Humessence Insights & Blog Post Directory
Welcome to the comprehensive archive of Humessence’s thought-provoking articles and insights. Here, you’ll find a wealth of resources covering topics like work-life integration, purpose-driven leadership, holistic well-being, and professional development. Whether you’re seeking inspiration, practical advice, or deep dives into the human experience at work, our complete blog directory makes it easy to explore all that Humessence has to offer.

Mental Health In Retirement
May 31st will mark six years since I “retired” from my first career. After 38 years with ExxonMobil and its heritage companies, it was time to explore the “what’s-next” phase of my life. May is “Mental Health Awareness” month. I want to use this post to explore the mental health impacts of retirement and to […]
- Don Fries

Re-Energizing Team Performance
It has been over forty years since Jon Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith first published their ground-breaking research on the effective use of teams to create high-performance organizations. In their book, “The Wisdom of Teams”, Katzenbach and Smith proposed that “teams outperform individuals acting alone or in large organizational groupings, especially when performance requires multiple […]
- Don Fries

The Subtle Power of Simplification
In today’s rapidly changing and complex business environment, the ability of leaders to simplify work is a cornerstone to execution. Leaders can catalyze clarity of understanding, foster alignment, facilitate decision-making, and drive effective execution. Addressing all needs is not progress: Every organization has more areas to improve than they have resources to support all the […]
- Brett Larson

Effective Communication Tips for Virtual Meetings
As far back as I can remember, any book I read or course I took specific to effective communication referenced the “7-38-55 Rule”. The concept is derived from research completed by Dr. Albert Mehrabian in 1971, specific to the communication of emotions. In summary, the rule describes the three critical elements for effective communication and […]
- Don Fries

How to Save and Build Your Relationships by Holding One Thing in Mind
Our evolutionary tendency is to focus on what’s wrong—where’s the nearest threat to our comfort and survival? The same applies to relationships. How do we manage conflict? How do I accept our differences? What if x, y, and z never change? The truth is how you celebrate each other predicts the success and well-being of […]
- John Marshall

Speak Now: Unleashing the Power of Your Voice for Public Speaking Success
This week’s blog is brought to you by Julie Johnston, our Game Changer Coach, who is also our resident Public Speaking and Voice Over Coach. Julie has spent most of her life making the most of her voice. As a professional voice actor herself, she truly understands the power and impact a voice can have. […]
- Julie Johnston

People First: How New Leaders Can Cultivate A High-Performing Team
People are promoted into their first leadership role due to their competence as individual contributors. Often, they enter these roles driven to demonstrate their personal capabilities. Their focus is on performance, not on people. Yet, leaders lead people. This role, therefore, requires a different mindset and a new set of priorities. To develop a fully […]
- Brett Larson

Cultivating Meaningful Connections: A Coach’s Perspective
“Our connection with others can only be as deep as our connection with ourselves.” This is a quote from Dr. Brene’ Brown’s most recent book, “Atlas of the Heart”. Dr. Brown goes on to discuss that the confidence to “cultivate meaningful connection” with others comes from knowing and understanding who we are and what we […]
- Don Fries

Overcoming Core Fears: Three Steps to Embracing Fear as a Beacon of Growth
In our increasingly fast-paced, productivity-obsessed world, it’s common to operate out of fear, nature’s essential and rapid motivator. This influences our definition of success. Maybe your core fears got you where you are today, meticulously playing it safe, following the rules, and doing everything you’ve been told you should do. You’re realizing letting fear run […]
- John Marshall