Mary Ellen

Every leader I coach eventually asks some version of the same question: How do I get my younger employees more engaged? Usually they've already tried the obvious moves — more perks, more praise, more flexibility. And usually engagement barely budges. That's because engagement isn't the real target. Meaning is. And meaning doesn't come from a benefits package. It comes from a conversation. Recent workplace research backs this up: employees who find their work meaningful are more satisfied,...

"Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash" Ask a room of executives to name the traits of a strong leader, and empathy rarely makes the first pass. Decisiveness, yes. Composure under pressure, Empathy usually shows up later — if it shows up at all, and often with a qualifier: "soft," "nice to have," "important, but..." That ranking has it backwards. In my work with leaders — and in the emotional intelligence assessments I run using the EQ-i 2.0 — empathy consistently shows up as one of the hardest...

Calm is contagious. So is stress. "Hustle" and "grind" aren't badges of honor. They're often early warning signs. High performance does require intensity—I saw this regularly in my career inside complex organizations. But there's a line, and it's easier to cross than most leaders realize. Not all at once. Quietly. What Chronic Pressure Actually Does Sustained, unmanaged stress doesn't make you sharper. It slowly erodes the very things you rely on most: Clarity. Patience. Judgment....