by MakeUsWell

The Ides of March, famous as the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated, is noteworthy for me as it’s the day I was born. On that day, God gave me breath... and a monkey. I’m thankful for the breath...not so much for the monkey.
— Alan Steelman

Alan Steelman is a Charter Member of the MakeUsWell Network. He has enjoyed success in the political and business arena and is now in the third interaction of a career: helping people be well. He is the author of Managing Your Monkey: Mind Fitness (2022).

MakeUsWell reviewed his book and found it compelling, insightful, and practical. Alan tells an engrossing story while providing useful suggestions to manage the day-to-day stressors of life.

MakeUsWell highly recommends this book!

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by Mike Critelli

Over the past several weeks, when sharing what I’ve learned about the expanding and compelling body of research on the harmful effects of social media, I encountered bewilderment, denial, and highly confident—but misguided—responses from many well-educated people. 

We are in the midst of multiple societal crises that manifest themselves in an explosive growth of mental illness, substance abuse, alienation from work, political and cultural division, and increased violence. But most of us are unable to step back and diagnose the potential root causes of these crises.

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by MakeUsWell

Who Is David Joosten?

Family man and entrepreneur David Joosten’s ability to measure probability and recognize trends started at a young age. While most students in high school are busy with the banality of adolescence, David found his passion for entrepreneurship early and started a business as a PowerSeller on Ebay. Clearing six figures selling video games and DVDs led to studying economics at Harvard. 

After graduation, he joined marketing at Google. There he learned how data-driven marketing worked at scale—making growth systematic—with a team that was eclectic and inspiring.

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by Mike Critelli

Recently, the Social Media Victims Law Center filed lawsuits against Meta (Facebook and Instagram's parent), TikTok, and Snap. What does this have to do with the MakeUsWell Network? 

Everything!

In 2016, I joined the PowerMyLearning Board, a New York-based non-profit. Its mission is to empower teachers and families. The organization used to provide free laptops to low-income families. After the families received the laptops, learning workshops were offered. I attended one at a Bronx school.

After 2½ hours of training, on the many benefits of the new laptops with Internet on-ramps, the last hour was a real eye opener. The trainers focused the parents on all the bad things unsupervised use could bring to the kids.

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by MakeUsWell

Today, companies that think about the future and have talented operators are:

1. Attentive to social media postings on “hot button” issues. 

2. Able to divine employee sentiment on these issues. 

3. Skilled in striking the right messaging notes on them. 

Key Case: Ohana

For a top-notch employee-well-being client, MakeUsWell analyzed how Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, spotted the freedom-of-choice, abortion issue back in early September, 2021, well before any of his peers.

His Twitter posting that the firm would welcome Texas-based employees to California to exercise their right to reproductive choice was powerful in triggering positive responses. It calmed employees across the nation — not just at Salesforce.

The power of our words within the context of cultural events can have an emotional impact on users that tangibly increases joy and reduces stress.

Our analysis of emotional impact showed the Benioff tweet increased joy and reduced vitriol for certain segments by ~18%.

Our analysis also accurately predicted — months ahead of time — the significant future impact of the tweet and the effectiveness of Mr. Benioff's language on the entire landscape of the abortion polemic within the American business world. 

Now months later, in response to the abortion controversy, major companies (including Amazon, CitiGroup, Kroger, and dozens more) are making employee assistance for out-of-state employee reproductive healthcare a standard benefit.

And, in a recent survey, 88% of respondents indicated they thought Marc Benioff’s 9/10/21 tweet helped employees in corporate America. It remains a powerful export of SalesForce culture over time.

By addressing his tweet to “Ohana,” Benioff invited the world to see Salesforce through his eyes. He conveyed a healthy company culture with a single word. With a single tweet, Benioff soothed his employees, while simultaneously attracting international approval for his company.

Companies aspiring to high performance cultures need to master the process of spotting issues, identifying sentiment trends, and knowing how to respond as early and effectively as possible.

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