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 create another leadership manifesto. We were trying to name something we kept seeing but rarely heard leaders say out loud. The moment when progress only comes after you let go. Let go of control. Let go of ego. Let go of the belief that leadership means having all the answers.
As we began sharing the idea of surrender with our clients, something unexpected happened. Leaders did not push back. They did not need convincing. Instead, they nodded.
“Yes,” they said. “I already do that.” “And here’s where I need to do it more.”
That reaction told us we were onto something.
When we floated the idea of a summit, one day of honest conversations with real leaders, the response was immediate. The second many of these leaders read the book, they saw themselves in it. Not as a concept, but as a practice. As something they were already wrestling with in boardrooms, in crises, and in the quiet moments when leadership feels loneliest.
What makes this summit special is the people who recognized themselves in it.
- Jennifer Cunningham, Editor-in-Chief, Newsweek
- Billy Beane, Former General Manager, Oakland Athletics
- Meredith Kessler, Professional Triathlete
Those three voices alone tell you something important. Surrender is not a personality trait. It is not reserved for one industry, one background, or one leadership style. It shows up in endurance sports, in data driven decision making, and in building a brand that has lasted decades.
And this is not even a quarter of our speakers.
These leaders joined because surrender already plays a role in their lives, whether they call it that or not. They have lived the tension between holding on and letting go. They have experienced the cost of clinging to what used to work. And they have seen what happens when leaders choose responsibility and clarity over control.
At Culture Partners, this matters to us because it reflects what we see inside organizations every day. Culture shows up in practice, not in theory, and leadership becomes very real when conditions are uncertain and tradeoffs have consequences. The way people decide, prioritize, and take responsibility when clarity is limited is what ultimately determines whether an organization holds together or starts to drift. This summit is about the practical application of surrender in today’s world. How leaders release what no longer serves them so results can follow.
Six days from now, these conversations move from the page to the stage. From private recognition to public dialogue.
If you have ever felt the tension between holding tighter and stepping back, you will recognize yourself in these stories too.
We are almost there.
Register today at: https://www.surrendertolead.com/summit/
Elsewhere In Culture
https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20260105
The U.S. Department of Labor issuing six new opinion letters may sound procedural, but for organizations, this is a culture moment disguised as compliance guidance. When rules around classification, bonuses, overtime, and family medical leave are clarified, leaders are forced to confront how their systems actually work, not how they believe they work. Ambiguity in labor standards often creates quiet tension inside organizations, where managers improvise, employees second-guess fairness, and trust erodes without anyone naming why. Clarity from regulators removes one excuse leaders sometimes hide behind, which is that the rules are too complex to apply consistently.
What matters next is how organizations respond. Some will treat these letters as a legal checklist and move on. Others will recognize that classification decisions, pay structures, and leave policies send powerful cultural signals about respect, accountability, and transparency. Employees notice when policies are technically compliant but unevenly applied, and they notice when leaders proactively create clarity instead of waiting for disputes to surface. Strong cultures do not rely on confusion to maintain control. They use clarity to build trust. When leaders take guidance like this seriously and translate it into understandable, fair practices, they reduce friction, prevent resentment, and reinforce that the system is designed to work for people, not around them.
https://www.wsj.com/economy/u-s-factory-activity-slides-unexpectedly-ef744cc9
U.S. factory activity slipped again in December, with the Institute for Supply Management reporting continued contraction across production, inventories, and employment, and while the economic implications will dominate headlines, the deeper signal shows up inside organizations navigating sustained uncertainty. Periods of contraction test how work actually gets done, how decisions are made, and whether leaders communicate with consistency when pressure builds, because when growth slows, informal habits become visible systems and unspoken assumptions start driving behavior. This is when culture stops being aspirational language and starts functioning as the operating logic that determines whether people move with focus or retreat into risk avoidance and confusion.
What often gets exposed in moments like this is a lack of alignment. Employees feel the shift when priorities change without explanation, when accountability becomes uneven, or when decision-making quietly recentralizes under the guise of caution. Organizations that hold together during contraction tend to share a common trait: clarity that does not fluctuate with economic conditions. People know what matters most, how tradeoffs will be made, and where responsibility truly sits, even when resources are tighter and margins are thinner. Economic cycles are inevitable, but cultures that perform through them are intentionally designed to support disciplined execution, honest communication, and shared accountability when optimism alone is no longer enough.