In this episode, we dive into the hidden side of leadership, the work that never makes it to dashboards or OKRs but holds organisations together. From Karl Weick’s sensemaking to Linda Babcock’s research on non-promotable tasks, from Tanya Reilly’s “Being Glue” in engineering teams to Paul O’Neill’s safety-first turnaround at Alcoa, we explore how invisible work shapes trust, efficiency, and performance. 

References:

1) Sensemaking in Organizations: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/818257.Sensemaking_in_Organizations

2) Will AI Fix Work? Work Trend Index: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/will-ai-fix-work

3) Are You Taking on Too Many Non-Promotable Tasks? https://hbr.org/2022/04/are-you-taking-on-too-many-non-promotable-tasks

4) Being Glue: https://www.noidea.dog/glue

5) Alcoa’s Core Values in Practice: Paul O’Neill’s Safety Focus: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=26838

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library.