Better.com CEO Has Always Been a Jerk; Work in 2022; a Superior Way to Give Feedback; How to Stop Playing Small & Funding Women-led Start-ups

POWER UP

Better.com Disclosures Show the Company Had Concerns about Its Controversial CEO Long Before Placing Him on Leave

Better.com’s CEO Vishal Garg was a problem long before he fired 900 people over Zoom last week. According to disclosures filed by better in advance of its IPO, Garg had a history of legal liabilities, conflicts of interest and corporate governance problems -- well before being placed on leave. (Forbes)

What Comes After the Great Resignation? 4 Workplace Predictions for 2022

If 2021 has taught us anything, it’s that this is the year of the employee.?The power dynamic has firmly shifted. According to Glassdoor’s senior economist and lead data scientist, that won’t change anytime soon. What’s a savvy employer to do? Read about four workplace predictions that will shape 2022. (Fortune)

Feedback Isn’t Enough to Help Your Employees Grow

Companies are swimming in feedback, but very little of it actively helps people perform better. Don’t think that the phrase ‘constructive feedback’ fools anyone. In fact, feedback often hurts performance and reduces employee engagement. Peter Bregman and Howie Jacobson give us a four step process that starts with sifting from critic to ally. (Harvard Business Review)

Stop Playing Small: Embrace Your Inner Power

I once read about President Obama telling his team to stop focusing on ‘small ball.’ The phrase really resonated with me and became a North Star of sorts, reminding me never to lose sight of my larger objectives. Fear is what usually drives us to play small with our lives. Amy Athey gives us five ideas for flipping the small ball script. (Psychology Today)

Venture Capital Firms Set Aside $1 Billion for Women-Led Start-ups. Here’s How It’s Going

Only 2% of venture funding goes to women, a disappointing fact considering we’re the primary consumers for…well, almost everything. But we’re typically shut out of the male-dominated, Ivy League secret handshake club. At a World Bank meeting in 2018, Shelly Porges and Sarah Chen asked for funds and investors to commit $1 billion to women-led start-ups. Three years in, here’s how their Beyond the Billion Initiative is faring. (Fortune)

THE BUZZ

“Our deepest?fear is not that we are weak. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world…”

—Nelson Mandela

RECHARGE: WHAT TO READ, WATCH & LISTEN TO

?? F-It Less: 18 F Words to Reframe and Repurpose Your Life by Shaun Rawls with Laura Morton

Motivational speaker and real estate entrepreneur Shaun Rawls has curated 18 “F” words to empower us during trying times.?Rawls’ authentic and vulnerable story is a blueprint for crafting the life we want and getting unstuck.

?? The Unforgivable (Netflix)

Sandra Bullock stars as Ruth Slater, an ex-con who has just been released. She’s searching for the younger sister she lost 20 years ago and navigating an unyielding society while she attempts to rebuild her life. With an interesting plot twist at the end, The Unforgivable explores family bonds, redemption and vengeance. The star-studded cast includes Viola Davis, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jon Bernthal, Richard Thomas (yup, from The Waltons).

?? Our Favorite Healthy Habits of 2021 (New York Times)

From giving the best hours of the day to yourself to keeping a daily feelings list, Tara Parker-Pope has compiled the year’s best advice for a life well lived.

?? Harlem (Amazon Prime)

Tracy Oliver’s new comedy centers on four college friends pursuing their dreams together in Harlem. Think Sex and the City meets Girls with a more modern feel. The ensemble of Camille, Quinn, Tye and Angie is strong and hysterically funny. Plus, Whoopi Goldberg as Dr. Pruitt and Jasmine Guy (A Different World) as Quinn’s mom are not to be missed. Amy Poehler and Pharrell Williams are just two of the show's executive producers.

?? Succession (HBO Max)

Who doesn’t love a rich, dysfunctional family? The Roy clan takes the rich and broken stereotype to the extreme in this story about a family of narcissists that looks an awful lot like a cross between the Murdochs and the Redstones. Filled with the obligatory excess and bootlickers galore, Succession explores a family dynamic completely devoid of love and brimming with people who take themselves way too seriously. Like watching a car accident every week, you can’t turn away from the formidable cast: Brian Cox (Bourne Identity), Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong (Molly’s Game), Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), Sarah Snook and Mathew Macfayden (MI-5).