Planners’ Picks — April 7, 2026
April is a great time to look for signs: of change around you, of new opportunities, and of things you should let go of. What signs are you on the lookout for?
Let’s also think about lowering our stress, our blind spots, and the people in our project management initiatives. Enjoy this installment of PP!
:: Image of the Week
Our image of the week is of a faded sign hanging on the wall of the Geology Museum, with a sticker added to it. Maybe you get to fill in the blank on the sign you were looking for? Or is this a sign to look internally for answers to your burning questions?
:: CSN’s Book of the Week Recommendation
Cheers to Monday: The Surprisingly Simple Method to Lead and Live with Less Stress and More Joy
In Cheers to Monday, Amy Leneker—a leadership coach and “optimist-in-chief”—tackles the pervasive culture of burnout and the “Sunday Scaries.” Her central premise is that joy isn’t something that happens to us by chance; it is a skill we can cultivate through intentional, simple habits.
Here are a summary of the core concepts and the “surprisingly simple” method she proposes.
1. The Mindset Shift: From Surviving to Thriving
Leneker argues that many people live for the weekends, treating the work week as a hurdle to be cleared. She suggests that by changing our internal narrative about Mondays, we can reclaim 14% of our lives.
- Joy is a Choice: Happiness is a fleeting emotion, but joy is a practiced state of mind.
- The Power of Small: You don’t need a week-long retreat to destress. Radical change comes from “micro-habits.”
2. The Core Pillars of the Method
The book breaks down the path to a better work-life experience into three actionable areas:
Self-Leadership
Before you can lead others, you must lead yourself. This involves:
- Energy Management: Identifying what drains you versus what fuels you.
- Setting Boundaries: Learning that “No” is a complete sentence and necessary for mental clarity.
- The “Three Wins” Rule: Each morning, identify three small things you want to accomplish. This builds momentum and a sense of efficacy.
Leading Others with Joy
For those in management, Leneker emphasizes that “joy is contagious.”
- Psychological Safety: Creating an environment where people feel safe to take risks.
- Appreciation: Moving beyond generic “thanks” to specific, timely, and meaningful recognition of others’ work.
- Human-First Leadership: Remembering that your colleagues are people with lives outside of the 9-to-5.
Resilience and Stress Management
The book acknowledges that stress is inevitable, but suffering is optional.
- The 90-Second Rule: Biologically, an emotional surge lasts about 90 seconds. If we don’t “feed” the emotion with negative thoughts, it will dissipate on its own.
- Reframing: Shifting “I have to” (obligation) to “I get to” (opportunity).
3. Key Takeaways for “Less Stress”
- Stop the Glorification of Busy: Being “slammed” isn’t a badge of honor; it’s often a sign of poor prioritization.
- Focus on What You Control: Much of our stress comes from ruminating on external factors. Leneker encourages focusing energy solely on your own reactions and actions.
- Celebration: Celebrate small wins frequently. This trains the brain to look for the positive rather than scanning for threats.
The Big Idea: You don’t need a new job or a new life to be happy; you need a new way of navigating the one you already have.
Check out the book and more resources at https://www.amyleneker.com/book
“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” – William Bruce Cameron
:: Burnout & Stress
Struggling Well Is Rarely a Solo Act
What are you carrying right now? And who knows about it?
Most people around you are carrying something. Some of it visible. Much of it not. And when it’s not visible, it’s easy to assume we’re meant to carry it alone.
Kevin Monroe has been writing a 5-part reflection on struggle, leadership, and the quiet work of becoming more human under pressure. See installment #4 here:
https://www.kevindmonroe.com/blog/struggling-well-is-rarely-a-solo-act
:: Self-Leadership Development
Performance doesn’t speak for itself. Visibility does.
If your job performance great, but your boss doesn’t see it, that could hamper your career, writes Joel Garfinkle, who offers advice on being more visible.
Conventional wisdom says: Work hard. Deliver results. Your performance will get noticed. Coaching executives for 25 years has taught me the opposite: Performance doesn’t speak for itself. People do.
Decades of research on workplace visibility, recognition and proximity bias show that being seen remains a powerful driver of advancement, even when performance is equal. In other words, the people who get recognized aren’t always the ones doing the most. They’re the ones whose work is seen, referenced and remembered by decision-makers.
And pretending performance speaks for itself is costing you talent.
This is what I call The Performance Paradox: quiet excellence stays invisible while louder, less effective performers advance. The cost isn’t just individual. It’s organizational. You’re losing your best people because they’re exhausted from playing a game nobody taught them how to win.
“Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.” — Randy Pausch
The Leadership Blind Spots That Frustrate Executive Teams
Even highly capable leaders can alienate peers thanks to habits they barely notice themselves.
Over the years, I’ve observed that being in the upper echelons of leadership is rarely as orderly as it appears from the outside. On paper, everything looks rational and well managed. In reality, executive teams often operate in a state of simmering friction, shaped less by strategy than by how people relate to one another.
It usually isn’t catastrophic decisions that derail leadership teams. More often, it is low-grade interpersonal antics that slowly grind things down. The passive-aggressive email or the meeting hijacked by ego. The eye roll that communicates more than a carefully prepared slide ever could. The human psyche is a peculiar machine, and nowhere is this more evident than in the conference room.
Seen this way, leadership can feel like a surrealistic play. Everyone is properly dressed and everything looks composed – yet chaos reigns. Here are seven surprisingly common behaviour patterns among executives that can drive team members up the wall.
Read or listen to this article from Insead Knowledge here: https://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-organisations/leadership-blind-spots-frustrate-executive-teams
:: Mental Health and Self-Care
How To Stop Overthinking
In this podcast Dr Jessamy Hibberd shares a five-step plan to help you recognize overthinking, shift your focus and move forward. In this episode you’ll learn:
- Why overthinking feels helpful – but usually makes things worse
- The hidden thinking traps that keep so many of us stuck
- A simple five-step method to break out of spiraling thoughts
- Practical ways to feel calmer and more in control.
Whether you struggle with indecision, worry, self-criticism or just want to feel more in control of your mind, this session offers practical strategies you can start using right away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npx1bn3V4f0
:: Communication
How to Shut Down Unsolicited Advice at Work
“Do I have ‘suggestion box’ written across my forehead?” Maria said during one of our coaching sessions.
Her colleague, Ben, had once again jumped in with unsolicited advice on her new business development initiative. As soon as she shared her proposal, Ben interrupted with, “Have you thought about an email marketing campaign?” and “You should definitely loop in the sales team!”
While his enthusiasm might have been well-meaning, it left Maria feeling frustrated. She even found herself holding back from sharing ideas with Ben, wary of the uninvited input that often felt undermining rather than supportive.
If you’ve ever been in Maria’s position, you know how intrusive and disheartening unsolicited advice can feel – even when it’s coming from a well-meaning place.
See Melody Wilding’s ideas on shutting down unsolicited advice at work.
“One can furnish a room very luxuriously by taking out furniture rather than putting it in.” – Francis Jourdain on the idea of simplicity
:: LinkedIn Learning
Disrupting Yourself
In this course, Whitney Johnson—the CEO and co-founder of Disruption Advisors—explores the art of self-disruption to drive personal and career advancement. Learn to leverage disruptive innovation and identify opportunities for taking strategic risks. Discover how to play to your distinctive strengths and use constraints to spark creativity. Examine and adjust expectations to align with new opportunities using the S curve model, and learn to use failure as a stepping stone to success. Gain insights into emergent strategies to stay adaptable and innovate continuously. This course is suited for professionals encountering mid-career stagnation or facing industry disruptions due to AI and tech shifts, as well as high achievers seeking resilience in their career paths. This course offers you actionable strategies to turn disruption into competitive advantage, as well as a clear roadmap for continuous learning, strategic risk-taking, and building a resilient, adaptable career.
Learning objectives
- Analyze disruptive innovation patterns in your industry and apply strategic risk-taking to identify and pursue unmet market opportunities rather than competing in saturated spaces.
- Evaluate your distinctive strengths and implement strategies to leverage your unique combination of skills, experiences, and perspectives as competitive advantages in an AI-driven workplace.
- Create strategic constraints and design emergent career strategies that allow you to adapt quickly to changing circumstances while maintaining focus on your core values and objectives.
- Assess your current expectations and limiting beliefs, then formulate action plans to navigate career transitions, setbacks, and disruptions with resilience and growth-oriented thinking.
- Execute tactical career moves including lateral transitions, strategic step-backs, and calculated failures to accelerate long-term professional growth and market positioning.
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/disrupting-yourself-28988006/disrupt-yourself-to-grow?u=56745513
:: Work Culture & Team Development
Coaching or Mentoring?
Both roles support growth, but they do so in fundamentally different ways.
→ Coaching
Cultivates autonomy, critical thinking, and personal ownership. It relies on powerful questions, reflection, and non-directive guidance.
→ Mentoring
Draws on lived experience, offering advice, stories, and perspective to guide others through similar paths.
See this infographic on LinkedIn from Jeroen Kraaijenbrink:
“Reliability is magnetic because humans are hardwired to avoid risk, so once you prove yourself trustworthy and reliable, you become the default choice for opportunities without ever asking for them.” – Shane Parrish
How to Handle Difficult People at Work
Key points:
- Difficult people at work may have motivations for their behavior that aren’t obvious.
- Examining a difficult person’s motivations can create psychological distance and reduce stress.
- Understanding a difficult person allows everyone else to respond strategically.
Whether they’re colleagues, clients, or customers, you’re sure to encounter difficult people at work. It might be someone who hinders productivity, rubs you the wrong way, makes you upset, or is simply annoying. When we encounter difficult people, we immediately form an explanation for why they are this way. We create these “stories” without conscious thought.
Think about a difficult person with whom you work. What is your story as to why they are so difficult? Perhaps it’s that they’re simply a jerk, or ignorant, or mean, or self-centered. Or perhaps you attribute this person’s behavior to an intentional plan to thwart or hurt you. Whatever story you’ve created, it feels correct because it seems to explain your experience of this person.
But here’s a question: Have you ever thought about that person’s motivations?
:: Creativity
Protocols for Creativity
This Huberman Lab episode features Rick Rubin, his second time on the podcast.
Rick is a world-renowned music producer of numerous award-winning artists, including Johnny Cash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys, Adele, Eminem, Slayer, and many more, and is also the host of the podcast Tetragrammaton and the author of the best-selling book about the creative process entitled “The Creative Act: A Way of Being.”
In this Q&A episode, Rick explains the practical aspects of the creative process, such as specific morning and daily routines, the role of movement, and how to source and capture ideas, interpret dreams, and generate work-life balance.
“They laugh at me because I’m different; I laugh at them because they’re all the same” – Kurt Cobain
:: Upcoming Events
Beyond the Timeline: The People in Projects with Nancy Kujak-Ford
Managing projects often means balancing deadlines, deliverables, and resources—but truly successful projects go beyond the basics. This session explores how human dynamics shape project outcomes and introduces T.R.U.S.T. (transparency, reliability, understanding, support, and timeliness) as a practical framework for building stronger team connections. You’ll learn how to establish trust quickly, align perspectives, and make relationship-building a daily practice. We’ll also cover what to do when trust is missing and how to rebuild it. You’ll leave with actionable strategies to make your projects more people-focused, resilient, and successful.
Presented by Nancy Kujak-Ford, a CSN Planner and director of strategy and impact @ the College of Letters and Science
Date: Thursday, April 9, 2026
Time: 10:00-11:00 am
Location: Online via registration link
https://strategicconsulting.wisc.edu/in-scope-managing-projects-at-uw-madison/
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
How to Build a Culture Where People Speak Up—and Drive Change
How can leaders build cultures where people feel safe to speak up, challenge ideas, and drive meaningful change?
Join Weaving Influence for a one-hour webinar with authors Minette Norman and Karolin Helbig as they share insights from their forthcoming book, The Psychological Safety Playbook for Changemakers: Transform Your Workplace Culture.
Designed for leaders and changemakers, this session will explore how to foster psychological safety and equip you with practical tools to build momentum and create lasting change in your organization.
You’ll learn:
- Key ideas from the new book and why psychological safety matters.
- Practical leadership behaviors that help create safe environments.
- Insights on how psychological safety fuels innovation and creates lasting change.
If you’re committed to building a workplace where people can contribute fully and courageously, we hope you’ll join us.
Date: Tuesday, April 21
Time: 12:00-1:00 PM (ET)
https://weavinginfluence.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KqLpasQpQ-mHEO7fb7ZXiA#/registration