Insights

I was a theater major. My classes included opera, Native American studies, Buddhism, set design, and a mix of subjects that had no obvious connection to each other. That’s a liberal arts education. Learning a little about a lot. It’s been seen as scattered. Not...

“You’re on mute.” It’s 2026. We’ve been working online for decades now. (I got my first work-from-home job in 2008). And yet we still haven’t figured out the mute button on zoom. I admit it, I just did it on Monday! First, you talk into a muted microphone and what...

I am so sick of reading LinkedIn posts talking about how “AI can never replace human empathy.”  Firstly, there is nothing controversial about that idea. It’s a nothing comment. It is the safest thing you can say about AI. It reassures people. It signals...

I called my mentor for advice about someone that was frustrating me this weekend. She said, “The question isn’t why are you disturbed. The question is why you are disturbable.”  Most of us spend a lot of time explaining our disturbances. We explain why that comment...

If you haven’t read this yet, you need to.   https://www.citriniresearch.com/p/2028gic? It is a viral report by Citrini Research that lays out a scenario (not a prediction) of what happens to the economy and industries globally in the next two years thanks to AI. It...

This year’s Super Bowl made one thing clear. Artificial intelligence has fully entered the mainstream conversation. The sheer volume of AI commercials was impossible to miss, and people began commenting on it early in the game. Somehow the huge story of the half-time...

“What do you do?”  It is uniquely American to ask someone that question as an icebreaker. In moments when I’m feeling shy, I feel it’s the only question my brain conjures to fill the awkward silence. But what does it say about us as a culture that the first thing we...

Writing Surrender to Lead was the most uncomfortable “practice what you preach” experience of my career. First of all, writing doesn’t come naturally to me. Second of all, being vulnerable doesn’t either. At one point we were going to use a ghostwriter, because...

I’ve said my New Year’s resolution is to answer a bigger call, and I meant it. The problem is that Q1 doesn’t politely make space for transformation. It shows up with pressure, deadlines, and an endless list of reasons to default to old habits.  So if I’m serious...

Yesterday we hosted our first ever Surrender to Lead Summit, and what struck me most was how quickly the conversation moved past aspiration and into responsibility. My highlight take away was about judgment, specifically the kind required when pressure is high,...

Six days. That’s how far away we are from the Surrender to Lead Summit, and I keep coming back to the same thought. This started as a book, but it quickly became a movement. A few years ago, Joe Terry and I decided to write Surrender to Lead. We were not trying to...

Last year, my New Year’s resolution was simple. I wanted to raise the stakes. I wanted to stretch myself, take bigger risks, and stop playing at the edges of my own potential. I wanted to feel like I was making the most of the time I have and the work I am doing.  And...

As organizations look toward 2026, many leaders are asking what it will take to play offense in an increasingly uneven environment. The answer shows up less in new strategies or harder pushes and more in the belief systems shaping daily behavior. Teams that sustain...

Two weeks ago I released the first half of my predictions for 2026 and today I have part two for you. Leaders wrote in with concerns, questions, and stories about the early signs they are already seeing inside their organizations. That feedback set the stage for last...

Last week Business Insider ran a hit piece on SHRM, and they got it all wrong. The reaction to SHRM says more about the state of HR than anything SHRM actually did. People are outraged, stunned, and disappointed, and that response exposes tension that has been...

It’s that time of year again. Time to look into our crystal ball and figure out what is to come. Through conversations with CEOs, research and client work, we’re beginning to see trends emerge that are shaping the future of work. Before we jump into predictions for...

Last week we explored the quiet ways uncertainty shapes leadership behavior and culture. There is another pattern that appears in the same conditions. Instead of moving faster or tightening pace, some leaders respond by holding more firmly to structure and control. It...

I have been on vacation this week, reading Miracles of Love by Ram Dass on the beach. The ocean behind the pages made one theme stand out more clearly. He was describing moments in history when people sensed that the structures they relied on were shifting, and how...

Last week we talked about what happens when everything goes dark. When AWS, CrowdStrike, or another global system collapses, companies rush to explain that it was out of their control. What we found then was a pattern. The more connected we become, the more blame gets...

Last time it was CrowdStrike. This time it is Amazon Web Services. Every time it happens, the story feels the same. A major outage occurs, millions are affected, and the immediate response is to find someone to blame.  When AWS went down, it was not just a technical...

HR needs saving.  The CHRO is struggling today the same way the CIO once did. For years, CIOs were seen as back-office support, focused on systems and infrastructure, quietly reporting to the CFO. They were necessary but not strategic. Then Y2K happened, and...

This week I am giving a keynote at a hospital association conference where hundreds of healthcare leaders are gathering to talk about their biggest challenges. When I asked what those were on a pre-call with the event leaders, the answers came without hesitation:...

People sometimes ask me how my Master of Divinity connects with my work in corporate culture. On the surface theology and organizational strategy look like they belong in entirely different worlds. But lately I have noticed the conversations overlap. And the overlap...

Over 800,000 people have been laid off this year, but you didn’t see many boycotts or hashtags about those folks. Then Jimmy Kimmel, an incredibly wealthy entertainer gets taken off the air and people who don’t even watch his show are galvanized to cancel their...

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fiverr-going-back-startup-mode-micha-kaufman-jfe6f/?trackingId=vL67CL59Wv5CEcQ28l0Ikg%3D%3D Micha Kaufman, CEO of Fiverr, just announced he is laying off 250 people and going back to startup mode. His post was long, transparent, and...

For years, I believed the story we were all told. That if I just leaned in harder, spoke louder, pushed further, and powered through, I could have it all. I thought success was a formula: show up, work harder, say yes, keep climbing.  And when that formula did not...

Years ago, when psychological safety became the buzzword du jour for business leaders, I was 100% on board. It was the answer to the power structures that kept employees silent, and finally we had a label for a common dynamic—and thanks to Amy Edmonson, some...

I used to work for a leader who always took the ultimate accountability for results. On weekly calls he would frequently say, “The reality is we didn’t hit our goal and that’s on me.” He said it with pride, believing this approach built trust and loyalty with his...