OthereducationOnline Learning
When leading teams, the obvious isn’t as obvious as you think
Watching my daughter, Ivy, glide through the water during her swim club practice, I’m struck by a profound lesson we often forget. For forty-five minutes of her hour-long session, the focus isn’t on speed or competition; it’s on the foundational basics—the kick drills, the pull drills, the essential mechanics that become second nature.As a former competitive swimmer, I realize I’d taken those fundamentals for granted, the very building blocks that made everything else possible. This mirrors a critical oversight in our organizations today: in the relentless pursuit of complex strategies and modern management theories, we’ve neglected the obvious, human-centric basics of leadership.We intuitively know that people crave connection to a purpose, a mission, a conviction that gives their work meaning beyond a paycheck. Yet, too many businesses still default to transactional carrots and sticks—promotions, stock prices, productivity metrics—as primary motivators.It’s no wonder we’re seeing a wave of disconnection, with workers even declining promotions, a signal that the old ladder-climbing reward system is broken. People simply want to belong, to feel safe, appreciated, and to know their labor matters.These are the core fundamentals, the equivalent of a swimmer’s stroke technique. When a band loses its way, it returns to the studio where it first found magic.When our organizational culture feels adrift, we must do the same: go back to basics. We must consciously revisit the deceptively simple principles of human motivation and connection that we know but have forgotten in the daily noise.Just as I, now back in the pool in my forties, am relearning the nuances of my kick, leaders must recommit to these foundational practices. The path to a stronger, more engaged team isn’t always found in the next big trend, but in mastering and honoring the obvious stuff right in front of us.
#leadership
#management
#organizational culture
#back to basics
#employee engagement
#purpose
#featured
