Tag: leadership

Review: The Goldilocks Team: Master Retention and Hiring by Minal Joshi Jaeckli

~ likelystory18 ~ Leave a comment

Synopsis:

We all have a universal desire to work with great people, but they can be hard to find and even harder to keep for the long-term. Leaders facing disengaged employees, high turnover rates, and fierce competition for skilled professionals, know too well that the cost of losing talent goes beyond financial impacts, it disrupts your organization, stunts innovation and undermines your competitive position.

In The Goldilocks Team: Master Retention and Hiring, you’ll take an illuminating and entertaining deep dive into the core drivers of employee engagement, the evolution of workplace culture, values alignment, and interpersonal alignment, and learn how to:
• Address the root causes of turnover and improve retention
• Implement practical, immediately actionable tactics to engage your team
• Align your organization’s retention strategies with employee values for lasting success
• Build high-performing teams that deliver for the long-term, without guesswork

Whether you’re a seasoned business leader or a new manager, this provides a clear roadmap to keep your existing team members engaged for the long-term and to successfully hire top talent that is positioned to thrive within your organization.

Ready to build a team that’s high-performing, fully engaged and loyal? This book will show you how.

Favorite Lines:

“Engaged employees lead to happy customers, which leads to a thriving business. It’s a win-win-win!”

“You know you can pay people to do things, but you can’t pay people to care. Engaged employees care.”

My Opinion:

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

In The Goldilocks Team, Minal Joshi Jaeckli delivers a refreshingly insightful and practical framework for building highly engaged, high-performing teams in a time when traditional hiring practices are breaking down. Through sharp storytelling, strategic thinking, and deeply personal experience, she challenges business leaders to rethink everything they know about employee engagement.

The book is built on the foundational idea that the perfect team isn’t formed by hiring the smartest, fastest, or most accomplished people—it’s about creating the “just right” combination of traits, values, and interpersonal dynamics. This Goldilocks approach—drawing from the classic tale where things must not be too extreme but just right—serves as both a metaphor and a methodology for curating teams that can thrive sustainably.

Jaeckli distills decades of experience across global industries—from pharmaceuticals to tech—to argue that disengagement is not simply a talent issue; it’s a leadership one. She outlines four critical engagement drivers: safety & certainty, contribution & purpose, growth & significance, and connection & belonging. By addressing these pillars thoughtfully, leaders can turn unmotivated employees into mission-driven contributors.

The writing style is candid and witty, laced with clever analogies (Cinderella hiring, diffused culture, stale shipwrecks), making even complex topics approachable. Jaeckli doesn’t shy away from naming what’s broken—outdated job descriptions, misaligned onboarding, superficial perks—and offers concrete suggestions for building real alignment between individual motivation and organizational goals.

One of the book’s most powerful ideas is the call to flip hiring and retention on their heads. Instead of finding “right” people, we should focus on forming the “right fit.” Instead of throwing perks at disengagement, we need to listen, build trust, and understand what people truly want in a workplace.

Summary:

Overall, The Goldilocks Team is more than a leadership guide—it’s a manifesto for how the modern workplace needs to evolve. Minal Joshi Jaeckli doesn’t just talk about fixing disengagement; she offers a human-first framework to build teams that actually work. This book will resonate with anyone who has ever led a team, struggled to keep talent, or wondered why traditional hiring just isn’t cutting it anymore. Insightful, smart, and surprisingly entertaining, this is a must-read for leaders ready to build organizations where people feel purpose, not just pressure.

Check out The Goldilocks Team here!

 

Review: The Creative Squeeze: Getting the Most Out of Your Creative Team by Justin Price

~ likelystory18 ~ 2 Comments

Synopsis:

Great creative work begins with great leadership.

In The Creative Squeeze, Justin Price unpacks the unique challenges of leading creative teams in a world that often prioritizes results over relationships. Drawing on decades of experience, he shares a personal journey of transformation and the actionable lessons he’s learned along the way.

This book debunks common leadership myths and replaces them with practical truths, including why empathy drives better results, how to build a resilient team culture, and the importance of mindset shifts for leaders managing creatives. With candid anecdotes and proven strategies, Justin provides a roadmap for unlocking the full potential of your creative team without burnout or frustration.

Perfect for leaders in nonprofits, agencies, and organizations of all sizes, The Creative Squeeze offers a fresh perspective on fostering innovation, trust, and sustainable success.

Favorite Lines:

“Failure is necessary to achieve growth.”

“It’s about fostering a work environment where our teams feel empowered to take risks and explore new ideas without fear bearing down on them. When we create this  kind of atmosphere where innovation is encouraged, and boundaries are meant to be pushed, we unlock the true potential of our team.”

“If you don’t listen to your people, your competition will.”

My Opinion:

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Leading a creative team is an art form in itself, requiring a balance of vision, empathy, and structure. In The Creative Squeeze, Justin Price distills over two decades of experience into a thought-provoking and practical guide for getting the most out of creative teams while fostering a healthy, innovative culture.

Price challenges conventional leadership wisdom, urging leaders to abandon the top-down, authoritarian approach in favor of a vision-driven, servant-leader model. He acknowledges the tension between pushing for high performance and ensuring that teams remain motivated and fulfilled. The book is structured around key mindset shifts that redefine leadership success—not as mastery of every creative skill but as the ability to empower others to excel.

A major strength of The Creative Squeeze is its real-world applicability. Price doesn’t just theorize about leadership; he provides actionable frameworks, “gut check” reflections, and strategic shifts that help leaders break free from ineffective habits. His insights into failure, listening, and adaptability are especially resonant. He makes it clear that failure is not just a learning experience but a necessary ingredient for growth. Instead of fearing mistakes, creative leaders should cultivate environments where failure is seen as an opportunity rather than a setback.

Another highlight of the book is its focus on the human aspect of leadership. Price shares personal stories—such as caring for his wife while balancing the pressures of entrepreneurship—that illustrate the importance of empathy. He argues that great leadership isn’t about having all the answers but about truly listening to and supporting the team. The book also emphasizes the role of technological adaptation, showing that resisting change can leave even the most talented teams obsolete.

For leaders who struggle with delegation, The Creative Squeeze provides a much-needed reality check: trying to do everything yourself doesn’t make you a stronger leader—it limits the potential of your team. Price’s lessons on letting go of creative control and instead acting as a curator of talent are invaluable for managers looking to elevate their leadership approach.

Summary:

Overall, while the book is primarily aimed at those in creative fields, its principles extend far beyond design agencies or marketing firms. Any leader who wants to build a culture of innovation, resilience, and high performance will find wisdom in Price’s approach. Happy reading!

Check out The Creative Squeeze here!

 

Review: The Win-Win Workplace: How Thriving Employees Drive Bottom-Line Success by Angela Jackson

~ likelystory18 ~ Leave a comment

Synopsis:

Do you want the key to driving equity and skyrocketing profits? It’s hand over control to your workers.

Discover 9 strategies to create better, healthier workplaces, grounded in evidence-based research.

This revolutionary guide aims to revolutionize the workplace for justice, equity, and profitability by handing the reins over to the real drivers of the workers.

Based on research from over 1,200 companies, including WalMart, Google, and JPMorgan Chase, this book follows real-world cases from companies where employees evolved from silent contributors to masterminds steering corporate strategies. These cases are the vanguard of a vibrant era in which workers will be the architects of their destinies, shaping not just their own careers but the entire trajectories of their organizations. Her work has quantified the financial impact investing in people can have on an organization- the first reliable calculation in the literature of talent retention.

From this research, 9 key strategies
•Centering employee voices
•Mutualistic working relationships
•Intersectional inclusion strategies
•Reimaging employee benefits
•Frontline leader drive DEIJ strategies
•Hire STARS
•Develop deep talent benches
•Human capital reporting as a competitive strategy
•Distributed leadership

This book goes deeper to show how these strategies are working in the real-world today. When workers have stakes, everyone businesses surge, and teams ride a high they’ve never felt before. This is a win-win both management and labor win when you put people first.

Favorite Lines:

“The modern workplace has long been a battle of ‘employee versus employer,’ but it doesn’t have to be this way.”

“When employees feel like valued stakeholders rather than replaceable assets, they are more engaged, innovative, and productive.”

“The companies that will thrive in the future are those that see their people as more than just workers, but as partners in success.”

“Organizations that prioritize well-being and continuous learning don’t just attract top talent—they keep it.”

My Opinion:

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Angela Jackson’s The Win-Win Workplace is a timely and thought-provoking guide that redefines the relationship between employees and employers. In a world where workplace dynamics are rapidly shifting—marked by trends like the Great Resignation, quiet quitting, and the rise of gig work—Jackson presents a compelling case for moving beyond the traditional transactional employment model. She argues that when companies prioritize employee well-being, they don’t just create happier workplaces—they build more profitable and sustainable businesses.

The book is structured around nine core pillars that define a “Win-Win Workplace,” including centering employee voices, reimagining benefits, activating frontline leaders, and fostering continuous learning. Drawing from years of research across diverse industries, Jackson provides real-world case studies that illustrate how forward-thinking organizations have embraced these principles with measurable success. Her findings are backed by data showing that companies that prioritize employee engagement see increased revenue, higher productivity, and stronger financial performance.

What makes The Win-Win Workplace stand out is its practical approach. Jackson doesn’t just diagnose the problems with modern workplaces—she provides a roadmap for change. She outlines specific strategies for businesses to implement, from hiring based on skills rather than credentials to creating feedback loops that empower employees. The book is as much a call to action as it is a blueprint for transformation.

Summary:

Overall, Jackson makes a compelling argument that when employees thrive, businesses do too—proving that success in the modern workforce isn’t a zero-sum game, but a partnership that benefits everyone. This book could be for leaders and employees alike looking to build more resilient, inclusive, and high-performing work-places. Happy reading!

Check out The Win-Win Workplace here!