Insightful Ideas: Best of 2022

It's that time of year! And, no, we don't mean hot cocoa, sweater weather, mistletoe, and menorahs (though we hope you are enjoying some or all of the above). If you're a reader, then you know it's time for the many year-end lists that pop up every December. Magazines, journals, book review publications, websites of all sorts: They love to report the best of the year's power rankings, and we all can't get enough of it — the 50 Best Jazz Albums, the Top 100 Mystery Books, 45 Favorite Sports Moments, the 20 Best Gadgets, the 100 Best Movies of the Year You Still Haven't Seen.

As the end of 2022 edges ever closer, we have our own year-end list to share: our most-read blog posts of this year. We see it as a privilege to share content at Insightful Ideas, our corner here in cyberspace; it's a place where we can think out loud about ideas and current events, ask questions, and talk about our experiences in the field. We are grateful to each and every team member here at Insight Experience who takes time to contribute blog posts, and we are especially thankful to all of our readers. We kicked off 2022 with a post about our ART methodology and, most recently, shared a piece about how leaders can effectively scale themselves and free up time. In the intervening months, we discussed mentoring, networking, Balancing Leadership™, financial reporting, business acumen, hybrid work, authentic and conscious communication, and so much more.  

Below is a list of our blog posts that were the most visited ones, a list that provides an intriguing snapshot of leadership development in 2022. A leader's trust was top of mind for readers, not to mention professional development in a changing workforce, strategy execution, and the inflation that dominated this year's news cycle.

• "Building Trust Through the Business Cycle of Leadership" — This piece from early in 2022 about the inspiring actions of Dan Price, CEO of Gravity Payments, highlights the importance of trust in an organization and how leaders can develop it: "Leaders need to create a consistent cycle of listening and action. A leader’s ability to listen to employee feedback and take consequential action will drive stronger employee performance and continue to develop a culture of trust. How can leaders start building a culture of trust today? The findings are simple. …"
• "Business Simulations: The Challenge Leaders Need" — "If you are a leader," this piece asks, "how could you test your leadership skills by going through a business simulation experience?" Simulations are a powerful tool for providing feedback and development for leaders in an organization, and this post explains the five critical ways in which a simulation challenges them.
• "5 Practical Ways to Take Professional Development into Your Own Hands" — Have you really and truly learned everything you can in your current job? Before joining the ranks of the so-called Great Reshuffle, consider the ways in which you can motivate your own learning. This piece offers five practical tips — from being book-smart ("keep reading!") to enrolling in a skill-building course. Adopting and maintaining a growth mindset is valuable in more ways than one.
• "Learning to Braid to Execute Business Strategy" — The way in which managers benefit from repeated practice in braiding the strands of business capabilities to execute strategy brought to mind for one Insight Experience team member the way her friend Suzanne would French-braid her hair in seventh grade: "As a manager makes decisions, she must consider how they might create different conditions for the team and adjust the strands that need it."
• "Equip Your Leaders with the Business Acumen Skills to Manage Inflation" — Inflation this year in the United States was at a staggering 40-year high. What are the primary forces driving it? And which skills are necessary for business leaders to understand the drivers of profitability so that they can effectively respond to the impact of inflation? This piece provides clarity on both of those questions.
• "Authentic Leadership: How Do You Get There?" — "Authentic leadership is an invitation to be our true best selves, not some idealized version of a leader." Yet it's not easy to develop those skills in the complex working environments of today. Which skills are necessary to target when wanting to build more authenticity in your interactions? This piece explores interpersonal agility, the importance of the bigger picture, and — to bring this list full circle — the need for leaders to inspire trust.

We look forward to the topics that will inspire our team to put pen to paper (and fingers to keyboards) in 2023. And we hope you will keep reading with us!