Engaged By Design

MACRO Leadership - Matching People to Projects

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🎙️EPISODE 3
MACRO Leadership: Leading Agile Change and Innovation in Higher Education
Chapter 3: Match

In this episode of Engaged By Design, Vernon interviews Michael about the first step in the MACRO Leadership framework: Match. Drawing from a personal story of an international student exchange early in his career, Michael illustrates what it really means to match people to projects in a way that builds confidence, accelerates team growth, and reduces risk. Learn how to assess strengths, understand motivation, and design teams that thrive. Whether you're leading a college initiative, an academic department, or a cross-functional design team, this episode offers practical insights and tools—like CliftonStrengths—to help you make better matching decisions.

TOPICS COVERED
  • Why matching is foundational to agility and innovation
  • The story of “Hands Across the Border” and leadership growth
  • How to assess transferable skills and passions
  • Using tools like MBTI and CliftonStrengths for effective matching*
  • Avoiding common pitfalls: assumptions, oversizing, misalignment
  • How to form effective project teams with diverse strengths
    • REFLECTION QUESTIONS
    1. Are your team members matched to work that energizes them?
    2. What clues might you be missing about misalignment?
    3. How do your own strengths and preferences influence your matching choices?

      4. SUBSCRIBE & SHARE

      Think of one team member and one project that may be misaligned. What small adjustment could you make today? Then share this episode with a colleague who’s building a team.

      *Gallup, CliftonStrengths, StrengthsFinder, and the CliftonStrengths 34 Themes of Talent are trademarks of Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. This publication also includes copyrighted content owned by Gallup, Inc. All Gallup intellectual property is used herein under a licensing agreement. The non-Gallup information you are receiving has not been approved and is not sanctioned or endorsed by Gallup in any way. Opinions, views, and interpretations of CliftonStrengths are solely the beliefs of Michael Cottam, the author of this publication.

       

      🔗 AFFILIATE LINKS 

      Books referenced in this episode

      • MACRO Leadership, by Michael Cottam: https://amzn.to/476zHRP 

        • The technology we used

        • Shure MV7+ Microphone: https://amzn.to/4obxnPC 
        • Shure MV7i Microphone with Audio Interface: https://amzn.to/3GX0Jkb 
          • ...more
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          Engaged By DesignBy Dr. Michael Cottam and Dr. Vernon Smith