Magic in the Room #37: A Year in Review

December 29, 2020

There exists a thin line between order and chaos. This year was a year of straddling that line and of getting comfortable with suffering. As the year 2020 wraps up, Chris, Hannah, and Luke take their personal inventories of the lessons learned from this upside-down year. Disruption of systems and perspectives toward change are prominent themes in this year-end review.

 

 

When you look back over 2020, what is the one thing you will be taking away? What story do you see yourself sharing with your grandchildren? This is the opening question that Luke asks his fellow hosts and listeners to the Magic in the Room podcast.

 

Hannah shares how, despite everything, she accomplished something that she never imagined. She ran her first half marathon in the middle of all the chaos. Hannah shares how the experience helped her manage some of the pain that the turbulent year brought to us all.

 

Chris shares how cliches such as, “if you’re halfway through hell, just don’t stop” resonated with him after exploring the thin line between order and chaos. After 12 months of living through chaos, Chris reveals how he has focussed on preparing himself to be more resilient. He shares the importance of continuing to build character in the face of adversity.

 

The story that Luke will be telling his grandkids many years from now is how, after months of back pain, he found himself completely immobile. He was then faced with facilitating an important half-day remote session for 60 top leaders in a large organization’s C-suite. But Luke dug deep and found a way to deliver the session.

 

Luke shares how he laid a green blanket out on the floor with a hidden pillow underneath that propped his head up. He then added a virtual background that made the audience think he was standing up and facilitating virtually. For Luke, this was also a metaphor for all the crazy things people have done in 2020.

 

Businesses have also been debilitated, and strategies have had the legs knocked out from under them. People have found themselves doing all of these crazy creative things to keep moving forward, delivering value, and making things happen.  Luke encourages leaders to try new things, no matter how crazy they might initially sound, and move forward together.

 

One of the biggest lessons that Luke will be taking away from 2020 is that stability is an illusion. Maybe we have all learned to let go of the status quo and lean into what’s coming next. Looking towards 2021, Hannah accepts that we no longer know what’s going to happen. But we do know that we can control our actions and behaviors that will drive new outcomes.

 

Collectively, we all need to continue to build our resilience and focus on leading in the right way. For Chris, 2021 will be another year filled with courageous stories of purpose and performance. Once again, we will see great leaders weather any storms waiting on the horizon and will come out the other side in a very successful way.

 

What lessons did you learn from 2020? and how will they help you drive success in 2021? Share your experiences by messaging Chris, Hannah, and Luke at info@purposeandperformancegroup.com.

Magic in the Room #200: How to Lead through Polarities

By Sarah Whitfield • May 5, 2026
In this episode of Magic in the Room, Luke and Hannah explore the concept of polarities. Tensions like purpose and performance, stability and change, or accountability and grace that are often mistaken for problems to solve rather than dynamics to manage. Drawing on insights from Barry Johnson’s work, they explain how these opposing forces are interdependent and must be balanced over time to achieve sustained success. Through practical examples and personal reflections, they show how over-relying on one side of a polarity leads to predictable “shadow sides” such as stagnation, chaos, inefficiency, or burnout, while effective leadership requires recognizing where you are on the cycle and intentionally recalibrating. The episode emphasizes that many recurring organizational frustrations are not failures, but signals of imbalance, and offers a more nuanced approach to leadership. One that replaces rigid either/or thinking with flexible both/and awareness to improve decision-making, team dynamics, and long-term performance.

Magic in the Room #199: The Power of Mattering

By Sarah Whitfield • April 7, 2026
In this episode of Magic in the Room, Luke Freeman, Hannah Bratterud, and Chris Province dive into the concept of “mattering,” inspired by Zach Mercurio’s work, and explore why it is a foundational driver of engagement, performance, and culture in organizations. They challenge leaders to move beyond assuming people matter to actively ensuring individuals feel that they matter by being valued and by contributing value to a shared purpose. The conversation highlights how mattering differs from belonging, why it cannot be replaced by perks or efficiency, and how leadership behaviors like attention, recognition, and presence directly shape whether people feel seen, heard, and understood. Through examples ranging from workplace dynamics to broader societal trends like social disconnection, they argue that disengagement, conflict, and even poor performance are symptoms of a mattering deficit. Ultimately, they position mattering not as a soft concept, but as a measurable, actionable leadership responsibility that underpins trust, resilience, and long-term success.
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