Even while organizational leaders create belonging for their teams, many are looking for ways to stay connected with other leaders themselves. One thing humans all seem to have in common is a desire for community and connection.

That’s why we started inviting Talent Development & Enablement professionals into connection circles, allowing them to share their most pressing challenges. Many feel the isolation stemming from leadership in the digital era, sometimes leading to loneliness in their work. They’re often battling the weariness that comes from navigating constant change. Yet when they come together, they realize they’re not alone–in fact, they’re all facing similar challenges. And they genuinely want to learn from one another: one leader who joined stated: “I started a role in mid-October for the first time in my career and am keen to learn from tenured practitioners”.

Here’s a window into three topics they’re processing during our sessions, and how Circles can help.

1. Shaping Culture From a Distance

In today’s digital era, many are still implementing “back to work” strategies in fits and starts, navigating the ever-changing future of work. One major workplace hurdle is the shift to full or partially remote teams–the leaders in our circles face training and retaining an increasingly non-desk workforce. The complexity multiplies for teams distributed globally, requiring content contextualized across multiple countries and languages.

Constant change also has many companies reforming their identities, asking hard questions like: Who are we, and what are we really striving to achieve? They must communicate culture changes in real-time, in an authentic way that outpaces and outlasts buzzwords.

One large consulting firm we partner with has turned to Circles to help solve their global disconnection problem, stating that “As we expand, circles is one of the ways we connect our global, virtual community.” Gathering employees in inclusive circles not only connects employees who work remotely, on-site or somewhere in between–it even connects them across the world, and sends a message about company culture while doing so: there’s space for every voice.

2. Measuring Inclusion

Because the professionals in our circles have the pulse on the people, they understand uniquely how vital inclusion efforts are. While there’s generally increasing corporate buy-in that inclusion matters, these efforts are sometimes viewed as flash-in-the-pan trends left struggling to survive recession budget cuts. Prioritizing inclusion remains an uphill battle.

Especially in data-driven organizations, inclusion is also difficult to measure. Oftentimes, leaders rely on employee satisfaction tools to determine success of programs. Thriving Employee Resource Groups have been another way to measure inclusion, and some of our customers’ ERGs meet or have breakouts in Circles. Yet the leaders we hear from are still looking for new innovative benchmarks in the diversity, equity and inclusion space. 

That’s why we designed circles as inclusive spaces to connect and grow: implement circles programs and train a growing pool of facilitators, and you’ve added another inclusion metric to your toolkit.

Navigating culture change & buoying inclusion efforts leaves the leaders that participate in our circles on the brink of burnout.

3. Avoiding Burnout

What’s the best way to navigate fatigue and burnout? Sometimes, it’s simply circling up with other leaders who understand and are walking a similar path. Those attending our circles sessions come from different backgrounds and experiences, and they leave grateful for the common ground found through dialogue and exchange, often equating it with group therapy.

One participant shared: “It’s great to meet in a small intimate session and build connection and relationship with others; I loved the platform, the centering of voices and the connection.”

One of our partner communities, GenderSmart, meets regularly in circles, bringing together finance professionals fighting for gender equity in finance. One participant described her sessions like this: “Circles conversations gave me grounding in terms of better connection–all the people in these conversations are just like me one way or the other. We’re all trying to make the world, just, fair, equitable, just in different ways.” Others mentioned how their sessions were confidence boosters in the battle against imposter syndrome, and how unusual it was to experience intimacy and bonding on a virtual platform.

The belonging these leaders walk away with is exactly what they’re trying to provide for their own employees.

Ongoing Involvement

Circles help leaders avoid burnout and shape an inclusive company culture for the modern workplace. Professionals who participate in one of our circles have multiple connection options going forward: joining our LinkedIn Community, investigating taking Circles into their own organization, and participating in one of our ongoing Leadership Circles.

Do you need a place to connect and grow in the new year? Try one of our circles this month!

As flat as our organizations may become, leadership happens in functional workplaces. The problem is that we’ve all experienced a mixed bag of leadership at work: for every great encounter, we’ve survived not-so-great moments with colleagues (and, if we look honestly in the mirror, each of us can probably identify times we ourselves didn’t lead well). Agile, skilled leaders are hard to find, and becoming one might be hardest of all, especially now in our turbulent world.

Here’s what’s giving us hope at Circles: rising leaders emerging out of circle sessions with a new set of soft skills. These leaders are born by osmosis. As participants, they watched someone facilitate a conversation and caught the vision that a thoughtfully guided small group of 6-8 people produces connection, growth, and transformation. Inspired, they went on to guide circles for others, modeling facilitative leadership for the next round of participants.

We saw this multiplication happening with an enterprise client recently: what started as nine trained facilitators in one curated program multiplied into 36 leaders in the next, culminating with a growing pool of 48. As one of the original participants shared: “I enjoyed my Circles experience and the platform so much that I wanted to facilitate a circle. The proudest moment for me was to see two team members who I had invited into circles decide they want to facilitate circles going forward.”

These champions are developing facilitative leadership, a set of skills that not only transforms company culture more than any lone executive could, but has the potential to extend beyond the office into personal relationships, volunteer settings and more.

“I enjoyed my circles experience and the platform so much that I wanted to facilitate a circle. The proudest moment for me was to see two team members who I had invited into circles decide they want to facilitate circles going forward.”

From top-Down to Grassroots: Redefining Leadership

Like we observed in our enterprise customer, modern-day, effective leadership starts grassroots and spreads organically. It doesn’t flow top-down. It can’t be learned in a webinar or by reading an instruction manual.

Gone are the days of the following leadership traits:

● Pride

● The desire to teach

● The desire to argue, persuade, impose a certain point of view

● An interest in answers rather than questions

● A disposition towards judgmentalism, or pre-judgement

By contrast, facilitative leadership translates into the wisdom to bite one’s tongue or sit in awkward silence. Facilitators develop the attentiveness to take the pulse of a room and respond accordingly. Some qualities of effective facilitation include:

● Humility

● Warmth

● Genuine curiosity, both about ideas and human beings

● Comfort with ambiguity and uncertainty

● Willingness to hold space for discomfort or hard topics

● Openness

● An inclination to ask the challenging questions about what we might need to do

Differently

Who wouldn’t want to work with (and emulate) a leader like that?

Facilitative Leadership: Caught, not Taught

Facilitating comes more naturally to some than others, but like anything, it can be learned. I experienced this firsthand: when asked, I was hesitant to lead a circle of peers internally. I’ve read and written enough about circles to understand that facilitation is all about energy, timing and flow, and I know myself too well: when it comes to energy, I’m more of a reflector than someone bringing big energy into a group.

But I’ve participated in many internal facilitated circles. I’ve watched different types of leaders guide Circles conversations. Reading and writing about circles didn’t teach me about facilitative leadership: being facilitated did.

Because I knew I would grow and understand our product better if I stepped up and tried, I said yes. And what I discovered along the way is what our own customers have learned as they step from participant to facilitator: I’m improving in facilitative leadership. What helps is the support of the Circles platform, features and agenda which support a session’s energy, timing and flow.

More than that: I’ve noticed changes in how I interact with others in my everyday life. With my family and friends, I’m slowing down and becoming more intentional about energy, timing and flow–leaving space for others, reading the room, seeking to understand and ask the right question at the right time.

Why it Matters

As the world continues changing quickly, organizations must follow suit. Facilitative leaders can help employees navigate change together. The Systems Thinker recognizes how strategic it is for today’s evolving organizations to develop and maintain a crew of facilitative leaders. “Facilitation, while long associated with individuals leading workshops, planning meetings, or other group processes, actually encompasses a broad mix of consulting and coaching skills that are too critical to be relegated to the domain of a select few.” Implementing Circles programs into any organization and equipping a few champions sets the stage for a growing pool of facilitative leaders.

Circles help people connect and grow. The platform design and agenda content promote social learning and peer connection across companies big and small. But it’s the human element that creates the magic: people bringing their whole selves into the circles fuels transformation. Our data reveals that the shining stars are the facilitators rising up within organizations, employees who begin as participants, witness the power of a facilitated circle, then step up and guide their colleagues through everything from tough transitions to global crises.

So we’re letting our customers define modern, effective leadership, by watching the effect facilitated circles have on their company culture–and the type of leaders they produce. Some choose to go on and engage our booster training, to more formally step into a facilitator role; from there, they can even receive the new Circles Leader badge.

Are you interested in building a pool of facilitative leaders in your own org? Contact us today!

In the wake of both the great resignation and massive layoffs–and with recession looming– organizational culture matters. When the stakes are high, what elements contribute to a compelling company culture?

We asked learning and development leaders how they connect and grow their employees and enhance company culture, all while navigating a global workforce. They all expressed the importance of prioritizing people by creating community across distributed teams.

Prioritizing People

“Employee engagement has to be intentional and leaders have to be human first. We want people to let their “human” shine through.” Mary Remillad, HomeLight

Mary Remillard is head of Learning and Development at HomeLight, a real estate technology company with a global employee base. She shared that HomeLight’s founder knows firsthand what cultural elements he wants to avoid. “Since our CEO came from the notoriously toxic culture of Wall Street, he already had a really good idea of what culture shouldn’t be, and wanted better for his own company. When he started HomeLight, he made sure his vision of “people first” was top priority.”

L&D specialist Rachel Wood has worked to develop holistic programs that specifically focus on the people side of Burendo consulting agency. “It doesn’t matter who you are, what role you’re in, or where you are located. If you shout for help at Burendo, people here care and will swarm around to help solve whatever the need might be.”

At French software company Aircall, Global Learning & Talent Development Partner Melissa Strong knows the value of prioritizing people. “Our people are what makes Aircall unique. As a company we have an amazing sense of community. Everyone wants to be a part of something exciting, to learn, grow and achieve something special in a community together. It’s unique and addicting to have this type of supportive environment.”

“People are what makes Aircall unique. It’s addicting to have this type of supportive environment.”  Missy Strong, Aircall

Creating Community Across Distributed Teams

According to recent studies, 61% of employees now identify as hybrid workers–their time is split between in-office and remote work. This forces creative endeavors to keep them connected and growing together. Beyond teams collaborating in Slack and virtual one-on-ones with direct reports, the leaders we spoke with think outside the box to keep distributed teams engaged. Whether it’s mentoring, shared learning opportunities, or inclusion efforts, they’re intent on connecting distributed teams and helping them grow.

With a passion for shared learning structures, Rachel has worked to break down silos and barriers at Burendo for the past 6 years. Her team focuses on decentralized, shared learning structures. “We are built around a community structure and have initiatives like mentoring programs that are linked to a broader collective support strategy. If someone needs help to collaborate, then they can look to the communities to see who can be assigned to a specific role.”

Beyond virtual coffee breaks & wellness programs, Rachel has seen the power of learning in community. “Burendo is a company where people are motivated to learn. We learn best through shared learning experiences that are based around communities.”

Learning in Community

“Burendo is a company where people are motivated to learn.  We learn best through shared learning experiences that are based around communities.” Rachel Wood, Burendo

As AirCall scales quickly, Missy focuses on staying true to their culture of community and collaboration.

Her strategy involves “creating moments for people to share, encourage, and guide one another.” Twice a year, her team hosts Aircall Conversations, inviting experts to present on a topic. Speakers give a keynote speech and then employees break out into smaller teams. “We recently invited a Navy pilot to talk about working through uncertainty, which proved very applicable to both Aircall’s current reality going through a CEO change, and also to the current potential of recession.” The AirCall Conversations have shifted to virtual to keep employees connected across distributed teams. “We made sure that the chat and online discussions were lively, to create an ambiance of inclusion and energy.” 

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

“Because we are global, multicultural differences are expected and it is important to learn different communication styles.”  Missy Strong

Leaders recognize inclusion as more than a passing fad—it’s a cultural imperative to any organization navigating globally distributed teams. Furthermore, HBR research shows that developing inclusive leaders “directly enhances performance,” as they grow in cultural intelligence and become aware of their biases.

Inclusive spaces don’t happen by accident. At HomeLight, Mary’s team intentionally celebrates DEI and strives to maintain awareness of their own biases. Her People Team has tackled many projects in an effort to ensure organizational alignment, starting with interview practices and including current team members.

HomeLight’s Employee Resource Groups are employee driven, and model the type of momentum Mary and her team want to leverage. “We are continuing to develop a strategy of equity within our global company, and desire for everyone to have the same opportunity, influence and voice.  We want to make sure that no one feels negatively ‘othered’ because they are based in a country outside of where we are headquartered.”

Rachel describes Burendo’s culture as open and growing, two hallmarks of inclusivity. “Some of our work in inclusivity and culture building is in storytelling. We make a point of understanding traditions and beliefs, beginning with our founders.”

Honing their hiring practices is another part of Burendo’s strategy for shaping an inclusive culture. ‘As we hire, we look at people as a culture add, not a culture fit. We need the variety of skills, knowledge, and strength that people bring as individuals.” By putting people first, these leaders create sticky cultures that will attract and retain the right workforce.

Why Culture Matters

Back in 2020, McKinsey Consulting foresaw the type of workplace realities that would emerge as a result of enormous societal change–and as they reimagined the post-pandemic workforce, their advice was to pay careful attention to organizational norms and culture. Focus on what binds people together. “Your opportunity is to fashion the hybrid virtual model that best fits your company, and let it give birth to a new shared culture for all your employees that provides stability, social cohesion, identity, and belonging, whether your employees are working remotely, on premises, or in some combination of both.”

Rachel believes innovation is key to Burendo’s culture. “If you stop trying new things, then your culture is going to suffer.” HomeLight’s strategy includes attention to the overall employee experience. Mary says: “We try to not stay stagnant at HomeLight.  Every time we’ve surpassed a critical milestone at the company, we’ve taken the time to evaluate what “great culture” means to ensure we evolve alongside our employees’ needs. We make sure there are checkpoints along the way, and strive to be intellectually curious.”

As the new era of distributed work progresses–and teams become increasingly global and multicultural—in our interviews, the opportunity to let the people define and shape the culture shines through. In the most practical sense, it’s also effective for any company’s bottom line. As Missy points out:  “Without people, AirCall doesn’t have culture at all. And relationships are what makes things happen—results are reliant upon it. If they connect and care with the people they work with, then they will succeed.”

“Life is more than just staring at a screen for 8 hours a day.  It can be easy with people being dispersed to let work be just work, but when there is community- humans connect on a human level, and that impacts people’s quality of life for the better.”  Mary Remillad

“I discovered that the people in my GenderSmart circle are just like me, in one way or another. We’re all trying to make the world fair and equitable, just in different ways.” Bibi Gertrude Annoh Quarshie, Director of Operations, African Women’s Development Fund

Financial systems engage with and benefit men and women differently– particularly women of color. That’s why the GenderSmart community works to bring gender balance into finance, in terms of who makes investment decisions, and who gets investment.

Hoping to spark real and lasting global change, GenderSmart works to educate and network senior investment professionals, fostering innovation and collaboration in service of a more equitable world.

What began as a community of 300 investors four years ago has grown to 2,500 women and men across 50 countries, representing the climate crisis, education, health, and human rights. GenderSmart’s next chapter is an upcoming merger with 2x Collaborative: in January 2023, the two organizations will become 2X Global.

Fresh off their 2022 annual Summit, we caught up with co-founder Suzanne Biegel and Head of Programs Stella McKenna to learn how Circles has played a significant role in their community.

Can you share more about GenderSmart’s mission and values?

Suzanne: Our mission is convening people and connecting them together, to build relationships, increase their capacity for investing work, advance their practices and standards, and expand their imaginations.

GenderSmart is collaborative and values-driven. We try to be intentional with who’s in the room–they really need to have a mindset that is committed to this issue, thinking about not only their own organization and progress, but also advancing as a field.

Our team works very hard to create a safe space to connect as humans. We want people to feel like they have a place to commiserate, celebrate one another, and learn from each other–and also identify what’s not working. We work hard to think about where people are coming from and what the next step in their journey could be–to meet people where they are and push them a little bit further.

When so much of the world went virtual–is that when Circles came into the picture?

Suzanne: After Covid happened, we quickly learned how to flip to a virtual organization. I had experienced Circles as a participant as an Aspen Fellow, and brought it to the GenderSmart team because it’s an exciting approach and technology–I thought it could be a really important part of what we do.

For 2022, we planned three months of virtual programming consisting of formal sessions and expert hours, and we added the Circles component so people could connect in a different way and allow for more peer-to-peer sharing.

Stella: I was struck by how Suzanne described the impact of her Circles experience. We had all been online for 18 months at that point, and while people were getting creative on Zoom, Suzanne went through Circles and felt like it offered a next-level connection experience. In a world where people had lots of different virtual communities pulling them in, circles felt like an opportunity to really engage our community in a different way, and deepen those peer-to-peer connections.

Our hypothesis was that if we planned a content-heavy program and ran Circles alongside it so people connected with their peers, those elements would enrich one another, and people would increase their committment.

“It was a humbling experience because we shared challenges, difficulties and struggles, and everyone was honest about who they are and how they do their business.” Cecile Sevrain, Co-founder and Impact & Sustainability Warrior at TIIME – advisor, trainer and public speaker, France

How has Circles helped your community connect and grow?

Stella: We sorted members into groups based on their level of experience, and it really allowed for peer-to-peer connection. In the future, we’d like to try sorting the groups in different ways–thematically, geographically etc.

Suzanne: People just love the platform–how it makes them feel, the way more voices get heard. There’s just something about it that’s really special. 

Stella: I think something that potentially connects a group of people virtually and also in person is amazing. We trained facilitators to run the circles, and I contacted them before our in-person Summit to let them know which members of their circles would be in attendance, so they could also connect in person. 

When I spoke with GenderSmart members who went through Circles, the number one theme that stood out to me was that they felt like they weren’t alone. They really felt the connection was on a human level.

Stella: Yes. One of the standout moments of my year happened in a circle I facilitated. Someone who was a pretty active part of the GenderSmart community, and who I perceive as a well-connected person in the field, said “I’m very much still the gender nerd in the corner. In my organization, people either want something from me–because they’ve been told that they need to think about gender in their process–or they dismiss me as unimportant.”

Participating in circles was a chance for her to be around a table where she didn’t have to justify commitment to gender–everyone was already committed. It was a really good reminder to me that she still really needs that, even as someone who does this every day and is committed and making things happen.

“Sometimes at GenderSmart, we are peers but also competitors. In circles, those barriers come down” Luis Marquez, Director of Advisory Services / Gender Lens Investing, Maputo, Mozambique

I know you said your Summit was a huge success, and I’m so glad–the work you’re doing is so important, to me personally and the entire Circles team. What’s your vision for the future of your community?

Suzanne: First, we’re very much about building the capacity of the sector by connecting people with their peers. Second, we want to advance the standards and practices within the field. Third, to influence the broader market–and to get people seeing that this is just smart investing. We want to influence the financial system overall.

One important component are these communities of practice that are coming together. They will be fundamentally virtual, so using technology as a part of the solution is important. People really love to convene in person, but it’s not practical–we had people from 44 countries at the Summit.

Despite what’s going on in the economy and gender setbacks, at GenderSmart we’re very clear on what our role is in the world.

At Circles, we’re honored to connect and grow communities like GenderSmart. Learn more about the incredible work they’re doing in the world here.

There’s been a lot of buzz about resilience as an essential quality during setbacks. When the topic came up in a slack channel recently, one colleague shared that they recently stopped using the word altogether: in their experience, expecting resilience invalidates pain and lived experience by suggesting that people simply persevere.

Indeed, the internet defines resilience as “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness,” a lofty ideal loaded with assumptions and probably blind to privilege. Likewise, a recent Forbes article suggests “know that you can adopt specific mind shifts to help create your best career year yet—and make the rest of your life pretty great, too,” placing the onus squarely on the individual.

Sure, there’s always that one annoying person sailing through life completely nonplussed, but often if you dig deeper, resilience (or lack thereof) flows from a combination of someone’s temperament, upbringing, life experience, cultural background, intersectionality, trauma, marginalization, and a whole host of other factors that attribute to a human’s capacity for “toughness”. If workplace resilience connotes bootstrapping–using every resource you have available–and not everyone has the same resources available, is it equitable to expect the same level of resilience out of everyone?

What if instead of tossing out the word resilience altogether, we brainstormed how to make workplace resilience a community effort, attainable for everyone?

A Tale of Resilience: Pretend We’re All Houseplants

Two new leaves just emerged from the top of my fiddle-leaf-fig, which is only significant if you understand the plant’s journey over the past few years.

I don’t remember when or how I brought said plant into my home, but after a cursory search on “how to care for a Ficus Lyrata“ I potted it, parked it near a front window, and watered it once a week per instructions. Which didn’t work for my plant. Which puzzled me.

Adding to my confusion were my other plants that thrive no matter what: over watered, under watered, near a window, in a dark room: it doesn’t matter, some plants just grow.

After months of struggle, I decided to move the fiddle-fig to the opposite side of our house, next to my desk which faces a bay window. I started researching what else the plant might need to thrive.

Years later, the thriving plant has remarkably grown several feet. 

A combination of the following allowed my plant to experience resilience, and these elements just might work for humans at work, too:

• Space. The plant was crowded into a small pot and rootbound, so I repotted it into a much larger one, giving its roots room to grow. Is there mutual space for employees in your workplace to learn, share, listen and grow?
• Communication. Yeah, I talked to my plant. I also listened to it by noticing its failure to thrive, and responded by trying something new. One of our customers, Glassdoor, holds space for communication by hosting circles where employees can process together during crises. How is your workplace fostering communication between employees? For example: does everyone have the opportunity to gather together and process during a significant world event?
• Community. I put another plant next to the fiddle fig so their leaves could touch. According to Psychology Today, one way to practice resilience is to build social connections. Does your workplace offer regular touchpoints for small groups of employees?
• Individuality. Even though the internet instructions recommended treating this plant species a certain way, that didn’t work for my plant. Not every plant in the same species needs the same thing, and the same goes for people; in fact, companies can ensure inclusive teams by celebrating individual differences. Are employees in your workplace valued as complex individuals with a unique story?
• Wellness. My plant responded well to customized fertilizer. Does every individual in an organization have their whole-person healthcare needs met?
• Protection. Bugs tried taking up residence in my plant’s soil, until I purchased miniature sticky traps and planted them in the pot. For some, remote work may be the safeguard they need. “People of Color and underrepresented communities have benefitted from remote work arrangements. One of the reasons is that many have not had to cope with the prevalence of microaggressions, which are subtle forms of discrimination, in the workplace” What safeguards are in place for employees experiencing harassment, marginalization, or micro-aggressions?
• Native Environment. I learned house plants thrive when they experience their native environment. Since mine should be in a tropical rainforest, I began misting it with water and occasionally grabbing the tip of one of its leaves and swaying it back-and-forth, as if a breeze were blowing through. At Circles, we’ve been gathering in cross-cultural and functional circles, to learn each others’ stories and deepen our connections. Is there space in your organization to periodically learn, share and understand each other’s backgrounds?

There’s no getting around it: with both plants and people, in times of dramatic change, resilience makes all the difference.

Do you want a workplace filled with resilient employees? Be prepared to roll up your sleeves and get it in the dirt. Instead of hiring for, prescribing, or weaponizing resilience, try nurturing the soil of your organization’s garden, so that everyone planted there can flourish.

Rather than making resilience an unmitigated, autonomous expectation, let’s work together to create spaces promoting community resilience for everyone.

Amidst slashed budgets and tightened purse strings, Learning & Development and onboarding professionals search for ways to continue supporting and developing their teams. Now more than ever, modern workplace teams–local, hybrid and distributed–need innovative ways to connect and grow so they can effectively collaborate. 

That’s why over the past six years, we’ve built a company focused on bringing inclusive spaces to organizations. Distinct from tactical work, circles often surface the most critical team challenges–things that might otherwise be left unsaid. 

Great leaders know that effective teaming involves more than getting work done. It’s about connection and belonging first. To foster deep ties, they carve out time to create psychological safety, layer in accountability, and fuel shared purpose.

Psychological Safety

Safe spaces in the corporate world are crucial and hard to come by. When psychological safety is present, it provides a level of trust inviting vulnerable interactions without fear of punishment or rejection.

When there’s a breach in psychological safety, LeaderFactor research shows it takes a significant toll on employees:

80% lost time worrying about an incident that occurred.

63% lost time avoiding the offender.

78% said their commitment to the organization declined.

That’s why safety is a key Circl.es value–and a reported outcome from our participants. When colleagues feel safe with one another, trust grows, and they collaborate more effectively as a result.

“The deep, intimate discussion in circles hits home. I never feel like anyone is trying to fix me; it’s a safe space.” Todd Rivard, DuPont

Accountability

Circles are designed to function as creative, agile, small groups, not the kind where subordinates follow orders. Every time a participant opens up with a transparent share, it sets the conversational tone–especially if that person has a leadership role in the organization. Vulnerable team interactions remind participants of their common humanity. Standing on that foundation of trust, teams then experience the freedom to grow together, holding each other accountable for that growth. 

“It’s a safe space where people are peers and there’s accountability. I don’t think that type of candor happens naturally in other spaces. Peers should feel empowered to hold their peers accountable to the growth they say they want to see in themselves.” Jasmine Cumberland, JumpCrew

Fuel Shared Purpose

Employees long to feel that their work impacts the organization in a meaningful way.  The day-to-day weeds of a team’s tactical work can leave little room to feel a sense of belonging to something larger, or to have the kind of perspective that can provide a feeling of impact.

When teams get “tuned”, teammates meet on common ground, rooting their conversation in what binds them, while uncovering what’s coming between them.  Great leaders know how to shine the light on commonalities and a shared vision for their collaboration.

Providing spaces like circles will likely help develop and retain employees: McKinsey’s July 2022 report on the great attrition suggests “organizations can make jobs “sticky” by investing in more meaning, more belonging, and stronger team and other relational ties.”

Outcomes

Safety, accountability and shared purpose in circles builds better and better teamwork over time. It’s the X-factor you just can’t get through project management software, another Slack thread or a trip to the ropes course (as valuable as those tools may be).

Because we know this type of high-quality collaboration is in demand, you’re invited to a free demo of tuning your teams today.

Over the years, we’ve delivered authentic human connection for circles of school kids, grown-ups, faith-based communities, micro-entrepreneurs, climate activists, universities, medical teams and more. We’ve built a system and technology to support them, with many applications.

Now, we’re focused on simplifying our business model in order to create a sustainable company that can fulfill our mission: providing inclusive spaces where people can connect and grow.

On Building Direct-to-Company Sales

The earliest Circl.es adopters weren’t specific companies, they were communities that spanned several organizations, such as Harvard Business School, Aspen, Young Presidents Organization and Ken Blanchard Companies. As of this writing, communities (vs. organizations) still account for over half of our revenue.

With or without a campus, we believe community is the future of learning. A recent quote I’ve been pondering suggests that “Building community is to the collective as spiritual practice is to the individual’ (Grace Lee Boggs).

Yet while we love partners that span multiple companies, it was hard to build a fast-growth company without many individual companies or organizations as primary partners.

In 2021, we had a few crushing disappointments as we waited for partners to step on the gas.

In 2022, we sensed that these communities would be even slower in the face of an economic slowdown.

In the meantime, I made some expensive marketing decisions that didn’t pan out. We spun our wheels for a year as a result. I want to celebrate my partner Bart de Vocht who was running operations and then stepped into marketing, saying “I can solve this.” His excellent team, led by Maria Tenberge and Luz García Garona rose to replace him, and Bart created a B2B lead-gen machine. How? By zeroing in on our target prospects within companies, and inviting them into circles with each other.

The answer was under our nose, and it’s a “who” not a what. There’s a new type of leader rising in the business world, who wants to listen to and connect with one another. They believe in relationships over transactions, conversations over presentations. They’re struggling to fight disconnection at work and achieve a sense of belonging together.

And–backed by data from this funnel–we continue narrowing our focus.

We recently simplified our offerings to a menu of concrete, popular programs that add social learning to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Leadership Development, Onboarding and several other applications that our clients have helped us invent over the years.

On Sucking it Up and Rearchitecting our Video Space

We have a cadence of quarterly business reviews, which we weirdly call “offsites” out of longing for our in-person days. In the April ‘22 offsite, we discussed how to develop technology features faster. This is always a sensitive discussion, and finally our development team, led by the sage Bernard Duggan, got fired up. “You want speed? Pay down the Tech Debt!” (Do I need to define?) 

His concern was valid: often, just when you get the features right, the business takes off, and it’s really hard to hit the pause button, take months off from adding new features, and tear it all down. Additionally, some companies build lots of features quickly, producing a tangled spaghetti code.

When Franko and I started Circl.es, we had many late night discussions about M5 Networks where we both worked, and what we were going to do differently at Circl.es. One thing we agreed on was a move that’s hard to pull off: quickly build a prototype to test ideas, then once we’re clear, tear it down and rebuild the right way. Founding teams struggle with this all the time. Mitch Kapoor of Lotus Notes famously stopped the whole train in the midst of a huge success, to completely rewrite. It was the difference between good and great: Notes went on to become dominant for a decade.

“The customer doesn’t come first” is a cliche sometimes attributed to Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher, and we’ve found it to be true: if you listen to your employees first, they will take care of the customers. So we did–we listened to Bernard and gave our development team 6-9 months to rebuild the video room, our biggest source of tech debt–and our customers in turn experience a much better product. The foundations of this rewrite went live on our alpha environment this week.

On Sustainable Profitability

Last year, having passed most of the typical Series A financial milestones, we started meeting with VCs. I DO want to build a big company fast and have a big impact sooner than later. I had a good experience with the VCs that helped me build M5 and I know a lot of great people in this profession. But, having been through the VC-backed journey, I had reservations. And to be honest, no one was jumping over the table to fund us. My excuses were: I was more interested in running the business, unwilling to play the exaggeration game, maybe much more interested in talking about mission than making better slides. Eventually, I stopped pushing on the VC front, because customers started pulling.

Turning the corner into 2023, we are a beat away from sustainability: able to support growth and a software development team on our own. We’ve had the incredible support and patience of our seed investors. I don’t think my heart is saying no forever; if in the future, the opportunity is clear, the investor is right, and the team is ready we’ll absolutely entertain outside financing. But I have to say, I’m thrilled with how this shook out.

On Circles@circles

My last circles@circles session was weird and wonderful.  What’s circles@circles? It is us drinking our own champagne. We’ve run several “Seasons” of circles programs for our 25-person company: our “community of belonging” program, a custom DEIB journey, Onboarding, A She/Her Circle, and now a more open-ended peer connection design. We’re a time-zone mess, so this ain’t easy. The experience not only connects us fabulously, it reliably delivers insights about what our clients experience.

Back to weird and wonderful: in our circles, we talk about weight loss, burnout, struggles prioritizing, wasted workdays, fear of losing a parent. I noticed some stressy voices in my own head: should we be spending an hour on this at work? Is it ok to be the CEO in this room, or am I in the way? 

And then I realized that these circles are gold. They’ve impacted my connection to my colleagues, who are now influencing me more than ever, and improving my understanding of our company.

This aligns with Microsoft’s recent huge study of hybrid work which led them to stop measuring engagement and start measuring flourishing. Wellness became the measure of how their workforce is doing. It isn’t just about the work. I heard somewhere that your company grows as fast as your people do, and I agree. But the last couple of years have revealed a whole other level to the game. Your company is only as well as your people. And this is EXACTLY what giving space for community at work can help with.

Well, thanks for reading this far into storytime. I’d be curious to hear if you all think this is the right kind of company update.

Our work fighting disconnection has become more urgent as the world sees deepening polarization, a disengaged workforce, kids left years behind, and declining mental health. Many blame technology: social media, distributed work tools, online classrooms. But we’re techno-optimists. Our diagnosis is that it isn’t technology itself, it is the way it is built and structured. Facebook, Zoom and Netflix make it easy to amass huge groups, lined up in rows, facing experts or entertainers, connecting us in a shallow way (or just broadcasting at each other). The Circles System produces a deeper, more authentic human connection, consistently.

There’s a time for rows, and certainly a time to be alone too, but it is out of balance.

What people need more of are circles.

My name means “listener” in Hebrew, and I like to think I’m good at it; in fact, I once confidently named a podcast I hosted Listener.

But occasionally my own husband hints that I’m not listening well, and I think I know what he means. Curious might describe me better than Listener –I’m interested enough to pay attention to someone for a while, especially if we just met. Then I get bored when my curiosity is satiated, which is likely what my husband experiences–did I mention we’ve been married 20 years?

My husband isn’t boring–in fact, our ability to converse at length is one of the reasons we married; more likely I’m an out-of-practice listener with the attention span of an Instagram reel.

The most effective listening doesn’t involve curiosity about someone, consuming the most interesting things about them and moving on. That’s self-centered. True listening takes a concentration of will, and a posture oriented entirely towards another person–a selfless act.

A History of Self-Centered Listening

It’s no wonder we often engage in self-centered listening. Consider these popular quotes:

“An appreciative listener is always stimulating” –Agatha Christie (Thanks for listening, I’m stimulated)

“Most of the successful people I know are the ones who do more listening than talking”– Bernard Baruch (I’m listening so I can become more successful)

“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” –Ernest Hemingway (I’m listening to learn)

These quotes are examples of comprehensive, critical and appreciative listening. Listening as a way to entertain or better oneself isn’t wrong per se, but it isn’t focused on the person speaking, either. By contrast, empathetic listening means listening entirely for the speaker’s sake, and active listening falls under empathetic listening. 

A Refresher on Empathetic Listening
Frances Kraft of The Aspen Institute’s Weave The People describes a Circl.es virtual small group she regularly attends as a place where people “Listen to understand, not to respond,” a classic Stephen Covey idea. The Circl.es experience honed their active listening skills: after initially gathering four times with a set of pre-made agendas, her group has continued meeting in Circl.es for over a year now, building up enough trust to really see each other and mirror back to one another who they are. Frances admits she doesn’t always feel like attending–they often meet in the evening after work, when energies wane. But she’s always glad she did, because it’s a forced slow-down, a chance to tend to one another. “Circle is so simple, but it can change your life. We are attracting people who want to be relational, not transactional.” When others feel listened to, they lean into being vulnerable and trusting others. From there, learning and growing become more possible.

So what does it take to develop into an others-centered, empathetic, active listener? To listen to someone for their sake–not mine? Let’s review a few key elements:

1. Focus on the speaker instead of your own thoughts. Incredibly hard to do. I typically want to mentally run down the rabbit trail that opened up in my brain based on something interesting you said. It takes practice to constantly recenter one’s mind onto the speaker.

2. Make eye contact and lean in. This is the first thing I try to do now when someone speaks to me: I stop unloading the dishwasher and look the teenager in the eye (or rather look at their phone, because they’re showing me another meme).

3. Avoid distractions and multitasking. Speaking of teens, I’m amazed that mine rarely misplace their phones. I’m also dismayed, because I know the reason they don’t lose their phones is the same reason I never misplace mine–because I’m always gazing at it. Truly listening means putting down my newspaper phone.

4. Set aside your points of view. In a culture of problem-solving achievers, this may be the most common barrier of all. Just because you think about it, read about it, are an expert in it or have your own story about it doesn’t mean you should share it. Read that sentence again.

Listening to Change Your Relationships, Workplace, World

In the end, by truly employing others-centered listening, you will reap benefits, in your relationships, workplace teams and society at large. It’s a practice in mutuality to become good listeners: everyone wins.

And I expect we could all use a good listener right now, several years into a pandemic in an increasingly polarized society. In the workplace–virtually or otherwise–listening proves paramount: one recent organizational psychology & behavior study confirms that “Listening is associated with, and a likely cause of desired organizational outcomes in numerous areas, including job performance, leadership, quality of relationships (e.g., trust), job knowledge, job attitudes, and well-being.” Online spaces that promote empathetic listening are the HR opportunity of the moment.

For many, work now includes a hybrid of a couple begrudging days in the office before retreating back to our home office wearing yesterday’s athleisure. That forced home office grind might explain how I forgot how to listen to my husband–we’ve worked from home together for two years straight and counting, which is a privilege, and also familiarity breeds contempt. With all the blurred lines between home/office, colleague/family member, it’s no wonder a listening tune-up is in order.

So next time someone stops by your cubicle (in my case, the child currently hovering behind my desk), practice empathetic listening by looking them in the eye. Focus on what they say and not your own thoughts. Resist the urge to check Twitter or Slack. Trust that small actions add up to large-scale transformation.

It just might change the world.

Remote Sales Manager: Jasmine Cumberland

“Circles helps me build bonds and network with my colleagues, while showing my leadership capabilities. When JumpCrew needed a sales manager, I didn’t even apply–they came and offered me the job.”

In March 2021, Jasmine Cumberland started at JumpCrew as a fully-remote Sales Representative. To expand her relationships, she signed up for one of the organization’s “New Hire 101 Circles”–a facilitated group of 6-8 colleagues gathering regularly to connect and grow. The focus of the circles is to rally new hires on three leadership principles: vulnerability, remote leadership and preventing burnout. “It’s hard for a remote worker to create bonds beyond the few I’m directly working with–before circles, I felt like I didn’t know anyone else in the company. Now I can reach out to someone if I’m having an issue.”

Gone is the classic office culture many enjoyed pre-pandemic: the new world of hybrid work tends to isolate and disconnect employees. Jasmine misses the office camaraderie: “Previous in-person jobs felt like a work family. The first time I went into the JumpCrew office to visit, people from my circle ran up and hugged me just as emphatically as an in-office team would–which is such a testament to the relationships that are built in the Circles space.”

Jasmine became a team lead in June 2021. By November, she’d been tapped for a management position.

She attributes her fast-tracked promotions to Circles, which not only connected her with colleagues, but also served as a catalyst for her career path in the company. 

JumpCrew Founder: David Pachter

David Pachter never liked the idea of people working from home. The leader of JumpCrew–an outsourced marketing and sales firm out of Nashville–Pachter wanted employees in the office, “feeding off each others’ energy and held accountable for key performance indicators.” 

But in March 2020, the pandemic hit, forever altering the world and the way people work. JumpCrew initially lost clients and cash flow, but by the end of 2020, morale was high and they were hiring again. In his book Remote Leadership, Pachter attributes that resiliency in part to peer learning in circles. “By the time the world changed, we had already built a culture that prepared our leaders to spearhead that change in a way that was mindful, connected, vulnerable, and transparent.”

“Circles has been a vital part not only of the success of JumpCrew, but also of most of the leaders of the company”

Today, Circles aren’t mandatory for JumpCrew employees, but a compelling intro video from Pachter so highly endorses them that the majority of employees join. As Pachter shares in the promo video: “If you’re on time and participate in all your circles, the data suggests you’ll be much more likely to achieve more at JumpCrew than your peers who don’t. You’ll be more prepared to lead, and have gained the trust of peers who may be in a position to actually recognize you, to help you level up.”

Director of Learning & Development: Jarvis Henderson

“I’m a firm believer that true growth happens in the context of relationships. Circles help employees engage in a safe space, creating a sense of belonging.”

When Jarvis Hederson joined JumpCrew in 2022, the company already relied heavily on Circles for onboarding and career path systems. As Director of Learning & Development, he’s leading his team in relaunching and expanding circles. “We’re exploring ways to expand Circles and connect employees in new ways–through themes and affinity groups.”

Jarvis and Jasmine meet regularly to collaborate on enhancing JumpCrew’s thriving company culture. As Jasmine shared: “We already have a culture crew, which is essentially a committee that sets events like icebreakers, happy hours and talent shows–I’m excited to expand circles into Employee Resource Groups.”

At a time when organizational leaders are scrambling to retain talent and keep employees engaged, Jarvis is counting on Circles for both. “I personally feel like Circles is going to help with attrition numbers. People are going to feel comfortable and a part of the culture. It’s the feel-good side of what’s needed to create moments.”

Chief People Officer: Dan George

JumpCrew’s biggest people challenge matches those of the greater market: shrinking their 90-day turnover. When Dan George joined JumpCrew as Chief People Officer earlier this year, he immediately saw the value in the company’s seamlessly integrated Circles experiences. “Statistically, those participating in circles have a significantly longer tenure than those that don’t.” He sees a twofold purpose behind circles: continuing to build JumpCrew’s leadership bench while keeping employees connected.

“Having worked in human capital for years, it was easy for me to see the specialized nuance Circl.es provides, enabling our teammates to connect, learn, reflect, and grow into high-performing people we need.”

Onsite Sales Manager: Amber Gold

“Circles opened my eyes to the fact that my colleagues are people first, and then professionals. I’ve worked in enterprise companies and in large school systems; until Circles, I hadn’t encountered space in a professional environment to share vulnerably.”

Transplanting cities to start a new job can be a lonely experience. That’s why when Amber Gold reported to the Nashville JumpCrew office, she said yes to every social invite–including joining a new hire circle. She wanted to meet as many new people as possible.Through circles, Amber discovered colleagues at various organizational levels experiencing many of the same challenges she was going through, normalizing her acclimation. ““It’s just nice to find a common group of people to share with, not to give advice. I always left my circle knowing I wasn’t the only one facing certain challenges.”

“When I think about the six people who were in my original circle at JumpCrew, four out of six of us are still here. And we met during the wild ride of the pandemic.” Amber Gold

She says circles gave her visibility into other departments, a space to share experiences and challenges, and access to peer mentors–something she didn’t even know to ask for. “The person who is now president was in a circle with me 3.5 years ago, so we’ve grown in our careers together. We were initially sorted into a circle together simply based on our calendar availability.” 

Today, Amber facilitates circles for new hires. “I want them to feel welcome and accepted like I did. People cry sometimes. They say they leave their circle feeling so much better and they look forward to work again. It’s like group therapy.” Circles allows employees to immediately express themselves, grow, and connect with people they wouldn’t normally connect with. “I get to watch the lightbulbs going on as they are able to not only look at the challenge from the seat they’re sitting in, but to think about the challenge the person above them is facing. How would you handle it if you were already in that next seat up?”

“I contribute a lot of my professional growth to Circles–I’m so thankful to have grown from a sales rep into a director, and from a participant into a facilitator.”

Connect & Grow Employees Across an Organization

Circles transforms every level of an organization. From Chief People Officers to brand new Sales Representatives–fully remote or at the home office–everyone experiences the value of connecting and growing employees in Circles.

How might Circles help you level up your organizational culture? Contact us for a free demo today!

“Circles fill a different need depending on the employee. What do you need and what space does circles fill within that need?”

 Jasmine Cumberland

Just when it seemed the great resignation was in the rearview mirror, quiet quitting swooped in to dominate corporate headlines. Hybrid workspaces are here to stay and bring their own set of challenges, like employee loneliness and lack of connection. All this to say, talent retention and employee engagement remain top-of-mind for HR leaders, maybe more now than ever.

Many of us want to work remotely–but does the resulting distance prohibit thriving? Accordingly, leaders scramble for systems and structures to mitigate turnover and maintain employee connectivity.

Our own community of practice continues to innovate strategies to help employees connect and grow. Fresh from the field, here are six paths to actively fostering employee engagement:

1. Connect Employees Before They’re Hired

One consulting company drives engagement even before hiring, grouping recruits into collaborative circles. Prospects join a customized experience of discussion-based workshops, involving open-ended problem solving guided by facilitators. Adding recruiting circles to their collaborative company culture helps employees develop relationships early–and on a global scale.

2. Create Community Once They’re on Board

Every month, Weave: The Social Fabric Project at the Aspen Institute offers new and existing members an opportunity to sign up for a circle during onboarding. Weavers in circles report a sense of belonging in the community, and they’re more likely to reach out to others and engage in virtual discussions. Some circles continue meeting even after working through the initial onboarding agendas. Community Manager Frances Kraft shares: “When you have a good facilitator who sets the tone and the participants settle upon agreements together, people slow down and listen – not to respond, but to understand.”

3. Fuel Employee Resource Group Breakouts

At the height of the pandemic, Glassdoor head of DEI Stephanie Felix promoted engagement through ERG breakout circles. “In a company that is majority culture, we wanted to create space for safe conversations regarding identity, culture, and belonging. Our aim was to provide intentional space for meaningful conversations around intersectionality.” At a time when employee connections had dwindled down to their immediate teams, organizing them into cross-department breakouts gave everyone the chance to interact with colleagues they wouldn’t normally interact with everyday. 

4. Coaching in Cohorts

Jean-Pierre Taschereau connects Red Cross employees through coaching teams across Canada. He explains: “People shift gears when they come into team coaching. We’re creating space for a different kind of conversation.” His coaching conversations have less to do with any specific team or topic–it’s about how people talk to each other. The conversations are not on-the-fly and rapid like other work conversations–people have time to think and share. “It’s like working a different part of your core. You work a different muscle group, and then when you go back to your regular job, you can do it better because your other muscles are stronger.”

5. Foster Professional Development through Peer Groups

Marketing company JumpCrew builds their leadership bench by offering employees career path circles. Employees gain cross-departmental connections, and many attribute their internal network & multiple promotions back to their circles. Of the 300 and counting Jumpcrew employees, half are local to Nashville while the other half work remotely. Circles keeps distributed teams connected while helping identify and develop leaders.

“I personally feel like the circles are going to help with attrition numbers. People are going to feel comfortable and a part of the culture.”

–Jarvis Henderson, Dir. of L&D, JumpCrew 

6. Drink Your Own Champagne

This last one is for HR leaders themselves–how can you connect and grow while caring for everyone else? Our partners at Executive Growth Alliance suggest peer circles.

The EGA community bridges the gap between individual executives facing common challenges. Membership provides connection into a worldwide network of leaders collaborating regularly in circles; executives from Merck, Adobe, IBM Nordic and more participate in EGA’s peer network. Shokofeh Khan–Director of Learning and Development at ACE Hardware–describes the peer circles as “an amazing experience. My learning was night-and-day greater than if I had just taken a set of seminars.”

Hosting Affinity Circles of our own

It’s thrilling to see all the ways our partners connect and grow their employees in circles. Inspired by peer connections provided by partners like EGA, we recently developed our own women in leadership circles–which garnered such positive feedback that we spun off other circles specific to DEI leaders, Learning & Development leaders and more. We now host multiple groups a week, connecting executives together in mutual support to navigate a rapidly evolving corporate landscape together.

Are you looking for a place to engage with HR peers? We have a circle for you! Please complete this form if you’re interested to join our one-off, free of charge Circles Community sessions.