Brian Dordevic

Delivering profitable web design with SEO first approach. Official Google partner.

I started as a $4/hr offshore virtual assistant and became a USA citizen & business owner.

I help you generate more profit with your existing traffic efforts by optimizing conversion rates, improving your site speed & content strategy.

Chief Executive Officer

As the CEO of Alpha Efficiency, I steer the strategic direction of the company while managing an expanding team of 30+ professionals, spearheading growth initiatives, and driving operational efficiency.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) & Achievements:

Team Leadership & Management: Championed a culture of performance and accountability that led to a 35% boost in operational efficiency. Regularly oversee talent acquisition and retention strategies to ensure our team is well-equipped for success.

SEO & Content Management: Supervised the creation and execution of our SEO strategy, which saw a remarkable 60% surge in organic website traffic within six months, augmenting our brand's digital visibility.

Paid Media Strategies: Pioneered the deployment of innovative paid media campaigns, resulting in a 50% increase in brand awareness and a 30% rise in customer acquisition, significantly expanding our market footprint.

Performance Benchmarking: Developed and implemented performance benchmarks to ensure constant progress. The systematic monitoring of these metrics brought about a 20% improvement in overall productivity.

Stakeholder Management: Successfully maintained robust relationships with key stakeholders, attaining a 90% satisfaction rate, testament to our commitment to delivering value and fostering transparency.

Financial Management: Maintained stringent control over fiscal operations, consistently delivering profitability and surpassing financial objectives by 15% in the previous year, solidifying our position in the market.

This multifaceted role requires a delicate balance of leadership, strategic thinking, and operational excellence. It's my mission to continue propelling Alpha Efficiency forward, driving sustainable growth, and adding value for our stakeholders.

Most web devs ship the site and disappear.

Client is left with:

• Title tag: “Just another WordPress site”
• /wp-admin begging to get hacked
• No favicon, no brand memory

Client never checks this stuff.
But Google and bots do.

Amateurs build pages.
Pros protect assets.

Be the dev who makes them money and keeps them safe.

Add $60,247 per month for your law practice with AI-driven local SEO (without blowing up your Advertising budget). | Hubspot, Google & SEMRush Partner | View my portfolio for inspiration and revenue-generating ideas.

Here is how my web design agency hit $500,000 this year (without burning out and drowning in sales calls):

1. Build an infinitely recurring offer

We stopped selling random projects.
We focused on three core outcomes:

• Tech stack we can support for years
• Clear care plan attached to each client
• Design that loads fast and CONVERTS

Every new website came with maintenance baked in, not as an optional extra.

This moved us from 80% one time revenue to 80% RECURRING revenue. 

Life gets easier when you know where your next payment is coming from.

2. Then we stacked layered recurring revenue

Instead of pitching “full service marketing” up front, we did:

• Website first
• Then Local SEO
• Then email automations
• Then grow into ads management

One win at a time.

Clients stayed because each layer made their funnel more profitable, not more complicated.

3. Make recurring work feel like a product, not chaos

We treated retainers like products:

• Fixed deliverables
• Fixed reporting rhythm
• Fixed weekly meeting cadence

Clients knew what was happening every month.
Team knew what to ship every week.
This killed most of the “emergency” calls.

4. Do the hard things competitors avoid

While others chased AI short term tactics to avoid hard work, we:

• Fixed technical SEO properly
• Cleaned tracking and analytics
• Optimized page speed and UX
• Talked to clients’ intake teams about lead quality

Unsexy work.

But it is what moved revenue for clients and made our retainers untouchable.

5. Turn happy clients into a referral engine

We did not beg for referrals.
We engineered them:

• Case studies that show revenue growth
• Simple “Who do you know like X?” asks
• Partner deals with vendors already serving our clients

Result: referrals drove more revenue than cold outreach.

6. Protect energy, not just profit

To avoid dying on sales calls, we:

• Had short, focused discovery calls
• Said “no” to clients who wanted chaos
• Used templates and checklists to scope fast
• Pre qualified leads through forms and content

Fewer calls.
Better clients.
More energy for actually building.

If you run a service business and want to turn it into a recurring revenue machine without living on sales calls, reply “SYSTEM” and I will send you a breakdown you can implement in your agency.

Corporate HATES remote work.

That's why my team loves our 100% remote agency (and ZERO commute).

Yet that doesn't stop us from:

• Driving around $2,000,000 in revenue for a disability law firm
• Shipping enterprise grade web development for a major non profit
• Adding over $4,000,000 in revenue for a home improvement business

All delivered from laptops in Ibiza, Paris, Palma de Mallorca and Chicago.

No HQ. No fancy boardroom. No glass tower with a logo on it.

Just:

• A MacBook
• Nitro cold brew
• Blazing fast internet
• Senior operators who care more about results than clocking in

Here is what we do not have:

• Office politics
• Pointless water cooler talk
• Commutes that drain everyone before work even starts

Here is what we do have:

• Deep work
• Fast shipping cycles
• Clients who measure us on revenue, not timesheets

Remote is not an excuse for lower standards.
For us it is the reason we can focus on the only thing that matters: 

RESULTS.

Want to see what this kind of fully remote operation produces?

Check out our portfolio!

No alternative text description for this image

People flex with watches.
But owning your time is the real flex.

Most people signal status with what is on their wrist.
I use mine to remember I never want to sell my time again.

I own three watches:

• A $1,000 Apple Watch Ultra
• A $5,000 Breitling
• A $500 Tissot

You would think I wear the Breitling the most.

I do not.

The Apple Watch used to run my life.
Notifications. Activity rings. Constant pressure to do more.

It made me productive.
It did not make me free.

Then two clients came along.

We built and scaled their crypto platform.
Those projects alone brought over $200,000 for Alpha Efficiency.

As a thank you, they sent me the Tissot.
Paid for in crypto. (reminder that tech moves fast)

That watch did something the Apple Watch never could:

It disconnected my self worth from the clock.

I stopped timing my workouts.
Stopped checking messages every few minutes.
Stopped living by notifications.

Every time I look at that Tissot, it reminds me:

• Technology should serve you, not own you
• One right deal can buy you years of optionality
• Your time is a reflection of the clients you choose

Later I bought the Breitling to prove something.
To myself. To the industry. To people who play status games.

It mostly sits at home now.

Because the real status upgrade was not the luxury brand. It was a regulated nervous system.

Learning how to get clients that pay you so well that you stop trading hours for money.

That is the game I care about teaching.

If you want more clients like that, and fewer that drain your energy and calendar,
I broke down my systems inside Infinite Deals.

It is where I document how I:

• Attract high ticket clients online
• Buy back more of my own time each year
• Turn a few great projects into multiple six figures

The watch is just a reminder.

The real asset is the skill of getting the right deals.

Developer made $3,246 mistake that blew up our advertising budget. (And the easy fix no one talks about)

When I worked at eTech, the SEO team pushed a site update in the middle of the day...

• No warning
• No coordination
• Just a routine update

Except it crashed the website.

And our Google Ads kept spending.

For three straight hours, every click went to a dead page.

By the time the site came back up, we burned $3,246 on nothing.

That one screw-up taught me a rule I still follow today:

Never send PPC traffic to your main website.
Ever.

Use a landing page platform that doesn’t break when someone edits a menu, updates a plugin, or pushes a deploy.

That’s why I run everything on HubSpot landing pages now.

Cleaner. Faster. Safer. Built for conversion, not chaos.

Here’s what it gives you:

• Your ads keep running even if your site goes down
• Predictable performance while others burn money
• A/B tests without asking a dev to push code
• Tracking that doesn’t leak data
• No SEO signal pollution
• Faster load speeds
• No team collisions

Three hours.
Three thousand two hundred forty six dollars.

One rule that never fails me.

If you're running paid traffic, book a call with me on ways I can setup your Google and Meta Ads for success. (Link in comments)

Landed in Chicago 12 years ago (photo from THE South Side)

Rented room
Cracked laptop 
Safety Net ZERO

No investors. No agency mastermind.
Just wifi and the decision to figure it out.

Fast forward.
Last quarter my agency helped clients add multiple seven figures in revenue.

Concrete wins, not theory:

• Around $2,000,000 in revenue for a disability law firm
• Over $4,000,000 in revenue for a home improvement company
• Enterprise grade web development shipped for a major non profit

None of that happened by accident.

Here is the operating system behind it:

Pick a painful problem

I focused on lawyers and local pros.
When their leads stop, payroll hurts.
Solve that consistently and they remember your name.

Sell the smallest real win

Not a massive “done for you everything” promise.
Just one clear outcome: Website + Local SEO sprint.

Easy yes.

Once they see it working, bigger checks make sense.

Create proof in public

Endless hundreds of proposals on Upwork
Daily posts on X and LinkedIn
Documenting what works

The content brings people in already half sold.

Let systems do the follow up

HubSpot workflows, intent data, and simple pipelines.
No “just checking in” energy.

Prospects move through a process whether I am online or not.

Stack rare skills

AI, technical SEO, CRO, local search.
Enough depth to solve hard problems.
Enough range to connect the whole funnel.

Treat cash like oxygen

Weekly money reviews.
Profit targets.
I built for boring predictability instead of viral spikes.

Borrow other people’s trust

Partner with vendors who already serve attorneys.
They send us their clients.
We send them better performing websites.

Everyone wins.

If you are in a new city, with no network and nothing but a laptop, you do not need permission.

Steal one of these.
Stack all seven.

Then let the internet do what it does best:
Turn specific skills into an agency that quietly prints results.

Your pal, Brian
P.S. I'm getting that hairline BACK.

The first time I “celebrated” Thanksgiving, I was not even in America.
I was in a small apartment in Serbia.

Cracked laptop. Weak WiFi.
Working remotely for an American tech company for $700 per month.

On my screen I saw what Thanksgiving was supposed to look like.

Big tables. Big families. Big bird in the middle.
Football on TV. Warm light. Full plates.

On my side of the screen?

Cheap food.
Cold apartment.
Trying to make the numbers work so I could get to that country one day.

Back then, Thanksgiving felt like another planet.

And here is what always fascinated me about it:

On Thursday, everyone is grateful.
On Friday, everyone loses their mind over fake discounts.

• Same people
• Same houses
• Different tabs open

They say a prayer over the turkey, then twenty four hours later they fight over televisions that were “discounted” after the price was quietly increased.

While that was happening, I was grinding for $700, trying to answer a much simpler question:

“How do I build a life where gratitude is not a costume I wear once a year?”

So I did the only thing I could control.
I stopped waiting for a good break.
I started becoming more valuable.

SEO. Content. Design. Systems.
Anything that made me harder to replace than the next resume in the pile.

One skill at a time.
One client at a time.
One small win at a time.

Then came the leap.

• I moved to the U.S.
• Built a 20 person SEO team.
• Drove over a million dollars in organic calls.
• Started my own agency.
• Hit consistent six figure months.

The plates at Thanksgiving look very different now.

But here is the part most people miss:

Gratitude is not what you post on Thursday.
Gratitude is the work your past self did when nobody watched.
The sacrifices nobody clapped for.

The discipline that did not get likes and comments.

Your former self paid the price.
You live the upside.

So the real question is not “What are you thankful for this year?”

The real question is:
Are you living in a way that makes your past sacrifices worth it?

This Thanksgiving I am giving back.

While many throw out Fake Discounts and hope you won’t notice.
I am running my best sale yet. One that will change your life if you act on it.

My Substack yearly plan includes my two best selling courses - (people valued them at $349). Link to my substack is in the comments.

Infinite Deals - That teaches you how to get clients on repeat.
Profitable Websites from Scratch - That teaches you how to build websites that convince AI and Google that your website is the real deal.

Add the community, and you’ll get all of this for $99. I am pulling this offer 23:59 EST. And won’t run it again. Sign up on my Substack profile and DM me your email for the bonuses.

Why 99% Stay Addicted and 1% Get Rich

When I was a kid, technology was a TV in the living room and a plastic shovel in the sandbox.

Today I walked past my old kindergarten and remembered how we used to dig holes in the playground.

• No apps
• No screens
• No notifications

Just dirt, tiny shovels, and a group of kids trying to reach the center of the earth.

Now look around.

Heads down. Blue light. Infinite scroll.

We removed boredom from life, and with it a lot of real growth.

Yet your entire financial future depends on attention.

If you cannot capture and direct attention, you are invisible.
If you can, you are playing a different game.

When I quit my job, it was not bravery. It was math.

I knew I could take a stranger from the internet and turn them into a paying client often enough that I would be fine.

• Not warm leads
• Not referrals

Cold traffic.

That one skill quietly funded my life:

• Training without guilt
• Travel without panic about money
• Good restaurants instead of counting every bill
• Time to think while my team and AI agents do the boring parts

None of that came from hacks.
It came from learning how to turn cold to closed.

Most people treat Black Friday as a chance to buy another screen.

New gadget
Same income
Same calendar
Same problems

If I could only buy one thing on Black Friday, it would not be hardware.
It would be the skill of converting cold attention into buyers.

Once you can turn:

Stranger to visitor
Visitor to booked call
Call resulting in a paying client

You stop worrying about opportunity. You decide when to turn it on.

That is what I am teaching in alphaOS.

How I think about attention.
How I structure offers so strangers get it in seconds.
How I turn cold traffic into booked calls.
How I run most of it from my phone with a lean team.
How doctors, lawyers, dentists and other local businesses can plug this into what they already sell.

For Black Friday I opened a short presale on Substack (on yearly plan).

You get included with Substack annual subscription:

• Access to a community for a full year (where you can ask me questions)
• Profitable Websites from Scratch (my web design course)
• Infinite Deals (how to turn prospects into clients)

You are already surrounded by overstimulated attention.

The only real question is whether you keep donating yours, or turn it into income.

A decade-old SEO is sold as an AI breakthrough.

And somehow, everyone’s acting like they’ve uncovered a hidden variable.

• 90% of “AI visibility” is just SEO.
• One lucky mention doesn’t make you relevant.
• The “new tactics” are just retrieval doing it's thing.

5 pieces last week shattered the illusion that AI changed everything:

1. Your "AI Strategy" is "Just SEO" with Better Marketing

Behind the hype, AI visibility still depends on the same technical foundations that power traditional search. Most supposed breakthroughs are just old SEO principles dressed as something new. 
https://hubs.la/Q03WywpV0

2. ChatGPT Turns Shopping Into a Personalized Research Engine

ChatGPT now adapts to your product preferences in real time. Shopping becomes a guided conversation powered by real-time data and personalized context. 
https://hubs.la/Q03WyCl10

3. The Hidden Cost Behind “Fast and Cheap” SEO

SEO still runs on the same triangle of time, cost, and quality, and cutting corners always comes back as rework and lost visibility. 
https://hubs.la/Q03Wyy5s0

4. A 50% Deletion Test Boosted Traffic Instead of Killing It

Deleting over half a site’s content sounds reckless, but this audit proved the opposite. Removing 1,000 outdated, low-value pages boosted organic traffic, tightened funnel performance, and raised conversions.
https://hubs.la/Q03WyzRR0

5. $227M Went Into the Wrong AI SEO Trend

Investors poured millions into LLM monitoring while the real defensibility sat in agentic SEO tools. The competitive edge is in shipping faster, better, and across more channels.  
https://hubs.la/Q03Wyv050

Clarity and structure have carried brands for years.

But the pressure to use them is rising...

If you want yours to hold up, join me on a quick call: https://hubs.la/Q03Wyvqh0

There is a 44% chance your lawyer is an addict.
Not to alcohol, but to “no new cases” at 1:13 AM.

36% of attorneys screen positive as problem drinkers.
9% report prescription drug misuse.
And no stats for illegal drugs use...

That is one in two.

What pushes them there?

Not the hours
Not the verdicts
Not even the clients

It is the gap between running their own practice vs. being burnt down by corporate management.

Those that went solo suffer when: 

• The phone does not ring
• There is no next case in sight
• Payroll is coming and cash is not

Those that are in corporate are drinking through: 

• Persuasive arguments
• Worrying about the appointed judge
• Client that lied to them in disposition

Those that left Big Law for freedom, quietly count credit karma drops and debt.

Those that stayed worry about their spouse secretly despising them for being absent. (and filing divorce paperwork)

If only they could pick and choose their cases...

The best source of new cases is already decided for them:

• AI Search
• Google Ads
• Google Maps
• Local Service Ads

When someone prompts “disability lawyer New York” or “estate planning attorney Chicago” they are not looking for content...

They are looking for a lawyer.
NOW.

Yet most firms are barely investing into these channels. Or they tried once, burned money, and walked away.

It's not that search doesn't work..
But their investment in it is not.

• No call tracking
• No real lead magnet
• No intake automation

Just a generic homepage and a lonely “Contact us” button that doesn't get any clicks.

So even when Google actually sends them a live prospect, the visitor bounces, gets distracted, or calls a competitor with a better offer, clearer next step, or faster intake.

If half of the energy spent worrying about money went into building one predictable search engine pipeline, a lot of partners would sleep better and drink less.

Here is what the calm firms do differently:

• Treat AI, Google Maps, LSAs and Ads like rent, not a lottery ticket
• Use a clear lead magnet that filters and warms up prospects
• Track every call and form so they know what works
• Turn that data into a repeatable acquisition system

Predictability is the real antidote.
And no engine creates more predictable intent than AI & search.

If you are a lawyer and want to see why your firm is not getting a steady flow of cases from Google Maps, Local Service Ads and Google Ads, comment AUDIT and I will show you exactly where the leaks are in your funnel.

16 years in SEO. 

This is the biggest opportunity I’ve seen.

AI pushed the industry into a reset.

And the advantage moved with it.

These are 5 signals from last week redefining the landscape:

1. You’re Late to SEO. That’s Your Advantage in 2025

If you're only starting now, you get to skip unlearning a decade of tricks. Ride AI tools, and go straight to long-tail keywords that will actually bring you customers. 
https://hubs.la/Q03TNLs70
 
2. AI Sends 1% of Traffic and Controls Most Customers

The new Conductor report reveals AI referrals are tiny in volume but huge in influence, shaping which brands customers trust before they even think about clicking through. 
https://hubs.la/Q03TNBqs0

3. The Smartest Brands Use AI Like a Scalpel, Not a Firehose 
 
If most of your AI effort vanished, would your customers feel the difference, or would your marketing still sound like everyone else’s? That’s your real AI strategy audit. 
https://hubs.la/Q03TNGWB0 

4. Google’s AI Now Shops for Your Customers, Are You Still on the Shelf?

With Search and Gemini comparing options and closing purchases, the brands that earn the spot are the ones the AI sees as the safest, smartest “yes.” 
https://hubs.la/Q03TNFlG0

5. AI Is Killing Data Silos and Forcing Your Team to Share One Customer Reality

As AI connects signals across every system, it also pushes you from tool-centric reporting to a single shared view of the customer that no team can dodge. 
https://hubs.la/Q03TNymt0

Your brand has a split second to make sense. Let's use it wisely. 

Pick a time and upgrade the moment: https://hubs.la/Q03TNLrj0

alpha-efficiency

act-leadership

fleetwoodlimousineworldwide

cult-of-traffic

digitalcash2go

web-design-chicago-agency

JSESSIONID

li_at

Talks about #ppc, #seo, #webdesign, #ppcmarketing, and #webdevelopment

What do you do when CTR falls off a cliff?

AI Overviews just cratered them.

−61% organic, −68% paid.

The aftermath isn't pretty. 

Let's take a look on last week's hits: 

1. AI Overviews Broke Google’s Click Economy

Recent data shows organic clicks down 61% and paid down 68% on queries with AI Overviews. Even when the feature doesn’t appear, users are clicking less everywhere. 
https://hubs.la/Q03SDBFw0

2. AI’s Split Personality: ChatGPT Expands, Google Tightens

New Semrush data reveals a quiet power shift. ChatGPT is citing 80% more sources (experimenting wildly) while Google’s AI Mode is tightening its circle. 
https://hubs.la/Q03SDCMB0

3. The Profound Index: Unveiling the Titans of AI Search

Profound just launched a live leaderboard showing which brands dominate LLM visibility and what fuels their AI discovery wins.
https://hubs.la/Q03SDBbw0

4. Google’s Double-Serving Rule Is Rewriting Fair Play

A recent policy lets one advertiser take two ad spots on the same page, tilting the auction in favor of big spenders. Sounds pretty unfair, doesn't it?
https://hubs.la/Q03SDv3L0

5. Google’s PMax Now Reaches Drivers on Waze

Performance Max just added Waze ads to its inventory, letting brands reach drivers through navigation pins while unlocking new channel performance reporting.
https://hubs.la/Q03SDDJp0

The click economy broke.

But even if metrics crash and trends flip, authority keeps converting.

Ready to meet the signals that still move markets? 
Book your call → https://hubs.la/Q03SDBfb0

POV:

You work with Alpha Efficiency on your top of line revenue:

Alpha Efficiency

I help organizations turn people data into meaningful action.

With 12+ years of experience leading People & Culture strategy, I focus on aligning employee experience with business growth. My work spans startups, agencies, and enterprise teams, but always centered on building systems that improve engagement, communication, and performance.

Through Quokka Hub, I use tools like Quarterly Pulse Checks, DISC assessments, and tailored leadership workshops to surface insights on culture, engagement, and team dynamics. 

But data alone isn’t the solution... it’s what you do with it. 

That’s why I partner with leaders to translate results into clear strategies:
⇢ Designing performance & feedback systems that drive accountability
⇢ Building leadership capacity through communication & development programs
⇢ Creating cultures where people stay, grow, and contribute at their best

Whether inside an organization as Head of People or through short-term consulting, my approach is consistent: combine insight, strategy, and execution to create measurable impact.

Michael Franco

We assume people know they’re appreciated…
But most of the time, they don’t

In the rush of the quarter,
Steady contributors get lost behind the louder wins
Not intentionally 
Just overlooked

As some of us head into the holiday
It’s a good reminder

Gratitude isn’t seasonal

It’s a leadership habit
It’s direction-setting
It’s culture

A Perceptyx study found that employees who feel recognized
Are up to 7x more engaged than those who don’t

What I keep coming back to is:

People work differently when they know their effort matters
Their energy changes when they feel seen
They stay longer when they feel valued

As an individual
⇢Shout out a colleague's effort this week 

As a leader
⇢When you thank them, tell them why it mattered

As a company
⇢Build simple rituals that bring gratitude into the everyday 


❓ Who’s one person you want to thank this week?

–
♻️ Repost if this sparked something
DM Michael Franco for People & Culture strategy

#Leadership #WorkplaceCulture

People Strategy & Organizational Development | Head of People | Employee Engagement & HR Operations

A green gradient graphic displays three bold statements, each followed by a hand-drawn green underline. The statements read: “People work differently when they know their effort matters,” “Their energy changes when they feel seen,” and “They stay longer when they feel valued.” At the bottom, a small banner shows Michael Franco’s profile photo with the text “Need help with your People & Culture? DM Michael Franco,” along with a repost icon. The design is clean, minimal, and uses Quokka Hub’s green brand tones.

People aren’t leaving right now…
But they’re not staying for the reasons you think

Hiring slowed
Budgets tightened
So leaders started looking inward
For promotions, stretch roles, new projects

Retention may look great on paper today
But staying isn’t the same as wanting to stay

And the moment the market shifts?
The people who felt overlooked
Under-supported
Or stretched too thin
Will be the first out the door

Here’s what I’m seeing drive talent away

⇢Poor communication
⇢Unclear expectations
⇢Lack of growth and development
⇢Daily friction that never gets addressed
⇢Feeling unseen, unheard, or undervalued

This is why I focus so much on systems
Performance frameworks
Clear role paths
Quarterly pulse checks
Offsites for trust and alignment

When you design a healthy employee experience
You build a healthy retention strategy

As an individual
⇢Highlight a friction point that slows you down the most

As a leader
⇢Remove one unnecessary step in your team’s workflow

As a company
⇢Focus on creating systems that drive clarity, engagement, and performance

 
❓What’s one thing that would make you want to stay longer at a company?

 –
♻️ Repost if this sparked something
DM Michael Franco for People & Culture strategy
#PeopleOps #EmployeeExperience

A gray metal bucket labeled “Retention” is filled with water but leaking from multiple holes. Blue water pours out of the holes, each leak labeled with a different cause of poor retention: “Unclear expectations,” “Poor communication,” “Lack of growth and development,” and “Feeling unseen, unheard, or undervalued.” At the top, the headline reads: “Staying isn’t the same as wanting to stay.”

Gallup’s workplace data shows something most leaders miss:

Recognition

1 in 3 employees say they received recognition in the last week

What we often forget is
People don't remember the programs or awards
They remember the small moments

We see recognition fail when

1. It’s delayed
 (people hear “good job” months after it mattered)

2.  It’s generic
 (not specific enough to mean anything)

3. It’s inconsistent
 (some people get noticed, others get overlooked)

4. It’s over-formalized
 (programs exist, but daily habits don't)

People need to feel seen, not just rewarded

As an individual
⇢Send one specific “thank you” today

 As a leader
⇢Catch someone doing something right

 As a company
⇢Build simple systems that help recognition happen more often


❓What’s one small gesture at work you’ll never forget?

–
♻️ Repost if this sparked something
DM Michael Franco for People & Culture strategy

 #EmployeeExperience #leadership

A hand-drawn, watercolor-style illustration featuring a gold trophy on the left and a yellow sticky note on the right. Above both objects, bold green text reads, “Most people forget awards. They remember moments.” The trophy looks polished but distant, while the sticky note includes a simple handwritten message, suggesting the personal impact of small gestures. The background has a soft green wash with light texture.

Most people don’t remember their performance review
But they remember the moments they felt seen

I still have a handwritten note
From a manager early in my career

Short
Simple
Unpolished

But it meant something to me

The wild part?

When recognition is personal and in the moment 
Its impact is 3 times stronger than formal programs

That note did more for my confidence
Than any award ever could

Lately I’ve been helping teams
Bring that simplicity back
Tools like Cardly make it easier

Send custom cards for
Birthdays
Work anniversaries
Or even someone going above & beyond

The small touchpoints that create culture

Culture lives in the little things
Times when someone says
“I see you”

As an individual
⇢Make an effort to give recognition to your peers

As a leader
⇢Notice effort and give recognition in real-time

As a company
⇢Utilize tools that help build in that recognition


❓What’s one moment of recognition that stayed with you?

–
♻️ Repost if this sparked something
DM Michael Franco for People & Culture strategy

#EmployeeExperience #WorkplaceCulture

Layoffs reach further than most leaders realize

It impacts
⇢The brand 
⇢The culture 
⇢The people  (both those who leave and those who stay)

For the ones who remain, the emotional landscape changes
Heavier workloads
Survivor's guilt
Loss of trust

Leaders now carry a new responsibility
To rebuild trust through transparency
Restore clarity
And stabilize energy through shared purpose

Regular forecasting 
Honest workload tracking
And better capacity planning
Can help organizations course-correct early on

As an individual 
⇢Acknowledge what’s changed and how you feel to begin to adapt
 
As a leader
⇢Create spaces to begin realigning and rebuilding trust

As a company
⇢Communicate clearly what’s next, don't let uncertainty spread


❓How can leaders rebuild trust after a layoff?

–
 ♻️ Repost if this sparked something
 DM Michael Franco for People & Culture strategy

 #OrganizationalChange #ChangeManagement

A detailed digital illustration shows a construction scene symbolizing rebuilding trust. A tall yellow crane lifts bricks toward a partially built wall while a smaller excavator and a worker on the ground stack bricks below. The scene represents structure, repair, and stability. The headline above reads “You can’t rebuild trust with words alone,” with “trust” highlighted in green. Below the image, supporting text says, “You rebuild it with systems that create clarity, balance workload, and restore confidence.” The design uses a clean white background with a green footer bar for branding.

Decision fatigue is expensive

Every unnecessary choice at work drains your team’s energy

What to prioritize
Who to loop in
Which approval is needed
Each one chips away at focus and creativity

When systems don’t protect people
You end up with exhausted minds
Treating every decision
As if it’s life or death

A good system shields people from that
Eliminates redundant decisions
Protecting energy and focus

So the energy can go where it matters most
The decisions that drive business results

As an individual
⇢Automate low-value choices in your day

As a leader
⇢Audit the number of decisions your team makes, then simplify

As a company
⇢Build systems that protect energy, time, and focus


❓Where in your workday do unnecessary decisions pile up?

–
 ♻️ Repost if this sparked something
 DM Michael Franco for People & Culture strategy

#WorkDesign #PeopleOps

A split-brain illustration shows the left side as a tangled mass of dark wires and the right side as a smooth, green circuit-like pattern resembling structured pathways. Above the image, the text reads: “Your systems should protect your team’s mental energy.” Below it, smaller text reads: “Decision fatigue is a systems problem.” A footer bar includes a small profile photo of Michael Franco with the text: “Need help with your People & Culture? DM Michael Franco.”

We talk a lot about efficiency…
But we’ve ignored something slowing teams down

Something we assumed would save time
Something leaders expected to boost productivity
Instead?
It’s creating more work than it removes

That drag is unreviewed AI-generated work

The half-done draft
The output that creates more questions than answers

Leaders spend time reviewing instead of leading
Teammates redo work that should’ve been finished
Everyone gets pulled into endless context-switching

Energy drains
Quality drops
Speed becomes the goal instead of clarity

Most companies miss
That this is a training problem

Teach people how to prompt 
Teach people what AI quality is 
Teach what “done” actually means 
Teach them how to structure a handoff 

Business Insider found that each AI “workslop” incident
Takes nearly 2 hours to correct
Not per week
Per instance

It’s not the tool
It’s the people using it incorrectly 

As an individual
⇢Review and refine anything you generate with AI

As a leader
⇢Set a clear definition of what “done” means

As a company
⇢ Build workflows for how AI is used, reviewed, and improved


❓Have you had to fix someone else’s low-quality AI output?

–
♻️ Repost if this sparked something
DM Michael Franco for People & Culture strategy

#PeopleOps #AIatWork

An illustration of a tired employee sitting at a desk with an overwhelming stack of papers labeled “AI work.” He holds one sheet that says “It’s a shift-” and looks frustrated. The headline above him reads, “Is Unreviewed AI Work Draining Your Team?” At the bottom, there is a small profile photo of Michael Franco with the text: “Need help with your People & Culture? DM Michael Franco.”

Companies are hiring less 
And focusing more on retention

But future-proofing your organization
Means helping each individual grow

Leadership development and succession planning
Are how you keep readiness going


Here are 7 best practices I’ve seen work

1. Develop early
Build readiness before you need it
Invest in your people at the start

2. Cross-train intentionally
Break down silos before they form
Use this to surface untapped strengths in your team 

3. Create multiple growth paths
No two people grow the same way
Think of it as a choose-your-own-adventure for growth

4. Build mentorship programs
There is a lot of knowledge in your company, utilize it
Use this to transfer knowledge between generations

5. Give people agency in how they grow
Let curiosity guide development
Empower people to choose their skills and stretch goals

6. Connect performance to potential
Reward those who grow and help others grow
Recognition drives both results and engagement

7. Use project rotations as growth labs
Let people take on challenges safely
The new strengths and abilities will emerge


As an individual
 ⇢Share what you are excited to learn

 As a leader
 ⇢Support each team member on their unique growth path

 As a company
 ⇢ Remember, development isn’t just an HR project, it’s part of culture


❓What would you add?

 –
 ♻️ Repost if this sparked something
 DM Michael Franco for People & Culture strategy

 #LeadershipDevelopment #PeopleOps #SuccessionPlanning

A circular green infographic titled “7 Ways to Grow Future-Ready Leaders.” In the center, a large green tree labeled “Leadership Development” symbolizes growth. Surrounding the tree are seven evenly spaced icons representing key leadership development practices:

Develop early – shown with a small sprouting plant.

Cross-train intentionally – two intertwined stems.

Create multiple growth paths – a plant branching in different directions.

Build mentorship programs – a large tree beside smaller saplings.

Give people agency in how they grow – a plant reaching toward sunlight.

Connect performance to potential – a flower being nurtured.

Use project rotations as growth labs – a vine circling around.
Below the circle is the tagline “Healthy systems create healthy leaders.”

The leaders you pick
Become the culture you get

Some leaders push teams forward
Other leaders slow everything down
I’ve seen both

Two people
Same title
Completely different impact

Leadership behavior shapes most of an organization’s culture

And that influence is visible daily
In how teams handle change
Adapt to new situations
Or stay stuck

This is why selecting & developing leaders
Is essential culture-shaping work

Styles will differ
Approaches will vary
But alignment is the key

Leaders need to share the same vision
Regardless of the different methods
They add more than they take
They reinforce behaviors
They set expectations

As an individual
⇢Notice how your reactions influence the people around you

As a leader
⇢Model the behaviors you want to see repeated

As a company
⇢Hire for alignment, promote behavior, and develop everyone


Culture moves at the pace of its slowest leader


❓What behavior do great leaders consistently get right?


–
 ♻️ Repost if this sparked something
 DM Michael Franco for People & Culture strategy

 #Leadership #WorkplaceCulture

A hand-drawn illustration of stacked building blocks arranged in tiers. One lower block is slightly out of alignment, causing the smaller blocks above it to tilt and fall out of formation. The text at the top reads, “When one leader is misaligned, the entire culture feels it.” A small footer at the bottom invites viewers to contact Michael Franco for People & Culture support.

Skip the big initiatives
Reduce some of your meetings 

The little things can strengthen a team
They reduce friction and make the work easier


Here are 7 behaviors I’ve seen make a big impact:

1. Clear expectations
-Always start with, “This is the outcome we are aiming for.”

2. Leadership follow-through
-Share the timeline, then schedule a follow-up.

3. Adaptable systems
-After finishing a task, ask, “What would make this easier next time?”

4. Space for new ideas and questions
-Ask: “What am I missing?” or “What are your thoughts?”

5. Clarity through communication
-Share information verbally and in writing, and always invite questions.

6. Alignment with direction
-Restate the top 1–2 priorities for the week and how everyone contributes.

7. Timely recognition
-Quickly acknowledge the behaviors you want repeated.

None of these requires an overhaul
You don’t need a new tool
Just daily behaviors
That compound

As an individual
⇢Try practicing one of these behaviors next week

As a leader
⇢Model the one your team needs most and ask clarifying questions

As a company
⇢Remove the friction points that prevent these behaviors from happening

❓What would you add to the list?

–
 ♻️ Repost if this sparked something
 DM Michael Franco for People & Culture strategy

#PeopleOps #WorkplaceCulture

A hand-drawn illustration with a soft green watercolor background displays the title “7 Behaviors That Strengthen a Team.” On the left, seven stacked building blocks alternate between light yellow and green, each labeled with numbers 1 through 7. To the right of each block is a corresponding behavior: Clear expectations, Leadership follow-through, Adaptable systems, Space for new ideas and questions, Clarity through communication, Alignment with direction, and Timely recognition. A footer at the bottom invites viewers to contact Michael Franco for People & Culture support.

Instability is becoming more common
And it’s changing how teams work

October saw some of the highest layoffs since 2003
Org charts are being reworked
Roles and deliverables are changing 

We’re moving through a period where change is happening more frequently
And how people respond to it will matter

When companies make too many moves, too quickly
It doesn’t create agility
It creates friction

⇢Expectations become unclear
⇢Priorities move faster than communication
⇢Trust begins to drop
⇢Productivity slows
⇢Teams lose the clarity they rely on

Adaptability has always been important
But adaptability only works when people have direction

As an individual
 ⇢Stay open to change, ask for clarity, and adapt when needed

As a leader
 ⇢Plan ahead, communicate early, and set expectations clearly

As a company
 ⇢Be transparent with changes and forecasts before you act


❓How do you stay adaptable during periods of change?

–
 ♻️ Repost if this sparked something
 DM Michael Franco for People & Culture strategy

 #PeopleAndCulture #WorkTrends

Side-by-side visual comparing a traditional organizational chart with a modern, matrixed structure.
The left side shows a simple black hierarchical org chart labeled ‘The Plan.’
The right side shows green 3D human figures connected in diagonal and horizontal lines labeled ‘The Reality,’ illustrating how teams experience more frequent, dynamic change.
Headline reads ‘What companies plan vs What teams live,’ with a leadership message below: ‘Leaders must help teams adapt without losing clarity.

Gratitude isn’t limited to one holiday
But today is a good reminder

I’ve always seen Thanksgiving
As a kind of pause button
For thanks
For people
For presence

If you’re working today or tomorrow
I hope someone sees the effort you’re giving
Even when no one is watching

If you’re off
I hope you get the rest you’ve earned
And a little space to breathe

As an individual
⇢Send one unexpected thank-you message

As a leader
⇢Acknowledge the people who steady the team

As a company
⇢Let people ease back into the workflow after a day of rest


Happy Thanksgiving!


–

DM Michael Franco for People & Culture strategy
#PeopleAndCulture

5 signs your systems are working for your team

A healthy system enables a healthy culture
And a healthy culture? 
Builds a healthy team

Here are 5 things I look for when I know a system is working

1. Feedback continuously flows both ways 
2. People speak up early and share ideas freely
3. Workflows protect focus and flex when needed
4. Leaders seek to understand before they decide
5. Everyone knows what they own and who to go to

Operational wins lead to cultural wins
When communication, alignment, and trust are built into systems
You don’t need constant motivation initiatives
Your systems create motivation

As an individual
⇢Share what helps you do your best work and what’s in the way

As a leader
⇢Ask more “how” and “why” questions before giving direction

As a company
⇢Audit your systems often; they shape more culture than policy ever could

❓What’s one sign that tells you your team’s systems are healthy?

–
♻️ Repost if this sparked something
DM Michael Franco for People & Culture strategy

 #PeopleOps #leadership

A clean white graphic titled “5 signs your systems are working for your team.”
Each numbered section features a short statement paired with colorful mini-figure illustrations:

Two mini-figures communicating with chat bubbles – “Feedback continuously flows both ways.”

A mini-figure raising a hand with a light bulb above their head – “People speak up early and share ideas freely.”

A mini-figure wearing a construction outfit and typing on a laptop – “Workflows protect focus and flex when needed.”

Two mini-figures talking, one holding a question symbol – “Leaders seek to understand before they decide.”

Two mini-figures connecting puzzle pieces – “Everyone knows what they own and who to go to.”
At the bottom, text reads: “Healthy systems create healthy teams.”

Rest doesn't work
If we sprint the moment we come back

Today sits in a strange space
Not quite a holiday
But quite a normal Friday

A Survey showed 40% of people struggle to reignite after a Holiday

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do
Is let yourself
And your team
Ease back in

❓ How are you easing back in today?

–
♻️ Repost if this sparked something
DM Michael Franco for People & Culture strategy

#Leadership

A soft green minimalist illustration showing a closed laptop, a warm-colored mug, and a small plant on a desk. Above them, centered text reads “Ease back in.” The scene conveys calmness and a gentle return to work.

The fastest way to lose trust at work?
Inconsistent communication

Most teams don’t crumble because of strategy
They crumble when expectations are unclear and direction is absent

And when employees have to guess, they assume the worst

Here’s what I see across organizations:
⇢HR sends a policy update that lands differently across teams
⇢Leaders adjust expectations without explaining 
⇢Decisions are made “quickly” but explained poorly
⇢Employees are left connecting dots they never should’ve had to

Trust doesn’t erode in one big moment
It erodes in the small gaps we fail to notice

As an individual
If something sounds unclear, ask the clarifying question now instead of managing the consequences later

As a leader
Say the whole thing
Say it early
Say it clearly
Then check for understanding

As a company
Audit how messages travel. The breakdown is usually the delivery system


❓What helps you do your best work, clear expectations or clear direction?

–
 ♻️ Repost if this sparked something
 DM Michael Franco for People & Culture strategy
 #leadership #communication

A workplace scene showing three employees reacting to different versions of the same policy update. On the left, a woman at a laptop looks shocked at a red bubble reading “Policy Update: Effective immediately.” In the center, a man checks his phone with a furrowed brow as a yellow bubble says “Policy Update: Starting next month.” On the right, another employee reads a tablet under a green bubble saying “Policy Update: Pending review.” A glowing question mark sits between them, symbolizing confusion. Text below reads: “Same topic. Different instructions. Instant confusion.” illustrating inconsistent communication at work.

taplio

The Battle

Brian Dordevic

Michael Franco

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreBrian Dordevic's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreMichael Franco's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Brian Dordevic

Michael Franco

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Brian Dordevic's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreMichael Franco's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreBrian Dordevic's LinkedIn Performance