UNLEASHED By LoyaltyOps

Last week, Ipsos published a study of 9,100 employees in 32 countries, and based on what they see in their organization today, only one in four said becoming a people manager looks attractive. In this episode, Mickey Anderson looks at what that finding means for the leaders your people are watching right now, and for who will step up to lead next.What the episode covers:- Why Ipsos found that management is increasingly viewed as a burden, and why career support is the factor most linked to people wanting to take on a people manager role- The difference between the manager role and the leadership part of it, and why leadership is the part your people are watching- Korn Ferry's 2027 forecast, where 66% of more than 1,300 talent and senior leaders expect managers to spend more time guiding their teams through change than managing day-to-day work, a shift toward leadership- Edelman's Trust at Work research, where trust in direct managers fell from 79% to 72%, and how much that trust depends on how people are led through change- The question to ask yourself: if your best individual contributor described what leading people in your company looks like, what would they say?- What this looks like in an organization of 30 to 300 people, where most future leaders already work for you- Why listening without visible action does more harm than not asking at all Mickey's one thing to try this week: in your next three one-on-ones, ask one question, "From what you see, what does leading people here look like?" Write down what you hear, compare notes with your leadership team, and then go back to the people you asked with what you heard and one thing your leaders will do differently.Sources mentioned in this episode:Ipsos, The Workplace Reality: https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/the-workplace-realityKorn Ferry, "Korn Ferry Report: AI and Capability Gaps Will Reshape Talent in 2027": https://www.kornferry.com/about-us/press/korn-ferry-report-ai-and-capability-gaps-will-reshape-talent-in-2027Edelman, "Trust at Work: Transformation Triggering Trust Demise": https://www.edelman.com/newsroom/richard-edelmans-6am-blog/trust-at-work-2026Gallup, "Employee Engagement Remains Flat as AI Adoption Accelerates": https://www.gallup.com/workplace/712433/employee-engagement-remains-flat-adoption-accelerates.aspxAbout UNLEASHED: UNLEASHED is the podcast from LoyaltyOps for leaders building businesses that last in a decade no one is prepared for.About Mickey: Mickey co-founded LoyaltyOps, and her background sits at the intersection of organizational performance and leadership development. LoyaltyOps is a leadership development firm that develops individual leaders and leadership teams against clear leadership competencies, so performance improves across your organization.Subscribe to UNLEASHED for new episodes every Thursday.

This month, 521 HR and business leaders said the biggest source of friction for managers is leadership expectations, and a lack of manager training came last. And one of Canada's largest employers has written down what effective leadership means across a company of about 220,000 people. So do your leaders agree on what good leadership looks like?In this episode, Mickey Anderson looks at why unclear expectations hold managers back, what that employer did about it, and what a version of it looks like in an organization of 30 to 300 people. What the episode covers: - Why 48% of HR and business leaders named leadership expectations as the biggest source of friction for managers, and why a lack of training came last, at 25%- Why HR leaders and business leaders disagree on who owns manager effectiveness- The question to ask yourself: would each of your leaders describe a good manager in your company the same way?- How Loblaw, with about 220,000 people, built leadership expectations for four levels of leaders, as reported by HRD Canada- What a one-page version looks like in an organization of 30 to 300 people  Sources mentioned in this episode:Betterworks, 2026 Manager Effectiveness Survey: https://www.betterworks.com/magazine/2026-manager-effectiveness-surveyHRD Canada, "Loblaw builds shared leadership expectations to strengthen talent development": https://www.hcamag.com/ca/specialization/transformation/loblaw-builds-shared-leadership-expectations-to-strengthen-talent-development/591095Gallup, "Managers Account for 70% of Variance in Employee Engagement": https://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/182792/managers-account-variance-employee-engagement.aspxAbout UNLEASHED: UNLEASHED is the podcast from LoyaltyOps for leaders building businesses that last in a decade no one is prepared for.About Mickey: Mickey co-founded LoyaltyOps, and her background sits at the intersection of organizational performance and leadership development. LoyaltyOps is a leadership development firm that develops individual leaders and leadership teams against clear leadership competencies, so performance improves across the organization. Subscribe to UNLEASHED for new episodes every Thursday.Get the Cultural Standards Builder: https://loyaltyops.com/cultural-standards-builderSchedule A Discovery Call with LoyaltyOps: https://loyaltyops.com/book Follow Mickey Anderson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heymickeyandersonLoyaltyOps: https://loyaltyops.comWant to be a guest on UNLEASHED? Apply here: https://unleashed.loyaltyops.com/apply

Emily Schneider says one of the most steadying things a leader can tell their people in an uncertain year is "I don't know," as long as it comes with what you're doing about it and a commitment to work through it together.Emily is a fractional COO with more than 25 years of experience in B2B and B2C companies, from startups to $300 million in revenue. She and Mickey Anderson talk about what she looks for when a company keeps missing its objectives and the CEO is sure the answer is more process.In this episode:Why a "sales problem" usually turns out to involve marketing, client experience and product, and how a short conversation with each department shows itWhy your people and your customers are the two best sources of answers you already haveWhy leaders who have grown out of startup mode need to slow down, and what that does for how their people see themWhat happens when a leader says out loud what they're struggling with, and why people pull harder in responseWhy Emily listens to every person before she tries to fix anything, and why she tells her people she'd rather they try and get it wrongConnect with Emily SchneiderIf something isn't working in your business and you can't work out why, Emily works out what's driving it, what needs to change and how to make it happen.Website: https://www.es-cx.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilymarieschneider/About UNLEASHED: UNLEASHED is the podcast from LoyaltyOps for leaders building businesses that last in a decade no one is prepared for. Host Mickey Anderson talks with leaders about what they are building, the decisions behind it, and what they are betting on next, and in solo episodes she takes one problem from inside growing organizations and shows what to do about it.Book A Discovery Call with LoyaltyOps: https://loyaltyops.com/bookSubscribe to UNLEASHED for new episodes every Thursday.Want to be a guest on UNLEASHED? Apply here: https://unleashed.loyaltyops.com/apply

Marketing has a plan built around lead volume, sales has one built around close rate, and customer success has one built around retention, and the three leaders never sat down to build those plans together, even though each one depends on the others.Why plans built inside each function can hit every target and still miss the growth plan, and what research published in Harvard Business Review found when it studied 95 cross-functional teamsThe six parts of a brief to send 48 hours before a session, from the objective to the assumptions nobody has testedHow to run the session well, with respectful disagreement, time boxes and small breakouts, and what research on devil's advocate and genuine dissent means for your meetingsWhy working across functions is a skill, and how to run three to five practice rounds with an after action review after each oneOne thing to try this week: pick one objective or problem that crosses two or more functions, send the leaders involved a one-page brief 48 hours ahead, and book 60 minutes to work on it togetherAbout UNLEASHED: UNLEASHED is the podcast from LoyaltyOps for leaders building businesses that last in a decade no one is prepared for. Host Mickey Anderson talks with leaders about what they are building, the decisions behind it, and what they are betting on next, and in solo episodes she takes one problem from inside growing organizations and shows what to do about it.Book A Discovery Call with LoyaltyOps: https://loyaltyops.com/bookGet the free leadership frameworks: https://loyaltyops.com/free-resourcesSubscribe to UNLEASHED for new episodes every Thursday.

When Clark Ingram took over people operations at a hospital, turnover dropped 40 percent in six months. He did it as a self-described finance guy who got thrown into HR and is convinced most companies misread the whole problem. As he puts it, culture eats strategy for breakfast, but employee turnover eats culture for breakfast.In this episode, Clark makes the case that about half of a company's turnover is created by HR itself, why his first move is always to stop the bleeding before anything else, and why the real root causes of turnover live several layers below the surface, where no AI tool can find them. He shares the story of unknowingly training his own competition, the small compensation fix that stopped it cold, and why he holds HR to a zero-turnover standard the same way a factory holds itself to zero defects. Along the way, you will hear why values fall apart the moment one leader stops living them, and what it actually takes to keep good people through this AI decade.Clark Ingram is the founder of People Profits and the CHRO of Littleton Regional Healthcare. A finance leader by background, he was pulled into HR by a CEO frustrated with relentless turnover, and he has since helped multiple organizations cut turnover by more than 40 percent and stabilize workforces others had written off as unfixable. His new book, Churn, lays out the process step by step.Learn more from Clark at People Profits: https://peopleprofits.com or https://clarkingram.comGet his book Churn: Proven Strategies to Overcome Failing Conventional Talent Management and Achieve Zero Turnover, on Amazon and wherever books are sold.Find Clark on LinkedIn: Clark A. IngramAbout UNLEASHED: UNLEASHED is the podcast for business owners building companies that last in a decade no one is prepared for. Host Mickey Anderson talks with founders and operators about what they are building, the decisions behind it, and what they are betting on next.Subscribe to UNLEASHED for new episodes every Thursday.