An act of kindness unfolded in a New England pawn shop and the outpouring of support has now gone global.

Jenelle Marie, an employee at U.S. Gold & Pawn in Manchester, New Hampshire, was moved by the story of Donald, a 90-year-old Air Force veteran facing the financial hardship of increased rent while caring for his wife who had been recently diagnosed with dementia.

Related: Mark Cuban Warns About Fake Fundraisers on Social Media

Donald was frequenting the pawn shop to sell his jewelry for rent money, which led Marie and her fiancé to start a GoFundMe campaign to help the veteran.

“He told me that his wife had just got diagnosed with dementia and his landlord had to raise his rent on him, so it kind of pulled on my heartstrings,” Marie told NewsNation. “I told the owner of the shop and he decided he wasn’t going to collect interest from him … I thought that was really kind of him, and it kind of inspired me and my fiancé to start what I thought was just going to be a little GoFundMe.”

Marie made a TikTok of her presenting the initial $1,300 raised to Donald, and the campaign went viral. Contributions began pouring in.

@jenellemarie0212 #veteran #actofkindness #usgoldandpawn #manchesternh #fypage #viral #feelgoodvideo ♬ original sound – Jenellemarie0212

“I hope two lessons: one is the smallest act of kindness can really change someone’s life in more ways than you could ever imagine, and the other is just to raise awareness that we have to do better for our veterans,” Marie said.

In a follow-up video, Marie posted birthday wishes for Donald from around the country, including a swag bag with autographed hats and balls from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The GoFundMe is currently over $434,000.

Related: ‘My Heart Breaks’: Internet Rallies Behind 72-Year-Old Delivery Driver Who Takes A Tumble In Viral Video

As a seasoned performance coach with over two decades of experience working with business owners, I have witnessed how frustrated many business owners are that their startup isn’t growing as quickly as it should or seems to have stagnated in its growth. One common factor that often stands out for such entrepreneurs is their lack of the attributes of team players.

Your business can only grow to the extent that your abilities as a team player grow, and my experience has shown that cultivating the following five attributes can make you a team player who is well-positioned to see your business grow.

1. Welcome and build on your team’s ideas

As a business founder, you may have the burning desire to bring your vision for the business to reality, but business success will not entirely depend on you alone. You need input from your team, and their ideas can be the difference between mediocre business performance and successful steering of the business to higher levels.

Create opportunities for team members to share their ideas. Brainstorming sessions, weekly meetings and problem-solving sessions can be fertile grounds to get input from the team. Evaluate the ideas generated and find ways to implement those that show the potential to advance the goals of the business.

2. Coach your team

Google did a study and found that the best managers and leaders have coaching skills. However, most people confuse coaching with mentoring. Coaching and mentoring are not the same. Coaching is about unlocking the potential in your team. Mastering coaching skills enables you to do that.

As the founder, you may also have the expertise and experience that your team members lack, which means you’re more likely to mentor or “tell them” how to do it rather than coach them.

Coaching builds confidence, empowers your team to take on more responsibility, improves problem-solving skills and builds loyalty. The more you coach your team, the more your business will operate as a team effort rather than a one-person show. You’ll not only have a high-performing team, but you’ll also have a high-value team. Double win!

Related: Be a Mentor: 4 Simple Ways to Change a Life

3. Adjust your pace to accommodate your team

This is where the rubber hits the tarmac! Many founders have a burning desire to bring their dream to life “yesterday” and are extremely impatient when their team isn’t moving at the pace they’d like. At this point, you ask yourself two critical questions: Did I hire the right people? Do I consistently share my vision and mission so everyone is clear about the direction of the firm?

I often tell clients that it may not be possible for their entire team to move at the same blistering pace that the founder is wired for, and it might be necessary for the founder to pump the brakes a little so the team can move at the same pace. This is a hard pill for many founders to swallow, but reminding them that they are not a one-person army allows them to be more accommodating and better able to foster teamwork in the business.

I am not advocating for letting your employees set the pace of the company. If you hire the right people and coach them regularly, chances are that while they may not move at supersonic speed, they will follow your lead and move at an above-average pace.

I always give this incident, which I witnessed while visiting a client’s restaurant for a follow-up session. The assistant manager was always pushing her direct reports to work at a blistering pace. The manager had cautioned the assistant to always give a particular employee their tasks in advance so they can accomplish them within a spread-out timeframe. This particular employee was known to be very thorough in anything they do, but if pushed to work at a pace greater than they could manage, they were more likely than not to do extremely shoddy work.

The assistant manager neglected this important piece of information and one time asked that employee to chop some ingredients and kept hovering over the shoulder of the employee nudging them to work faster. Pushed beyond their limits, the employee nearly lost four fingers when, in a bid to work fast, they ended up accidentally cutting through those fingers. I rushed in with the manager when we heard horrified screams coming from the kitchen, and after the ambulance left with the injured employee, the manager called the assistant to a private corner and gently reminded them about the caution of not pushing that particular employee to work at a faster pace than they were capable of.

The message? Sometimes, it is helpful to slow down a little so that you can move with the entire team.

Related: Are You Hiring a ‘Team’ Player – or Someone Just Looking out for No.1?

4. Share recognition for any successes attained

Another important tip I give startup founders is that they can become team players who enjoy more than decent business growth on an ongoing basis by sharing recognition for the successes they attain. When you put your team at the center of all success, their motivation and loyalty grow, and they become invested in achieving the firm’s goals.

Related: Which Do You Need: A Coach or a Consultant or a Trainer? Here’s How to Know.

5. Consult the team frequently

Make it a habit to consult your team members frequently. This can be when there are challenges that need to be fixed, when opportunities arise or when planning the next steps or direction of the business. Don’t be the founder who keeps their cards close to the chest and only issues instructions without involving their team.

As you implement the tips above, you will notice that your team will galvanize around the organization’s goals and mission, and your company will be better positioned to weather any storm. Teams always find a way to win.

Email has existed for over five decades, and its prominence is only growing. Not only do we use it extensively at work, but as a marketing channel, email has proven its effectiveness again and again.

By 2027, email marketing revenue will grow to $17.1 billion, a Statista report predicts. It’s no wonder that 69% of marketers use email to distribute content, increase brand loyalty, and boost sales.

As a startup founder, you may be wondering how to achieve the same success. Perhaps you feel nervous about launching or haven’t seen great results from your first campaigns. With a clear and strong strategy, you can confidently overcome those jitters and press send.

Here’s how to improve your approach and avoid pitfalls when planning email marketing campaigns for your startup.

1. Define your goal

Before you start, define what you’d like to achieve with your email marketing—whether it’s boosting website traffic, increasing brand awareness or making sales. Having a goal gives you more clarity about the steps you need to take next and how you’ll measure success.

Related: Supercharge Your Brand Awareness with These Game-Changing PR Tools

2. Gather your email list

It’s time to put together your email list and make sure it’s ready for outreach. Don’t worry if your database is small – many startups see high engagement from smaller databases. What matters more than your list size is its quality. Have all your subscribers opted in to receive emails from you? You want to reach out to an audience who is expecting to hear from your startup.

3. Double-check your contacts

Aside from getting your subscribers’ consent to send them emails, a high-quality list also means those subscribers are real and their contacts are accurate. Getting bounce-backs on your newsletters and campaigns will negatively affect your reputation with inbox providers. To avoid that, use an email verification service to validate your list before your emails go out.

Related: How to manage your email list like a pro

4. Segment, segment, segment

With an opt-in, healthy email list, you’re steps ahead of many of your competitors. Next, to further fine-tune your approach, analyze your customers and prospects to see how you can organize them in separate groups. Start with one or two filters, such as one-time buyers and repeat buyers, and niche down from there. To boost engagement, send these groups emails that gently encourage them to try more of your products.

5. Choose a good email marketing platform

Now that your lists are ready, it’s time to pick a service to send your emails. As a startup owner, you may be cautious about spending too much, but this isn’t an area where you should cut corners. Your email marketing platform should allow you to streamline your efforts and, most importantly, ensure high email deliverability so your campaigns reach your audience. Go with a reputable company.

6. Test your emails for mobile

Some emails can look great on desktops but present errors on mobile devices, which can cause your audience to tune out right away. To keep people engaged, use a testing tool to point out any issues so you can fix them beforehand. Also, test your emails with your team. Apart from detecting errors, their feedback can further help you improve your content.

7. Don’t procrastinate – hit send

If your list is in good shape, you found a reliable email-sending platform, and you’re proud of your content, it’s time to hit Send. Startup owners and marketers often postpone taking that big step because they’re nervous about customer feedback. But procrastinating and obsessing over the smallest details will only increase your nervousness. Send your email so you can get that initial feedback and learn how to improve.

8. Show up as promised

This is probably the best email marketing habit you can adopt for your startup. Sending an email here and there won’t make much of a difference in your business. Showing up for your subscribers regularly will. What’s more, sending emails regularly also gives you a chance to see exactly what your audience most responds to – so you can focus on that in your future campaigns.

Related: 11 email marketing mistakes (and how to fix them)

9. Make every email better than the last one

While consistently emailing your audience is vital to your success, you must also strive to maintain and improve content quality. It’s how you’ll continue to boost your metrics: 47% of consumers open a brand email primarily because they always get good emails from that brand. So avoid sending an email just because it’s due. Instead, work with your team to make every email count.

10. Partner with other startups

Partnering with other companies for co-marketing initiatives has been one of the best ways I’ve grown my own startup, ZeroBounce. My team and I continue to pursue these types of engagements as they help us gain exposure to new audiences. Reach out to businesses in your space and suggest a partnership, including an email cross-promotion. It will help you earn awareness and even new subscribers.

11. Stay up-to-date on email-sending rules

The email industry has seen many changes in recent years – from Apple releasing its Mail Privacy Protection update to Google and Yahoo enforcing new sending rules. To enjoy great email marketing results for your startup, stay abreast of any similar updates. For instance, large email service providers now require email authentication from senders reaching out to more than 5,000 subscribers daily. Following the rules ensures you’re compliant with these protocols and helps you land your campaigns in the inbox and increase sales.

It’s no coincidence that catchy jingles are so easy to remember. A Neurosight study found that ads with music tend to be more memorable, but you don’t have to limit your business to the classic TV advertisement formula. creating a catchy tune is a smart way of making any video content more memorable, and you don’t need to be a musician to do it. With Supermusic AI, music only takes an idea and a moment.

This innovative AI music app streamlines the music creation process by leveraging artificial intelligence to transform text prompts into polished, studio-quality songs in minutes, eliminating the need for expensive equipment and extensive musical expertise. When you need to create unique music for your brand, SuperMusic AI is an effective option both for your budget and your time. Generate songs in seconds with a lifetime subscription that only costs $39.97.

Give your customers something to remember.

SuperMusic AI provides a diverse range of genres, from pop and rock to EDM and rap, allowing you to produce music that aligns with your specific brand or project. By inputting your lyrics, the app generates fully produced tracks complete with vocals, ensuring a professional sound without manual mixing or mastering.

You can even create custom playlists and artist profiles, which enable you to organize and showcase your organization’s AI-generated music if you want a new way to draw digital traffic. This functionality is particularly beneficial for professionals who want to share their creations instantly with clients or on social media, enhancing branding and engagement. The built-in leaderboard system further supports visibility by tracking and highlighting the most popular tracks, helping you gain recognition within the SuperMusic community.

For businesses with high music production needs, the SuperMusic Pro Plan offers the capability to create up to 100 songs per month, catering to frequent content updates and large-scale projects. Regular updates to the app keep your content evolving in tune with changes to music trends.

This app is available exclusively for iOS users with devices running iOS 13 or later.

Get a Supermusic AI Lifetime Subscription for $39.97.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

I used to try hard to be nice, but I’m over that now — and I want others to get over it, too. Because at work, “being nice” is a trap.

This first came into focus early in my executive career before I became a chief people officer. I was working on a merger, and a junior team member was eager to take on a critical role. Deep down, I knew she wasn’t ready. But I wanted to be a nice leader. So, I ignored my instinct and engaged in what author Kim Scott has called “ruinous empathy.” In my desire to give that teammate what she wanted, I set her up for failure during hardcore negotiations. Result: anxiety attacks for her and a huge headache for the team.

I’m not alone in wanting to be liked at work. And I believe for many women, this can be especially challenging. Women are being told to smile and are being conditioned to be people pleasers. It’s no coincidence that we use more smiley faces in our communication. Not to mention, one study indicates stereotypes of middle-aged women as being “less nice” can hold them back in their careers.

Throughout my career in human resources, though, I’ve noticed that niceness has come to dominate much of our work lives — and that’s a mistake.

Here’s why and what you can do instead:

The problem with being nice

Conflict is inevitable for any productive team. And yet, our desire to be liked — to not ruffle feathers and to create “artificial harmony” — is constant. Telling someone “no” or “we need to do better” doesn’t earn you many smiles. So, we avoid it and double down on being liked. But in choosing niceness over authentic engagement, we lose a chance to inspire improvement. “Nice” has a chilling effect on growth.

Ultimately, this bias toward nice is about you, not the person you’re “being nice” to. It’s about wanting to be liked at the cost of being honest. There’s a selfishness about prioritizing “nice” that isn’t so far from the selfishness of a workplace bully. The nice co-worker and the mean one both emphasize their own interests. And both attitudes have the same effect: they keep the team from growing. Nice people (just like mean people) don’t actually care about the group’s outcomes.

So, what’s the alternative? Kindness.

I know — being kind sounds pretty close to being nice, but the distinction is crucial. Being nice is about making yourself feel like a “good guy.” Being kind is about what you can do for others. Put another way: niceness is about telling people what they want to hear, and kindness is about telling them what they need to hear.

Related: Conflict Is Inevitable But Necessary. Here’s How to Stay Calm During an Argument and Rebuild Afterward.

A path toward kindness

When I fall into the “nice trap,” I pull myself out by admitting that I’ve made things about myself. By contrast, if my motivation is to help others or help the larger company, then I know I’m headed in the right direction — toward kindness.

Once I know that my goal is rooted in kindness, I have a few key tactics that help me achieve it. These are especially useful for first-line managers and those on an executive leadership team, but building a culture of kindness is everybody’s job.

1. First, develop trust

The kindest feedback in the world will be dead on arrival if nobody trusts your intentions. Research shows that workplaces where people trust each other have higher levels of productivity. And why is that? It’s because when I trust you, I’m able to hear you. I stop thinking that we’re adversaries and start believing that we’re on the same team. Consequently, I can take action and improve.

2. Embrace radical accountability

Calling out a missed deadline or inquiring about an angry client is ultimately a kind action because it makes the team better. Being self-accountable – asking what roadblocks you’ve produced, too – will prove that your motivations aren’t punitive. By contrast, the nice leader who lets everything slide only makes it more likely that the team’s personal growth will stagnate.

3. Talk to — not about

Covert critiques are more common than we like to admit. But, once accountability has become a given at the office, it’s fair to expect more direct forms of feedback. If you have a problem with someone’s performance (or their attitude), you may be inclined to speak to their superior, but kindness dictates that we first tell them to their face and give them a chance to respond. This can be stressful, I know. Kindness often takes more courage than niceness.

4. Get ready to “rumble.”

In my role as head of people at Pantheon, I set aside times when conflict is encouraged — moments when we hash out different perspectives in a safe space. I’ll tell the team, “It’s rumble time.” It’s a surprising form of kindness because, by giving conflict an official arena, people feel free to drop their defensive postures and passive-aggressive tones. They know it’s safe to argue. Breakthroughs and creative new ideas often pop up during the rumble.

Kindness ROI

The culture shift from niceness to kindness creates space for honesty, accountability and fear-free conflict. The results are profound for the bottom line — productivity and excellence soar when our worry about “being nice” is finally cleared away.

Employee satisfaction grows, too. That’s because when coworkers stop doling out platitudes and get real about what’s working and what isn’t, we learn that someone really cares about what we do. We learn that our jobs matter and others depend upon our efforts. A kind workplace reminds us that our contributions are crucial to the whole team’s success.

All those kindness benefits aren’t free, of course. It’s real work to move beyond the easy stance of “being nice.” I can only provide sustained mentorship and feedback to a few dozen people, tops. So, the final ROI for kindness must be that it inspires others to do the same — to share the load. It’s up to all of us to pay it forward and create a culture of kindness together.

What is it like to work at Nvidia, the $3 trillion AI chipmaker with a storied work culture over 30 years in the making?

Long-time CEO Jensen Huang said in an interview this year that he rarely conducts layoffs and instead prefers to “torture employees into greatness.” It turns out, he might not have been joking.

Being the AI chip brain behind ChatGPT and other popular forms of AI has led Nvidia — and its vested employees — to benefit financially from the AI boom. A June poll of over 3,000 Nvidia employees (out of around 30,000) showed that 76% were millionaires and one in three had a net worth of more than $20 million because of the company’s growth. Since October 2022, Nvidia’s stock has jumped over 1,000%.

However, a Monday Bloomberg report revealed that though Nvidia’s boom may have created millionaires, its work culture and expectations for those employees remain the same: It’s a “pressure cooker.”

Related: Nvidia and the Magnificent Seven Have ‘Immense Returns,’ but Strategists Say There Are Risks

Ten current and former Nvidia employees who spoke with Bloomberg detailed long working hours, yelling and fighting at meetings, and vying for the attention of a supervisor who could have more than 100 other direct reports.

A former enterprise tech support employee claimed he worked every day, including weekends, until 1 a.m. or 2 a.m., and that his engineer coworkers worked longer hours. Other employees claimed to have at least seven meetings a day.

Employees who worked less than the norm were called out at company-wide meetings. In December, Huang faced complaints from staff about their “semi-retired” peers. He responded by asking every employee to become the CEO of their time.

^{Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images}

Still, despite reports of a stressful work environment, Nvidia has had no trouble retaining employees. The company’s sustainability report for fiscal year 2024 details that overall turnover was 2.7% compared to the industry average of 17.7%.

Nvidia’s low turnover rate could be attributed to the way it gives employees access to stock grants. The stock vests over four years, so an employee gradually gains ownership of the award. So it’s in the employee’s best interest to stick with the company to maximize benefits.

Nvidia is also a famously “flat” organization, with minimal hierarchy, which could make the company an appealing choice. Huang has 60 direct reports.

Related: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Turned Down a Merger Offer in the Company’s Early Days, According to Insiders. Here’s Why.

“Pharma bro” Martin Shkreli has been ordered by a federal judge in Brooklyn to relinquish any copies of the Wu-Tang Clan’s one-of-a-kind album, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” Artnet first reported.

Shkreli notoriously purchased the one-in-existence album from the iconic Staten Island rappers, Wu-Tang Clan, for $2 million in 2015. One of the stipulations Shkreli was bound to when he purchased the album was that he couldn’t reproduce it for at least 88 years, per copyright law.

After Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud in 2018, the album was sold by the U.S. government to PleasrDAO, a collective specializing in NFTs, in 2021 for $4.75 million.

Related: ‘The Most Hated Man in America’ Where Is Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli Now?

PleasrDAO sued Shkreli in June after alleging that he had been boasting online about sending copies of the album in CD format to various women. The purchase agreement, however, banned its reproduction, which makes this a violation — if copies exist.

“Earlier today, the United States sold the sole copy of the Wu-Tang Clan album ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin'” … forfeited by Martin Shkreli.

Photo of the album here. pic.twitter.com/fHcCjNuq88

— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) July 27, 2021

According to the judge, Shkreli must submit a detailed report of what copies were made, when, and to whom, including financial gains and identities of recipients, by September, as cited by PleasrDAO’s legal counsel Steven Cooper.

Still, despite Shkreli’s online boasts, including a livestream, where he hinted at hidden MP3 copies worldwide, no tangible proof of these mythical copies has surfaced.

Related: Judge Permanently Bans ‘Chaotic’ and ‘Untrustworthy’ Martin Shkreli From Running Public Companies

When you’re building your business or startup from scratch, the beginning stages can be overwhelming. You’re expected to be a founder, marketer, analyst, and so many other roles all in one. But what if there was a way to free up some time and automate rote tasks?

According to the MIT Sloan School of Management, generative AI can help entrepreneurs with time-consuming responsibilities such as writing emails or coding their business’s website. If you’d like to automate daily tasks that you’d have to perform yourself or outsource to a team, 1minAI’s collection of AI models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Midjourney is available for $39.99 (reg. $234).

Let generative AI aid your business development.

The beginning stages of any business require all hands on deck, so let AI help. Start by selecting your AI-powered assistance from platforms like Leonardo.AI, Cohere, Claude 3 Opus, Llama 2 and 3, and more.

If you need advice on planning out your business’s yearly or quarterly goals or need assistance with applying SEO practices to your work, these AI chatbots offer smart and interactive answers to your questions.

Entrepreneurs can enhance their business’s footprint with a robust social media presence, and 1minAI’s impressive AI writing tools may be beneficial. Rather than hiring an entire social media team — which can be costly — you can generate professional-sounding comments for LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social media platforms. You can also have them produce complete, clean blogs for your business’ website or rewrite copy.

If you’re still in the brand development process, this platform additionally offers photo creation and editing tools. Get unique logo ideas for your company, images for projects, or help with editing photos so they match your business’s branding or social media feed.

1minAI is designed with features that are helpful for any entrepreneur and are always improving with weekly updates. It’s no surprise G2 reviewed, “1min.ai rocks with its all-in-one AI toolkit, making life easier for creative tasks. It’s super user-friendly, even for tech novices. Plus, you can tweak AI models to get better results.”

Let AI transform your daily business operations when you get a lifetime subscription to 1minAI, now $39.99 (reg. $234).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Economic uncertainty can cause leaders to go into survival mode and look for ways to slash costs. Not surprisingly, one of the most common strategies is cutting headcount.

On paper, the move makes sense. Reducing any organization’s workforce will have an immediate bottom-line effect. However, embracing this type of lean, “year of efficiency” practice — as Mark Zuckerberg coined it in 2023 — can backfire down the road. What’s the alternative? Improving collaboration. Increased collaboration among teams and leadership can increase productivity steadily without necessitating widespread terminations.

Improving effective communication in the workplace won’t give instant bottom-line results, which is why many leaders turn to layoffs. However, layoffs can be harmful to a company’s success. For one thing, they can destroy the organization’s culture and greatly decrease worker-management trust. Once that trust is broken, it’s hard to regain. As cited in a Harvard Business Review piece, job loss is a worry for 85% of people, per Edelman’s research. By making that fear come true, employers sever their trust bonds with the people left behind.

Related: Thinking of Laying Off Staff? Here’s Why Job Cuts Might Be Bad For Your Business

Let’s talk about those people who retain their jobs. Guilt tends to run rampant among those who’ve been chosen to stay. Yes, they may feel relieved, but they also may live with the constant concern that they could be next — or shouldn’t have been the ones to stay. This uncertainty slowly erodes their ability to concentrate on work. Plus, it may increase their suspicion that no matter how people-centric their company says it is, the company will always revert to letting employees go during rocky periods.

As these seeds of worry and unrest spread, they can affect the employer’s brand and make it harder to source and retain top talent. One researcher from Visier explained that up to 8% of people may leave of their own accord after a layoff, typically within 105 days of the layoff announcement; and replacing those team members might not be easy. Good job candidates will always think twice about applying for positions at businesses known for layoffs.

These — and related consequences — are why all organizations need to consider other approaches, like the different ways to improve communication in the workplace, before reducing the size of their departments. After all, communication is essential, and more often than not, it does not occur efficiently or effectively at any company, including yours.

The connection between people communication and business profitability

Is poor communication in the workplace really taking a bite out of your profits? Yes. Eighty-eight percent of knowledge workers’ time is spent communicating, according to a 2024 Grammarly report. With so much communication happening, any snags can interrupt productivity. And snags are happening. A full 55% of professionals say they spend excessive time crafting or deciphering communications, which causes 53% to struggle with anxiety.

Of course, many managers and teams try to mitigate communication missteps with meetings. Unfortunately, as Otter.ai points out, unnecessary and unproductive meetings can lead to millions lost annually. The problem magnifies when you have hybrid and remote employees, which account for around 40% of all workers. Successfully coordinating team communication across geographic, time-related and other boundaries without a plan can be tough.

In other words, there are probably dozens of gaps in your communications machine. By closing those gaps, you can improve the employee experience and help workers do better work faster. This will not only improve the speed and quality of everyone’s output but will also help keep costs lower — all without having to cut a single person.

Related: How to Avoid These Common Communication Blunders in the Workplace

How to improve communication in the workplace

If you like the idea of holding onto the morale you’ve built and the legacy knowledge your employees bring to your organization, start by putting new communications approaches into practice.

1. Establish a thoughtful team meeting cadence

Feel like you have needless meetings? You’re probably right. We’ve become accustomed to setting up face-to-face and virtual meetings at the drop of a hat. Regrettably, most meetings don’t have a clear end game or purpose.

The workaround for this issue is to be very deliberate about meeting times. For instance, kick off the week on Monday or Tuesday with a team video or in-person meeting, depending on your workplace structure. Share what was accomplished in the prior week, each person’s upcoming goals and maybe a personal item. This meeting gives everyone a path forward.

At the end of the week, host one-on-one meetings with direct reports. These meetings are intended to give a “mood meter” reading. They’re the chance to review project deadlines, objectives, deliverables and expectations. Remember that one-on-ones allow you to have a human connection. For example, Adobe introduced the “Check-in” approach, which replaces annual reviews with regular one-on-one feedback sessions. This setup enhanced employee engagement and performance by allowing room for continuous dialogue and feedback. Ultimately, establishing these personalized meetings helped create a culture of growth and support within the workplace.

2. Leverage psychometric tools to reduce communication friction

Use AI and technology to help your people become better communicators. Psychometric products now exist that can help employees better relate to each other. Remember that we don’t necessarily work side by side anymore. That means it can be tough to understand how a colleague likes to receive and interpret information. Psychometric solutions can break through this barrier.

For example, a psychometric assistant can make pointed suggestions on how to write an email to a specific colleague based on the colleague’s psychometric data. The finished email will be more understandable to the recipient, lowering any chance of misunderstanding.

Psychometric tools can also help determine the right visuals, audio prompts and other meeting considerations. By evaluating all attendees’ psychometric needs, a system can devise better ways to engage all participants.

Related: How to Harness the Power of Communication When Facing Challenges

Availing yourself and your team of these leading-edge solutions promotes empowerment, confidence and authority. It also minimizes your need to micromanage. Consequently, everyone can collaborate more effectively in both real-time and asynchronous situations. Ultimately, better communication is great for profits, too, especially since Asana has shown that 55% of employees at highly collaborative companies report steady revenue improvements.

Cutbacks can be necessary, but they aren’t the inevitable solution to riding out an uncertain economy. Tweak your communication practices before letting people go. It could be all you need to get more wins, and you won’t have to deal with the fallout of terminations. Best of all, everyone succeeds.

As a South Carolina native and leader in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), I can affirmatively say NCAA coach Dawn Staley is no ordinary leader. From her time as an Olympic gold medal-winning basketball player to her role as a coach guiding the South Carolina Gamecocks to an undefeated 38-0 season, Staley has a lot to teach us about what it takes to be consistent and successful in a competitive arena.

It’s easy to attribute Staley’s success as a former athlete and coach to “luck,” but it’s anything but. Staley has invested in DEI, leadership and mentorship for her team and herself — which I suspect have all contributed to her record-breaking wins throughout the years.

Who is Dawn Staley?

Dawn Staley is an American basketball coach and player who was inducted into the Hall of Fame. She’s played on all sides of the court as a three-time Olympic gold medalist and also as the head coach of a gold-medal-winning team. Because of her incredible track record, she’s currently (and rightfully so) the highest-paid Black coach in women’s basketball. But that’s not all she is.

Related: Companies Are Deprioritizing DEI. Why They Shouldn’t and How to Recommit.

Staley stands up for pay equity

While many companies and organizations are divesting from DEI, others are doubling down and seeing great rewards. Knowing all too well the pay equity disparity between women’s and men’s basketball leagues, Staley has been a fearless advocate for pay equity for herself and her players. When negotiating her record-breaking contract, she had a lawyer present to ensure she got the fairest financial deal possible.

Furthermore, after receiving her much-deserved financial due, she was generous enough to share the wealth. She’s reported to have sent all Black Division 1 coaches a piece of her net earnings from a prior championship to send the message that when one of us wins, we all win.

Related: Why Paying Women An Equal Wage Helps—Not Hurts—Your Business

Staley understands the power of mentorship

Entrepreneurs from all walks of life have cited mentorship — whether given or received — as responsible for their current business success. Staley knows she needs her team as much as they need her, which requires mentorship. She’s always been a force on the court and a voice of reason and guidance for her team, passing along what she has learned for the benefit of everyone in her orbit.

Staley has been clear about the symbiotic relationship she has with her players. Staley told an Oklahoma-based newspaper, “I don’t coach to win awards, I really don’t. I’m very, very satisfied with just being there for my players.” Having guided her team through multiple wins and walking beside them every step of the way, Staley continually proves that mentorship is an essential component of any leader’s and team’s success.

Related: Managing a Black Woman? Here’s How to Become Her Success Partner and Ally.

Staley knows the value of being present in every role — big or small

From her days as a player to now being a nationally renowned coach, Staley has proven there is no role too big or small in which to serve. In the early stages of a business, most entrepreneurs know intimately how they must wear multiple hats for months and sometimes years in order to get the results they seek.

Staley knows that juggling act very well. Supporting her teammates on the court is one role that requires consistency, cooperation and resilience. Coaching, on the other hand, has given her the tools to build trust, empower others and delegate. Whether she’s a teammate or a coach, she fully commits to the role and being all-hands-on-deck with her team has returned dividends.

Staley knows how to build and rally a team toward a common goal

While it seems like the perfect team fell into Staley’s lap, nothing could be farther from the truth. She fought to take a team with a fair track record and transform it into a solid and consistently competitive unit. This season, Staley even had to replace the entire starting lineup and was still able to guide them back to the semifinals. This wasn’t an accident. It was the result of establishing and fostering a foundation of good team building and trust.

Staley chooses players who understand what it means to work hard for a common goal. When businesses hire team members, they often hire for “culture fit” and choose the applicant with the most impressive resume or academic credentials.

However, what they often fail to examine is the upbringing and values that each new hire possesses. In the past, Staley has highlighted her philosophy of only recruiting players who respect their parents, indicating that if a player doesn’t respect their parents, they won’t respect their coach. Staley has strategically built a team of players whose values were aligned with building a relationship of trust and respect with their coach. As we can see, her selective choice has had positive ripple effects on her team’s performance and rapport.

Related: Avoiding the Sea of Sameness: How Hiring for Culture Improves DEI

Final thoughts

The string of consistent wins enjoyed by the South Carolina Gamecocks is far from being an accident. Serving as a coach after having the experience as a player is a valuable advantage and puts Staley in a powerful position from which to lead others. It shows that Staley has been there and done that and knows the path to success because she first lived it as a player. In addition, her ability to put herself in her team’s shoes is a form of empathy, a key pillar in DEI. From this empathy, she was able to build trust after carefully selecting team members who had the values and resilience necessary to truly respect the game, their coach, their teammates, and themselves. Dawn Staley is an example of what powerful leadership looks like by advocating for herself and others to work towards DEI, resilience, and excellence.