I’ve had a lifelong love of receiving publications that make me think. I love authors and ideas that spur the imagination, challenge convention, and raise possibilities. As a teen, I made the regular trip to the mailbox hoping to find the latest science fiction pulp magazine or comic book serial. Today, and for many years, I have read three publications from beginning to end in search of great ideas: the Harvard Business Review, Rotman Management Magazine, and the monthly Leadership Development Digest.
It’s the latter one, the Leadership Development Digest, that I look forward to most, probably because I love the passion and expertise of the writers as they share their wisdom and experiences on the big issues of leadership and management. Imagine my excitement when I was invited to host this September 2026 edition of remarkable ideas!
So, it’s time for me to stop writing and for you to dive in and soak up the big ideas, practical approaches, and the passion these great writers have for helping us all grow smarter in our professional lives together!
Enjoy!
I Wonder: The Skill and Will We’re Losing
Julie Winkle Giulioni
AI can deliver answers in seconds, but what might we lose when we stop sitting with questions long enough to wonder? This article explores how instant answers may be weakening not only our capacity for deep thinking, but our motivation to stay curious, tolerate uncertainty, and engage in the productive struggle that fuels learning and innovation.
Connect with Julie on LinkedIn.
15 Years of Workplace Innovation. What Will the Next 15 Bring?
Lorrie Coffey
The workplace has transformed over the past 15 years through shifts in technology, employee expectations, remote work, and talent challenges. Looking ahead, labor shortages, the need for stronger leadership, AI, skills-based education, and changing expectations around traditional employment will continue to reshape how organizations attract, develop, and retain talent—making continued workplace innovation essential.
Connect with Lorrie on Facebook.
Making It Up As We Go
Bill Treasurer
Rapid growth creates extraordinary opportunities—but it can also leave leaders feeling like they’re constantly improvising without a playbook. This piece explores how to stay grounded, intentional, and true to yourself when roles, structures, and expectations keep changing.
Connect with Bill on LinkedIn.
Leaders, Beware of Creating Restructuring Wreckage: Tips to Minimize the Fallout
Art Petty
Given the constantly shifting market forces and the need for organizations to find new ways to leverage technologies, restructuring is a fact of life. If you must, it’s imperative to minimize creating restructuring wreckage. Here are 9 tips to help.
Connect with Art on LinkedIn.
Two Words That Are Hurting Your Relationships
Marcia Reynolds
Instead of using the two-word excuse of being “only human,” this post shares a simple technique for improving the impact of your conversations.
Connect with Marcia on LinkedIn.
When Speaking Up Doesn’t Always Make You Visible
Susan Mazza
Two people speak up in the same meeting. Both say something worth saying. One gets heard, credited by name an hour later, and pulled into the follow-up conversation by Thursday. The other gets barely a nod. Ask anyone who was sitting there what the difference was and you’ll get a shrug: something about presence, something about confidence. I’ll suggest it’s neither. The difference happened about thirty seconds before either of them opened their mouth. So what about you: could you name the difference, for yourself or for someone you lead?
Connect with Susan on LinkedIn.
The Best Leadership Checklist for Managers – 4 Frameworks Compared
Sean Glaze
If you are searching for the best leadership checklist for managers, the honest answer is that there is no single winner. There are four recognized checklists worth knowing, and they were built for four different jobs. So the real question is not which one is smartest. It is which one solves your problem. And for most managers, the problem is not strategy or process. It is keeping good people from quietly heading for the door.
Connect with Sean on LinkedIn.
A School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dubai Creates an Uncompromising Culture
S. Chris Edmonds
New Mastering Workplace Culture podcast: Rasha Hussain and Nujood Al Khloofi co-chaired the pioneering Values Council at Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences in the United Arab Emirates. Our conversation explores a powerful question: “How do leaders create a workplace culture that employees genuinely believe in, live every day, and help sustain as an organization grows?” Rasha and Nujood share an undeniable truth: Leaders sustain culture through consistent behaviors, intentional validation, active listening, and a genuine commitment to helping people succeed together.
Connect with Chris on LinkedIn.
You’re Making the Weather for Your Team, Whether You Mean To or Not
David Grossman
Your team can feel the climate you set the moment you walk in—and it’s built from smaller choices than you’d think. Here’s a quick way to read the weather you’re making and shift it if it’s not where you want it to be.
Connect with David on LinkedIn.
The Dream Before the Grammy – What My Nephew Taught Me About Mentoring, Coaching, and Seeing Someone’s Gifts Before the World Does
Susan Inouye
What does it really take to help someone reach their potential? This week I share a very personal story about mentoring my nephew, Jason Baum, from a young man with a dream of becoming a filmmaker to a Grammy-winning producer who has worked with artists like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, and Paul McCartney. But this isn’t a story about awards. It’s a reminder of what’s possible when someone’s gifts are seen, nurtured, and given room to grow.
Connect with Susan on LinkedIn.
There Is No Need to Hide Your Talent!
Susan Heaton-Wright
In this article I share how important it is for others to know what you do, what your skill set is, and what you bring to the table. They aren’t mind readers, and unless you do this, you could be doing yourself a disservice.
Connect with Susan on LinkedIn.
Make Someone Smile Today
Frank Sonnenberg
23 Ways to Show Your Gratitude (FREE downloadable poster).
Connect with Frank on LinkedIn.
Feeling Unseen or Unheard? Write Your Own Review
Diana Peterson-More
For those feeling unseen, unheard, or living in a feedback desert, this is the third leg on the stool in a series called “Write Your Own Review.” It’s all about turning the tables on the process and stopping the waiting game by writing your own performance review. If your boss isn’t asking you where you want to be in a year, three years, or five years, this post is for you.
Connect with Diana on LinkedIn.
Cultivating Resilience in Uncertain Times: The Power of Connection
Ann Van Eron
Resilience is often described as our capacity to adapt, recover, and grow in the face of challenges. But what if resilience isn’t about becoming tougher? What if it begins by becoming more connected? The leaders who navigate uncertainty most effectively are not necessarily the smartest or the most experienced. They are the ones who stay connected with themselves, others, and something larger than themselves.
Connect with Ann on LinkedIn.
Customer Experience Audit Checklist – What a Professional Auditor Actually Looks For
Braden Kelley
People often picture a customer experience audit as something closer to inspiration than inspection—a few interviews, some good ideas, a workshop. It isn’t. A real audit runs a specific, repeatable checklist across five activities, and knowing what’s actually on that checklist is useful even if you’re not commissioning a full audit yet—it tells you exactly where your own internal review is likely leaving gaps.
Connect with Braden on LinkedIn.
How Elite Teams Stay Elite
Katie O’Brien Ceccarini
High-performing teams don’t coast on talent. They understand their own magic, keep a sharp learning muscle running, share what they know with the rest of the organization, and prepare deliberately for the moment things get hard. That’s the difference between a team that peaks once and legendary teams that keep performing quarter after quarter.
Connect with Katie on LinkedIn.
August Is When the Year Is Won or Lost
Jon Verbeck
Here’s what I want every business owner to understand right now: you have four months left. That is not a warning; it’s an opportunity. Wait until October and your options shrink. Wait until December and you’re writing it off as “next year’s problem.”
Connect with Jon on LinkedIn.
The Power of Alignment
Priscilla Archangel
Like a rowing crew, a leadership team doesn’t need every member to be the strongest individual performer. It needs every member moving in the same direction, at the same time, for the same reason.
Connect with Priscilla on LinkedIn.
How Safe Are You From People Who Push Your Buttons?
Lisa Kohn
Lisa Kohn of Chatsworth Consulting Group presents “How Safe Are You From People Who Push Your Buttons?” on The Thoughtful Leaders™ Blog, where she shares five ideas to help you prevent your buttons from being pushed, build a buffer zone, and protect yourself from the button-pushers around you.
Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn.
Turn Productivity Pain Into Gain
Eileen McDargh
Simple ideas to get control of “work” and well-meaning colleagues.
Connect with Eileen on LinkedIn.
How to Make It Safe for Your Team to Tell You the Truth
John Spence
I recently shared a memo with one of my coaching clients who was working to get people to speak more honestly inside their organization. Before most people decide to raise a concern, they perform a quick mental calculation: what is likely to happen to me if I say this? In this week’s blog I share the memo along with several practical steps leaders can take to build trust that makes honest conversations possible before problems grow harder to address.
Connect with John on LinkedIn.