ReportWire

Tag: Leadership

  • 7 Ways That Leaders Can Tap Into Their Inner Motivation

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    Picture this: You’re a mountain biker riding your favorite trail when suddenly a black bear bursts from the trees and starts chasing you. Instead of stopping to think, your motivation to move kicks in big time. Your muscles tense, your heart pounds, and your vision narrows. You pedal with a focus you’ve never felt before. The bear pursues at full sprint, getting closer until, with a fresh burst of adrenaline, you pull away and make it down the mountain safely.  

    When motivation finds you   

    Everyone has moments when they’re not highly motivated until something external comes along. A competitor blitzes your field. A major client walks. Your culture cracks. Suddenly, your body—and mind—shift dramatically into super-high motivation mode.  

    That’s when your primal survival wiring lights up—the amygdala triggers, adrenaline and dopamine surge, your focus narrows, and action accelerates. Your motivation is in high gear. You are fired up.  

    The truth is that in modern leadership, a) people rarely have literal bears chasing them, and b) you don’t need a crisis to access your highest gear. The real leadership question is: How can you access that kind of powerful energy intentionally without the impetus of danger? You simply need proper alignment of purpose, connection, and clarity. 

    I gamified this at home with my kids. When they said they couldn’t finish homework, I’d ask, “If I gave you a million dollars, could you?” They always said yes. It wasn’t the million that changed anything. It was the shift in perceived value and urgency. 

    Reflection questions 

    • What would make you pedal faster—purpose, urgency, clarity, or pride? 
    • What “bear” is lumbering in your business or within you right now: a missed opportunity, a slipping culture, or a silent competitor? 
    • How can you access that surge of motivation without waiting for something to chase you? 

    7 ways to kick your motivation into high gear 

    1. Move first to get motivated. Initiate action even if the spark is weak. Motion often ignites motivation. 
    2. Name your deeper why. Before beginning a task, ask, “Who or what benefits from me doing this well?” Connect to that. 
    3. Simulate stakes. Create an imagined bear survival scenario. Really see it and feel it. Get your other senses in on the action, too. Then, act accordingly.  
    4. Use the million-dollar test. Ask yourself or your team, “What would make this task feel like if it were worth a million (or a billion)?” Then, get to work. 
    5. Break into microbursts. Set a short timer for 15 to 20 minutes, and commit to deep focus. Neuroscience research has demonstrated that short wins tip dopamine in your favor. 
    6. Lead from love, not fear. Fear can start the sprint. Love, purpose, and connection keep you in the race. Be in love. 
    7. Debrief your surges. After you’ve had a high-focus stretch, ask yourself, “What triggered this energy? How can it be replicated without a crisis?” Build that recipe. 

    Team talk: How to increase motivation

    At your next team huddle, ask each person: When have you performed at your peak in a crisis? Without a crisis, when have you moved fast because meaning and clarity drove you? Next, brainstorm ways to replicate those conditions in your work rhythm moving forward. 

    Your inspirational challenge 

    Your brain is wired to save your life, and you can rewire it to enliven your life. Don’t wait for fear to flip the switch. Instead, use love, purpose, and clarity to activate that same neuro-energy. That’s how you summon the same surge of focus and clarity without the panic. 

    Love-powered leadership transforms intention into action and pressure into purpose. So, when motivation feels distant and you’re feeling flat, remember: You already have access to a higher gear. The only thing you need outrun is your own hesitation. Use your inner power not just to escape danger, but to pursue what truly matters. 

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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    Moshe Engelberg

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  • How to Lead During Times of Uncertainty

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    If ever there was a time for leaders to prove their trustworthiness, it’s now.

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    Jerry Colonna

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  • Research Shows That the Best Leaders Repeat Themselves. Here’s Why You Should Too

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    As a leader, a big part of your job is to communicate key messages effectively. This way, your team is clear and focused on the right things. Often, this means repeating yourself. Yet many of my coaching clients balk at this premise of sharing the same message again, fearing they might sound redundant, annoying, condescending, or even lazy. 

    This is the paradox of leadership communication. The habit leaders sometimes fear—repeating the same message—is often the secret weapon of influence, alignment, and credibility. Consider the impact of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s relentless focus on developing a growth mindset. There’s also ex-PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi’s consistent emphasis on “performance with purpose.” 

    Here’s how I encourage you to think about it: Save your creativity and novelty for your internal processes and your product offerings. Communicate your message consistently and, yes, repeat yourself. When you repeat your message, you’re not a nagging boss, but rather a resonant leader.   

    The benefits of repeating yourself 

    There are three key benefits of repeating yourself: attention, believability, and speed. Attention might be the most obvious benefit. The more your audience is exposed to a message, the more likely they are to internalize, recognize, and recall that message. Marketers often reference the AIDA framework, which involves funneling customers through a sequence from attention to interest to desire to action, based on repeated exposure to a message. 

    You can think of your own communication with your internal team in the same way. Given our fragmented attention spans and messaging overload, repetition can be the secret to garnering awareness and attention. 

    The second benefit of repeating yourself as a leader is believability, also known as the illusory truth effect. The phenomenon is exactly what it sounds like. In a 2021 research study published in the journal Cognitive Research, participants rated statements they had seen multiple times as more truthful than new statements. 

    The third benefit of repeating yourself is speed, as in speed to execution. Research from Harvard Business School’s Tsedal Neeley and her colleagues shows how what they call redundant communication can boost teams’ speed and confidence in execution. Put more simply, repeating yourself can reduce the time from communication to action. 

    Certainly, overexposure of a repeated message can go too far. However, the overexposure threshold is likely much higher than many of us would guess, based on these three real benefits of repetition. Repeated messages inspire attention, believability, and speed. Now the question is, how to execute this powerful, consistent messaging. 

    Your playbook on powerful, consistent messaging 

    Your first challenge is to identify the main message that you want to reinforce or repeat. Did you recently introduce a new vision, mission, strategic priority, or organizational values? Consider GM CEO Mary Barra’s frequent reference to her company’s vision: “zero crashes, zero emissions, zero congestion.” Do you have a mantra or rally cry? Consider Jeff Bezos’s “Every day is day one.” 

    Consistently repeating this new message will clarify and focus your team’s attention and efforts. The type of message and how you say it will depend on your industry, organizational structure, team dynamics, and personal leadership style. 

    How to strategically and optimally repeat your message 

    1. Label it. Be direct when referencing your message and label it. Use simple phrases like, “This bears repeating because it’s very important …” or “This is what we all need to commit to memory and focus on over the next fiscal year.” Call out the significance of the message and clarify why you’re repeating it. 

    2. Share the message in formal and informal contexts. You may introduce the message in a formal speech, and then reference it in meetings and informal conversations. Bring it up when you’re facilitating a Q&A! 

    3. Go multimedia. Beyond your verbal communication, reinforce your message across multimedia. This might include written material such as your organization’s website, corporate reports, and perhaps in your email signature. Be creative. You might even create a consistent visual depiction of the message on a presentation slide, one-pager, or infographic. 

    4. Leverage the network effect. While some leaders assume they should unilaterally “own” the message, encouraging others to share your message can rapidly amplify your message. Encourage and celebrate others who reference and repeat your message 

    5. Breathe new life into your message. Preserve freshness while retaining consistency by explicitly highlighting how the message is relevant over time with new data, stories, or challenges. 

    When you intentionally repeat yourself, you’re not a nagging boss. Rather, you’re a resonant leader. As a communication coach, I remind leaders: If you’re getting tired of saying it, that’s a sign you’re doing something right.  

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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    Andrea Wojnicki

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  • Ethics: My Newly Assigned Second-in-Command Keeps Undermining Me. What Should I Do?

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    A Reddit member writes: My colleague and I were both promoted by my boss a few months ago, I was promoted to Head of, and they were promoted to Director (my 2IC). Their role is split between Director and Regional Manager (not ideal). We’d worked together a little before the promotion but not extensively. Since the promotion, there have been occasions where I believe they’ve undermined me.

    [For example] They proposed shifting strategy in their region and sent me a short Word document outlining the change. I agreed with the sentiment but asked for a more detailed plan, as it didn’t consider all the risks. They agreed, but a few weeks later, I heard from someone else that they had instructed the team to move forward with the plan anyway.

    Now, I’m unsure how to move forward. I’ve lost trust in them. We’ve discussed other initiatives they’ve said they support, but I’m no longer confident they do. Their dual role limits how much they can support me anyway. They are talented, and ideally, I’d like to leverage their ideas–but I don’t have to. To make the best use of their time (and protect mine), my plan is to delegate time-consuming projects I don’t need to handle personally and focus on progressing the broader priorities, as there’s plenty to do.

    Minda Zetlin responds:

    This is a very awkward situation. You have someone reporting to you whom you did not hire or choose for the role. Which presumably means you can’t fire them at will, either. You mention in the discussion that they’re the top performer in this group, and that they work in the same U.S. office as your boss, while you’re working remotely from the U.K. None of that makes this any easier.

    Going ahead with a strategy shift after promising you they’d give you a fuller plan first is a huge red flag. Whether or not they’re actively trying to undermine you, they are refusing to accept your authority. They seem to hope that if they ignore you, you’ll go away. Perhaps they believe your new job should have been theirs instead.

    I’ll echo the advice you got from several who commented: You should document every instance of their broken commitments or insubordination. For example, what happens if the new strategy they launched without your approval turns out to be a disaster? Will they be able to claim that you signed off on it? Or is your request for a detailed report and your warning about the possible risks in writing?

    This employee has earned your mistrust.

    You are very right not to trust this person, which is why documentation is so important. Any solution must start with clearer communication. You mention that you have regular one-on-one meetings, but not how often. For example, what if you had a weekly or even daily check-in in which you asked for an update on their new strategy and on the report they promised they’d write? They would have to choose between telling your up front that they were ignoring your instructions or actually lying to you about what they were doing (rather than simply failing to let you know). Or else, they could put off implementation until they had your go-ahead. Any of these would have been better than what actually happened.

    Although you can’t yet trust them, both ethically and as a good leader, your first goal should be to create a better relationship with them. They’re a top performer and you say you would like to use their talents. They clearly have the potential to be a huge asset to you as well as to your organization. You must try and turn them from an enemy into an ally.

    It’s time to tell your boss.

    You say that your 2IC has a good relationship with your boss, but so do you. Alerting your boss to this issue and providing what documentation you can is the first step. Tell your boss know that you want to improve your relationships with this person, and you will need support to do so. Do it right away. You don’t want the boss first hearing about the problem from your subordinate rather than you.

    Then, have a friendly and honest conversation with your 2IC. Ideally, it should be an in-person conversation rather than video chat although given the distance, that might not be possible. Either way, let them know that they have to start following your instructions. Tell them you are giving them time-consuming work because you can’t trust them with anything better. But you wish that you could.

    Don’t say that they’re intentionally undermining you, even if you feel sure that they are. That gets you into a discussion of their thoughts and motivations, which won’t be helpful. Stick to just the facts: You said this; they did that.

    Tell them you’re on their side.

    Also let them know that you are on their side and would like to have a good relationship. Ask them about their aspirations and what they would most like to do. Let them know you’ll do your best to help them achieve those goals. Make a specific plan for them to check in with you very regularly about what they’re doing and to make sure communications are completely clear. Get their written agreement to this plan. And then forward a copy to your boss.

    What happens next is up to them. If they continue ignoring what you tell them, you’ll have evidence of that in writing. That evidence should be difficult for your 2IC and your boss to ignore. If the problem continues, you’ll be well positioned to initiate or request disciplinary action and/or a transfer away from your area.

    But I hope that’s not what happens. I hope that by being honest, friendly, firm, and fair, and letting them know you care about their welfare, you can gain their genuine support. And maybe even turn this enemy into a friend.

    Got an ethical dilemma of your own? Send it to Minda at minda@mindazetlin.com. She may address it in a future column.

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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    Minda Zetlin

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  • Nextdoor CEO Nirav Tolia’s Plan to Reboot the Neighborhood App: Interview

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    Nirav Tolia, who co-founded Nextdoor in 2010, has returned as its CEO. Courtesy Nextdoor

    The heyday of Nextdoor saw the neighborhood-focused social app thrive as a hub for connections, local recommendations and coordinated responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. But after years of slowing growth and accusations of toxic content, the platform began to falter. Now, returning CEO Nirav Tolia is on a mission to revamp Nextdoor not by restoring it to its former glory, but by pursuing an entirely new path focused on hyperlocal news and A.I. features.

    “The reality is you don’t bring a founder back to incrementally change something, you bring a founder back to reboot something,” Tolia, who co-founded Nextdoor in 2010, told Observer. “And rebooting, in many cases, is more difficult than booting.”

    Tolia stepped down as CEO in 2018 shortly before Nextdoor went public. The company, which connects more than 100 million neighbors and had 21.8 million weekly active users as of August, has since struggled to regain its footing. Its stock price has fallen more than 80 percent since its IPO.

    Returning to the helm required Tolia to adapt to a very different challenge: rebuilding rather than creating from scratch. “You first have to stop the momentum, which takes a ton of energy, and then you have to actually start the momentum in a positive direction,” he said.

    Rebooting Nextdoor

    In July, Tolia unveiled a reimagined version of the social network, designed to make Nextdoor more local and more useful. A new alert system warns residents about emergencies like severe weather or power outages, while partnerships with more than 3,500 local publications bring geographically tailored news directly into users’ feeds.

    A.I. sits at the heart of Tolia’s turnaround strategy. A new Nextdoor A.I. agent draws from the platform’s vast archive of posts to provide contextual responses to user questions. The technology also powers personalized feeds and offers writing suggestions, including “kindness reminders” to encourage civility when users draft posts.

    Curbing negativity is a major focus for Tolia’s team, which aims to counterbalance complaints with more uplifting or informative content—such as community events and local news. Although negative posts make up less than 1 percent of all content on Nextdoor, Tolia said they “punch above their weight” by dominating the tone of discussions.

    “We want to make sure that, with things like the kindness reminder, they are expressing themselves in a constructive way,” said Tolia. “But the real solution for us is to consistently introduce content types that are not about complaining, but that are about delight.”

    As A.I. becomes more deeply integrated into daily life, Nextdoor sees this as a pivotal moment to strengthen real-world community ties. Encouraging users to connect with their neighbors and engage in local life is “something that I think can have really lasting impact, particularly in a world that’s losing its connection to the physical world,” said Tolia.

    Early feedback on the redesign has been largely positive, according to Tolia. Still, he acknowledges that Nextdoor—which has yet to turn a profit—faces a long road ahead. “We’re in the early stages of a big turnaround,” he said. “We’ve now created a good foundation, but we’re very far from cracking the code.”

    Nextdoor CEO Nirav Tolia’s Plan to Reboot the Neighborhood App: Interview

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    Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

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  • How Thinking Locally Can Help You Build Your Personal Brand

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    Great leaders can have far-reaching influence that spans industries and continents. But here’s what most people miss: that influence almost never starts at scale. The greatest leaders in history built their impact locally, first establishing themselves among their communities, reinforcing their personal brand, and discovering their leadership qualities before ever reaching a national stage.

    Here’s why outstanding leadership starts at home, how local visibility affects personal career arcs, and what you can do to cultivate this local offline presence.

    Building trusted connections in local markets

    Investing in your local life and world shows you’re willing to work hard, even if it doesn’t get you online fame. In a digital world where everything is on a screen, there’s something special that happens when you come face-to-face with someone and build a relationship.

    It also gives you a smaller platform on which to practice leadership, where feedback is more intimate and your mistakes won’t echo as loudly. Making local connections enables you to build long-term brand equity by engaging on an individual level and honing your leadership craft.

    Peer-to-peer connections count, too

    Building a personal leadership brand is more than building a platform where people look up to you. It also requires finding the right mentors and peers who can help you grow. Your local community is the perfect place to tap into those offline experiences with others like yourself.

    One example of this is Gobundance. This mastermind leadership group is a national network of high-achieving men looking for well-rounded, whole-life excellence. Most of Gobundance’s activities are national in scope, but I’ve learned about some of their regional elements, too, including their GoPods. These are local chapters of members who use their proximity to connect, collaborate, and educate one another based on their shared area knowledge.

    When you can add that local dimension to your brand building, you can find deeper connections. This makes it easier to build bridges between peers, establish trust, and find allies who can help you develop your leadership traits.

    Establishing community-wide impact and recognition 

    Along with connecting with local peers to build trusted and safe spaces to learn and grow, focusing on the wider community can establish a deep sense of appreciation and respect for and from your local community.

    When you show up in person to serve, educate, or even celebrate local community members and organizations, you step outside of the digital bubbles we put ourselves in online. You become a real, in-the-flesh human being with thoughts and feelings that directly impact the people who live around you.

    To put it another way, community events aren’t just a PR play. They’re a credibility multiplier. They put tangible actions behind your branded intentions. This can be something as simple as volunteering at a soup kitchen or a church garage sale.

    You can target your efforts in a specifically professional direction, too. An example that comes to mind here is 1 Million Cups. The entrepreneurial and community support group meets every Wednesday in local chapters, where business-minded members share leadership expertise. They address challenges and identify opportunities in business that can help reduce systemic barriers and foster shared economic flourishing.

    The point I’m making here? You can invest in local communities in multiple ways. Regardless of whether you’re ladling out soup or helping a local startup wrestle through a supply chain snafu, this can build your community recognition with one of the highest-ROI activities in the personal branding game: service.

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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    Shama Hyder

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  • 7 Habits That Make You Look Unprofessional in Meetings

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    Picture a meeting at work, where impatience, bored eye-rolling, shuffling, and deafening silence follows your attempts to share an idea. It’s not necessarily what you say. Sometimes, it’s the little things—the negative behaviors you might be unaware of—that make you look unprofessional in a meeting. The following behaviors can undermine your professional image without you even knowing it. 

    1. Arriving late 

    Be sure to factor in travel time if you work in a large building or have a long commute. Arrive five minutes early, have a seat, and get in the zone. It’s one of the simplest ways to start to be taken seriously. If it’s a virtual meeting, be in front of your computer—with coffee and notebook at the ready—before the meeting starts, not after. 

    2. Checking your phone or laptop 

    You don’t even think about doing it, do you? Swiping through WhatsApp or TikTok while someone is speaking to you in a meeting is profoundly unprofessional and disrespectful to that person. Close the tab, turn off notifications, and give others the gift of your attention. You’re there, right? 

    3. Making excuses or complaining 

    Sure, moaning and groaning about work or home is a natural thing. However, too much of a good thing loses its magic. Nobody has energy to spare for whiners. If you have a serious gripe, own up to what’s on your mind. Ask, “What can I do to make this better?” Nobody likes a victim. 

    4. Interrupting 

    You may think you’re looking attentive by interrupting a conversation. However, jumping in before someone else has finished their sentence? Not the best approach. It’s also unprofessional. Don’t be so hasty with your responses in meetings. Take time to listen and pause to think before you reply. You’ll earn the respect to make what you’re going to say land with others. 

    5. Bragging 

    Sharing good news with others is great. Bragging about yourself isn’t. Be proud of your achievements but let your actions do the talking. If someone else has done well, use the meeting to give them a shoutout. That’s one of the ways you become a great leader. 

    6. Looking messy 

    Casual Friday is one thing, but showing up on Monday looking like you’ve just rolled out of bed is unprofessional. It says, “I’m disorganized. I’m not doing anything of note and don’t care about anyone else either.” Respect yourself and others by taking five minutes to get yourself put together properly. 

    7. Missing meetings 

    Sure, everyone needs a day off now and again. However, if you’re someone who regularly ditches important gatherings or conferences to get your head down, you’re soon seen as unapproachable and unreliable. Invest in yourself and others by turning up and showing what you’re made of.

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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    Peter Economy

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  • 4 Leadership Habits That Make People Instantly Respect and Trust You

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    Early in your career, you probably believed leadership was about control. You spoke first in meetings, made quick decisions, and expected others to follow without hesitation. You projected confidence, thinking that would earn respect.

    But if you looked closer, something didn’t feel right. Your team did what you asked—but only what you asked. People stayed quiet when they disagreed. Meetings felt efficient but uninspired. You were getting compliance, not commitment.

    Throughout his career as a leader Robert Dilenschneider, author of Respect: How to Change the World One Interaction at a Time, has learned numerous lessons. But one has stood out above the rest: fear might deliver results, but respect sustains them. “The best leaders don’t lead by intimidation—they lead by influence,” Dilenschneider says. “And influence starts with trust. Leading with respect isn’t soft leadership. It’s smart leadership. It transforms communication, fuels creativity, and builds the kind of loyalty that can’t be forced.”

    Here are four key methods Dilenschneider says you can employ to develop a greater level of respect and trust from your team.

    Make trust come first, not last

    Trust isn’t a perk you earn after you’ve proven yourself. It’s the foundation that allows you to lead in the first place. “When you withhold information or operate behind closed doors, people assume the worst,” Dilenschneider says. “Transparency, on the other hand, signals confidence. Share the ‘why’ behind decisions, not just the ‘what.’ When people understand context, they’re more likely to align with your goals rather than question your motives.”

    And be consistent. Nothing erodes respect faster than inconsistency or favoritism. People notice who gets the benefit of the doubt and who doesn’t. 

    Show warmth—it opens doors strength can’t

    You’ve probably met leaders who command attention the second they walk into a room. But charisma without warmth creates distance. People may obey, but they won’t open up. The moment you shift from projecting dominance to showing empathy, you’ll notice a change. Start meetings by asking how people are doing—not as filler, but as connection. Offer appreciation before feedback. Pause before you react. These small actions create an environment where people feel safe to tell you the truth, not just what they think you want to hear.

    Warmth doesn’t mean being a pushover; it means leading with humanity.  

    Listen like it’s a strategy

    Most leaders think they’re good listeners. Few actually are. Listening is focusing so completely on the other person that you forget your own agenda for a moment. When you listen like that, people notice. They feel heard. They start sharing real information—the kind that helps you make smarter decisions.

    “Here’s a trick: When someone finishes speaking, pause for three seconds before you respond,” Dilenschneider suggests. “Those three seconds feel long, but they invite honesty. People fill that space with the truth they were hesitant to share.” Respectful listening doesn’t just make people feel valued—it saves you from expensive misunderstandings.

    Every strong culture begins with leaders who make others feel safe enough to speak. Listening is how you get there.

    Defend the culture out loud

    A respectful culture doesn’t survive by accident; it survives because you protect it. That means addressing bad behavior the moment you see it. People watch how you handle small moments. If you ignore them, they assume you don’t really mean what you say about values and respect. “But when you intervene calmly and consistently, you send a powerful message: This is who we are, and this is how we treat each other,” Dilenschneider says. “Culture isn’t built by slogans—it’s built by leaders who refuse to let disrespect take root.”

    When you lead with respect, people stop working for you and start working with you. They contribute ideas, challenge assumptions, and look for ways to improve things you hadn’t even noticed. You’ll also notice how respect reshapes performance. Teams led with fairness and openness experience lower turnover and higher innovation. The energy once spent protecting egos gets redirected toward solving problems.

    There will always be moments when stress pushes you toward control—when you want to tighten the reins, raise your voice, or take over. Stop yourself. Breathe. Choose curiosity instead of command.

    In the end, you’ll find that leading with respect actually strengthens your authority. People don’t remember the loudest leader or the most brash; they remember the one who made them feel heard, valued, and trusted.

    “Respect is the ultimate leadership legacy,” Dilenschneider adds. “It’s what people remember long after titles, meetings, and quarterly results fade away. When you lead with respect, you don’t just improve performance—you improve people.”

    That’s what real leadership looks like.

    Like this article? Subscribe here for more related content and exclusive insights from executive coach Marcel Schwantes.

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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    Marcel Schwantes

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  • The CEOs of Apple, Airbnb, and PepsiCo agree on one thing: life as a business leader is incredibly lonely | Fortune

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    Being CEO has its many perks: Business leaders get to command the world’s most powerful companies, shape their legacies as pioneers of industry, and enjoy hefty billion-dollar paychecks. But in the steep climb up the corporate ladder, many won’t notice all the peers left behind until they’re looking down from the very top. It can be a lonely, solitary job.

    Leaders at some of the world’s largest companies—from Airbnb and UPS to PepsiCo and Apple—are finally opening up about the mental toll that comes with the job. As it turns out, many industry trailblazers are grappling with intense loneliness; at least 40% of executives are thinking of leaving their job, mainly because they’re lacking energy and feel alone in handling daily challenges, according to a Harvard Medical School professor. And the number could even be higher: About 70% of C-suite leaders “are seriously considering quitting for a job that better supports their well-being,” according to a 2022 Deloitte study. 

    To ward off feelings of isolation, founders and top executives are stepping outside of the office to focus on improving their well-being. Toms founder Blake Mycoskie struggled with depression and loneliness after scaling his once-small shoe business into a billion-dollar behemoth. Feeling disconnected from his life’s purpose and that his “reason for being now felt like a job,” he went on a three-day men’s retreat to work on his mental health. And Seth Berkowitz, the founder and CEO of $350 million dessert giant Insomnia Cookies, cautions bright-eyed entrepreneurs the gig “is not really for everyone.” 

    “It can be lonely; it’s a solitary life. It really is,” Berkowitz recently told Fortune.

    Brian Chesky, cofounder and CEO of Airbnb

    Eugene Gologursky / Stringer / Getty Images

    Airbnb’s cofounder and CEO Brian Chesky is one the most outspoken leaders in the business world waving the red flag on loneliness. Chesky described having a lonely childhood, pulled between his love for creative design and sports, never really fitting in. But his mental health took a turn for the worse once assuming the throne as Airbnb’s CEO. His other two cofounders—who he called his “family,” spending all their waking hours working, exercising, and hanging out together—were suddenly out of view from the peak of the C-suite. 

    “As I became a CEO I started leading from the front, at the top of the mountain, but then the higher you get to the peak, the fewer the people there are with you,” Chesky told Jay Shetty during an episode of the On Purpose podcast last year. “No one ever told me how lonely you would get, and I wasn’t prepared for that.”

    Chesky recommends budding leaders actually share their power, so no one shoulders the mental burden of entrepreneurship alone. 

    “I think that ultimately, today, we’re probably living in one of the loneliest times in human history,” Chesky said. “If people were as lonely in yesteryear as they are today, they’d probably perish, because you just couldn’t survive without your tribe.”

    Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo

    Jemal Countess / Stringer / Getty Images

    Leaders at Fortune 500 giant PepsiCo face constant pressure from consumers, investors, board members, and their own employees. But it’s also tough to vent to peers who may not relate to—or even understand—the trials and tribulations of running a $209 billion company. Indra Nooyi, the business’ former CEO, said she often felt isolated with no one to confide in.

    “You can’t really talk to your spouse all the time. You can’t talk to your friends because it’s confidential stuff about the company. You can’t talk to your board because they are your bosses. You can’t talk to people who work for you because they work for you,” Nooyi told Kellogg Insight, the research magazine for Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, earlier this year. “And so it puts you in a fairly lonely position.”

    Instead of divulging to a trusted friend or anonymously airing out her frustrations on Reddit, Nooyi looked inward. She was the only person she could trust, even if that meant embracing the isolation. 

    “I would talk to myself. I would go look at myself in a mirror. I would talk to myself. I would rage at myself. I would shed a few tears, then put on some lipstick and come out,” Nooyi said. “That was my go-to because all people need an outlet. And you have to be very careful who your outlet is because you never want them to use it against you at any point.”

    Carol Tomé, CEO of UPS

    Kevin Dietsch / Staff / Getty Images

    Before Carol Tomé stepped into the role of the CEO of UPS, she was warned the top job goes hand-in-hand with loneliness. The word of caution didn’t phase her—at least, not at first. But things changed when she actually took the helm of the $75 billion shipping company. 

    “I would say, ‘How lonely can it really be? It can’t be that lonely?’ What I’ve since learned is that it is extraordinarily lonely,” Tomé told Fortune last year. 

    “When you are a member of an executive team, you hang together…Now, my executive team will wait for me to leave a meeting so that they can debrief together. It’s the reality and you have to get used to it. But it is super lonely.”

    Tim Cook, CEO of Apple

    NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty Images

    Apple CEO Tim Cook isn’t immune to the loneliness that often comes with the corner office. More than 14 years into his tenure, he’s acknowledged his missteps, which he called “blind spots,” that have the potential to affect thousands of workers across the company if left unchecked. Cook said it’s important for leaders to get out of their own heads and surround themselves with bright people who bring out the best in them. 

    “It’s sort of a lonely job,” Cook told The Washington Post in 2016. “The adage that it’s lonely—the CEO job is lonely—is accurate in a lot of ways. I’m not looking for any sympathy.”

    Seth Berkowitz, founder and CEO of Insomnia Cookies

    Courtesy of Insomnia Cookies

    Entrepreneurship can be a deeply fulfilling and rewarding journey: an opportunity to trade a nine-to-five job for a multimillion-dollar fortune, if all the right conditions are met. And while Insomnia Cookies’ Seth Berkowitz loves being a CEO and all the responsibilities that come with it, he cautioned young hopefuls about the weight of the career. He, like Cook, advises aspiring founders to counter loneliness with genuine, meaningful connections.

    “It can be lonely; it’s a solitary life. It really is. [During] the harder times, it’s very solitary—finding camaraderie, mentorship, some sense of community, it’s really important,” Berkowitz recently told Fortune. “Because I go so deep, it’s sometimes hard to find others and let them in.”

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    Emma Burleigh

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  • Caitlin Clark speaks to Long Island leaders at LIA event | Long Island Business News

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    THE BLUEPRINT:

    • player spoke at the fall luncheon.

    • More than 700 community and business leaders attended the event.

    • Clark discussed focus, , and challenges in professional sports.

    • She highlighted her foundation’s work supporting youth and communities.

    WNBA star Caitlin Clark made her first visit to Long Island on Wednesday, speaking before more than 700 local leaders at the Long Island Association’s annual fall luncheon at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury.

    They were there to glean insights from the 23-year-old guard, who spoke about basketball, leadership, coaching and more.

    In a one-on-one conversation with Matt Cohen, president and CEO of the Long Island Association (LIA), Clark spoke about the benefits of focus and passion for the game.

    “I really love my craft, and I love getting better at it,” she said, adding that not everyone shares the same passion for putting in the hours at the gym to excel.

    Clark holds the distinction of being the youngest and first female professional athlete to address the LIA’s fall luncheon, an event typically featuring political leaders, authors or athletes.

    On Wednesday, LIA Chair Larry Waldman told the crowd that this year the organization is taking “a break from ,” which won applause in the room.

    Cohen has described Clark as a “transformational figure” in sports who “has in many ways transcended the sport of , and she’s changed the economics of the league.”

    In Woodbury on Wednesday, Clark said that she considers New York a top place to play basketball, adding that the crowd and support here are “really fun.”

    Still, she said there are challenges that sports fans may never see. For example, injuries and setbacks bring disappointment, she said. But those experiences have helped her “become a better teammate,” she added.

    She emphasized the importance of showing up for teammates, saying, that often “those are the teams that win at the end of the day.”

    A businesswoman and philanthropist, Clark said earning her degree in marketing at the University of Iowa help her in these roles. Now with partnerships with such companies as Nike and Gatorade, Clark stressed the importance of collaborating with “brands that align with who I am.”

    Asked by Cohen if she had any advice for some of the university leaders at the luncheon about working with student athletes, Clark pointed out that the athletes are typically 22 years old and younger who are beginning to find their footing. Support from coaches and university leaders can help young athletes navigate their paths, she said.

    through the Caitlin Clark Foundation, Clark said, is a highlight for her. The aims to “uplift and improve the lives of youth and their communities through education, nutrition and sport,” according to the foundation. The organization has installed athletic courts in Iowa and Indianapolis for to play sports, orchestrated backpack giveaways and more.

    Giving back, she said, was part of her upbringing.

    Clark often steered the conversation back to her family, who kept her grounded as a young athlete.

    She offered advice to young athletes today.

    “Just enjoy it,” she said.

    Pointing out that it wasn’t that long ago since she was a high school athlete, she reflected on those days, calling them “some of my best memories.”


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    Adina Genn

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  • 3 Steps for Better Interviews

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    CEOs of small, growing companies tend to call a bookkeeper to maintain financials or ask consultants about the right go-to-market strategy. But when it comes to hiring people, many use their gut instinct or the “would I have a beer with this guy?” test to make employment decisions.

    Many leaders rely on unstructured interviews or ask colleagues to rate candidates on nebulous characteristics like “fit” and “technical chops.” These unstructured approaches often give leaders misplaced confidence in their so-called hiring assessments, especially when numbers are assigned to candidates. And absent clear, written calibration on what those ratings mean, calculating the average 1-5 rating out to two decimal places doesn’t make the measurement any better—it just provides the illusion of measurement.

    A better approach would be to use industrial and organizational (I/O) psychology. Yes, a yawner of a name, but it’s a field steeped in research and statistics about understanding and predicting behavior at work. It can help business leaders select the best person for each role and effectively motivate employees. It can also help align your leadership team to company priorities, guiding them toward corporate growth.

    Although IO psychology originated in the early 20th century, not many leaders have heard of it. While other fields have created glitzy marketing campaigns for their less-than-stellar tools, I/O psychology has focused on excellence of measurement more so than telling the world about its excellent measurement. In short, it is a well-kept secret that needs to be more known.

    Like many sciences, I/O psychology works best when applied by trained practitioners, but a few key principles can help any business leader make better decisions when interviewing and hiring job candidates.

    Before the interview

    Here are three steps to take before you even begin to interview candidates.

    List competencies

    Think about the role you are interviewing for and consider what competencies a job candidate needs to be successful in that role. For instance, if you are hiring someone to grow the company in an adjacent market, it’s a good bet that traits such as entrepreneurship, an interest in learning, the ability to influence others, and commercial acumen will be important.

    Prepare interview questions

    Next formulate behavioral questions that determine whether a candidate possesses each competency. Prepare these questions in advance and ask every candidate to answer them. This approach will give you better, consistent information about each potential new hire, allowing you to fairly and objectively compare each candidate.

    Make sure the questions target a competency directly. Avoid brainteaser questions like, “If I shrunk you and put you in a glass how would you get out?” An essential I/O psychology tenet is the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, so instead ask about past behavior with this series of questions:

    • Tell me about a time you had to learn a new area to sell a product you were previously unfamiliar with.
    • What was the situation?
    • What did you do?
    • What was your role specifically?
    • How did it end?
    • What might you do differently next time?

    Develop a rating scale

    Prepare a Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS) that measures the candidate’s performance by rating specific, observable behaviors tied to a numerical scale of 1 to 5. For each question, determine ahead of time what answers would lead to rating of very ineffective (1), effective (3), and exceptional (5).

    For example, a candidate who struggles to articulate a learning strategy or who could not articulate value to clients would garner a 1 rating while a candidate who sought relevant sources and experts, and developed a working understanding to sufficiently describe the product in a timely manner would gain a 3 rating. A 5 rating would be reserved for a candidate who is deeply immersed in a topic, using multiple sources and integrating knowledge quickly, and has demonstrated the ability to become an expert in short order.

    During the interview

    Take copious notes during the interview and leave the evaluation for later. The easiest way to stay focused on the interview details and avoid evaluation is to write what is said instead of writing comments such as “good response” or “did the right thing.” This is very important because if you rush to evaluation, you aren’t giving the candidate an opportunity to independently demonstrate each competency. If you evaluate midway, it may color your judgment of the next question’s responses.

    After the interview

    After interviewing each candidate, go through your notes and assign ratings on each competency to each potential hire based on their answers, considering the BARS you created. It’s important to rate each candidate immediately; you’re not comparing them against each other, but rather, against the standards you’ve set.

    Think about each competency independently and collectively. For instance, someone might rate a 3 on influence but their decision making is a 5. Taken together, those ratings might make them the lead candidate, if the role requires exceptional decision making and influence skills are less important.

    Be realistic about role requirements; it’s highly unlikely that expert skill is needed for each competency. Being solidly competent means the person will be successful. In other words, 3s on some competencies is fine. Holding out for someone who scores all 5s will delay your hiring as you search for the impossible candidate.

    Final thoughts

    If this process seems too daunting, just as many leaders hire or contract an accountant or marketing consultant, consider contracting an I/O psychologist to help with employee assessment and selection. They can create job related competency-based interviews for you or even conduct the candidate assessment using interviews and even more robust assessment tools. A small investment in this expert skill set for key hires can pay large dividends.

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    Sandy Fiaschetti, Ph.D.

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  • 7 Networking Mistakes That Undermine Your Professional Success

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    In business and in life, your network is an asset. According to a study of University of Chicago alumni, “Entrepreneurs and investors found their professional networks to be most effective in helping them do due diligence on a market or opportunity, get management advice, learn about a new industry, find professional service providers, and identify best practices.” So why do so many businesspeople ignore their network or let it wither away? Here are seven habits that kill your network—and how to avoid them. 

    1. Meeting only when you need something 

    A huge networking faux pas is to contact someone for help only when you need a job or a favor. It sends a clear message that, “I only remember you when I want something.” You know how people say that your network is your net worth? Guess what? The only net worth you have is the people you’re helping. Genuine networking is not transactional. It’s a two-way street. 

    2. Rejecting virtual substitutes 

    While I’m sure you’ll agree that face-to-face interactions are best, there are a wide variety of virtual ways to meet that are almost as good. If you’re “too busy” to meet, message, or email anyone, you’re essentially telling the world, “I’m self-important, unavailable, and out of touch.” If you must skip social meetups, at least check in from time to time. 

    3. Treating networking as peripheral to your work 

    In my experience, successful networking is neither a hobby nor a sideline. It’s part of your career, pure and simple. It’s the activity that most differentiates the “making it” from the “trying to.” Think of your network as the oxygen tank that keeps your personal brand alive. 

    4. Using your network for gossip 

    It’s never a good idea to use any relationship as a platform for idle chitchat or to badmouth anyone. Word will get around about your own lack of trustworthiness and loyalty. Your network may be powerful, but silence about others’ reputations is golden. 

    5. Ignoring people you deem “unimportant”

    You may feel you have to interact with the “right” people to get the right opportunities—but how do you know who’s right for you? The person who ends up hiring you or giving you an opportunity might be the person you just met or the person you least expect. Ignore someone in a meeting, and everyone will notice. Treat everyone with respect, and no one will. 

    6. Trying to impress instead of being yourself 

    Think credibility instead of flash. Authenticity, respect, warmth, and good listening skills will bring you 100 times more mileage than your shiny résumé or self-promotion ever will. Put your network at the center of your interactions by making their lives better. Then, your life will get better, too. 

    7. Assuming you don’t have a large enough network 

    Chances are you know between 500 and 1,000 people in your personal and professional networks from all walks of life. They include former classmates, acquaintances, business and community contacts, and friends and family. But don’t forget that it’s not the size of your network that matters. Instead, it’s the quality. 

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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    Peter Economy

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  • Trump says he will ‘work very hard with Kim Jong Un’ to achieve Korean peace | NK News

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    U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung pledged to continue efforts to forge a lasting “peace” with North Korea at a summit on Wednesday, despite low prospects for a Trump meeting with Kim Jong Un during his visit.

    At a meeting on the sidelines of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) events in South Korea, Lee praised Trump’s “wonderful skills as a peacemaker” and offered Seoul’s support for his diplomatic outreach to Pyongyang.

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  • Trump says he’ll ‘come back’ to meet Kim Jong Un soon, downplays missile test | NK News

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    U.S. President Donald Trump cast doubt on the chances of meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his trip to the Korean Peninsula this week, but said he will “come back” to the area for a meeting soon.

    Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to South Korea on Wednesday morning, Trump said he didn’t know whether he’ll meet Kim on his current trip and that his focus is on planned talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Gyeongju on Thursday.

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  • This Report Says Most People Don’t Have ‘Quality Jobs.’ Here’s How Your Business Can Change That

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    A new study by research firm Gallup called the American Job Quality Study found that, essentially, the majority of Americans don’t have what’s defined as “quality” employment. The poll defined this as a job that pays fairly, has reliable scheduling and offers good routes for advancement and personal growth, among other positive characteristics. The data might prompt you to check in on your own staff and make sure their needs are properly met.

    The study’s data are stark: only four in 10 US workers have quality jobs, meaning six in 10 workers are being let down by their work in some way or another. Gallup’s data back this up, with the survey finding, for example, that while 71 percent of workers agreed that they could decide how to carry out their job, 62 percent of people said they didn’t have reliable work schedules — a characteristic that can drive up stress and worker disengagement, news site HRDive notes. Men are more likely than women to say they’ve got quality jobs (45 percent versus 34 percent), and while high-quality jobs are spread across the nation, they’re more common in western states than other regions. 

    Among the other unsettling results, Gallup’s survey of over 18,000 people working in different industries and job types found that 29 percent of people say they’re “just getting by” or “finding it difficult to get by.” A sizable 43 percent say they’re doing “okay,” and just 27 percent said they’re living “comfortably.” The report notes that this backs up other data showing half of all workers earn at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty line for a family of two.

    On the topic of job satisfaction, 85 percent of respondents agreed they were respectfully treated by colleagues and customers. But 69 percent said they had less influence than they should over their pay and benefits, and 55 percent feel the same about technology adoption at work. Though the survey doesn’t look into this too deeply, this latter point tallies with numerous other reports about the accelerated way many workplaces are adopting AI and requiring their workers use the tech to boost efficiency, even while they’re failing to provide adequate training and usage guidelines. Another data point in the Gallup study underlines this, since only half of the respondents said they’d taken part in workplace training and education in the last year. 

    The data on job quality are important, Gallup’s report notes, because having a quality job is linked with higher levels of job satisfaction: 58 percent of workers in quality roles have high job satisfaction compared to 23 percent of people in lower-quality jobs. Satisfaction is “consistently linked in prior research to lower turnover, higher productivity, and stronger business performance.”

    What’s the takeaway for your company? 

    Essentially it’s possible that even if you think your staff are doing well, and they seem happy and secure in their jobs, there may be undercurrents of worry or dissatisfaction that don’t reach your ears, either because workers don’t want to gripe or they worry about the implications of raising a red flag. Savvy leaders may use this report as a trigger to check in with their employees and see how they rate the “quality” of their jobs — there are a few simple organizational levers you can pull that would improve their feelings. 

    This is important for long-term growth, says Gallub senior partner Stephanie Marken. If your staff feel their job is a high quality one they may be “healthier, more engaged, and more productive.” Taking steps to boost job quality is not just “the right thing for workers; it’s a smart investment in stronger businesses and a more resilient economy,” Marken said. 

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    Kit Eaton

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  • Your Next Growth Hire Isn’t a CMO, CRO, or Funding Lead

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    When growth pressure hits, founders often default to hiring a CMO to drive demand, a funding lead to chase capital, or a CRO to cover both.

    But a CMO is built for brand and demand, not capital strategy. A funding lead may know investors but can’t build the marketing engine that sustains growth. And a CRO, while blending sales and marketing, rarely owns financial modeling, investor relations, or capital planning.

    Most scaling companies don’t have the budget or integration capacity for three high-cost executive hires. They need one strategic doer who can bridge funding imperatives and market traction—driving both with discipline without the executive bloat. Meet the chief of staff.

    Built for far more than just the political arena, here are eight ways a chief of staff provides the fastest path to investor confidence and customer growth.

    1. Drive funding strategy and investor narrative

    Most founders underestimate how fragmented their investor story sounds, and without a cohesive story, a raise falls apart. A chief of staff distills vision into a clear, investor-ready narrative. They map the capital plan (pre-seed through Series A and beyond), prepare for investor diligence, and align leadership around a sharp value proposition. The result: A story that’s credible and investor-tailored, so every conversation builds confidence instead of confusion.

    2. Validate financial models

    Numbers are where credibility is won or lost, and investors don’t just back vision—they interrogate the math. A chief of staff partners with finance leads to refine and illustrate models, pressure-test assumptions, and prep diligence responses. They tie projections to growth strategy, shorten investor Q&A cycles, and protect leadership from weak assumptions.

    3. Target and manage investor outreach

    Spray-and-pray outreach wastes months. A chief of staff runs investor engagement like a disciplined pipeline—researching the right investors, tailoring messaging, prepping collateral, and tracking touchpoints. They coordinate introductions and move warm leads forward, turning outreach into an organized capital-raising engine—increasing conversion while protecting your bandwidth.

    4. Develop and execute go-to-market (GTM) strategy

    Investors back proven traction, not theory. A chief of staff builds and drives GTM playbooks, coordinating across product, sales, and marketing. They test messaging, execute campaigns, and optimize based on performance. Their mandate is to keep GTM plans accountable to funding milestones and commercial growth.

    5. Expand capital and funding sources

    Smart operators don’t limit themselves to VC checks. A chief of staff widens the capital aperture—identifying non-dilutive funding, strategic partnerships, co-marketing sponsorships, and grants. They manage sourcing and application processes, build partner decks, and tee up conversations that bridge between institutional rounds.

    6. Reposition and align the brand

    If customer messaging and investor messaging diverge, you lose on both fronts. A chief of staff unifies brand and capital strategy, ensuring everything across every channel—web copy, product one-pagers, press releases, decks, advertising—reinforces the same message. They manage the rebrand process end-to-end, freeing you from the time sink of design, copy, and rollout.

    7. Sustain marketing momentum with execution discipline

    The best strategies fail when no one takes ownership of execution. A chief of staff translates goals into 30-60-90- day plans, prioritizes campaigns, holds cross-functional teams accountable, and ensures campaigns ladder back to growth targets. They keep the marketing engine consistent and outcome-focused, rather than getting lost in vanity metrics.

    8. Refine and differentiate investor pitch decks

    Generic pitch decks don’t survive scrutiny. A chief of staff acts as executive project manager and ghostwriter—tightening the arc, embedding data-driven proof points, and differentiating visuals, so you get decks that resonate with institutional investors, not just demo-day crowds.

    How to fill the chief of staff role

    There are two ways to add a chief of staff:

    • Full-time chief of staff: Best for later-stage organizations that can support the overhead and need a deeply embedded operator. Provides continuity and long-term strategic leverage.
    • Fractional chief of staff: Ideal for startups and high-growth companies that need the function now but not at 40–60 hours a week. Fractional offers speed, flexibility, and affordability while still delivering senior-level execution. You get top-tier talent aligned to your current stage and goals—without over hiring before you’re ready.

    The bottom line

    When urgent funding needs collide with disjointed marketing efforts, the instinct to hire two or three executives is a costly misstep. A chief of staff gives you both sides of the growth equation—capital raised and customers won—through one strategic, cost-effective role.

    For a deeper dive, explore frameworks and playbooks that outline how to structure a chief of staff role for maximum impact.

    Madeleine Niebauer is the founder and co-CEO of vChief.

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    Madeleine Niebauer

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  • Stop Working in Your Business and Start Working on It

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    As a founder of a third-party warehousing and fulfillment company, I get a lot of exposure to other founders and business leaders. A common theme that seems to plague all business leaders is getting out of the business so you can work on the business.

    If this is a concept you are unfamiliar with, working in the business is the day-to-day operations that are absolutely required to keep the business running. Working on the business involves the non-essential items for daily operations—tasks that are easily procrastinated but essential for growth and scaling. 

    Learning to differentiate between the two is the first step in moving out of the business so you can work on it.

    Let go of the day to day

    All business leaders struggle with this. The day to day is clear, and knowing the next fire to put out is obvious. It is a comfortable place where we achieve immediate, actionable results—a daily dose of dopamine. Founders especially struggle with this because our organization is our baby. Giving up control over the day-to-day can be terrifying—not only for our sense of self-worth and accomplishment but also due to the fear that others may fall short of our standards.

    Regardless of these fears and excuses, it is a necessary and worthwhile adventure to make the transition from being in your business to working on it. It is how you go from having a job to owning a company. It takes your organization from a startup to a true enterprise.

    Create a written framework around company values

    I operated my company, NovEx Supply Chain, for five years before I made a true effort to step out of the business and work on it. At that time, I was wearing so many hats that recovering 50 percent of my time seemed like a monumental feat.

    My first attempt at this was hiring a consultant to come in and help me with processes. That lasted about three weeks and cost me entirely too much money. At the time, I was simultaneously recruiting for a chief operating officer, a position that was new to our organizational chart. It was more than double the salary of any role I had previously had on my staff and even more than my own payroll. Despite the cost, I knew I was going to have to invest in my company if I wanted to create the capacity to grow it.

    While this hire was not a magic button that removed me from the business, it did get us started in the right direction. The COO I hired helped me create a written framework around the values I was already practicing within NovEx. Being explicit with our values gave us more power to guide our growth and staffing. We were able to build a team that I could trust with more of the day to day. Over time we implemented the correct roles to push accountability down the line and free up more of my time to work on the business.

    Set a deadline for transformation

    There were a lot of hiccups along the way. Nearly two years into the process I was feeling frustrated with our progress. My husband had joined the company to assist me with business development, but we still were not growing as I knew we could. He felt like I had the wrong person in the role. We had a theoretical academic when what I needed a tactical operator to build out the standard operating procedures required to complete my transformation from owner and doer to president and scaler.

    By December 2024, I had been on this journey to transition out of the day to day since March 2023. I am a procrastinator by nature. I need firm deadlines to force my hand. So, we planned a 17-day trip to Europe for late June 2025, a trip that would require the business to operate without me. A true deadline for the transformation.

    Overcome the myth of indispensability

    All the tasks I had been holding onto out of fear became critical to transition. The myth of indispensability, the idea that no one could do it like I could do it, had to be overcome. By March it was clear to me that I had the wrong structure in place, and we made a change. The transition felt like a setback, but we were more resilient as an organization than we had been two years earlier. We had not achieved the goals I had set but the progress was real and measurable.  Having a COO helped me to realize that what we really needed was a strong operations manager and an HR director. Together they would be able to finish building out the team and processes so I could focus on growing and scaling the company. 

    I took that trip in June and it went beautifully. My family made amazing memories, and I was able to leave work behind. I answered a few questions and took a few phone calls to show support, but overall, I was disconnected and on vacation. It was the first time in eight years of business that I had taken a true vacation where I didn’t work. I was able to focus on my family with confidence that my clients and employees would be just fine when I returned.

    Your business can’t be dependent on one person

    We still have more progress to make. I am still trying to figure out exactly what leadership structure works for us. I am also still getting comfortable with allowing people to do things at a slightly lower caliber than I would. I take comfort in knowing that I am creating an organization that can exist without me, a true company that isn’t dependent on any one person or role, one that can grow and scale to whatever heights I can imagine for it. That gives me the courage and the power to keep moving forward and working toward my goals.

    Letting go of the day to day didn’t make me less important to my company; it made me more valuable. And it gave me the freedom to build both the business and the life I envisioned.

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    Kelsey Hensley

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  • A major ICE shake-up is reportedly underway affecting at least half of the agency’s top leadership positions | Fortune

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is reassigning at least half the top leadership at Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices around the country in a major shake-up of the agency responsible for carrying out the president’s vision for mass deportations, according to one current and one former U.S. government official.

    The current official, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, said 12 ICE field office directors — the officers who run the network of field offices around the country responsible for immigration enforcement — were being reassigned.

    Half are to be replaced by existing or retired Customs and Border Protection staff, while the other half would be replaced by ICE officers, both the current and former officials said. The changes were initiated by the Homeland Security Department, the current official said, without specifying which cities were impacted.

    The former official, who has direct knowledge of the changes and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss information that was not intended for public release, said on top of the 12 reassignments, leaders in another four cities were being swapped out through retirements or other circumstances. He said the cities include major immigration enforcement targets such as Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington.

    He added that ICE leadership has been discussing the changes with other Trump administration officials for some time as part of a broad review of the agency.

    The reason for the personnel changes wasn’t immediately clear. But they indicate a greater integration of Border Patrol agents in ICE at a time when Customs and Border Protection has been accused of using heavy-handed tactics in its immigration enforcement.

    A major shakeup in Trump’s immigration enforcement leadership

    With a total of 25 field offices around the country, the reassignments amount to turnover of about half or more of the top staffers carrying out the president’s hardline immigration enforcement plans, which has seen a major deployment of law enforcement in major American cities, thousands of arrests and surging fear among residents, especially in immigrant communities.

    Homeland Security and the White House did not comment on the reassignments and each instead highlighted that all elements of immigration enforcement were working as one team.

    Putting Customs and Border Protection officers into top positions within Immigration and Customs Enforcement would create an expanded role for an agency that is already at the forefront of many of the aggressive tactics seen in both Los Angeles and now in Chicago.

    CBP officers — specifically Border Patrol agents — have carried out some of the most controversial operations as part of immigration crackdowns in both of those cities, including a recent raid in Chicago where officers rappelled down onto a building in an apartment complex from a helicopter. Border Patrol agents have also popped out of a moving truck and chased after people and conducted patrols through downtown Chicago.

    Border Patrol agents protect the land and water between the official border crossings to prevent human trafficking, drug smuggling or other types of contraband from entering the U.S. ICE, since its creation in 2003, is the main agency responsible for immigration enforcement inside the country.

    But during the Trump administration, Border Patrol agents have been taking part in immigration enforcement operations around the country, far from their more traditional duties.

    Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol sector chief from California who has been heading the Border Patrol’s operations in both cities, is himself accused of throwing tear gas canisters at protesters and took the stand Tuesday as a defendant in a federal lawsuit about whether federal officials are using excessive force in Chicago.

    Immigration and Customs Enforcement says its agents carry out “targeted enforcement operations,” which often involve hours of time staking out people they’re trying to remove from the country.

    It’s the latest in a series of personnel changes

    This is the third shake-up at ICE since Trump took office, reflecting the importance of the agency’s role in executing the president’s vision.

    In February, Homeland Security reassigned Caleb Vitello, the acting director of ICE, to another position. Todd Lyons, a veteran ICE agent, was later announced as the new acting head of the agency, a position he still holds.

    Then in May, ICE announced the reassignment of the two top officials heading the agency’s main branches.

    A spokesperson for Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, did not comment Tuesday on the personnel changes but said in a statement that the department remained “laser focused on RESULTS and we will deliver.”

    “This is one team, one fight,” she said. “President (Donald) Trump has a brilliant, tenacious team led by Secretary (Kristi) Noem to deliver on the American people’s mandate to remove criminal illegal aliens from this country.”

    White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in an e-mailed statement: “The President’s entire team is working in lockstep to implement the President’s policy agenda, and the tremendous results from securing the border to deporting criminal illegal aliens speak for themselves.”

    ___

    Spagat reported from Chicago.

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    Rebecca Santana, Elliot Spagat, The Associated Press

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  • 5 Takeaways from Our First Leadership Retreat

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    For the first time in the history of our marketing agency, our senior leadership team gathered in person rather than on Zoom to discuss the growth of our company. We carefully mapped out discussion points in advance, planned the agenda, booked a space where we could comfortably speak with one another, and then simply showed up.

    We were a bit hesitant going in; some of the topics were tough, and we weren’t sure how candid conversations would unfold. Could we be open with each other without breaking bonds? Would we be able to talk honestly about the pitfalls of our respective departments? It turns out, yes.  The experience was both enlightening and incredibly helpful. We left feeling inspired for the year ahead and with a renewed appreciation for the unique perspectives and strengths each of us brings to the table.

    While our entire company meets annually, dedicating time for the senior leadership team to focus on a structured agenda proved to be a valuable experiment. Without the usual distractions of running a 30-person retreat, we were able to dig deep.

    We hope to continue the exercise of setting aside time to review the big picture, dream big, and say the tough things to each other that move us forward into greater balance and success as a marketing agency.

    Through our time together, these five takeaways stood out as lessons to carry us throughout the year ahead.

    #1: There is immense value in hearing what troubles your colleagues.

    We dedicated a portion of the agenda to discussing the issues that bother us most. Initially, we anticipated this conversation would be uncomfortable and were unsure whether it would help or hurt. Instead, it proved invaluable. Hearing directly from our peers about the challenges they face gave us a better understanding of one another and highlighted areas where we can make decisions that alleviate pain points. It reinforced that we are all invested in supporting each other and committed to making our shared work environment better.

    #2: We value the same A-level players.

    One enlightening moment was realizing how much we share an appreciation for certain key team members. Hearing each other’s perspectives confirmed who is essential to our team and highlighted the contributions that make a real difference. This alignment strengthens our understanding of team dynamics and helps us prioritize the people and resources that drive our company forward.

    #3: Less structured activities, more focused work.

    Our agenda included planned team-bonding activities, but when discussions hit a high level of productivity, we chose to continue working instead of pausing. In hindsight, the optional evening activities ended up being more effective than the daytime team-building exercises. This reinforced that sometimes, giving space for uninterrupted, meaningful conversation is far more valuable than following a rigid schedule.

    #4: Our strengths are obvious when we step back.

    It’s easy, in the day-to-day grind, to focus on what could be improved. During the retreat, we intentionally outlined our company’s strengths. Seeing them all in one place highlighted who we are as a company and what we truly value. It was a moment of pride that reminded us how far we’ve come and the foundation on which we continue to grow.

    #5: Old-school paper and pen work best.

    We took notes with markers and paper, and we turned off all technology to eliminate distractions. There was something almost nostalgic about the experience. Being fully present allowed us to engage deeply with the conversation, and it’s a method we plan to continue using in future leadership sessions.

    Sometimes presence drives progress, and we’re here for it

    In today’s era of Zoom and remote work, it’s natural to want to hold important conversations online. But meeting in person allowed us to be more candid, more forward, and more connected with each other. For a leadership team responsible for the company’s growth and stability, the insights we gained from these face-to-face discussions were invaluable.

    Peter Boyd is the founder and president of Paperstreet.

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    Peter Boyd

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