Looking Back to Look Forward: Top Reads from 2021

January 2022

Looking Back to Look Forward

I'm sure many of us are all glad that 2021 is now behind us. There's a lot that we may want to forget about such a challenging year.

However, I found it valuable to recount the articles and books that I read in 2021 that added to my perspective. I then thought, "What did I publish that seemed to ring true with my readers AND that still can provide guidance in the coming year?"

Here are 3 of my articles that received the most reads on Forbes.com. I thought you might find valuable as you focus on 2022 . . . and beyond.

Culture Matters Even More While Fighting the Great Attrition

The Great Attrition of 2021 — employees resigning in record numbers — continues unabated. If you think this is just a passing trend or only impacts certain industries, you may be ill-advised. Recent global research by McKinsey discovered that 58% of employees indicated that they were somewhat likely to almost certain to quit in the coming months. Likewise, a majority of the employers participating in the research were experiencing record levels of turnover and expected it to continue — a trend that was similar across industries.

The most intriguing finding from the McKinsey research was the significant disconnect between why employers thought people were resigning and what employees cited as reasons.

Read more on Forbes.com

It's More Than the Numbers: Organizational Culture and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

It’s exciting to see more organizations adopting the “Rooney Rule” (or Rooney Rule-like practices) to help improve diversity in the workplace. For those of you not familiar with the Rooney Rule, it is a practice fomented by Dan Rooney, the former chairman of the USA’s National Football League Diversity Committee and the former owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team.

The practice requires teams to interview minority candidates for top leadership openings in the league. After the NFL implemented the Rule in 2003, a number of high-profile global organizations have applied similar hiring policies and practices, including Amazon, Intel and Xerox.

While Rooney Rule initiatives are an admirable approach to addressing diversity, organizations need to view this challenge from a broader perspective if they are to address the other components of the diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) acronym, namely equity and inclusion.

Read more on Forbes.com

Effective Leadership Development: In Perpetual Beta

A smile spread across my face during a recent coaching session when a tech executive described his own leadership development efforts as being in “perpetual beta.” For those unfamiliar with the term, perpetual beta describes software that continually has new features added without ever getting to a final “stable” version.

Beyond the description being perfectly nerdy, I thought that perpetual beta was an ingenious way of describing effective leadership development.

How so? Read more on Forbes.com

Michael Couch & Associates Inc.

Pittsburgh, PA USA

(412) 952 9036

Visit My Website