Plain English about what’s happening with your people — and what leaders can do about it.

We've measured belonging for a decade — and it turns out there's a more telling thing to look at. Belonging is the feeling of fitting in. Mattering is the perception that your work adds value, is recognized, and makes a visible, meaningful impact — and it's a stronger predictor of whether your best people stay. Drawing on Org Psychology research and two decades building cultures from Zappos to the Fortune 500 boardroom, this talk shows leaders what to look at instead — and what to do with it.

Connection is in shorter supply than it used to be, and disengagement costs the global economy $8.8 trillion a year. Here's the upside: your company is one of the places daily human connection still happens by design — which makes culture less a perk and more a real competitive advantage. This talk gives leaders a practical framework for treating it like one.

The micro-rituals, the quiet reach-outs, the behind-the-scenes support that makes a person feel like they matter. Connection isn't built in the highlight reel — it's built in the ordinary weeks, through small repeated acts that add up over time. Drawing on behavioral science, Harvard I-O research, and the fieldwork behind The Tuesday Project, this is a warm, practical case for the power of what happens in the in-between.