Complexity Leadership Insights 005: In a Complex Business World, Don’t Lose Sight of Mattering

Author: Chiru Tsai, MBA

We live in an era of complexity. Global markets, geopolitical risk, supply chain volatility, AI disruption, economic uncertainty—all of these challenge organizations to be more agile, more precise, more accountable.

As leaders, we respond with strategies: better KPIs, more granular OKRs, tighter targets, more advanced dashboards.

But in chasing these metrics, many organizations make a subtle, devastating trade-off. We become so fixated on what we can measure that we neglect what truly matters: the sense of purpose and mattering that drives people to care, commit, and perform at their best.

The scariest thing in any workplace isn’t conflict, failure, or even change. It’s purposelessness.

Why this topic matters now

Reading Harvard Business Review’s excellent May–June 2025 article “The Power of Mattering at Work” by Zach Mercurio (Senior Honorary Fellow, Colorado State University), I was struck by how urgently this message resonates today.

The subtitle says it all:

“Improving everyday interactions can promote employee retention, engagement, growth, and well-being.”

Mercurio’s argument is clear:

People need to know they matter. They need to feel seen, heard, needed, and valued.

This isn’t “soft” management. It’s the foundation of sustained performance, retention, psychological safety, and innovation.

Core insights from the HBR article

Let’s give credit where credit is due. Zach Mercurio’s HBR piece offers a rigorous, research-based, highly practical exploration of why “mattering” is essential to business results.

Key takeaways from the article include:

• Mattering drives emotional commitment. Employees who feel seen, valued, and necessary are more likely to stay, to invest discretionary effort, and to support colleagues.
• Mattering reduces psychological distress. A culture that sees and hears people reduces burnout risk and mental health costs.
• Mattering improves productivity. When people believe they matter, they step up. They innovate. They solve hard problems.
• It’s a leadership responsibility. Leaders must create the conditions for people to feel they matter—through listening, affirming, recognizing strengths, and offering consistent, authentic feedback.

Mercurio is clear: mattering isn’t a “nice-to-have.” It’s a business necessity.

The added challenge for large, global, or complex organizations

These insights resonate deeply for those of us in large, international companies.

Global firms face unique challenges:

• Leadership cascade gaps. Even if top executives champion compassion and mattering, the message often gets diluted before it reaches middle managers and front-line teams.
• Cultural and language barriers. Employees from different countries may have different expectations about being heard or recognized. It’s easy to misinterpret, or worse, overlook entirely.
• Remote and hybrid work. Virtual communication, time-zone gaps, and asynchronous workflows can further erode the sense of being “seen” and “needed.”
• Metrics obsession. High-performing, process-driven cultures often prize efficiency over connection. There’s relentless pressure to deliver quarterly results, sometimes at the expense of human relationships.

The result? Organizations with clear reporting lines on paper—but fragile, superficial, or even broken relationships in practice.

We see managers who hit all their KPIs yet leave team members feeling isolated or replaceable. We see employee surveys with polite but empty words about “engagement,” even as turnover rises and psychological safety declines.

My own perspective as a leader

This is why I believe that in any organization—but especially in large, complex, international ones—leaders must make mattering intentional.

We cannot delegate it. We cannot assume it happens organically. We cannot treat it as a side-project.

It is our primary work.

Mercurio’s article highlights simple, evidence-backed leadership behaviors that make people feel they matter:

• Listen without interrupting.
• Reflect what you hear: “I see you,” “That sounds hard,” “Thank you for telling me.”
• Affirm contributions: “I noticed your effort,” “This wouldn’t have happened without you.”
• Offer criticism only after building trust and showing consistent support.
• Remind people of their strengths and potential, especially when they doubt themselves.

These are deceptively simple behaviors. But in real life? They’re rare.

Why? Because we’re busy. We’re under pressure. We don’t “have time.”

But that’s the point. Creating time and space for people to matter is leadership work.

Practical ideas to make “mattering” real

One of the most powerful insights in Mercurio’s article is this:

“Improving everyday interactions can promote employee retention, engagement, growth, and well-being.”

That isn’t just theory. It’s something we can design for deliberately.

Here are some ways I’ve seen or used that help:

1. Make time for 1:1 conversations. Schedule them. Protect them. Don’t let task updates consume them. Ask: “How are you really?” “What’s been most challenging lately?”

2. Encourage everyone to speak in meetings. Design facilitation to avoid the loudest voices dominating. Invite quieter colleagues.

3. Model active listening. Reflect back what you hear. Ask clarifying questions. Don’t rush to solutions.

4. Build spaces for peer recognition. Set up a digital “kudos board” or Slack/Teams channel for colleagues to thank one another publicly.

5. Integrate gratitude in meetings. Reserve 5 minutes in team meetings for people to recognize others’ help or share what they learned from a peer.

6. Use visible platforms. Company intranets, digital screens, or newsletters can spotlight employee stories, celebrate contributions, and reinforce shared purpose.

These are not just “feel-good” tactics. They reinforce a culture where people believe they matter—and when people believe they matter, they give their best.

Don’t be stingy with praise, recognition, or reward

Another powerful idea from the HBR article:

“People are more likely to improve when someone believes in them, reminds them of their strengths, offers support, and establishes trust before offering criticism.”

Many managers worry about over-praising. They fear people will grow complacent. But the real danger is the opposite: that people will stop caring.

The cost of purposelessness is far higher than the cost of too much praise. Encouragement is not indulgence—it’s investment.

We should be intentional, frequent, and specific with our praise. We should never assume people “know” they’re appreciated. We should make recognition as much a part of our operating model as our KPIs or OKRs.

An idea for scaling “mattering” across large organizations

One of my own reflections is that mattering must be cascaded intentionally.

If you’re a senior leader reading this, ask yourself:

• How often do you talk about your purpose and values in human terms?
• How do you equip your managers to listen, affirm, and recognize their teams?
• How do you measure and reward those behaviors?

It’s not enough to talk about caring at the top if the message doesn’t make it to the front line.

We can design systems for this:

• Leadership training on empathic communication
• Regular self-assessments on “mattering” behaviors (as Mercurio suggests)
• Including recognition and listening skills in promotion criteria
• Making room in agendas for gratitude and reflection

Additional insights for global teams

Here are two more ideas I’ve found helpful:

1️⃣ Build “Purpose Conversations” into your cadence. Don’t just review goals or tasks. Take time quarterly (or even monthly) to ask: “Why are we doing this? Why does it matter? What does success mean for us?” Help people connect daily work to shared mission.

2️⃣ Invest in local adaptation and cultural translation. Global values must be delivered in local language and norms. What feels affirming in one culture might feel insincere in another. Equip local leaders to interpret and deliver “mattering” in culturally relevant ways.

Conclusion

We live in a world where complexity is unavoidable. KPI dashboards will only get more sophisticated. OKRs will only get more precise.

But as leaders, we cannot afford to lose sight of the human work. We can never let our people feel purposeless.

Our first duty is to see them. To hear them. To let them know they matter. Because when people know they matter, they do their best work—and they stay.

Credits This reflection was inspired by the Harvard Business Review article “The Power of Mattering at Work” (May–June 2025), written by Zach Mercurio, Senior Honorary Fellow at Colorado State University. Highly recommended for any leader serious about building meaningful, high-performing teams.

If this resonates with you, I’d love to hear how you create “mattering” in your own team. Let’s make sure that even in the most complex businesses, people never forget that they matter.

Disclaimer

The views and insights expressed in this newsletter reflect my interpretation of current scientific research and do not represent the views of my employer or any organization with which I am affiliated. This content is shared solely for educational and professional discussion purposes and should not be used as formal advice or consultation.