“Homers” are Creating the Soulless Downtown

“Homers” are Creating the Soulless Downtown

In the 30 years since, downtowns have transformed. They have become vigorous cultural hubs. But now the “Homers,” those that refuse to return to the office, are robbing urban downtowns of the oxygen they need to survive, thereby rendering them “soulless.”

Revising Urban Economies by Returning to the Office: The case of the Nation’s Capital

Revising Urban Economies by Returning to the Office: The case of the Nation’s Capital

Returning to the office is a key to recovering from the pandemic. This is especially so in urban areas, where downtown life are cultural and economic hubs. They represent the backbone of urban landscapes. Office occupancy is well below pre-pandemic levels worldwide. But the nation’s capital, brimming with museums and clubs and tip-top restaurants and 24 million visitors from around the world each year, has only one in four people back in the office? That is not sustainable.

This is how each Generation Thinks about Returning to Work

This is how each Generation Thinks about Returning to Work

As the world—cautiously but inexorably—returns to the office, an inescapable concern is how to deal with those who don’t want to return. It is the responsibility of leaders to support this organizational change in the same way that any change is supported. Leaders need to know who doesn’t want to do what and why. If they don’t know, they can’t facilitate change. If they can’t facilitate the change, there are going to be a lot of unhappy employees pulling up their office chairs.

How your Dreaded Commute might be Good for you

How your Dreaded Commute might be Good for you

The overarching narrative, up until now, has been that commuting is a bad thing. But despite a year of working blissfully from home, our job satisfaction and general mental health have deteriorated. Why? A part of this is that our commutes were an integral daily ritual, and rituals have been a natural human behavior since the beginning of time. They add stability and certainty into an otherwise unstable and uncertain world — alleviating feelings of grief, anxiety, and increasing confidence.

An American Mark Twain Moment

An American Mark Twain Moment

Samuel Clemons claimed the nom de plume Mark Twain after the riverboat navigators’ cry to signal the shift from dangerous waters into safe ones — as well as the reverse, from safe waters to dangerous ones. “Mark” was the starting point; “twain” was where the two forces met. This is a fitting metaphor for leadership in today’s American moment.

Why we Need Heroic Leaders NOW

Why we Need Heroic Leaders NOW

In 1968, Simon and Garfunkel yearned for Joe Dimaggio. In 1977, “Star Wars” offered a new hope. In 2016 Yu-Gi-Oh — the wildly popular Japanese collectible card game — proclaimed that a new hero was rising. We are always looking for heroes. Heroes represent the best of us and help us to see the best in ourselves. In today’s moment, we desperately need to believe in ourselves, and to do so there must be those that we can look up to and believe in.

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