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When Stephen, the SVP of sales at a SaaS company, sat down with his top-performing manager, he expected a routine check-in. Instead, Todd admitted that he felt disengaged and unsupported. With 13 direct reports and responsibility for major clients, Stephen saw firsthand how disengagement at the manager level could cascade into risks for client retention, team morale, and overall performance. This isnt an isolated case. Motivation is slipping at a historic pace. Gallup reports global engagement dropped to 21% in 2024, just the second decline in over a decade, draining $438 billion in lost productivity. This time, managers themselves are at the center of the decline. They drive 70% of team engagement, yet they are being squeezed harder than everexpected to deliver more with less while navigating AI training, role replacement, reorganizations, leaner teams, multigenerational friction, and relentless productivity pressure. The result is burnout, resignations, or hanging-on managers, those who cant quit in a tough job market but are already mentally checked out. At the same time, expectations are rising. Deloittes 2025 Global Human Capital Trends found that 36% of managers lack confidence in their people management skills, even as employees increasingly expect personalized support tailored to their needs. Others experience quiet cracking, where they stay in a role but emotionally withdraw, leading to a disengagement that spreads quickly across organizations. Traditional motivational levers are no longer enough. We have seen it firsthand. Kathryn, as an executive coach and keynote speaker, and Jenny, as an executive adviser and learning & development expert, bring frontline insights from coaching senior leaders and building systems that scale. The five strategies that follow demonstrate how leaders can reignite manager motivation, enabling companies to stay focused and compete at the pace of change. 1. Create the Conditions for WinningStarting with Managers Motivation collapses when people feel set up to fail. Managers are often overloaded with unclear priorities, competing demands, and insufficient resources. To reignite engagement, leaders must remove barriers and clarify what winning looks like. Gallup research highlights three levers with outsized impact: Invest in manager training and development. Equip managers with coaching skills. Redefine managerial roles with clear expectations and adequate support. When leaders invest in these conditions, they address managers most immediate concerns. The implicit message is that managers are valued enough to be adequately equipped for impact, not just held accountable for outcomes. Tools like the Organizational Mattering Scale and Organizational Mattering Map (introduced by Positive Psychology experts) make these linkages visible. The Scale measures whether employees feel their work contributes to recognition and meaningful achievement. The Map highlights connections between individual tasks, team collaboration, organizational values, and company outcomes. When leaders spotlight these connections, managers see their impact more clearly, strengthening engagement and fostering a culture where employees feel both effective and valued. 2. Fuel Effort with Personalized Meaning Motivation isnt one-size-fits-all. Employees want personalized support, and so do managers. Leaders can spark motivation by connecting daily work not only to the companys mission but also to a managers individual values. Thats exactly what Stephen did with Todd. He codified the conditions that would restore Todds confidence: a larger travel budget to strengthen client relationships, continued presence at key industry trade shows, resources for pilot projects, flexibility after heavy travel weeks, and a dedicated training budget for his team to upskill in AI and leadership. He also reframed Todds role around his core value of client impactsharing customer feedback that credited Todds leadership with strengthening their business. That simple shift helped Todd reconnect to why the work mattered and reignited his energy. Conditions for winning go beyond resources and clarity; managers also need growth opportunities, advancement pathways, and visible signals that the company values their long-term potential. Across the companies we advise, leaders who codify a consistent set of Essential Engagement Conditionsclarity, recognition, development, autonomy, fairness, and well-beingsee stronger performance at scale. Meaning fuels persistence. When impact feels tangible, managers push forward not because they have to, but because they want to. 3. Reinforce Progress Through Recognition Nothing drains motivation faster than feeling invisible. If meaning connects managers to why their work matters, recognition ensures their contributions dont go unnoticed. Its not only about celebrating big wins, but also about making progress visible. Research on the progress principle shows that small wins fuel motivation and creativity, while the absence of visible progress accelerates disengagement. The risk of quiet cracking increases when managers feel their efforts go unseen. Thats why recognition should extend beyond outcomes to include effort, growth, and problem-solving under pressure. And it shouldnt come only from senior leaders. Peer forums, cross-functional huddles, and manager roundtables where colleagues acknowledge each others wins reduce isolation and normalize the challenges of leadership. For Stephen, that meant recognizing Todd not just for results, but for the steady progresspiloting new approaches, building his teams skills, and strengthening client relationships. By valuing effort and learning as much as outcomes, Stephen reinforced that what mattered was progress, not perfection. Recognition is one of the lowest-cost, highest-return levers leaders have. Use it generously, consistently, and strategically. 4. Empower Autonomy and TrustWihout Slipping into Micromanagement Few things demotivate faster than being micromanaged. Autonomy is central to motivation yet return-to-office mandates and monitoring tools like AI dashboards tempt leaders to over-control, sending a signal of distrust that corrodes engagement. Managers thrive when theyre trusted to exercise judgment. At a fintech firm we advised, the COO shifted from detailed weekly reports to a principle-based system: clear outcomes with freedom to decide the how. Productivity rose, and morale followed. This approach taps two motivational drivers. Self-efficacy, the belief in ones own ability to succeed, grows when managers are trusted to make decisions and learn from experience. Value-expectancy theory shows people are most motivated when they believe their effort leads to valued outcomes. Setting clear goals while allowing flexibility reinforces both confidence and commitment. Trust itself is a motivator. When leaders empower autonomy, they signal confidence in managers abilities, and managers rise to meet that expectation. 5. Support Well-Being and Resilience Motivation and well-being are inseparable. Gallup finds that managers report the highest rates of burnout, and when they burn out, their direct reports are 62% more likely to do the same. Stress and exhaustion dont just drain energy; they accelerate quiet cracking and leave organizations vulnerable to turnover and lost capacity. Leaders must go beyond surface-level wellness perks. The World Economic Forum highlights resilience and mental health as core leadership capabilities, not add-ons. Real support means modeling boundaries, encouraging recovery, and equipping managers with tools to sustain energy. One global bank we coach instituted no-meeting Fridays for its management layer, creating protected space for reflection, deep work, or recovery. The move signaled that well-being wasnt optional; it was part of performance. Resilient managers dont just sustain themselves; they set the tone for resilient teams. When leaders prioritize well-being, they preserve individual and organizational capacity. Stephens quick action with Todd underscored this point: when managers feel supported, they stay motivated and so do their teams. Because managers are the single biggest driver of employee engagement, their energy is a force multiplier and the foundation of performance. Motivated managers are the difference between organizations that struggle and those that thrive. Invest in them, and you invest in your companys future.
Category:
E-Commerce
Since opening his eponymous studio in 2020, homeware designer Gustaf Westman has amassed a cult following for his delightfully chunky objects, his knack for color, and his playful eye for reimagining everyday items. His sought-after designs have always come with a higher-end price tagbut now Westman is partnering with Ikea to make his work accessible to the masses. The new collection, which debuts September 9 on Ikeas website, is part of the companys annual winter launch. It includes items like plates, candleholders, and a vase, all designed under the premise of reimagining the winter holidays for a younger generation. While a plate from Westmans brand retails for around $65 and a bowl is close to $330, the Ikea collection ranges from just $7 to $25. My stuff is very niche, and it’s not so affordable for people, Westman says. A very fun part of [this collaboration] is that I can reach a much bigger audience, and so many more people will be able to buy the stuff and take it home. [Photo: Ikea] A holiday collection for a new generation This is Westmans first time ever working with another companyand as someone from Sweden, he says, partnering with Ikea is a dream collaboration. Westman embraced the opportunity to design objects for a less traditional, more playful approach to the holidays. Thats perhaps most embodied by the “Vinterfint serving plate”: a long, tubular platter designed to hold Swedish meatballs. [Photo: Ikea] After the plate debuted as a teaser item, Westman says, some commenters were baffled by its form factorhe assures Fast Company that it can be used to serve other items, like sushi or pralines. More unexpected pieces in the collection include a spiraling pink vase and a series of candleholders with a funky four-pronged base. Other products take more direct inspiration from Westmans own Christmas memories. [Photo: Ikea] For example, we did this cup that has a big saucer, Westman says. The idea behind that cup is that my grandma always made a lot of different cookies, and it was basically a logistical problem, like, How am I gonna take these cookies? This cup is solving that problem. [Photo: Ikea] Striking the right balance According to Maria OBrian, the creative leader at Ikea of Sweden who tapped Westman to join the project, the main challenge in bringing the designers vision to life was the fact that his preference for chunky, bulbous shapes stands somewhat in opposition with Ikeas reputation for efficient flat-packing. [Photo: Ikea] There’s something so joyful about his form language and use of color, and I think it’s also quite far from the Ikea form language in terms of flat-packing, OBrian says. The playfulness that Gustaf brings is so bold, and we saw that it could challenge us in a positive direction by stretching what we do with shapes and expressions. Westmans personal favorite piece, the “Vinterfint plate,” is one of the items that embodies this push and pull. The plat features a squared edge with a raised circle in the center, and its low profile makes it easy to stack and store. [Photo: Ikea] The plate is very much a dream thing for me to doa very simple product for Ikea, but I make it special, Westman says. How I think about the plate is that its basically a flat square, and someone has dragged up the edges to create the plate. I remember sitting around doing that on paper by squeezing it up. [Photo: Ikea] The collection may be geared toward the holidays, but both Westman and OBrian say they didnt want it to scream Christmas. To strike a balance between the festive season and everyday use, they selected a color palette that includes the traditional forest green and bright red alongside a pastel pink and baby blue. Ultimately, the final product is a collection that balances Westmans unconventional approach to homeware with Ikeas penchant for utilitarian design. Westman says hes enjoyed the experience. Since Ive only been working alone, its like going back to school, he says. Meeting all these people, going on trips, going to Älmhult, the little Ikea townthat’s been probably the most rewarding.
Category:
E-Commerce
The legendary physicist Max Planck once said, A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. That may be a bit extreme, but the point still stands. The status quo always has inertia on its side and never yields its power gracefully. To bring about genuine change, you not only have to point the way to a new and better reality, you also need to displace what people already know and are comfortable with. To do that, you need to overcome resistance, both rational and irrational. More specifically, you need to overcome three forces that support the status quo: the synapses that support our basic neurology, the culture that reinforces norms, and the economics that need to be overcome to do anything new. To drive genuine change, you need to help people not only unlearn old assumptions, but realign the underlying forces that keep things as they are. The synaptic effect We tend to think that we experience the world as it is. We see and hear things, store them away as knowledge, and then take new facts into account. But thats not how our brains actually work. In reality, we filter out most of what we experience, so that we can focus on particular points of interest. In effect, we forget most things so we can zero in on what seems to be most important. The effect is also cumulative. What we think of as knowledge is really connections in our brains, called synapses, which develop over time. These pathways strengthen as we use them and degrade when we do not. Or, as scientists who study these things like to put it, the neurons that fire together, wire together. So as we go through life and learn the ways of the world, we become less able to imagine other possibilities. Our mental models become instinctive and standard practices become the right way to do things. This effect becomes even stronger and more pervasive if we see our mental models as being responsible for our success. Thats why unlearning is at least as important as learning. We need to break old synaptic patterns if we are to replace them with new ones. Genuine change can only begin when we recognize that progress isnt just about learning more, but about having the courage to unlearn what once made us successful. The culture effect While our previous experiences tend to blind us to new developments, those around us will help reinforce common beliefs. In fact, a series of famous experiments done at Swarthmore College in the 1950s showed that we will conform to the opinions of those around us even if they are obviously wrong. Thats why the best indicator of things we think and do is what the people around us think and do, and that effect extends out to three degrees of separation. So it is not only those we know well, but even the friends of our friends friendspeople we dont even knowthat affect our opinions and actions. As Thomas Kuhn pointed out in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, new paradigms dont emerge all at once. They first arrive as a series of quirky anomalies that are easy to dismiss as special cases that can be worked around. That usually works pretty well for a while and things go on much as before. So even if we notice that something is awry, that things arent quite what we thought they were, we will usually brush that thought aside and get back to business. After all, not only do we believe in our present working model, everyone around us does, too. The world is a messy place and every rule has exceptions. We carry on and dont think too much more about it. In How Minds Change, author David McRaney found that people who were involved in cults or believed in conspiracy theories didnt change their opinions when confronted with new facts, but when they changed their social environment. Just as our synapses favor the status quo, so do the cultures we are embedded in. The cost effect Another barrier to adaptation is that change incurs real costs. In one particularly glaring example, the main library at Princeton University took 120 years to switch to the Library of Congress classification system because of the time and expense involved. Clearly, thats an extreme case, but every change effort needs to take inevitable frictions into account. There are a number of reasons why switching costs can become a significant roadblock. The first is our innate bias for loss aversion. First identified and documented by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, we all have a tendency to avoid losses rather than seek out new gains. The comfort of the status quo can be more powerful than the uncertain promise of transformation. Another important force is the availability heuristic, which reflects our tendency to overweight information that is most easily accessible. What we experience in the here and now always seems more tangible and concrete than the more distant benefits of change, which many will suspect will never come. The status quo has often had years or even decades to embed itself into the fabric of institutions. Significant resources have been invested in developing textbooks, standard operating procedures, and best practices to support the old paradigm. To truly embrace something new and different, its not just ideas that need to change, but everything that underlies and supports them. Change always involves switching costs and, unless the benefits to change are clear, the inertia of the status quo will win out. Becoming an effective change leader There is probably no better example of institutional resistance to change than the story of Ignaz Semmelweis. In the 1840s, as a young doctor at Vienna General Hospital, he discovered that simple handwashing could dramatically reduce infections and ave lives. Yet the medical establishment rejected the idea outright. Millions died needlessly before the germ theory of disease gained prominence two decades later. Since then, the term Semmelweis effect has been coined to describe the tendency for institutions to reject new evidence when it contradicts established beliefs or paradigms. Sadly, it appears not much has changed in the 120 years. That tendency persists. Viewed through the lens of synaptic, cultural, and cost effects, the story begins to make more sense. Doctors mental models were shaped by the miasma theory, which held that bad air made people sick. High-status physicians felt insulted by the suggestion that they themselves were spreading disease, and system-wide reforms would have required significant costs and disruption. So we cant just blame institutions. We also need to look at Semmelweis, who was an ineffective advocate for his ideas. Rather than identifying why the medical establishment was unwilling to change, he simply railed against it, sending nasty letters to prominent doctors. They closed ranks against him and things ended badly. He would die in an insane asylum, ironically of an infection he contracted under care. If you truly believe in change, passion and good intentions arent nearly enough. You need to be an effective advocate. That starts with understanding why we fail to adapt and addressing the barriers that hold us back.
Category:
E-Commerce
I think models will be better at interviewing than people, said Victor Lazarte, the founder of mobile games company Wildlife Studio, on venture capital podcast The Twenty Minute VC in April. You’d think that John Kim, the CEO of a San Francisco-based AI recruiting company, would wholeheartedly agree. But you’d be wrong. “There needs to be a human in the loop for recruiting,” says Kim, CEO of Paraform, which raised $20 million during its Series A funding in June. That’s good news for recruiters, job seekers, and the companies looking for talent. Businesses are leaning more on AI to reduce hiring, but also putting more focus on finding the best people for the jobs they are filling. Job applicants want to make sure they are getting the kind of treatment that puts them in the best possible position to get a great new role. And recruiters want to sort through the noise in this buyers’ market and do what they do best. In this piece, premium subscribers will learn: The best thing human recruiters can do for job seekers and employers that AI cant How many hours a day recruiters save using a platform like Paraform Why it’s vital for startups in particular to hire right the first time Solving startups biggest problem In 2023, John Kim and his cofounder, Jeffrey Li, surveyed their peers, other founders, and people in their coworking space, thinking up their next startup idea. They asked: whats the biggest problem youre trying to solve? Overwhelmingly, the answer was hiring. For startups, the first hires can be make or break: A 2023 study found if a startup lost an early employee within six years, headcount drops by 8% and revenue by 12% over the next five years. Ten years later, these companies were still behind their counterparts that retained their early teams. Initially, Kim and Li built a platform where people could refer their friends for jobs, but found there wasnt much activity, except for one group of users: recruiters. And they werent just any recruiters. They were external recruiters, such as freelancers and recruiters from boutique firms. When companies are flush in cash, they over-hire recruiters. But recruiters are usually the first to go when there are layoffs, says Kim. (During the tech layoffs that started in 2022 and that bled through 2023, HR and talent sourcing accounted for about 30% of laid-off employees, according to one study of over 1,100 LinkedIn profiles of workers who were laid off.) Working for only one company means a recruiters ability to place candidates is limitedsince youre only hiring for roles at a single place. However, while independent or boutique recruiters may have more job options for their candidates, they have to grind: They must spend hours sourcing both companies that are hiring and find candidates for those jobs by combing through LinkedIn and Indeed, or attending industry events. These jobs might be on different recruiting platforms, and its up to the recruiter to stay organized. Kim and Li saw the value in recruiters, particularly for startups, where founders may be short on hiring experience. They believed that hiring requires a human recruiter to understand what a candidate truly needs and whether a role is truly a good fit. We doubled down and decided to build something for them, says Kim. They launched Paraform in 2023. Today, Paraform is geared toward helping tech startups hire. Companies pay Paraform a fee to post their job openings, and then recruiters can apply to be matched with companies. Once a recruiter is matched to a company, they can then upload a candidates résumé and submit it. The recruiters get financial rewards for referring candidates, getting them to the interview stage, and of course, if the candidate is hired. Paraform removes half of the burden from a recruiters shouldersthey no longer have to source jobs. Paraform also has a suite of AI tools that make recruiters lives easier. First, theres a tool that transcribes recruiters phone calls with job candidates and provides summary notes. Theres also an AI tool that recommends other jobs on the platform that a candidate might be a good fit for. Kim said the AI increases placements by as much as 25%, and this number continues to grow. All of this saves me two to three hours a day, says Katelyn Ewe, founder of Brisk Talent, an agency specializing in engineering recruiting for tech startups. Ewe, who has been using Paraform since 2023, finds it easier to use than other AI tools for recruiters, and shes particularly appreciative of the opportunities Paraform gives her access to. Instead of me having to chase companies for job openings to work on, Paraform gives me instant access to their network of clientstop-tier companiesthat I would consider my dream clients,” she says. “This means I dont have to do any cold calls, or meetings for business development. In addition, Paraform provides a sort of concierge service to recruiters: Its operations team works directly with recruiters to onboard them, provides daily support, and helps the recruiters grow their businesses. Th Paraform team would work with me to recommend companies [with job postings] Id be a good fit for [to find candidates], as well as tips for best practices, says Ewe. Paraform claims they can help recruiters increase their earnings by three to five times, and place candidates 10 times faster compared to traditional methods. However, this begs the question: whos to say the AI service couldnt get better and better until it makes 100% of the matches . . . making recruiters unnecessary? The power of the human recruiting paradigm Kim is clear that he believes humans are essential for recruiting. “The recruiters are the ones who truly assess culture, fit interpersonal dynamics [and] develop trust with the candidates. We try to do as much as possible to make their lives easier, he says. That may sound overly optimistic in an age where AI truly is stealing peoples jobs. However, the recruiters using Paraform agree with Kims sentiment: despite the AI doing a lot of heavy lifting, humans bring a lot to the table. For example: Ewe explains that candidates will often say the right thing; yes, they are excited about the role, yes, they are willing to relocate. But there are thousands of small tells that give away their sincerity that AI could never catch. If a candidate sounds rehearsed, fumbles, pauses a little too long, or doesn’t want to elaborate, thats often a sign that they might not be interested. Or that they are just looking to get an offer that they can then leverage into a raise at their current job. Say a candidate mentions theyre willing to relocate, but doesnt have family and friends in the area, and doesnt sound particularly enthusiastic about the job. Ewe will then try to dig deeper to gauge the candidates sincerity. She might ask follow-ups: When are you looking to start your next role? Is that based on a lease expiring, or do you own a home? How hard would it be for you to move? She notes the point is to have a natural conversation, where she can learn about the candidates needs and ideal lifestyle. Maybe AI will be able to do that in the future. Who knows. But I dont think it can do that now, Ewe says. Taylor King, the CEO of Foundation Talent, a boutique recruiting firm that specializes in finding talent for tech startups in AI and crypto, agrees that its unlikely humans can be replaced by AI. Finding the right team for a place like a tech startup is a complex problem. If I need to hire a hundred cashiers at Walmart, mortgage loan officers, or entry-level sales people, thats a volume game. You could automate that, he says. But if youre chasing the top AI talentor an engineer who has a million options[candidates] want to talk to a human. He says the real differentiator is the relationship. Good recruiters arent just selling an opportunity, but showing up as a true market expert and trusted agent, who can walk [a candidate] through the next step in their career, King says. Currently, Paraform has north of 600 companies posting jobs, and about a thousand active recruiters on the platform. Recruiters get about 70% of the fee companies pay Paraform; going forward, Paraform is considering branching out into legal, medical, and financial services. Ewe and King both say they started using Paraform because they knew theyd be left behind if they didnt understand how to use AI. But Paraform may show the inverse also holds true: that companies who dont understand the values of humans will also be left behind. AI cant build genuine connections. And Kim hopes recruiters will keep having opportunities to do that. Were shifting the model [for recruiters] Kim says, to fundamentally make them better matchmakers.
Category:
E-Commerce
Every founder wants top-tier talent. But when your company is young, two obstacles loom. The first one is that no one knows you. The second one is that, likely, you cant afford a full-time senior hire. The irony is that this is when you most need experienced leadership, because without it, you risk mistakes that cost more than the salary you were aiming to save. Why startups should consider senior leaders part time Bringing in a seasoned executive on a fractional basis is often a better answer than stretching for a junior full-time hire. A senior leader working part time gives you sharper decision-making, clearer priorities, and fewer detours. You get the benefit of years of experience without locking yourself into a payroll commitment you cant sustain. For the right scope of work, five hours a week from someone who has scaled before is worth more than 50 hours from someone learning on the job. Especially lately, many senior professionals are open to this model. Some want flexibility for family or side projects. Others value variety and like to keep a portfolio of roles. And in a market still shaped by layoffs, part-time income streams feel safer than a single employer. Hence, this arrangement makes sense for both sides, as long as expectations are set early and respected. How to hire part-time senior talent The first step is clarity. A vague job description with slogans will not suffice to attract someone experienced. Spell out the outcomes you expect. Instead of help us drive growth, say design and oversee a three-month plan to test five paid acquisition channels. Define how decisions will be made, the reporting line, and what success looks like. This will help them feel the role as something achievable in the time you are offering. Next, design the role to be respectful of their level. Senior operators will not commit to open-ended advisory calls or endless Slack pings. Set specific projects with clear deliverables, and show them you have thought about how their time will be used and that you understand the value they bring. The more tangible you can make the assignment, the easier it is for them to picture success. Finally, make it easy to say yes. Offer a paid pilot so both sides can test the fit. Be transparent about budget and timelines. Pay on time, and share how their work will be applied. And, of course, acknowledge their contribution. These details signal professionalism, and when you are still unknown, this matters more than perks. How to work with fractional leaders once you have them Hiring is only the beginning. To get value from a fractional leader, you need to create an environment where they can contribute without friction. As Jim Collins once observed, Great people need great things to do, or they will take their creative energies elsewhere. Even part-time, seasoned professionals will disengage if the setup is chaotic or the work is poorly defined. That means giving them access to the information they need, assigning a clear decision-maker they can work with, and sticking to a predictable cadence of check-ins. Chaos burns trust quickly, even if the hours are limited. To avoid this, set super clear expectations on both sides. They should know how you prioritize, how experiments differ from commitments, and who owns which decisions. You should know how they prefer to communicate and how they measure success. When the rhythm is established, their time multiplies the impact of your whole team, and the fractional leader can quickly raise the standard of execution and help you move faster. The bottom line For an early-stage company, every hire carries risk. But trying to fill a senior role full time before you can afford it is often the bigger risk. A fractional leader can give you the judgment and experience you need to avoid expensive mistakes, while keeping your company nimble. Start clear, keep the scope focused, and follow through on your commitments. Do that, and you will find senior professionals willing to bet on you, long before the market knows your name.
Category:
E-Commerce
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