Hi Reader

Have you ever worked somewhere that said all the right things about culture, and yet nothing actually moved? The values went up on the wall. The initiative launched. The workshop happened. Yet still, the day-to-day felt exactly the same?

My guest this week on A World of Difference has spent more than two decades inside that gap. Carlee Wolfe is Associate Vice President of Leader Development and Organizational Effectiveness at Hyatt Hotels, and her perspective is shaped by global hospitality, two decades of coaching volleyball, and volunteering with the Olympic and Paralympic movement, including adaptive sports.

Three ideas from our conversation that I am still sitting with:

1. Doing your job well makes you a great performer. Somewhere along the way we decided everyone had to be a high performer, and people started performing busyness instead of contribution. Carlee argues for radical honesty about expectations, so people can choose where and how they want to contribute.
2. Belonging does not mean comfort. When belonging becomes a brand promise without actions behind it, people feel brought in under false pretenses. That is the opposite of belonging, and it shuts down the very openness and innovation organizations say they want.
3. Community is capacity. No one person can keep pace with the speed of change right now, especially in the age of AI. Shared learning and shared weight are not soft ideas. They are how teams raise a bar no individual could reach alone.

​Listen to the full conversation wherever you get your podcasts, or start at our website.

If the episode lands for you, would you leave a review?

I read every single one, and each review helps leaders around the world find the show.

Lead with courage, lead with humanity, and remember that your voice matters.

Lori

P.S. Carlee and I went even deeper in an exclusive conversation for our Difference Makers community on Patreon, where she shares the personal journey behind the perspectives you hear in this episode.

Join us at patreon.com/aworldofdifference​