Planners’ Picks — January 20, 2026
We enjoyed a long weekend, and now we start a new semester at the university. We’ll reflect on the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by featuring his motivational quotes throughout this edition of PP. Enjoy!
Also, over the past few weeks, we have migrated our CSN website to a new platform and completely redesigned it! Check it out to see the new flow and updated interface.
https://campussupervisorsnetwork.wisc.edu
:: Image of the Week
What’s the most important move you can make this New Year?
Not a bigger goal.
Not a better plan.
Not more discipline.
Fill your cup.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7411080050495844352
“The surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
:: Self-Leadership Development
It’s Not Too Late to Set Your 2026 Goals
If you’re reading this and think you already missed the boat on setting resolutions for 2026, let me stop you right there.
The truth is, it’s never too late to define what you want to achieve. Whether it’s the first week of January or the middle of March, the best time to start working toward your dreams is NOW.
One study identified that 88% of those who set New Year’s Resolutions fail, even though 52% were confident of success at the beginning.
Why? Because traditional New Year’s resolutions often set us up for failure.
In our always-on, instant gratification culture, we’re constantly in a hurry and bombarded with promises of quick fixes to help us reach our goals sooner. Lasting change in lifestyle and mindset takes time.
Instead of unrealistic resolutions, try one of these four holistic, intention-inspired approaches for the start of this new year.
https://www.sophiapartners.org/its-not-too-late-to-set-your-2026-goals/?mc_cid=48a02ee788
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Limits We Live Inside
From experience, I know only too well that the greatest limits in life are rarely the obvious ones. They are not a lack of intelligence, opportunity, or even effort. More often, they are the limits we place on ourselves, quietly and consistently, through what we believe to be true about who we are.
At the center of this sit five core beliefs that need balance to stay healthy:
- We are enough
- We are loved
- We belong
- We are responsible
- We are deserving
When these beliefs are balanced, they create stability. We are more willing to learn, to stretch, and to engage fully without fear or overprotection. When even one belief drifts out of balance, we begin to limit ourselves, often without realizing it.
- If we doubt we are enough, we hesitate or hold back.
- If we question being loved or whether we belong, we shrink, people-please, or seek approval.
- If responsibility tips out of balance, we either avoid ownership or carry more than is ours.
- If deserving slips, success can feel uncomfortable and is quietly undermined.
What makes this especially tricky is overcompensation. Trying too hard to prove worth, earn belonging, over-own responsibility, or justify deserving can look like confidence or drive. Yet it often creates new constraints. We overwork, over-give, over-control, or overthink, and in doing so, we limit ourselves in different ways.
As highlighted in the brilliant book Limitless by Jim Kwik, intelligence and potential are not fixed traits. They expand or contract in response to belief. When these five beliefs are kept in check, not inflated or denied but balanced, effort becomes cleaner, learning accelerates, and we stop being our own greatest limiting factor.
From the LEAPS newsletter by Dani Saveker: https://glasmethod.com/danis-weekly-leaps
:: CSN’s Book of the Week Recommendation
The Highest Common Denominator: Using Convergent Facilitation to Reach Breakthrough Collaborative Decisions
What if people — even longtime enemies — could transform conflicts into creative dilemmas they feel motivated to solve together? What if employees could leave a meeting empowered and with a joint sense of purpose? What if the positive changes community activists are working so hard to see in the world could have a lasting impact?
In The Highest Common Denominator: Using Convergent Facilitation to Reach Breakthrough Collaborative Decisions, Miki introduces a novel decision-making process called Convergent Facilitation that builds trust from the beginning, surfaces concerns and addresses them, and turns conflicts into creative dilemmas that groups feel energized to solve together. This highly effective process has been used successfully around the world to resolve problems and teach people how to collaborate without sacrificing productivity.
https://thefearlessheart.org/store/the-highest-common-denominator/
“Everyone has the power for greatness, not for fame but greatness, because greatness is determined by service.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
:: Work Culture & Team Development
3 Tips to Replace Employee Stagnation With Curiosity
Disengagement isn’t caused by a lack of effort from employees. It’s caused by a lack of leader curiosity.
We asked Millennials what drives their disengagement. Their answer was striking in its simplicity: “My leader doesn’t know me and doesn’t care to know me.”
This matters.
Millennials are not only the largest segment of today’s workforce — they’re also the very group being prepared for senior leadership roles in the decade ahead, or should be. If they feel unseen and undervalued, organizations aren’t just facing a retention issue; they’re facing a leadership pipeline crisis. The good news is that disengagement isn’t inevitable. Leaders can replace stagnation with inspiration by shifting how we lead, moving away from what I call “driven purely by digits” leadership and leaning into the human side of performance. Based on decades of research and my work, here are three ways to turn disengagement into inspired contribution for 2026:
https://www.smartbrief.com/original/3-tips-to-replace-employee-stagnation-with-curiosity-in-2026
Hiring for Heart, Not Just Skill
Values-based hiring and culture alignment
What if your company values weren’t just words on a wall, but a lived, breathing part of your culture that drives every hire, fire, and daily decision?
Skills can be taught, but the right mindset? That’s the real game-changer. From non-traditional career paths to coaching and self-reflection, the episode offers a grounded look at how organizations can hire — and lead — more intentionally.
Live from CultureCon® 2025 in Madison, Wisconsin, Nikki Lewallen Gregory sits down with Eliza Jackson of ButcherBox for a conversation that flips traditional HR playbooks on their head.
With a colorful background that spans finance, kindergarten classrooms, and hypergrowth startups, Eliza brings a refreshingly real perspective on what it takes to build values-driven organizations that actually walk the talk.
From rejecting high-performing candidates who don’t align with company values to ensuring every employee has access to a personal coach, Eliza breaks down ButcherBox’s radical approach to “baking in” culture at every level. You’ll hear how they future-proof their workforce through mindset over skillset, maintain startup agility at scale, and foster a culture of relentless improvement, all while staying human at the core.
https://youtu.be/0TWgLQc6C3I?si=ZvsdGy_pmRN9p7dm
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
New Resource for Performance Evaluation Comments
Midpoint performance evaluations are underway. Putting thoughtful feedback into writing takes time and can be challenging. A new resource is now available to support managers and supervisors in drafting clear, constructive, and meaningful written comments. Whether recognizing accomplishments or guiding development, this tool is designed to make the writing process easier – saving you time drafting comments and supporting meaningful performance conversations. You can find the Manager Writing Guide for Performance Review Comments in the HR Guides for Managers and Supervisors under the Performance category.
:: Developing Better Habits
How to Change with Professor Katy Milkman
In this episode Mark from Action for Happiness speaks with Katy Milkman of Wharton about how to use the “fresh start” effect and behavioral science to make real, lasting changes. They cover why change is hard and practical tactics to overcome impulsivity, procrastination, forgetfulness, and low motivation.
Key strategies include temptation bundling (pairing chores with treats), commitment devices and penalties, concrete implementation plans, helpful defaults, social support and breaking big goals into bite-sized daily actions.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/21PmfWpCQHD86PL0pPMY8V?nd=1&dlsi=dfffb2070f5a4c9e
“It is always the right time to do the right thing.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dan Pink on Reading More
Dan Pink has written five New York Times bestsellers and read thousands of books. Along the way, he’s learned a few things about how reading actually works.
Here are four pieces of advice that will make you a better reader.
:: ICYMI
The Creative and Compassionate Art of Seeing Others Deeply
Catch the replay of an online discussion with prominent cultural writer and bestselling author David Brooks on his book, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply, in which he helps us pose essential questions: If you want to know a person, what kind of attention should you cast on them? What kind of conversations should you have? What parts of a person’s story should you pay attention to?
Driven by his trademark sense of curiosity and determination to grow as a person, Brooks draws from the fields of psychology and neuroscience and the worlds of theater, philosophy, history, and education to present a welcoming, hopeful, integrated approach to human connection. How to Know a Person helps readers become more understanding and considerate toward others, and to find the joy that comes from being seen. Along the way it offers a possible remedy for a society that is riven by fragmentation, hostility, and misperception.
The act of seeing another person, Brooks argues, is profoundly creative: How can we look somebody in the eye and see something large in them and, in turn, see something larger in ourselves? How to Know a Person is for anyone searching for connection, and yearning to be understood.
https://libraryc.org/midlibrary/104874/952178
“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
:: Creativity
Say This, Not That for a More Creative Team
If you want a more creative team, there’s one simple but powerful habit you need to avoid: crushing their courage with careless language.
You don’t need bean bags and brainstorming retreats to build innovation (although we know how to do a GREAT team offsite that drives innovation and practical follow-through).
You need language that encourages risk-taking, connection, and possibility. Creativity doesn’t thrive in fear. It thrives in psychological safety, curiosity, and conversation.
So before you ask for your team’s “next big idea,” ask yourself this: are your words making it safe to share one?
https://letsgrowleaders.com/2026/01/12/powerful-phrases-creative-team/
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
:: Upcoming Events
Resources Roadshow Panel Discussion from LTD, OSC, and CSN
Are you exploring ways to help your team thrive? Looking for professional development opportunities for yourself or your staff? Curious about coaching or self-leadership tools available right here on campus?
Then it’s time to connect with the Resource Roadshow, a panel discussion of representatives from OHR Learning and Talent Development, the Office of Strategic Consulting, and the Campus Supervisors Network community of practice. We will cover professional development opportunities at UW-Madison related to our respective areas of expertise, most of which are free of charge to participate in:
- Personal Growth: workshops and training sessions focused on enhancing individual skills such as time management, communication, and emotional intelligence. These sessions are designed to help you and your team members achieve personal and professional goals.
- Leading and Supervising: programs that cover essential topics like effective supervision, conflict resolution, and team motivation. These programs aim to equip current and aspiring leaders with the tools they need to lead their teams successfully.
- Organizational Effectiveness: opportunities to improve organizational performance through change management, strategic planning, and process improvement, etc. These resources are tailored to help your team work more efficiently and effectively towards common goals.
Our roadshow can come to an in-person gathering or meet with your team on Zoom. Either way, you’ll learn how to grow at UW and take your team to the next level with information on individual, team, and leadership development!
Some praise for the Roadshow:
“We greatly appreciated having all of you at the meeting and being available for the Area Director team. There was significant energy around all that you shared after the conversation – Thank You.”
— Jason Hausler, UW-Madison, Division of Extension
Note: This roadshow presentation is for management and director-level audiences. For more information and to discuss your specific needs, submit an intake form to our group: https://go.wisc.edu/e18g49