Purpose & Performance Group Blog

Welcome to a new season of Magic In The Room! In this episode, hosts Hannah Bratterud, Chris Province, and Luke Freeman reflect on the evolution of their podcast as they enter this new season. They discuss the concept of seasons in both personal and professional contexts, emphasizing the importance of recognizing transitions and growth. The team shares insights from their recent strategic planning session, highlighting the theme of "Year of the Snake," which symbolizes shedding old layers and embracing renewal. They also reflect on the challenges and successes of 2024, noting rapid growth and the need to address structural weaknesses. Looking ahead to 2025, they focus on themes of agility, purpose-driven leadership, and building capacity in various aspects of life and business.

In today’s episode of Magic in the Room, Chris and Luke sit down with Kelley Francen and April Carter to discuss leadership development at the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Kelley and April developed a unique program that integrates the traditional cultural teachings of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation into leadership development. The goal of this program was to make sure that the values of the community are activated by the leaders. Even if you do not work in a Tribal setting, there are valuable lessons in this episode about you can develop leaders who live the organizations values.

Today we wrap up season five of Magic in the Room! This season has focused on the skills that people need when leading a team. The good news is that these skills can be learned, if we are intentional. In this episode, Hannah, Chris, and Luke share their biggest takeaway from the season, and share some advice for every leader. 

People who lead teams can (and should!) develop a new set of skills. One often overlooked skill is being about to intentionally recognize people's efforts and character in a way that is meaningful. This is a skill that can be learned, it just takes some effort. In this episode of Magic in the Room, Hannah, Chris, and Luke discuss various types of recognition, and how to incorporate it into your team.

What do we do when people's behavior or performance are not aligned with the values and commitments of an organization? Corrective action is one tool for helping team members know when they are not meeting expectations and what steps they need to take to perform at a high level. Corrective action may not be your favorite topic, but it is critical. In this episode of Magic in the Room, Hannah and Luke discuss the elements of good corrective action, and how to make it effective.

Giving and receiving feedback is critical to individual and team success, yet for many people feedback can feel threatening or unwelcome. In this episode of Magic in the Room, Hannah, Luke, and Chris discuss how to give feedback that is helpful and leads to high performance.

Every leader wants their team to perform at a high level, but this does not happen by accident. On today’s episode of Magic in the Room Hannah, Chris, and Luke talk about performance development, which includes one-on-ones, development plans, training, and anything you do to help people learn and grow.

In today’s Magic in the Room episode, Hannah, Luke, and Chris continue our series on the skills leaders need to build effective teams. Conflict is inevitable, so leaders must learn to navigate it effectively. The first step is to change how we think about conflict. Not all conflict is bad, and some types of conflict are helpful. We can build more effective teams if we learn to encourage helpful conflict and manage harmful conflict.

Gifts are often used to build relationships in business, whether with clients, customers, or employees. But what if we have been doing gifting all wrong? In today’s episode of Magic in the Room, Chris and guest John Ruhlin discuss a new way to think about gifting. The bottom line is that gifts can be used to build long-lasting relationships, but not if you just put the company logo on a mug and send it to everyone. Instead, you should intentionally make every gift focused on the receiver and create a lasting memory they will associate with you.