This Week in Backstory & Strategy: Trophies, Trust, and Tough Calls

The weekend is here — and with it, a perfect chance to catch up on your reading (or finally forward that piece you meant to share with a friend).

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Here’s everything I published this week:

• 🏆 The Golden Gourd: How a $2 Trophy Taught Me About Recognition
  A story about how a cheap trophy turned into one of the most meaningful lessons in recognizing great work.
• 📋 The Performance Improvement Plan Is a Charade
  Why PIPs often fail — and why continuous coaching is the more honest way to lead.
• 🔄 Back to API: 15 Years Later (and Why Now Matters)
  A full‑circle career moment and why it comes at such a critical time for journalism.
• 📞 References: Ritual or Result?
  A look at why job references still exist — and whether they actually tell us anything useful.
• 🤔 The Fear Behind “I’ll Just Do It Myself”
  Exploring why delegation is so hard — and the insecurity that often hides underneath.

I know this week leaned a bit heavy on the HR side — but my personal favorite was The Golden Gourd. How about you? Did one of these hit closer to home?

If there are questions you’d like me to tackle or issues you want explored, hit reply or drop a note.

Thanks, as always, for reading, sharing, and supporting. Have a great weekend.

—Yoni

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