Blog 6/20/2026
One of the quickest ways for a leader to lose credibility is by holding meetings that do not serve a real purpose. An effective meeting should instead have a clear intention behind it, ideally an agenda, and a specific outcome that each member can walk away with. Whether the goal is to make a decision, solve a problem, or simply to share information, each individual attending should understand the purpose behind the meeting, and why they specifically are involved. When meetings are focused and organized, they can be a valuable tool for collaboration and communication within the workplace.
We’ve all been involved in a meeting that has felt like a complete waste of time. That sort of mentality is universally seen even in trends online where you see the quote “This could have been an email”. The biggest reason that individuals come away with this feeling is often due to a lack of direction within the meeting. People would often spend a large portion of the meeting discussion topics not relevant to every person, and there would be no defined action items or decisions made for the team to walk away with. I often participate in a weekly meeting that regularly runs longer than schedule simply because conversations tend to go off topic. As technology continues to develop within our working environments, especially in the form of video conference calls through Google Meet, Skype, Teams, and Zoom, these sorts of meaningless meetings come to happen more often simply due to the convenience of these mediums. As the workforce continues to develop, meetings have lost a lot of the weight that they once held, as teams continue to muddy down its value through meaningless meetings after meaningless meetings. While these sorts of meetings can be positive experiences and ways for the team to connect, often that time can be spent towards more productive means.
Team cohesion is an important factor in leadersip, as members tend to work better when there are clearly defined common goals and trust in one another. Leaders can help to build this cohesion through encouraging participation, recognizing the accomplishments of members, and ensuring that each individual feels comfortable sharing ideas. Research from Google’s Project Aristotle finds that safety without the fear of failure was important in creating an environment where employees feel heard and respected (Poyton, 2024).
Poyton, B. (2024, March 28). Psychological safety: Google’s Project Aristotle. Psych Safety. https://psychsafety.com/googles-project-aristotle/
Blog 6/14/2026
What is required of leadership changes significantly when an organization enters a crisis environment. Under typical circumstance, leaders are often focused on the growth, productivity, and long term planning of their organization. However, during a crisis, the focus shifts entirely towards the stability of the environment, communication within the organization, and ensuring the safety of employees. Nomatter the origin of the crisis, employees look to leadership for guidance and reassurance thoughout the experience.
One of the most important factors in crisis leadership is communication. If employees feel that information is being withheld or as if leadership is not being transparent, uncertainty and resentment for leadership begins to spread. This can lead to rumors, anxiety, and decreased confidence in leadership. Effective leaders combat this by communicating frequently and with honesty, even if the answers are not all there. The CDC’s framework for risk communication works to emphasize that organizations should always communicate early, be transparent about what is known and unknown, and provide consistent updates about the situation to help build credibility and maintain trust during uncertain times (CDC, 2024).
The most impotant step in crisis planning and management is preparation, specifically before crisis occurs. Organizations are not able to predict every situation they may face, but they can establish plans and communication structures before an emergency happens. This is not about creating a perfect response for every possible situation, but to be able to have a framework that can be adapted when these events come. Organizations that work to conduct training and clearly define roles in crises are often able to respond more effectively.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024). Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) Framework.
Blog 6/6/2026
Division within organizations typically stems from a few key behaviors: lack of clarity in communication, departmental isolation/separation, and inconsistent messaging from leadership. All of these factors work over the span of one’s employment at an organization, and builds up in the form of resentment. When leadership is not taking the correct steps to improve these inconsistencies, it works as a sort of snowball effect to continue and lead their employees down this path of division within their teams, or a disconnect from the organization as a whole.
The best ways that leaders can work against division within their teams is to begin with a baseline of great communication. This doesn’t necessarily mean complete clarity within their roles, especially in the case of sensitive topics and projects. Even just a simple explanation of why there is a lack of information surrounding a specific topic goes a long way in ensuring that your employees continue to feel valued in their work. Microsoft showed how their promotion of collaboration under their current CEO, Satya Nadella, has shown to create a more unified workspace within their individual teams and organization as a whole. (Zablah Humbert-Labeaumaz, 2019)
Another important aspect to focus on is aligning teams around a shared set of goals. This could be as granular as centering around meeting expected KPI’s, or as sophisticated as specific targets within a major project cycle. Getting your team’s focus onto one specific outcome is an optimal way to ensure that teams stay aligned.
The final area that can lead to major division within the workplace is when conflict is not addressed properly. When leaders do not pay attention to the disputes and conflicts that may arise, teams often start to split at the seams, focusing more on the issues that they are perceiving rather than the work at hand. Leadership can work to combat this through proper conflict management training, creating spaces for focused discussion on the issues at hand, and encouraging respectful disagreement within these topic areas. In Google’s Project Aristotle research from 2012 found that psychological safety was the strongest factor in team effectiveness, and that teams where employees felt comfortable expressing opinions were more successful than teams that simply had talented individuals. (Poyton, 2024)
Zablah Humbert-Labeaumaz, N. (2019, June 2). Reframing culture and collaboration: Microsoft’s transformation under Satya Nadella. Nadia HL. https://nadiahl.com/research/microsoft-change-management/
Poyton, B. (2024, March 28). Psychological safety: Google’s Project Aristotle. Psych Safety. https://psychsafety.com/googles-project-aristotle/
Blog 5/31/2026
When it comes to public companies with a well known company culture, one that is more infamous than most is Amazon. The company’s culture is famously known for being extremely fast-paced and data-driven, shaped by its Leadership Principles that emphasizes ownership customer obsession, and extremely high standards. This sort of environment style pushes employees to think big and move quickly, but also sparks debates about just how much pressure they place among their teams.
As it pertains to diversity and inclusion, Amazon publicly reports its demographics and has continued to commit to increasing representation across leadership roles. The company continues to support numerous a large variety of employee affinity groups and continues to invest in underrepresented communities.
Ethically, Amazon sits central to quite a few ongoing conversations about corporate responsibility. It functions within multiple environmental initiatives, signaling commitment to reducing carbon emissions, yet they also face scrutiny over data privacy issues, labor conditions, and how it impacts and influences small business models.
Blog 5/24/2026
There are many variables within your role as a leader that define your ability to persuade those around you to achieving goals. Two of them in particular have a large impact on not only the processes in which these goals are accomplished, but also on your workplace environment as a whole: Power and Politics.
Politics within an organization is a direct association of the relationships that you have built with those around you, especially those who have the ability to make great changes within the organization. That ability to make great changes, however, is the power that someone holds within their workplace. These two values work together quite well towards a common result, though where each originates is what makes the primary differences between the two.
Folks often think negatively on these words when it comes to leadership within an organization, and this negative connotation comes with a suite of controversies. Many people tend to stray away from leadership roles, or feel as though they wouldn’t fit specifically due to their unwillingness to play into these sorts of “mind games”. While it is possible to avoid these topics for the most part, it will greatly inhibit your ability to maintain relationships within your organization, as well as your ability to grow into leadership positions.
At the end of the day, if your goal is to become a leader, playing into these values is an important skill to learn. Growing to understand how your organization’s relationships define workflow processes and decision making is valuable to becoming a key player within those types of leadership roles.
Blog 5/16/2026
When it comes to leadership, there are many qualities that I see as nothing short of essential. The values that I believe are necessary include great communication skills, including the ability to develop relationships with all parties you associate with; reliability, including the ability to be dependable to those whom rely upon you and your actions; and the ability to create opportunities for those who you are surrounded by.
When it comes to these qualities, I often think of nonfictional individuals, who are great representations of the morals that come with these sorts of skills. A specific example of this figure that I see as an inspiration is Lebron James. Within the realm of basketball, he stands as a pillar of support and greatness both within the generation that preceded him, those who performed alongside him, as well as the folks who will come to follow in the future. He extrudes amazing mentorship skills by providing those around him with the ability to succeed within their roles, and maintain their own spotlights. One such example of this is Austin Reaves. Under the guidance of Lebron, Austin has been able to make a name for himself as an essential part of the starting Lakers roster. Reeves has continued to perform higher than expected within a majority of his appearances, and will continue to be a pillar within the Lakers roster.
It is not only his ability to create opportunities that shows Lebron’s leadership. Within his longstanding career in the NBA, he has continued to be a reliable teammate in terms of his ability on the court, stating himself that he continues to play only until he feels he can no longer do right by the game itself. This itself is a point of view that is respected heavily among the fanbase within the NBA, showing not only his longevity within the league, but also how his ideals are respected among the community.
It is because of these qualities that he has become a role model to many folks within this local area, and also to those around the world who he has touched with his ideals.
Matt Porter - MBA 501 Blog Assignment 