#executive-vs-contributor

#executive-vs-contributor

Curiosity is foundational in the arts, as demonstrated by the Menil Collection's exhibition, which transformed a gallery into an education room through public programs.

I see this daily in veterinary medicine, where high burnout rates cost the sector upwards of $2 billion per year. It's a challenging environment with long hours, stressful workloads and patients that can't even tell you what's wrong. But I've found that the best way to boost performance and even increase capacity with maxed-out teams is to address the underlying operational issues.

Executive team roles come with high expectations-and often minimal onboarding.

You've hired smart people, and you've invested in tools. You've also restructured more than once. Given all these, on paper, everything should work. But the reality is different. Decisions take longer than they should, and ownership gets blurred. Teams move, then stall, then circle back. You step in more than you want to, not because you enjoy it, but because progress depends on you doing so.

For decades, HR professionals were denied their "seat at the table" in company leadership. But during the COVID pandemic, it became abundantly clear that the C-suite could no longer ignore chief people officers, who guided companies through existential business challenges, including lockdowns, remote work, and the Great Resignation. Now, a quieter and more structural shift is underway. The seat remains, but the authority attached to it is moving elsewhere.