Posts from Awesome Folks #159

A weekly round up of blog posts I've been reading

Emily Webber
July 04, 2025

Hello folks,

It’s been a week of sunshine and Zoom calls, which get in the way of the sunshine.

This week, the first handful of people have completed my Communities of Practice course, and it’s brilliant to follow along with them and hear about their own challenges and stories.

These were some of my favourite reflections from the students.

“I've liked how human this approach is - the food -the meeting up and chatting - the thoughtful approach to inclusion and power sharing - making the space feel safe and welcoming - building things with other people and moving away from the cult of individualism”

“The course was immediately relevant and applicable to some challenges we face establishing CoP in my organisation - thank you so much for sharing your expertise and practically-focused insights.”

You can find out more about the course at tacit.pub/learnCoPs

Enjoy this week’s posts and happy Friday.

Emily

People and Culture

Knock Knock, Who’s There? — Finding Opportunity in the Workplace

Lee Jeffery explores the idea of ‘opportunity’ in the workplace through the metaphor of doors — those we push open ourselves, those opened…

medium.com/@lee.jeffery.ux/knock-knock-whos-there-finding-opportunity-in-the-workplace-ce902e9ccc66

The Silence is Deafening

Margaret Heffernan

...and dangerous

heffernanm.substack.com/p/the-silence-is-deafening

The Belonging Paradox: A Case for Vulnerable Leadership

Danny Gal

The belonging paradox refers to what happens when people feel the pull of driving group success, but don't feel capable of being themselves.

peoplemanagingpeople.com/career/the-belonging-paradox

Organisations and Systems

TBM 365: The Problem With Value Hierarchies (Video)

John Cutler

I’m experimenting with Substack’s Video feature.

cutlefish.substack.com/p/tbm-365-the-problem-with-value-hierarchies

The Best Leaders Encourage “Spacious Thinking”

Megan Reitz and John Higgins

There are two modes of attention that people use at work: doing mode , in which they pay narrow attention to a specific task in order to control, predict and get it done efficiently; and spacious mode , in which they pay attention more expansively, without hurry, making them more receptive to relationships, interdependencies, and possibilities.

hbr.org/2025/07/the-best-leaders-encourage-spacious-thinking