Plastic waste is a C-suite issue because plastic is more pervasive across our global economy than just about any other manufactured substance, and the waste from single-use plastic packaging alone represents $100 billion of economic value. That’s value that is thrown away each and every year. The corporation or entrepreneur who finds ways to prevent that waste or recapture that value is looking at a trillion-dollar opportunity.

When one starts to break down the challenge, there are a few clear business benefits that come from plastic waste reduction: driving innovation by creating new products or materials, reducing operational and capital costs, mitigating risks, and winning new customers.

For many employees, the key motivator is a sense of purpose—and yet more than half of those surveyed say they’re not even “somewhat” passionate about their jobs. If organizations want to inspire their workers, they must clearly communicate why they’re in business and what value they provide. When employees understand and embrace those things, their companies thrive: Survey results show that more than 90% of companies with a well-defined purpose deliver growth and profits at or above the industry average.

An effective purpose statement, the authors say, answers several questions: Why does our organization exist? Who are we serving? What value do we offer, and why are we uniquely capable of providing it? But a powerful statement is not enough; firms must also deliver on their promises to customers. That requires putting the right people in the right roles, breaking down silos to facilitate cross-functional collaboration, investing in the areas that matter...

Millions of American women left the workforce during the pandemic, mostly to provide care for families when schools and other support systems closed. As the economy rebounds, companies will need to lure this talent back—and return-to-work programs provide a vehicle for doing so. These programs—aimed at mid-career professionals who’ve taken time off from employment—have been around for 20 years, and the author has been writing about (and consulting with companies on) them for nearly that long. In this article she gives an overview of the evolution of these programs, describes the various types, and suggests best practices to make them most effective.

Do you dream about switching to a career that’s drastically different from your current job? Many people do. But they never make the leap: the costs of switching seem too high, and the possibility of success seems too remote. The answer isn’t to plug away in your current job, unfulfilled and slowly burning out. The answer is to do both. Two careers are better than one. And by committing to two careers, you will produce benefits for both. You can learn new skills, broaden your network, and discover truly creative new solutions by committing to two (or more) wildly divergent careers. When you follow your curiosities, you will bring passion to your new careers, which will leave you more fulfilled. And by doing more than one job, you may end up doing all of them better.

Although power is essential to taking charge and driving change, it makes leaders vulnerable to two traps that can not only erode their own effectiveness but also undermine their team’s. Hubris—the excessive pride and self-confidence that can come with power—causes people to greatly overestimate their own abilities, while self-focus makes them less attentive to subordinates, diminishing their ability to lead successfully. The authors offer strategies for recognizing and avoiding these pitfalls. They outline how to cultivate humility and empathy as antidotes to hubris and self-focus, through actions such as establishing channels for honest input, creating visible reminders that success is fleeting, immersing oneself in other people’s jobs and experiences, and embedding interdependence in organizational systems. A balanced relationship with power can seldom be developed overnight, but in time, leaders who follow this advice will boost their own effectiveness and...

With ever-increasing demands at work, being able to get things done can be a key driver of success. But, the irony is that it can also deter success, because a focus on tasks often comes at the expense of a focus on people. Things like building relationships, inspiring a team, developing others, and showing empathy can fall by the wayside. If you sense that you may be overly task-focused, talk to your team about what you can do to focus more meaningfully on the people on your team. Seek out the advice of others who are good at balancing task- and people-focus to gain some insight into how they do it. Building greater self-awareness in the moment provides an opportunity to pause and choose a different approach. This might mean choosing not to send a slew of emails about your big project over the weekend, pausing to acknowledge a colleague’s effort, or taking the time to teach a team member something new. To be sure, task-focus and achieving results are vital for any...

As more and more employees have shown that they can successfully work remotely, leaders of large international organizations are rethinking how much work needs to be done in offices and how much can be done remotely. And while hybrid work opens up new possibilities for a competitive advantage, it also can have shortcomings depending on your firm’s goals. To better understand whether your business should take up a new hybrid organizational model, and how, first consider two factors: the core tasks that need to get done and the importance of having employees in international markets. Once you’ve outlined these factors, consider how they fit into four models: large hubs, hubs and satellites, distributed, and global virtual.

The current economic environment threatens the success — and perhaps even the survival — of many small and midsize companies, because larger organizations are increasingly able to provide personalized experiences to their customers, in literally any way their customers choose. Most leaders of these smaller companies have already made significant digital investments to support their businesses operationally. But even as teams continue to work hard to harness all the data being generated by these technologies, it still takes longer than it should to get answers to basic KPI questions that are critical to running the business. What digital strategies are most small and midsize businesses missing? The answer is two-fold: understanding that you need specialized business analytics expertise on your leadership team and that you need to change how your organization makes decisions.

Employees want to work from home 2.5 days a week on average, according to a monthly survey of 5,000 Americans. Desires to work from home and cut commuting have strengthened as the pandemic has lingered, and many have become increasingly comfortable with remote interactions. The rapid spread of the Delta variant is also undercutting the drive for a full-time return to the office any time soon. Tight labor markets are also a challenge for firms that want a full-time return.

Our gut or gastrointestinal tract is home to billions of bacteria. The food we eat directly affects our gut health (or the balance of good and bad bacteria) and influences the production of neurotransmitters (our body’s chemical messengers that are constantly carrying messages from the gut to the brain). Because different foods trigger different moods, we can strategically choose foods that evoke desirable mood-states. For keeping our moods even and balanced, especially in the work environment, we can consume foods that promote good bacteria in our guts. We should also consider the physiological reactions various foods trigger. For example, it might make sense to serve and consume a mild or sweet fare during a get-together with friends and family, and, maybe consume spicy food ahead of a confrontational meeting in which we don’t want to be run over.

The reason feedback is so ineffectual is because it is backward-looking. When someone gives you feedback, they’re anchoring themselves in the bygones and reflecting on your past behavior. The secret lies in asking for advice instead. Advice-giving leads one to think about future actions that the person in need of guidance could take. You can do this by 1) Being specific in the type of advice you’re asking for; 2) Asking people to think about what could help you in the future; 3) Asking the right person.

What enables one leader to inspire confidence, loyalty, and hard work, while others—with equal vision and intelligence—stumble? How individuals deal with adversity provides a clue.

Extraordinary leaders find meaning in—and learn from—the most negative events. Like phoenixes rising from the ashes, they emerge from adversity stronger, more confident in themselves and their purpose, and more committed to their work.

Such transformative events are called crucibles—a severe test or trial. Crucibles are intense, often traumatic—and always unplanned.

The Idea in Practice

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Among the tests of a leader, few are more challenging—and more painful—than recovering from a career catastrophe. Most fallen leaders, in fact, don’t recover. Still, two decades of consulting experience, scholarly research, and their own personal experiences have convinced the authors that leaders can triumph over tragedy—if they do so deliberately.

Great business leaders have much in common with the great heroes of universal myth, and they can learn to overcome profound setbacks by thinking in heroic terms. First, they must decide whether or not to fight back. Either way, they must recruit others into their battle. They must then take steps to recover their heroic status, in the process proving, both to others and to themselves, that they have the mettle necessary to recover their heroic mission.

Bernie Marcus exemplifies this process. Devastated after Sandy Sigoloff fired him from Handy Dan, Marcus decided to forgo the distraction...

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What is the best way to motivate employees to do creative work? Help them take a step forward every day. In an analysis of knowledge workers’ diaries, the authors found that nothing contributed more to a positive inner work life (the mix of emotions, motivations, and perceptions that is critical to performance) than making progress in meaningful work. If a person is motivated and happy at the end of the workday, it’s a good bet that he or she achieved something, however small. If the person drags out of the office disengaged and joyless, a setback is likely to blame.

This progress principle suggests that managers have more influence than they may realize over employees’ well-being, motivation, and creative output. The key is to learn which actions support progress—such as setting clear goals, providing sufficient time and resources, and offering recognition—and which have the opposite effect.

Even small wins can boost inner work life...

One of the most contentious issues in business revolves around the role of for-profit companies in addressing social and environmental problems. Should a business be driving a “conversation” about race or pressuring U.S. states to reform discriminatory laws? And as investors inevitably ask, does engagement on such issues detract from generating profits?

The answer to that last question is no, according to a study we recently completed. We find that firms making investments and improving their performance on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues exhibit better stock market performance and profitability in the future. For companies, this suggests that their efforts to do good are rewarded. For investors, this suggests that there is substantial value from analyzing non-financial data and incorporating it into their decisions.

However, not all such initiatives are equally beneficial. My research, with Mozaffar Khan and Aaron Yoon,...

With all the media and medical attention on stress and its negative health impacts, it is easy to reach the conclusion that stress is irredeemably bad—something to be avoided as much as possible.

We have a different perspective. We believe that pursuing a “stress-free” life often causes more stress down the line—problems compound, and by failing to face our most intense challenges we never overcome them. Think about a time when you experienced substantial personal or professional growth, or a time when you performed at your highest level, such as finishing a race, building a business, or raising a child. What was it that motivated and fueled you to grow, learn, and improve during these times?  We are willing to bet that those times invariably involved some stress or struggle.

Stress has many wonderful attributes. It reminds us that we care; it connects us directly with the most challenging and important aspects of our lives. We aren’t suggesting...

The highest-performing teams have one thing in common: psychological safety — the belief that you won’t be punished when you make a mistake. Studies show that psychological safety allows for moderate risk-taking, speaking your mind, creativity, and sticking your neck out without fear of having it cut off — just the types of behavior that lead to market breakthroughs. So how can you increase psychological safety on your own team? First, approach conflict as a collaborator, not an adversary. When conflicts come up, avoid triggering a fight-or-flight reaction by asking, “How could we achieve a mutually desirable outcome?” Speak human-to-human, but anticipate reactions, plan countermoves, and adopt a learning mindset, where you’re truly curious to hear the other person’s point of view. Ask for feedback to illuminate your own blind spots. If you create this sense of psychological safety on your own team starting now, you can expect to see higher levels of engagement,...

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As more and more employees have shown that they can successfully work remotely, leaders of large international organizations are rethinking how much work needs to be done in offices and how much can be done remotely. And while hybrid work opens up new possibilities for a competitive advantage, it also can have shortcomings depending on your firm’s goals. To better understand whether your business should take up a new hybrid organizational model, and how, first consider two factors: the core tasks that need to get done and the importance of having employees in international markets. Once you’ve outlined these factors, consider how they fit into four models: large hubs, hubs and satellites, distributed, and global virtual.

The current economic environment threatens the success — and perhaps even the survival — of many small and midsize companies, because larger organizations are increasingly able to provide personalized experiences to their customers, in literally any way their customers choose. Most leaders of these smaller companies have already made significant digital investments to support their businesses operationally. But even as teams continue to work hard to harness all the data being generated by these technologies, it still takes longer than it should to get answers to basic KPI questions that are critical to running the business. What digital strategies are most small and midsize businesses missing? The answer is two-fold: understanding that you need specialized business analytics expertise on your leadership team and that you need to change how your organization makes decisions.

Employees want to work from home 2.5 days a week on average, according to a monthly survey of 5,000 Americans. Desires to work from home and cut commuting have strengthened as the pandemic has lingered, and many have become increasingly comfortable with remote interactions. The rapid spread of the Delta variant is also undercutting the drive for a full-time return to the office any time soon. Tight labor markets are also a challenge for firms that want a full-time return.

Our gut or gastrointestinal tract is home to billions of bacteria. The food we eat directly affects our gut health (or the balance of good and bad bacteria) and influences the production of neurotransmitters (our body’s chemical messengers that are constantly carrying messages from the gut to the brain). Because different foods trigger different moods, we can strategically choose foods that evoke desirable mood-states. For keeping our moods even and balanced, especially in the work environment, we can consume foods that promote good bacteria in our guts. We should also consider the physiological reactions various foods trigger. For example, it might make sense to serve and consume a mild or sweet fare during a get-together with friends and family, and, maybe consume spicy food ahead of a confrontational meeting in which we don’t want to be run over.

What’s taking your attention right now? Do you have kids at home? Is it the dishes piling up in the sink? Or that news notification that just popped up on your phone? Once you can pinpoint where your attention is going, you can take steps to redirect it. The author explains how the practice of attention management can help with three common attention-grabbers right now: your kids, your chores, and your thoughts.