May 19, 2026
Episode 187: Mattering: Why Feeling Seen, Heard, Valued, and Needed is the Key to Better Teams with Zach Mercurio, Ph.D.
What if your team’s culture and effectiveness could be completely transformed by making each team member feel seen and valued? Today on The Future of Teamwork, Dane Groeneveld interviews Zach Mercurio, Ph. D., a researcher, Leadership Development Facilitator, and author of The Power of Mattering: How Leaders Can Create a Culture of Significance.
Together, Zach and Dane explore why so many people today feel disconnected, overlooked, and invisible in their work. Zach shares his personal experience that sparked his research into meaning and mattering. He and Dane unpack the growing “mattering crisis” in the modern workplace, and why perks and compensation aren’t enough to solve it.
Zach and Dane explore the difference between caring about and caring for your team, and why the skills of caring for your team need even more sharpening in this age of AI. Zach then explains why disengagement isn’t a sign of apathy – it’s a sign of self-protection.
Finally, Dane and Zach share practical ways to create mattering in everyday interactions, from giving more meaningful gratitude to asking deeper questions and intentionally helping others see the impact they have on the people around them.
If you want to shape a workplace where people feel fulfilled and are fully engaged, tune into this one.
🔗 Learn more about Zach Mercurio and Mattering
Mattering: Why Feeling Seen, Heard, Valued, and Needed is the Key to Better Teams with Zach Mercurio, Ph.D.
Guest Bio
Zach Mercurio is an author, award-winning researcher, and leadership development facilitator specializing in mattering at work, meaningful work, purposeful leadership, and positive organizational psychology. He’s the author of The Power of Mattering: How Leaders Can Create a Culture of Significance and The Invisible Leader: Transform Your Life, Work, and Organization with the Power of Authentic Purpose. He’s worked with hundreds of organizations and governments worldwide, and his work is featured in The Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Inc. Magazine, Forbes, Psychology Today, The Denver Post, CNBC, and on ABCNews.
Key Takeaways
00:00 Welcome to the Future of Teamwork
00:19 Meet Zach Mercurio
01:15 From Empty Job to Research
03:51 The Mattering Deficit Data
07:12 Companionate Love at Work
11:16 Seen Heard Valued Needed
15:26 Gratitude and Reflected Appraisals
17:22 Industrialization and Work as Exchange
22:22 AI and the Return to Heart
24:28 Community Is Sharing Gifts
25:16 Belief Before Contribution
26:25 Disengagement Is Self Protection
27:42 Culture Is Built In Interactions
29:33 Small Moments Of Mattering
31:08 Skill Decay In Digital Life
33:46 Beyond Work Teams
34:44 Noticed Affirmed Needed
35:47 How To Give Better Thanks
38:25 From Common Sense To Practice
40:04 Tiny Acts Anywhere
41:11 Self Check Relationship Habits
42:31 Wrap Up And Resources
44:24 Find Zach And Closing Notes
45:08 Disclaimer And Sign Off
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