Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova.

I'm thrilled for this show for so many reasons. Today's guest has spent his career challenging how we think about people at work, what drives performance, what builds great teams and what actually helps people thrive. Marcus Buckingham is a New York Times bestselling author and a friend and one of the original pioneers of the strength movement. And now in his new book, Design Love In, he takes that thinking even further, arguing that love, when designed intentionally into how we lead and operate, is one of the most powerful forces in business.

THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…leaders, managers, and individuals who want to better understand what drives high performance and how to build roles and teams around what people naturally do best.

TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…We've been taught to focus on improving our weaknesses but that approach is fundamentally flawed. In this conversation, Marcus explains why excellence comes from doubling down on strengths, not fixing what's broken. He shares how organizations can unlock performance by designing roles around what people love to do, why engagement surveys often miss the mark, and how leaders can create environments where individuals thrive by doing more of what energizes them.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• People grow most when they invest in what they naturally do best.

• High performance comes from aligning work with what energizes individuals.

• Traditional feedback and engagement systems often overlook individual strengths.

• Great leaders focus on outcomes while allowing flexibility in how work gets done.

WHAT I LOVE MOST…Marcus' reminder that excellence isn't built by fixing weaknesses but by understanding and using your strengths every day. It's a simple shift, but it completely changes how we think about performance.

Running Time: 40:16

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Find Marcus Online:

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Buckingham Institute

Marcus' Book: Design Love In: How to Unleash the Most Powerful Force in Business