupthink is incredibly dangerous. There are a lot of well-meaning kids who are getting swept up into mobs supporting and shouting things they don’t even understand. From proudly displaying posters of convicted terrorists who are in jail for murder, without knowing who they are, to promoting violence and endorsing terrorism. Given the prevalence of video today, there will be accountability and consequences, especially with future prospective employers. For a generation that has grown up with minimal exposure to accountability or consequences from parents or institutions, I anticipate a significant amount of remorse, accompanied by attempts to shift blame onto others for their actions. Free speech is not freedom from consequences. I guess some lessons need to be learned in the real world, not just in the classroom.  

Four years ago, I did a TEDx talk titled “It’s Time to End Two Weeks' Notice.” I also wrote a book on the same topic. But then COVID hit, I shelved the book temporarily and got caught up in other projects. The employee/employer dynamic has been a rollercoaster in the years since COVID and I believe this content is needed now more than ever. I have updated the book and plan to release it for free this summer. But first, I need help picking a title. 📒 💡 Bonus: Tell me which subtitle you like best in the comments or add a new one, and I will invite you to a private launch event.    Subtitles: Rethinking Employee Departures and Eliminating Two Weeks’ Notice How to Eliminate/End The Broken Two Weeks Notice Paradigm Reinventing the Rulebook on Employee Exits and Eliminating Two-Week Notices Transforming Employee Departures and Ending The Two-Week Notice Paradigm

Leading a company when everything is going well is not that difficult. However, over my career, I have seen far too many leaders turn from Jekyll to Hyde at the first sign of a crisis. It’s almost always those turbulent moments that define an organization and its leaders.  

It's truly astonishing and hypocritical to see some professors and journalists at Columbia University defending mob rule under the premise of protecting free speech. Students are not being denied free speech; rather, their behavior clearly violates multiple existing rules and is creating a disruptive and hostile environment. Furthermore, these are the same individuals who have advocated for punitive measures against unintentional microaggressions and have been vocal supporters of cancel culture over the past decade in the name of safety. This included using discipline, physical force, and intimidation to suppress the voices and opinions of those with whom they disagreed. Anyone using the freedom of speech defense for this behavior should have to point out where they defended the same principle when it didn't deliver the desired outcome. Sadly, these very impressionable students have incredibly poor role models in #leadership right now. Hillel Fuld Gil Kerbs

Tesla is facing significant challenges, which I believe are largely attributed to Elon Musk's leadership focus. Despite asking the company to reinstate his $48B compensation package, Musk seems more captivated by transformative projects like Robotaxis and full self-driving technology than the conventional responsibilities of running a car company. Traditionally, automotive companies consistently update and introduce new features and models every few years to stay competitive. However, as Musk directs his energy towards futuristic technologies, Tesla models have gotten stale and there is little reason to buy a new model over an old one. Companies are catching up and surpassing Tesla in key areas like battery life and vehicle range, where Tesla once led unchallenged. Most consumers understandably prefer tangible, incremental upgrades they can experience immediately rather than distant, revolutionary promises. This is evident in Tesla's declining sales, signaling a critical need for realignment in its strategy to recapture market momentum. The Cybertruck and Robotaxies aren't the answer for the mainstream buyer.

Every time I talk to Cal Newport, I leave our conversation with tons of ideas to work and live more deeply and impactfully. In his third appearance on the Elevate Podcast, Cal stopped by to talk about his latest book, Slow Productivity, which introduces a bold new vision for replacing hustle culture busyness with something for fulfilling and productive. Check it out wherever you get your podcasts

Cal Newport shares the wisdom of slow productivity and addition by subtraction. Companies can have entire departments of people working “hard” on things that do not create customer value or contribute to the bottom line. It’s not that people aren’t working (i.e. quiet quitting), it’s that they are working on things that are not additive. Not only does all that work not help, but it can also be a significant drag on other parts of the organization. I feel like this is the thing that leaders can’t say out loud right now. 

Cal Newport is one of the most sought-after thought leaders of our time and has authored six NYT bestselling books. In his third appearance on the Elevate Podcast, he joined me for a deep-dive conversation about his new Slow Productivity book. This episode sheds light on how Slow Productivity works and why it can lead to achievement without burnout. We are coming off a decade where many businesses worked hard and fast, without accomplishing much. A new playbook is needed for sure. Listen to the episode here: https://lnkd.in/eiGaM2Ac