Organizations have spent decades trying to solve the engagement problem. We survey it. Benchmark it. Measure it quarterly. Build dashboards around it. And yet, despite all the data, many workplaces still feel disconnected, uninspired, or trapped in what I often call the “Me-Cycle” where self-protection, disengagement, blame, and emotional distance quietly shape culture from the inside out.
Maybe that’s because many engagement strategies measure the wrong thing, and most leaders aren’t sure what to do with the results anyway. If surveys won’t get us there, what will? Too often, engagement gets reduced to comfort, perks, flexibility, or sentiment. But people aren’t more engaged when they’re comfortable; they’re more engaged when they contribute. They want to grow and be a part of building something significant alongside people they trust.
We’ve all heard the phrase, “People don’t leave companies. They leave leaders.” There’s truth in that. But healthy leadership is often misunderstood. Healthy culture isn’t fostered by leaders with low expectations and an avoidance of accountability in the name of kindness. The best leaders aren’t parachute parents at work, constantly removing obstacles, smoothing conflict, and tolerating unhealthy behavior to keep people comfortable.
The strongest leaders carry care and bring challenges simultaneously. They understand people’s strengths, dreams, potential, and wiring, and partner with them in pursuing growth and making an impact. Because deep down, most people, and especially the best people, don’t want easy. They want to work with purpose and take responsibility. They want to know their work matters.
In People Matter @ Work, I describe three “T’s” that help to shift the “Me-Cycle” to the “We-Cycle”:
Together
Work WITH people. Not against them. Not around them. WITH them.
Many organizations unintentionally create separation between leaders and team members. Decisions are made behind closed doors, polished up and rolled up. All the while leaders wonder why getting buy-in feels so elusive. But ownership grows through participation. People support what they help build.
Healthy leaders don’t just manage tasks; they develop people. They step into the work alongside their teams. They listen. They collaborate. They create shared ownership. That does not mean leaders lose authority. It means they gain trust.
Employees do not simply want to feel managed. They want to feel included. They want to know their voice matters and their contribution is meaningful. The healthiest cultures are rarely built through top-down pressure alone. They are built when leaders move toward people instead of creating distance from them.
Thoughtful
Thoughtfulness is more than being nice. It is using careful consideration for the needs of others. One of the most important questions leaders can ask themselves is this: “What are the things I once cared deeply about but now that I have them, I tend to diminish their importance as others pursue them?”
For many leaders, the answer includes titles, office size, recognition, status, or compensation. Over time, perspective changes us. We realize fulfillment comes less from external validation and more from contribution, growth, healthy relationships, and meaningful impact.
The challenge is that many team members are chasing after the very things leaders have already accomplished or received. Thoughtful leadership recognizes that reality instead of dismissing it. Thoughtful leaders honor team members and their pursuit of pay, promotion, and recognition. They seek to understand what sits underneath those desires: Value. Belonging. Progress. Accomplishment.
Transparent
One of the greatest drivers of disengagement is not difficulty. It’s lack of clarity. People can handle hard news and uncertainty surprisingly well when leaders communicate honestly. What people struggle with most is silence or hypocrisy. The answers to the following three questions on repeat can be a game changer in elevating the level of transparency you lead with:
- What’s going on?
- What are you, as a leader, thinking about?
- What are you the leader thinking about the team, collectively and individually?
When those questions go unanswered, people fill the gaps themselves. Instead of focusing on your areas of concern, they spend time concerning themselves with things that you aren’t the least bit worried about.
Transparency does not mean leaders share everything with everyone all the time. Healthy discretion matters. But healthy cultures create feedback loops and open communication so that people aren’t left guessing.
Team members desire clarity. They want to know leaders are thinking about them, not just about results. Ironically, many engagement surveys attempt to measure trust after leadership behaviors have already eroded it.
But trust isn’t built or solved through surveys. It’s built through shared ownership. Thoughtful leadership. Clear communication. Honest feedback. Meaningful challenge. Human connection.
The future of work will not be won by organizations that merely keep people comfortable or celebrate that engagement went up from 39% to 41% last quarter. It will be won by organizations that create cultures where people are safe, seen, and successful.
Because people matter at work. Not because they are resources to extract from, but because people are a gift. Work is a privilege. Leadership is the stewardship of these two realities. That’s how the Me-Cycle gives way to the We-Cycle.
Josh Block is the Executive Advisor of Block Imaging, a global medical imaging company, and the founder of Cube Mobile Imaging. Over 15 years of leadership, he grew Block Imaging from 50 to 400+ team members and from $30M to $215M in revenue, building a culture rooted in the conviction that when people matter at work, everything changes. He is the author of “People Matter @ Work,” a new book that reimagines workplaces as the most transformative communities in our lives.