Gallup's State of the Global Workforce 2026 puts engagement at 20%, its lowest since 2020, with a claimed $10 trillion productivity cost. The stat Chuck and Jenni chew on most: manager engagement has slid to near parity with the people they lead, after years of sitting comfortably above it. They also pick apart whether engagement-as-a-percentage tells us anything useful at all.
On Starmer, the coverage tagged him "stiff and wooden" in an era that rewards authenticity. Chuck brings the American read: the UK has had six prime ministers in a decade and four in five years, while the US has had five presidents since the early '90s. Different system, different patience for letting a leader grow into the job. Plus: why a New York Times post and an Adam Grant pushback are both right about remote and hybrid (and why that's the problem), and three lines from Dorie Clark's The Long Game that land hard for anyone building something from zero.
Beyond the buzzwords and straight to what matters. New episodes every Monday.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro + good news: Meta stops tracking employees
05:05 UK PM resigns — can leadership communication be taught?
09:05 Gallup 2026: engagement at a 5-year low (and the manager problem)
16:14 Remote vs hybrid: why we keep confusing them
22:33 The Long Game: long-term thinking, by Dorie Clark
ARTICLES MENTIONED
UK prime minister has resigned (BBC)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwygj95xrp9o
Global employee engagement at its lowest since 2020 (Gallup)
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx
"We ran the numbers and remote work is bad for us" (NYT Opinion, via Instagram)
https://www.instagram.com/p/DZzbfz0Egtw/
The Long Game by Dorie Clark
https://dorieclark.com/longgame/
CONNECT
ICology (Chuck) — membership and more: https://www.joinicology.com/
Jenni Field — speaking and consulting: https://thejennifield.com/