The Plural Nature of Excellence: Why Your Definition Matters More Than You Think
Research reveals a fundamental challenge organizations face when pursuing excellence: what counts as excellent depends entirely on who’s doing the counting. A comprehensive analysis of research excellence frameworks found that excellence is described by experts as “hard to define,” “contextual,” and critically, “actor-dependent” (Tijssen & Kraemer-Mbula, 2018). This isn’t a semantic quibble. When excellence becomes […]
Beyond Emotional Intelligence: The Strategic Timing of Feelings in Professional Communication
Why leading with feelings might be sabotaging your most important conversations For over two decades, workplace wisdom has preached a simple formula: express your feelings first, then work toward resolution. Emotional intelligence training programs, leadership books, and HR policies have turned “I feel statements” into the gold standard of professional communication. When conflict arises, we’re […]
The Attention Hijack: What Newsom’s Communication Experiment Reveals About Modern Political Strategy
How strategic mimicry is reshaping the rules of public discourse In the summer of 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom launched what might be the most brazen communication experiment in modern politics. Faced with an antagonistic federal administration, Newsom didn’t just push back—he appropriated President Trump’s entire communication playbook. All-caps tweets, bombastic rhetoric, AI-generated memes featuring […]
Why Calling Your Workplace a Family Sets Everyone Up for Disappointment
Research reveals a fundamental disconnect: when leaders use family language in the workplace, they create psychological contracts that organizational realities cannot fulfill—damaging trust, performance, and retention in measurable ways. The phrase “we’re like family here” has become ubiquitous in corporate America. Leaders use the metaphor to signal caring, loyalty, and belonging. Yet communication research shows […]
The BRIDGE Assessment
Identifying Where Your Communication Architecture Breaks Down When Rachel became VP of Operations at MedDevice, she inherited what appeared to be a high-performing team. Targets were met, turnover was low, and other divisions consistently praised their work. Yet something felt off in her first few weeks. Meetings followed predictable scripts. When she asked for input […]
Crisis Communication in the Digital Age: Lessons from Manila’s #WalangPasok Emergency
How a multi-platform response revealed the complexities of stakeholder engagement and strategic messaging in modern crises Case Summary On July 22, 2025, the Philippine government suspended classes and government work across Metro Manila and ten provinces due to severe flooding from the southwest monsoon. What unfolded was a revealing case study in modern crisis communication […]
Diagnosing the People + Systems Dynamic
Moving Beyond Individual vs. Structural Explanations The leadership team at TechFlow gathered in the conference room, faces grim. Their quarterly review showed the same pattern for the third consecutive quarter: missed deadlines, quality issues, and rising frustration across teams. The room buzzed with competing explanations. “We need better project managers,” insisted the VP of Engineering. […]
Learning from What Works
Building on Communication Research and Practitioner Wisdom When Satya Nadella became CEO of Microsoft in 2014, he inherited world-class technology wrapped in a toxic internal culture. Employees described a workplace where colleagues undercut one another to rise in stack rankings, information was hoarded, and innovation slowed as individuals prioritized self-preservation over problem-solving. Rather than launching […]
The Responsibility Spectrum: A Communication-Based Framework for Calibrating Accountability
Research reveals a fundamental challenge in modern workplace dynamics: individuals demonstrate asymmetrical patterns of responsibility attribution, with stronger attributions of blame for negative outcomes compared to positive ones (Fillon et al., 2025). This psychological phenomenon manifests most visibly through communication patterns—how we frame messages, choose language, and structure accountability dialogues. The implications extend beyond individual […]
Building What Works
If quick fixes consistently fail, what does work? Sustainable improvement requires tackling root causes rather than symptoms. It means embedding communication skill-building into real projects, decisions, and feedback processes, rather than isolating it in artificial exercises. It demands systems that foster ongoing diagnosis and adaptation—what Peter Senge called a learning organization. High-impact organizations treat communication […]