Lindsay is the co-founder of Vega Factor and co-author of bestselling book, Primed to Perform: How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation. Previously, Lindsay led projects at McKinsey & Company, working with large fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, universities and school systems. She received her B.A. from Princeton and an MBA from Harvard. In her spare time she loves investigating and sharing great stories.
Core strengths:
Enrapturing any audience with insight
Making big, scary ideas feel fun, light, and inspiring
Breaking even the coldest of ice with heartfelt goofiness
Core strengths:
Finding the needle of insight in a haystack of data
Fostering harmony in diverse groups of highly skilled people
Braveheart-style inspirational speeches
Core strengths:
Making complex ideas concrete and digestible
Creating environments where people can speak the hard truth without fear
Always finding the perfect sports metaphor
Core strengths:
Cultivating ideation and strategic thinking
Developing trusting, inclusive, and collaborative teams
Able to tolerate and out-wait long pauses motivating group participation or discussion contributions
Core strengths:
Unlocking creativity through structured thinking
Bridging communication gaps
Figuring out exactly what type of nerd you are and running with it
Motivation
My employees are demotivated. What should I do?
A large tech company is grappling with demotivated employees, a common issue affecting performance despite visible engagement in tasks and meetings. Gallup reports only 33% of the US workforce is engaged, highlighting a widespread problem. Understanding motivation involves examining three direct motives—play, purpose, and potential—and three indirect motives—emotional pressure, economic pressure, and inertia. Effective motivation management requires focusing on local team dynamics rather than centralized tools. Quarterly Health Checks, involving diagnostic surveys and AI-generated discussion guides, can significantly enhance team motivation and performance by addressing specific issues and fostering supportive accountability.
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Org Design
"I wish my people would take more ownership!"
Enhancing organizational performance involves shifting from a task-based to a problem-solving model. The five-step process: factoring problems, assigning them to teams, mapping non-problem-solving work, ensuring the right leadership roles, and starting the strategy process creates clarity and velocity. These steps transform employees from order-takers to owners, fostering a high-performing culture.
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Team building
The four personal archetypes that create growth in a company
Too often in leadership, frustration arises not because of deep disagreements but rather because of misaligned "modes" of working. In our VEGA model, there are four modes of work (play profiles): visionaries, explorers, galvanizers, and achievers - name the one you're in, and growth will be an act of play.
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Productivity
Disorganized work creates dysfunctional teams
How does a master woodworker maintain such flawless efficiency in their shop? Too many teams fall into chaos due to poorly organized work. Master four work types to elevate your team's productivity and innovation: play-based, process-based, project-based, and idea-based.
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Leadership
Why should your employees follow you? I wish Boeing asked this question.
Boeing was once synonymous with quality and safety. But as focus shifted from customers to stakeholders, their culture eroded, and with it their planes and reputation. This fate could have been avoided using three leadership techniques: health checks, goal checks, and skill checks.
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Org Design
Org structure might be causing your company's dysfunction
Organizational structures are crucial to an operating model, yet constant re-orging significantly drains motivation and performance. So what's an executive team to do? Align to six first principles: form follows function, reporting lines are powerful enough, strengthen the horizontals, focus on feedback loops, align the strengths and passions, and finally, structure is a part of a system.
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