Leaders can take a cue from sports teams when it comes to adaptability and role clarity, write psychologist Jordan Scott Birnbaum and Darryl Kelly, the chief strategy officer at Alvaria, who point out that sports teams adjust strategies mid-game and mid-season, and have clear roles for players, coaches and executives. Birnbaum and Kelly advise leaders to clearly define employee roles based on individual strengths, allowing top performers to remain in their jobs without career penalties and identifying those best suited for coaching and executive positions.

Put it into practice: Create a culture that allows team members to change their positions as it suits their strengths and careers, such as a manager going back to a team member without penalty, Birnbaum and Kelly suggest. "There are many coaches and executives who would love to return to being great players but can't do so without hurting their career."

A visit to artist Edward Fuglø's "Whale Wars" sculpture at the Faroese National Gallery in the Faroe Islands taught innovation advisor Larry Robertson about the value of leaning into conversations after having to physically lean into speakers near the installation to hear sounds of the sea and people talking. The experience reminded Robertson that real conversations with your team -- preferably face-to-face -- are crucial for innovation, problem-solving and relationship-building.

Put it into practice: A good, fruitful conversation feels like an equal sharing in a back-and-forth where lines of authority are blurred so each can speak freely, Robertson notes. "Fundamentally, conversation is where we build relationships that enable all the rest."

Changes in the executive suite can cause employee anxiety to spike, writes Saurabh Deep Singla, the CHRO of upGrad, who encourages leaders to be transparent about the changes, listen to employee concerns and provide reassurance about job security and company values. "Encourage employees to see new leadership and the changes it brings as a chance to learn new skills, take on new challenges and broaden their horizons," Singla advises.

Put it into practice: Encouraging open dialogue and offering support through training and mentorship can help teams adapt to new roles and challenges, writes Singla. By over-communicating and involving employees in the transition process, leaders can ensure a smoother changeover and continued growth and engagement.

Boost your productivity and lower your stress by creating a focus day to take on your most important tasks without interruptions, writes David Finkel, a business expert and author. Finkel offers five steps to creating your focus day, how to maintain them and why you should encourage everyone on your team to create focus days for themselves.

Fans of the rock band Queen may know that guitarist Brian May has a Ph.D. in astrophysics, but they might not know that for the past decade, May has been studying bovine tuberculosis and the role that badgers may play in spreading the mycobacterium that causes it. Officials had called for mass culling of the badgers, but May and his colleagues traced the cause of disease to contaminated feed, showing that cows grazing on a farm with infected badgers remained healthy.

In Dale Carnegie's book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People," he makes the point that you will be remembered as a great conversationalist if you allow the other person to talk about themselves for the majority of the time. The simple reason is that we all love to talk about ourselves and when we have a willing audience, we tend to see our listener as a great conversationalist, even if they hardly say two words.

This is the idea Larry Roberston is getting at, though he is urging leaders to do a bit more talking than Carnegie advises. The important part of conversations is how it makes each person feel, he writes.

"Above all, a conversation feels equal. It's an exchange in the truest sense, a shared back-and-forth, one in which who's leading is irrelevant. When it's happening, it's something we viscerally sense to be valuable and vital."

Carnegie's conversation advice isn't about an equal back-and-forth but more about just allowing others to talk so they'll think you're great. Robertson points out that this is often "telling masquerading as conversation." His idea of good conversation is about building genuine relationships with your team, your bosses and even those in your personal life.

I invite you to examine the conversations you're having. How do they feel? Do you feel like you've made a genuine connection with someone, or have they just let you go on and on about yourself, or vice versa? If you find many of your conversations are "telling masquerading as conversation," it's time to sharpen your skills in this area.

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