How managers can balance politics and company purpose

How being a good boss creates a good team | 3 ways to make the workday more mindful and meaningful | Read more from Susan Fowler on SmartBrief on Leadership Created for {EMAIL} | [{NAME}]( at [{NAME}]( [For more relevant content - Update Your Profile]( | [Web Version]( April 29, 2021 CONNECT WITH SMARTBRIEF  [LinkedIn]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [SmartBrief on Leadership]( [SmartBrief on Leadership]( Innovative Ideas. Ahead of the Curve. [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [SHARE]( ADVERTISEMENT Leading Edge [] [How being a good boss creates a good team]( Happiness, trust and autonomy are traits most employees dearly value, and bosses could do worse than to encourage and develop those markers of well-being and performance, says Tera Allas of McKinsey. "[Y]ou could actually make a huge contribution to society by just making sure that those people are better off from a well-being perspective, that they're more satisfied with their lives because they're more satisfied with their jobs," she says. Full Story: [McKinsey]( (4/27) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [3 ways to make the workday more mindful and meaningful]( Create time for mindfulness and relaxation by offering movement or breathing exercises during meetings, dedicated quiet time or reflective moments that focus on choices made, Susan Fowler writes. Virtual meetings remain an opportunity to connect in new ways, whether through humor, inspirational quotes or a few minutes for people to share their thoughts. Full Story: [SmartBrief/Leadership]( (4/28) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Read more]( from Susan Fowler on SmartBrief on Leadership 3 Reasons OKRs Fail Growing Organizations Will growing pains break your business this year? [Learn the top three reasons]( why midmarket companies are especially at risk of missing exponential growth opportunities, and how HR and the C-suite can better align to successfully execute on strategy. ADVERTISEMENT: [] Strategic Management [] [5 ways to make sustainability part of your strategy]( Sustainability and corporate social responsibility require a look at the entirety of a company's operations, even as distinct opportunities present themselves in packaging, energy use and carbon reductions, writes Nature's Logic CEO David Yaskulka. "[I]t's important to take a whole company approach to 'bottom-line it' -- so if you are not reporting holistically, now's a great time to start," he writes. Full Story: [Chief Executive]( (4/27) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( 7 Questions to Benchmark Employee Comms The world has changed forever, and if you mumble, your employees will stumble. With the insight from 900-plus companies, use these 7 questions to benchmark the success of your employee communications. [Get Poppulo's free report now](. ADVERTISEMENT: [] Smarter Communication [] [How managers can balance politics and company purpose]( Managers and companies might be better off funneling discussions of politics into deep, open-minded thinking about organizational vision rather than banning such talk, argues Claire Lew, CEO of Know Your Team, formerly part of Basecamp. Seeking that balance is "an attempt to share how two seemingly disparate ideas -- 'social and political realities affect our work lives' and 'the #1 purpose of an organization is to make progress toward an outcome that couldn't be accomplished on one's own' -- are not mutually exclusive," Lew writes. Full Story: [Know Your Team]( (4/27) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Do this before asking stakeholders for feedback]( Self-reflection on who your organizational stakeholders are and what they might be thinking is important before approaching key stakeholders for feedback, writes Disaster Avoidance Experts CEO Gleb Tsipursky. "[B]y learning how to identify your key influencers and doing pre-assessment checks before engaging with them, you will be able to have productive discussions and grow deeper relationships," Tsipursky writes. Full Story: [Real Leaders]( (4/27) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] In Their Own Words [] [Remembering office culture through the eyes of NYC]( This article looks back as far as 1896 to reflect on office life in New York City, with stories from original "Saturday Night Live" writer Anne Beatts and former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, reflections on the late George Steinbrenner and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and more. The demise of the office has been predicted since at least 1969, as a collection of predictions shows. Full Story: [Curbed]( (4/26) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Daily Diversion [] [Cave holds early evidence of humans using fire, tools]( Humans were creating basic tools at least 1.8 million years ago, according to evidence recently discovered at Wonderwerk Cave in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. Evidence of the use of fire dating back 1 million years was also discovered deep enough inside the cave to rule out natural wildfires, the researchers say. Full Story: [CTV (Canada)]( (4/27), [Artnet News]( (4/27) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] About The Editor [] James daSilva James daSilva Hi, it's your SmartBrief on Leadership editor! I've had the great fortune of editing this email for nearly 10 years. Before that, I was a copy editor, including at a small daily newspaper in upstate New York. I'm still sorting through the Basecamp controversy. There are two things worth remembering: - Basecamp is both a small software company and the public persona of two argumentative guys. They like to stir debate. - [Basecamp cut 360 reviews, drastically changed its benefits package and disbanded committees]( in that same memo -- a huge amount of simultaneous change to announce. Thank you for reading and subscribing. If this newsletter helps you, please tell your colleagues, friends or anyone who can benefit. Forward them this email, or [send this link](. What topics do you see in your daily work that I should know about? Do you have praise? Criticism? A favorite story from The Onion? [Drop me a note.](mailto:jdasilva@smartbrief.com) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( Sharing SmartBrief on Leadership with your network keeps the quality of content high and these newsletters free. 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