Lower your expectations

We have been to a lot of corporate all-hands, gatherings, conferences, and un-conferences. Some of them have been incredibly well-run. Some of them have been a rolling shit-show. But holy shit what if you did this?

NewsletterJohnathan NightingaleSeptember 4, 2024Melissa Nightingale, Johnathan Nightingale, Raw Signal Group, RSG, Worlds Best Newsletter, Management, Leadership, Management Training, Leadership Training, reflection, culture, values, connection, future of work, community, COVID-19, happiness

Okay, call it a come back

There is some design work to do if we want to build new connections, and rebuild the ones we miss.

If it's urgent, call my cell

We tell bosses that if they choose management as a career, every aspect of the human condition will at some point show up for someone they manage.

Day-to-day management in a polycrisis

Yours can be a team where people's humanity has space to coexist with, and even outrank, their productivity. It's worth building that. We're all going to need it.

What to do when everyone's eyebrows are glowing

You can't outsource interpersonal connection to the interns, and your team can't outsource it to you.

You can't stand under my umbrella

Staring down a difficult reality and finding your way to acceptance is hard enough. But having a manager conceal that reality from you makes acceptance impossible.

We don't know what we don't know

Lowering your shields enough to get to real questions is the hard part. But once you have those in hand, there are still a few other mistakes to avoid.

Behind the scenes at the magic kingdom

We don't need it to be all doom and gloom. But what does it mean when there's no longer space to talk about what's working and what isn't?

Who gets Humperdinck?

For many bosses, it's clear that the more you look and talk and vibe like Elon, the more permission you'll get to be capricious and abusive and cynical.

What to do when you're all out of puffins

The bullshit is supposed to be in service of something. Ideally, say, work that you're proud of, whose impact matters to you, and which allows you to live a life you enjoy.

Doing all the work

Accountability is a big, heavy word. It manages to be about management, and feedback, and operational excellence, and culture all at once.

The opposite of coherent

So here we are. Faced with this disastrous ruling. And it makes us wonder: how coherent are your organization's actions on this one? We heard about the relocation policy, what other actions are they taking? Do they line up?

NewsletterJohnathan NightingaleJune 29, 2022Melissa Nightingale, Johnathan Nightingale, Raw Signal Group, RSG, Worlds Best Newsletter, Management, Leadership, Management Training, Leadership Training, business strategy, community, power

The Clapback

Anywhere your senior leaders are not giving their full-throated support to a thing, you should be prepared for a clapback.

NewsletterJohnathan NightingaleMay 18, 2022Melissa Nightingale, Johnathan Nightingale, Raw Signal Group, RSG, Worlds Best Newsletter, Management, Leadership, Management Training, Leadership Training, performance, power, community, connection, office perks, remote work, remote, layoffs

The donuts aren't working

We're hearing from the bosses and people and culture teams asked to implement the Bums-in-Seats directive. Even when they, themselves, are skeptical.

NewsletterJohnathan NightingaleApril 6, 2022Melissa Nightingale, Johnathan Nightingale, Raw Signal Group, RSG, Worlds Best Newsletter, Management, Leadership, Management Training, Leadership Training, performance, power, community, connection, office perks, remote work, remote

The perks are great and the work is fine

Faced with that blandness, a lot of leaders are pushing back-to-office plans. They have nostalgia for the flavour of a packed and humming office, and feel like if people would just get back in there, it would fix things.

NewsletterJohnathan NightingaleFebruary 23, 2022Melissa Nightingale, Johnathan Nightingale, Raw Signal Group, RSG, Worlds Best Newsletter, Management, Leadership, Management Training, Leadership Training, performance, community, connection, COVID, COVID-19, office perks, remote, remote work

You only get punked when you don't expect it

If we're right about this prediction, the amount of energy coming at you is going to be intense. The question to ask is: do you have somewhere for that energy to go?

NewsletterJohnathan NightingaleFebruary 9, 2022Melissa Nightingale, Johnathan Nightingale, Raw Signal Group, RSG, Worlds Best Newsletter, Management, Leadership, Management Training, Leadership Training, performance, community, connection, COVID, COVID-19, office perks

You can't seize the moment with your hands full

Today, our second book comes out. It's an ender chest. It is a full year of these newsletters, from the first lockdown to the anniversary of those lockdowns. It is a place to put down some of what the past 18 months have felt like.

NewsletterJohnathan NightingaleOctober 6, 2021Melissa Nightingale, Johnathan Nightingale, Raw Signal Group, RSG, Worlds Best Newsletter, Management, Leadership, Management Training, Leadership Training, COVID, COVID-19, remote, remote work, uncertainty, burn out, community, connection

Just say hybrid because nobody knows

Can we get to a place where we start to reimagine the thing? Whatever the thing is that you miss, you can reinvent it without starting from zero. Pay attention to the ache of the thing that's missing. What was important about it?

NewsletterJohnathan NightingaleSeptember 8, 2021Melissa Nightingale, Johnathan Nightingale, Raw Signal Group, RSG, Worlds Best Newsletter, Management, Leadership, Management Training, Leadership Training, COVID, COVID-19, remote, remote work, uncertainty, burn out, community, connection

Have you noticed everyone's on their worst behaviour?

People who are frustrated. Sharp. Daring someone to call them on it and spoiling for a fight. If you're managing a group of people, you see it in slack messages. The passive aggressive ones. But also the aggressive aggressive ones.

NewsletterJohnathan NightingaleJuly 28, 2021Melissa Nightingale, Johnathan Nightingale, Raw Signal Group, RSG, Worlds Best Newsletter, Management, Leadership, Management Training, Leadership Training, COVID, COVID-19, remote, remote work, uncertainty, community, psychological safety, The great resignation

Your home office is not a scent-free workplace

Every company is a community that needs rules. And, as bosses, making the rules of engagement clear is our job. That's true whether your company is remote, in-office, or a mix of the two.

NewsletterJohnathan NightingaleJuly 14, 2021Melissa Nightingale, Johnathan Nightingale, Raw Signal Group, RSG, Worlds Best Newsletter, Management, Leadership, Management Training, Leadership Training, COVID, COVID-19, remote, remote work, uncertainty, community, psychological safety

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