What does connection mean to you? How do you know when you’re feeling connected?

Connection is foundational to building trust, and trust is an essential quality that any team or relationship needs to grow.

Yet in many relationships, both personally and professionally, we tolerate disconnection. We miss the early signals of missed deadlines, the subtle cues of quiet resentment, and the team that’s compliant and even productive, but not engaged.  

Until disconnection creates the distrust, the dis-ease, and the erosion of psychological safety that, left unchecked, hijacks even the strongest relationships, teams, and organizations.

Leaders and their teams need to not only learn to identify markers of disconnection early, but to also develop the skills to repair it. The goal isn’t a team that never ruptures. It’s a team that knows how to reconnect.

That’s why I’m so excited to talk with my guest today about her work that integrates well-being science, positive psychology, and systems-level leadership to help organizations uncover what it takes to build connected, thriving teams where well-being and high performance can truly coexist.

Jamie Shapiro, PhD, is a Keynote Speaker, Master Certified Executive Coach, organizational psychologist, researcher and the CEO of Connected EC. Jamie’s approach blends science, strategy, and lived leadership experience to her work with CEOs and executive teams navigating growth, complexity, and cultural transformation.

Jamie is the author of Brilliant: Be the Leader Who Shines Brightly Without Burning Out and Connected Culture: The New Science for Thriving Teams and Cultures. She is also the founder of the Leader and Organization Vitality (LOV) Center, a research institute that advances the science of leadership vitality, culture, and performance and bridges the gap between research and real-world practice.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How Jamie’s personal experience with cycles of burnout in the corporate world informs her research and coaching practice
• The physical, mental, and emotional impacts of trust and connection on teams
• Why Jamie’s model for thriving teams has trust, care, and connection at its core
• What corporate culture consistently gets wrong about candid communication and the number one way to improve it
• What we can learn from chickens about building high-performing teams
• How psychological safety and connection positively drive performance

Learn more about Jamie Shapiro:

• Connected EC
• Connect on LinkedIn
• Brilliant: Be The Leader Who Shines Brightly Without Burning Out
• Connected Culture: The New Science for Thriving Teams and Cultures

Learn more about Rebecca:

• rebeccaching.com
• Work With Rebecca
• The Unburdened Leader on Substack
• Sign up for the weekly Unburdened Leader Email

Resources:

• Links 
• The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown
• Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection, John T Cacioppo and William Patrick
• The Neuroscience of Trust, Paul J. Zak | Harvard Business Review
• The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth, Amy C. Edmondson
• Right Use of Power Institute
• Shaping Power for Good: Wayfinding to Right Relationship, Amanda Aguilera
• Super-Chicken Model
• Just One Word: The Surprisingly Simple Method to Discover Your Purpose and Unleash Your Power, Erin Weed
• ILLENIUM
• Off Campus
• Voicemails for Isabelle
• Sixteen Candles