Karen Dillon, co-author with Rob Cross of The Microstress Effect: How Little Things Pile Up and Create Big Problems and What to Do about It, describes their discovery of the little noticed day-to-day stressors causing significant impact on even the highest performing employees, and how failing to address them can lead to burnout. Karen Dillon is a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review and coauthor of three books with Clayton Christensen, including the New York Times bestseller, How Will You Measure Your Life?

We encourage you to use and share a resource that complements this episode: The Hidden Toll of Microstress, the authors’ Harvard Business Review article with a link to a microstress diagnostic tool. You might also enjoy In Session episode 35 on how subtracting can lead to more, available on fjc.dcn, or from your favorite podcast app.

Leidy Klotz, author of Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less, shares how subtracting before adding can create better outcomes, especially when we are clear about what we want to accomplish. Klotz’s innovative research shows how subtracting doesn’t necessarily mean doing less; rather it’s an important first step for individuals and organizations that want to improve processes and solve problems.

In addition to several research articles, Leidy’s work has appeared in the journals Nature and Science and been featured on NPR’s Hidden Brain podcast. He is an interdisciplinary professor of engineering, architecture, and business at the University of Virginia whose research focuses on the science of design.

A four-page Reading and Discussion Guide (shared with permission) complements this episode.

Woo-kyoung Ahn, professor of psychology at Yale University and author of Thinking 101: How to Reason Better to Live Better, discusses how our brains are hard-wired to make quick decisions in order to keep us safe. These cognitive shortcuts can lead to misguided decision-making and stifled innovation in the short-term while costing us time, energy, and money in the long run.

Ahn received Yale’s Lex Hixon Prize for teaching excellence in the social sciences in 2022, and her research was funded by the National Institutes of Health. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science.

In remote or hybrid workplaces, leaders must be more intentional about building relationships that engender commitment, rather than just compliance, and focus more on accomplishment rather than just employee activity. This episode explores how to do that with organizational expert Kevin Eikenberry.

Kevin Eikenberry is founder and Chief Potential Officer of the Kevin Eikenberry Group and co-founder of the Remote Leadership Institute. He has improved the communication, leadership, learning, teams and teamwork of organizations worldwide for over twenty-five years. Kevin’s been named one of Inc.com’s Top 100 Experts Worldwide in Leadership and Management and is the author of several books including The Long Distance Leader: Rules for Remarkable Remote Leadership, and The Long Distance Team: Designing Your Team for Everyone’s Success, released in 2023.