James daSilva

This post is adapted from the May 20, 2022, issue of SmartBrief on Leadership. Today’s my last day editing SmartBrief on Leadership after more than 10 years. This has been a job I’ve taken seriously, not for my own validation but because so many…

Most of us need periodic reminders to be humble, more questioning and curious, and more open to other people’s ideas and thoughts. Another part of staying grounded is being aware of our mistakes and shortcomings. As Box CEO Aaron Levie recently said:…

Sign up for SmartBrief on Leadership today, free. The killing of George Floyd and everything that’s resulted from it should be a prime leadership teaching moment for people who write and speak about that sort of thing. After all, there are endless…

What does culture look like in the workplace? What does it mean for CEOs, and what does it mean when “culture” is embedded into the products and solutions you offer and even the company’s name? To find out more, I spoke last week with Didier Elzinga,…

Every year, SmartBrief's Leadership blog publishes a few hundred posts, each with the goal of offering useful advice for being a better and more thoughtful leader, manager, communicator and strategist. And every year, I look at the most popular blog…

The Great Resignation is sometimes portrayed as a rebellion of entitlement or laziness, especially as US labor participation remains below pre-pandemic levels and companies across sectors struggle with hiring and retention. But recent months suggest…

What is change? We use the word to describe things, people, strategies and tactics. We talk about a change of pace, making change, change management. “The times, they are a-changin’,” can be a call to action or a lament for the old days. We say…

I follow many people online because I'm a fan of their work and want to know what they're up to. These are often writers, sometimes podcasters, YouTubers, actors or business experts, and so forth. They bring into the world thoughtful exploration,…

There was a Twitter thread recently from an early, longtime Facebook executive, Dan Rose. You might have missed it. That’s OK -- scrolling Twitter is rarely the best use of our time. In these tweets, Rose argued for the greatness of Facebook…

Burnout is not just a pandemic problem. Check our SmartBrief's library for leaders looking to fight burnout in their teams or themselves.

Burnout at work is nothing new -- Harvard Business Review was documenting it 40 years ago, after all. And many workplaces were paying attention to employee physical, mental and emotional wellness in recent years. But the pandemic highlighted how…

We shouldn’t be surprised that companies are speaking up about reopening offices and also reestablishing them as the default. At some level, I think that’s OK. Vaccination progress is encouraging, if incomplete. Companies spend a lot of money on real…

Burnout is a topic finally getting the attention it deserves. After all, Americans have longer-than-average workweeks, and some reports suggest we’ve only increased that workload during the pandemic. The pandemic has created special kinds of stress:…

The past year has changed life all across America. Millions of people lost jobs, while millions more went remote. But some industries had to simultaneously adapt to the pandemic while staying open and meeting customer needs -- including wholesale…

Jeff Bezos has changed how Americans shop, how they think about shopping and what they expect of customer service. He, through Amazon, stands alongside the Sears catalog, the Ford Model T, Apple’s iPhone, Edward Bernays’ work in advertising/PR and a…

The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors held its annual executive summit this month with two notable differences from past years. One, NAW has a new president and CEO in Eric Hoplin, who succeeded Dirk Van Dongen in October. Two, the…

Who do you most admire? This question seems so straightforward that Gallup each year, for more than 70 years, has asked Americans this question. More specifically, Gallup asks which man and woman “that you have heard or read about, living today in…

Every year, SmartBrief's Leadership blog publishes a few hundred posts, each with the goal of offering useful advice for being a better and more thoughtful leader, manager, communicator and strategist. This year, that mission took on urgency, as our…

We'll soon know who will be president in 2021, whether tonight or another day, and we’ll have to move on with our life’s work. Elections are brutally zero-sum affairs: Someone wins, and the other candidates lose. Electoral outcomes literally change…

Of all the problems caused by the pandemic, too much technology wouldn't seem like a priority. But being overwhelmed by ever-present technology is a real phenomenon, especially as employees continue to absorb new software, apps and processes driven…