Hey, it's Rachel Cook, your modern mentor.

I'm the founder of Lead Above Noise, a firm specializing in helping leaders and organizations crack their activation codes, finding the simple tweaks to enhance both performance and engagement.

I like to say that performing teams do what they're asked, but activated teams are asked what they would do.

In other words, they're really invited to create, to innovate and build and question and take risks.

And doing these things, being truly activated, it takes a ton of energy. It takes stamina and care

and passion. So when a client sent me an article a few weeks ago

about something called the Great Gloom, well, this did not sit well at all. The Great Gloom,

in case this is a new concept to you, is the latest in a string of other great, but really not

great at all, workplace trends that we've seen

in recent years, like the great resignation, the great reconsideration, and some other adorable

catchphrases. The great gloom is largely what it sounds like. There is this pervasive

feeling of blah hovering all around us, like a big cloud hanging over our workplaces

turning things cold and foggy and gray specifically i'm seeing it described as a feeling of

purposelessness and disconnection like we're all going through the motions but we're not really

feeling it the world of work has changed significantly

in the past few years, and I think a lot of us are still trying to figure out that balance

of how things work for us. I'm not confused or surprised that we're struggling. I'm just kind of

bummed. If this sounds squishy, like not a real problem, then you should know that the

costs of this gloom are ranging in the trillions annually, as in companies are losing

trillions of dollars in lost productivity, efficiency, and innovation. Not to mention,

it feels miserable. So today, let's talk about some things that we can all do,

leaders and individuals, to shift gears from glooms to glowups. So first, shift your focus from

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