Hi Reader,

I wrote out a passionate LinkedIn post about a recent Fortune article covering the new Gallup data on the "Great Detachment," and LinkedIn has eaten it ... twice ... so maybe third time's a charm (and at least here I have autosave).

The full article is on Fortune (but behind a paywall) here; and was syndicated via MSN here if you can stand all the ads.

51% of employees are “watching or actively searching for a new job” according to a new Gallup survey.

Think that’s bad?

Another statistic in the article caught my eye:

Managers actually have the highest levels of “looking to leave” sentiment.

55% of managers are looking to leave their current roles, compared to 41% of leaders, and 51% of individual contributors.

We all know the role that managers play in employee retention (or attrition) -- so a majority of managers being disengaged is a huge red flag that something is wrong out there.

When I read data like this over, and over, and over, it makes me wish I had a bigger megaphone.

This level of disengagement and suffering does not need to persist (and frankly, the impact to human health and wellbeing is unacceptable).

Management skills can be learned.

Organizations have numerous options for developing the talent and competency of fundamental management mechanics: these are skills that can be learned, not innate characteristics that some "good managers" are born with and "bad managers" aren't.

Managers and leaders can learn, practice, and build skills with self-awareness, emotional regulation, and intellectual humility that directly improve managers' effectiveness with their reports.

​Ben Arendt's book, "How to Suck Less As a Manager" is literally sitting in front of me on my desk, and it is a fast, fun, impactful read that touches on ten ways managers "suck" and provides useful coaching for how to suck less. (Ben is also my guest for my next Thinkydoers episode ... so you'll hear more from him in the next couple of weeks).

Improving those fundamental management skills -- self-awareness, emotional regulation, intellectual humility -- also has an indirect benefit of increasing manager confidence and capability with constructive conflict conversations. Yes, managers are busy. And, disengaged managers also may dodge performance conversations with their reports because they don't have the energy or stomach for a conversation that may involve conflict.

OKRs close the gap on "how does my work matter?"

Well implemented OKRs play a role here as well: with individual goals aligned to organizational OKRs, managers and their reports have regular performance conversations because the focus is on what progress and results are being achieved on a weekly and monthly basis, not only when formal evaluation conversations take place.

Not to mention, No-BS OKRs are literally designed to close the engagement dips mentioned in the Gallup data: done well, OKRs help people understand how their work connects to the organization's mission, purpose, and strategy. and help provide everyone in the organization clearer expectations. And, OKRs can also be created by individuals and then aligned with their leaders to help individuals create their own clear expectations -- no matter how chaotic the environment or how foggy the organizational strategy.

These shifts may challenge the status quo and require managers and leaders to get comfortable with productive conflict.

I'm the first one to say: I started my leadership career as a conflict avoider, and an accommodator -- I had to build and nurture my skills for engaging productively with conflict. Those learnings were hard earned -- and they are absolutely reproduceable (even at scale).

High performance hinges on clear direction, clear expectations, and a curious and learning-focused culture.

These things are simple, not easy.

And the organizations that embrace learning new approaches to managing well not only insulate themselves from employee disengagement: they're building their organizational readiness for future generations of workers among whom these trends are even more amplified.

Climbing off my soapbox for a couple quick informs:

• It's been a big week here at RCCO HQ with the pre-launch of Unblock Your Inner Strategist under way with a stellar cohort of founding members, and the public launch starting next week!​
• ​Part two of my conversation with OKR Coach and Outcomes Practice Lead Jason Johnston went live on the Thinkydoers podcast on Tuesday.
• And, if I don't run out of steam, I'll have another really fun episode live on Tuesday with Ben Arendt, author of the aforementioned "How to Suck Less As a Manager." (If I do run out of steam, it will be the following Tuesday!)
• Finally, next week my affiliate program goes live -- so if you're a past student, or a supporter of my work and would like to make a commission for sharing my products with your colleagues and network, that's a thing! More info to follow (or, if you want the early dish on that, drop me a quick reply).

Now: go have a high-performance Friday and a wonderful weekend!