The Heart of the Matter
The Heart of the Matter is a free newsletter for motivated professionals who want to create meaningful change in the modern workplace. Delivered to your inbox twice a month, this newsletter is designed to help you lead with greater clarity, confidence, and authenticity.
The Heart of the Matter: April Roundup
Resource Roundup: Your monthly mix of fuel for action and food for thought. “Stop crowdsourcing your decisions; some things only you can judge without others’ input.” Ginny Clarke | To a lot of people, all the time A friend called me last week, completely twisted up about whether to leave her VP role at a major bank to join an early-stage fintech company. The new job would mean a pay cut, but would include equity and a sense of purpose, something she admitted had been missing for years. “I...
When are you enough? Addressing insecurity in the workplace
There’s a reaction I’ve come to expect when I’m speaking to executives. I’ll share this statistic, “In 2016, a Gallup poll found that only 18% of managers demonstrated a high level of talent for managing others, meaning a significant 82% of managers were not very good at leading people.” It’s like the air gets sucked out of the room. Seriously; people go quiet. You can see them start mentally auditing the leaders they’ve been comparing themselves to, only now, those people seem a little less...
The Heart of the Matter: March Roundup
Resource Roundup: Your monthly mix of fuel for action and food for thought. "The world exists as you perceive it. It is not what you see, it is how you see it. It is not what you hear, but how you hear it. It is not what you feel, but how you feel it." Rumi Could the way you see your workplace matter just as much as what’s actually happening there? How two leaders interpret the same challenges can create completely different environments; one where employees maintain morale during moments of...
Stop worrying and start leading: A guide to confidence in uncertainty
My newsletter for motivated professionals who want to create meaningful change in the modern workplace — designed to help you lead with greater clarity, confidence, and authenticity. I once worked with a brilliant strategist, let's call him Jacob. He'd risen quickly through management ranks and, by broad consensus, was destined for the executive suite. But Jacob developed a habit that ultimately burnt him out: planning obsessively for every possible outcome before making decisions. He'd...
The Heart of The Matter: February Roundup
Ginny Clarke February 2025 The Heart of The Matter Resource Roundup: Your monthly mix of fuel for action and food for thought. "Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space. Invite one to stay." Maya Angelou I rarely come across leadership metrics that feel alive, but Gallup's latest report delivered. Last week, they released a sweeping global study that asked respondents to describe how their most influential leaders affect them. More than half cited hope as the defining quality that set these...
How do you lead during times of uncertainty?
Ginny Clarke February 2025 The Heart of The Matter My newsletter for motivated professionals who want to create meaningful change in the modern workplace — designed to help you lead with greater clarity, confidence, and authenticity. If it feels like the ground is constantly shifting beneath you, you’re not alone. These days, you’re not just managing a business, you’re navigating relentless waves of disruption that keep reshaping the demands of leadership. Headlines announce new crises by the...
The Heart of The Matter: January Roundup
Ginny Clarke January 2025 The Heart of The Matter Resource Roundup: Your monthly mix of fuel for action and food for thought. "What is the most innate in all of us is that ability to be able to put ourselves in other people's shoes and see the world the way they see it. That's empathy. That's at the heart of design thinking. When we say innovation is all about meeting unmet, unarticulated needs of the marketplace, it's ultimately the unmet and articulated needs of people, and organizations...
5 Ways to Give Good Feedback
Ginny Clarke January 2025 The Heart of The Matter My newsletter for motivated professionals who want to create meaningful change in the modern workplace — designed to help you lead with greater clarity, confidence, and authenticity. Over my decades in banking, commercial real estate, and executive recruiting, I mostly led small teams or worked as an individual contributor. Later at Google, I found myself managing 30 people across three teams. Leading at this scale showed me a surprising blind...
The Heart of The Matter: December Roundup
Ginny Clarke December 2024 The Heart of The Matter Resource Roundup: Your monthly mix of fuel for action and food for thought. “The ultimate goal in life is not to be successful or loved, but to become the truest expression of ourselves, to live into authentic selfhood, to honor our birthright gifts and callings, and be of service to humanity and our world... life is seen as a journey of personal and collective unfolding toward our true nature.” Frederic Laloux | Reinventing Organizations...
Your Greatest Leadership Asset? The Feelings You’re Ignoring
Ginny Clarke December 2024 The Heart of The Matter My newsletter for motivated professionals who want to create meaningful change in the modern workplace — designed to help you lead with greater clarity, confidence, and authenticity. "Mission, mission, mission." That was the mantra drilled into Lieutenant General Maria Gervais at the start of her service in the Army. Focus on results, stay tough, keep emotions in check. But, ten years into her career, a subordinate visited her office and...
The Heart of the Matter is a free newsletter for motivated professionals who want to create meaningful change in the modern workplace. Delivered to your inbox twice a month, this newsletter is designed to help you lead with greater clarity, confidence, and authenticity.