Predictions For 2026
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 2026, a quick note on last year’s: they aged well. Not because I’m clairvoyant, but because the signals were already flashing for […]
The Leadership Cost of ‘Needing to Know’
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 is a natural human tendency to want to grasp control of what feels […]
Leaders… Press Pause
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 unsettling that can feel. He talked about […]
The Death of the Culture Committee
For years, many organizations turned to culture committees with genuine hope. We supported them in that work because participation matters. People want to feel heard. Leaders want engagement to be more than a slogan. For a while, culture committees felt like progress. They brought people together, surfaced ideas, and signaled that culture was a priority. […]
When AI Fails, Accountability Still Belongs to Us
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 outsourced. Now that same story is unfolding again, only […]
The Accountability Dilemma of Global Outages
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 failure. It disrupted payroll systems, e-commerce platforms, […]
Jessica Kriegel – CNN – Women Leaving The Workforce
Make HR Great… Not Again, But For The First Time
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 everything changed. The threat of a global technology failure suddenly made the […]
“At Their Most Vulnerable”
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: increasing workplace violence. One leader said something that I have not been able […]
Mattson Newell – News Nation – Cooling Job Market
False Haste: When Waiting Becomes Wisdom
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 matters. I am reading On Becoming Wise Together by Maria Liu Wong for […]
Once Again, Story Trumps Data
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 Disney+ subscriptions in droves. Why? Because the story of injustice […]