Magic in the Room #121: Being Connected is an Inside Job
September 27, 2022
Being connected is everyone’s responsibility, and we all have to do the work of choosing to be connected. In this episode of Magic in the Room, Chris and Luke introduce a new way of thinking about connection with three components. We must be connected to self, a community, and to the present moment in time. Our need for connection can be fulfilled when these three components are in place.
This Magic in the Room episode was originally a webinar at a TribalHub event. Subscribe to their podcast at www.tribalhub.com/introducing-the-tribalhub-podcast-series. Special thanks to TribalHub for allowing us to use this recording.
TribalHub is a community of hundreds of leaders driving their organizations, collaborating with other tribal industry leaders, staying current with the technology trends, being savvy about security, and embracing the value of a peer support network at their fingertips. TribalHub is a membership based organization whose members receive many valuable, direct benefits as well as support the mission to bring additional services, events and resources to tribes across the nation
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Music by evangrimmusic.com
Recorded at AUIDEO studio
in Bozeman, MT
Support from techblogwriter.co.uk
In this episode of Magic in the Room, Luke and Hannah explore the concept of polarities. Tensions like purpose and performance, stability and change, or accountability and grace that are often mistaken for problems to solve rather than dynamics to manage. Drawing on insights from Barry Johnson’s work, they explain how these opposing forces are interdependent and must be balanced over time to achieve sustained success. Through practical examples and personal reflections, they show how over-relying on one side of a polarity leads to predictable “shadow sides” such as stagnation, chaos, inefficiency, or burnout, while effective leadership requires recognizing where you are on the cycle and intentionally recalibrating. The episode emphasizes that many recurring organizational frustrations are not failures, but signals of imbalance, and offers a more nuanced approach to leadership. One that replaces rigid either/or thinking with flexible both/and awareness to improve decision-making, team dynamics, and long-term performance.
In this episode of Magic in the Room, Luke Freeman, Hannah Bratterud, and Chris Province dive into the concept of “mattering,” inspired by Zach Mercurio’s work, and explore why it is a foundational driver of engagement, performance, and culture in organizations. They challenge leaders to move beyond assuming people matter to actively ensuring individuals feel that they matter by being valued and by contributing value to a shared purpose. The conversation highlights how mattering differs from belonging, why it cannot be replaced by perks or efficiency, and how leadership behaviors like attention, recognition, and presence directly shape whether people feel seen, heard, and understood. Through examples ranging from workplace dynamics to broader societal trends like social disconnection, they argue that disengagement, conflict, and even poor performance are symptoms of a mattering deficit. Ultimately, they position mattering not as a soft concept, but as a measurable, actionable leadership responsibility that underpins trust, resilience, and long-term success.