How to LIVE into your professional goals

4 tips for thriving in the workplace in 2026

Do you feel stuck? Are you tired of disengaged teams and unmotivated employees? Do you struggle to find the meaning in your day-to-day?  

The LIVE Framework was created to help people thrive.  And, it is the key to unlocking the heart of leadership, the ability to thrive, not just perform. By doing so, you make room for leadership that uplifts and sustains success in your organization, and in your own life.

Let this “new year, new you” be shaped by a framework that works. We’ll walk through each of the four parts and show you what it looks like to practice them day to day: 

Tip #1: Fuel Connection and Belonging 

Tip #2: Inspire learning, growing, and becoming 

Tip #3: Invite Energy (Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual) 

Tip #4: Act with Creativity, Contribution, and Voice 

Let’s dive in.  

Tip #1: Fuel Connection and Belonging 

LOVE.  

Think of a moment when you felt truly seen at work—not for what you did, but for who you are. What happened? How did it make you feel? What did it unlock in you?

When we make intentional efforts to listen to, value, and serve people, we are practicing this kind of love. It is deeply personal and human work, because to do it, you must learn to really care about those you work with.  

Every act of leadership ripples outward- lifting the people being led

and delivering greater value to those they serve.  

So what? Practice these four A’s of LOVE to unlock this first part of the framework: attention (being fully present, listening deeply), affection (showing genuine care and concern), appreciation (recognizing value and contribution), and acceptance (embracing the whole person).  

Tip #2: Inspire Learning, Growing, and Becoming 

INSPIRATION. 

Hubert Joly, former CEO of Best Buy, explained this concept clearly in saying, “The purpose of a company is not to make money. It is to contribute to the common good. Profit is an outcome.” During his tenure as CEO, he shifted leadership to a focus on enriching customers' lives through their product and helping employees to grow. Inspiration is this ability to awaken a possibility into meaningful action.  

This kind of meaningful action does not happen overnight. Inspiration is built through daily work in the person and in the organization. Inspiration connects daily work to a greater purpose, work with meaning. Work that pushes people to stretch, create, and become. True effort shines when inspiration is at the heart.  

“Why are you working so late?” President Kennedy asked a custodian at NASA. 

“Because I’m not mopping floors,” the custodian replied, “I’m putting a man on the moon.”  

So what? Practice connecting your and others’ work to meaning and purpose. You can do this by helping others to see how their everyday work contributes to a greater good. It can help to start by sharing how you see this for yourself.  

Tip #3: Invite Energy (Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual) 

VITALITY. 

A Gallup study survey studying workplace fatigue found that 76% of employees report feeling burned out. Workplaces are packed with stressors, and mental health everywhere is on a steep decline.  

Vitality in leadership is to help people sustain positive personal energy for meaningful work. There has to be space allowed for this kind of balance to flourish, allowing for both intensity and rest. Leaders who protect energy not only prevent burnout but also unlock creativity and resilience. 

Ask yourself, what would need to be true for our well-being to be a team priority?  

Where are my own energy levels? Am I paying attention to the energy of the team – not just performance? 

So what? Create a space for recovery. This can involve respecting off-hours, introducing new daily rhythms that allow for rest, or addressing tensions when they surface rather than allowing them to fester. Whether this is a physical space or a mental space, giving this space attention is key for employees to experience vitality.  

Tip #4: Act with Creativity, Contribution, and Voice  

EXPRESSION. 

Trust has to be present for expression to flow. Employees who feel this trust have the courage to act on insight and to contribute. Expression is how leadership becomes shared. 

Dr Zak, the founding director of the Center for Neuroeconomic Studies, found that employees at “high-trust” companies experience 74% less stress, 106% more energy to work, and 50% higher productivity. Neuroscience proves our point. When people feel trusted, they are given the power to express, to create, to contribute, to have a voice, and all of this increases their ability to flourish.  

Questions to ask yourself: 

Am I supporting the creative contribution of my team members? Am I recognizing and acknowledging their unique voice and ensuring we all feel heard? 

How am I creating in my life? How am I using my voice, my talents, and my capabilities? In what ways am I making meaningful contributions across all areas of my life? 

So what? Voice + Creativity= Expression. This equation can be the key to unlocking potential in yourself and others. 

Effective leadership isn't about performance metrics or results. It isn’t about commanding or controlling. It's about people. Thriving people.   

Effective leadership is about creating conditions for people to thrive. Because it is only through thriving people that we get thriving organizations.