#leadership

#leadership

One day, I decided I needed to call everybody. It was during COVID. Maybe it was just because I was sitting at home going, "I wonder what they're up to, what they're thinking, what they're worried about." It turned into this really interesting collection of perspectives because we have employees in 27 countries. You get a view of how they're seeing the economy, their work - what's working for them, what's not working.

He has served as acting public defender since December 2024. "Damon has served the county Office of the Public Defender for nearly three decades, and his longstanding commitment to public service clearly demonstrates that he is exceptionally well-suited for this role," said Board President Otto Lee. "We are proud to see a leader with such deep institutional knowledge and community partnership rise to lead the Public Defender's Office."

Every leader must recognize that we lead people, not job titles. The people who make up our organizations carry responsibilities far beyond their job descriptions, such as caring for children, managing health needs, supporting aging parents, handling school schedules and navigating everyday challenges. When CEOs understand that we are leading human beings, flexibility becomes one of the most powerful tools we have.

As executives rise to higher levels of leadership, they often report increased feelings of loneliness. One Harvard Business Review survey found that 55% of CEOs acknowledge experiencing moderate but significant bouts of loneliness, while 25% report frequent feelings of loneliness. As your expertise becomes more specialized, it can be harder to find other leaders who understand the unique challenges of the corporate environment, with whom you can connect, learn from, and grow alongside.

Leadership today demands more than vision and decisiveness. It requires staying emotionally steady, mentally flexible, and grounded-often while navigating constant pressure and competing demands. Yet many leaders operate in a near-constant state of stress without realizing how much it influences their reactions, decisions, and overall health. Burnout, irritability, poor sleep, and decision fatigue are often chalked up to time management or mindset issues.

Visa group president Oliver Jenkyn told Business Insider he thinks about his schedule like a Mason jar filled with big rocks, small pebbles, and sand. In his analogy, the big rocks represent the complex problems that Visa needs to solve, such as rolling out anew global program. The pebbles are the less complicated tasks, he said, such as pricing approvals. The sand is the "small stuff," like replying to emails, Jenkyn said.

Every leader leaves their mark on the hearts and minds of a workforce. This can go one of two ways: leaders can leave behind a legacy of inspiration, or infuriation. Based on thousands of perspectives collected from around the globe, Adam created a systemic formula for choosing and earning the lasting impact you want to have on others. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Adam Galinsky, in the Next Big Idea app or view on Amazon.

The topic of mental health is a crucial one, as security team burnout is a top challenge for many organizations. Those in the industry know stressors can be abundant when working security roles, and without proper mental health practices in place, many professionals can burn out. And when one team member burns out, it's possible that more will follow. "We're pretty much [on] 24/7, being security professionals," says Rodriguez.

The appointment comes at a time when web browsers are seeing a revitalization of sorts as AI changes how people use the internet. After more than a decade of dominating the market, incumbents like Firefox, Google Chrome and Apple's Safari are facing a fresh challenge from companies like Perplexity, Arc, OpenAI, and Opera, which are focused on baking in AI models and agents into their browsers to bring AI to users at the first point of contact with the internet: the web browser.

"When you grow up in a small town, you learn early that people are watching," he once said. "It teaches you to carry yourself the right way."

You've just been promoted to a new leadership position. But instead of being granted the necessary space to think strategically, you're being pulled back into the weeds and constantly getting entangled in tactical reviews and overly frequent check-ins. Unless something changes, not only could you squander the chance to be a strategic value creator, but you'll lose your team's confidence as they restlessly wait for your vision and direction.

Most of us are addicted to motion. We fill every moment because slowing down forces us to face what is really happening inside. Sitting still, truly being with yourself, can feel unbearable at first. It is uncomfortable, but it is also where truth lives. If you can sit quietly, even for a few minutes, you will start to hear what is real instead of what you are performing. That is the beginning of clarity.

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I'm Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning.

We have family meetings every Sunday,

What can a pair of pants tell you about leadership? Much more than you think. How do you feel when you pull a pair of non-stretch jeans straight from the dryer? They're stiff. Way too tight. The waistband digs into your belly. Now picture trying to work an eight-hour day in them. That discomfort-and sense of restriction-is exactly what it feels like to work for a micromanager.

When Jennifer Goldsack woke up after emergency surgery last Christmas, she was waiting to hear she had a stress ulcer. Maybe appendicitis. But not this. The surgeon had news that made no sense to her, as a 42-year-old CEO and former athlete: late-stage cancer. Goldsack had always prided herself on being able to get anything done - Olympic training schedules, corporate roadmaps, back-to-back meetings. Cancer forced her into a new, uncertain kind of leadership: one built on vulnerability, delegation, and uncertainty.

Public displays of fitness by American politicians are nothing new. Presidents George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Ulysses S. Grant, among others, were all depicted riding warhorses as symbols of "leadership and executive ability."[3] America's twenty-sixth president, Theodore Roosevelt, was renowned for his love of fisticuffs. He often asked professional boxers to strike him in the jaw, and then he would hit them back.[4]

At a Conservative donors event last week, Kemi Badenoch was asked for a selfie by the former Spice Girl Geri Horner. The Tory leader was, her allies say, a little bemused by the approach. But they were clear about what it meant: cut-through. Badenoch's leadership got off to a poor start. Still reeling from the Tories' worst general election defeat, she took over a diminished and disheartened party, which was languishing in the polls

McLaren Racing's championship resurgence offers a clear view into how leaders can rebuild a stalled organization. In this issue of the HBR Executive Agenda, editor at large Adi Ignatius writes about his recent interview with McLaren CEO Zak Brown, reflecting on the talent decisions and data-driven discipline that helped bring McLaren into the future.

The Dangers of Avoiding Disagreement Picture the scene: You have presented your latest ideas to your colleagues in a leadership team meeting. You have spent hours developing your arguments and are emotionally invested in the solutions you have proposed; you truly believe they provide the best route forward for your department. As the discussion moves around the table, one of your closest colleagues unexpectedly challenges your suggested solution.

Alex Ovechkin is the greatest goal scorer in NHL history and one of the league's all-time greatest players. The 40-year-old legendary winger would seemingly have every reason to become aloof and withdrawn from his teammates, but he has done the complete opposite and continued to foster a winning environment with the Washington Capitals. Bruce Boudreau, who coached a much younger Ovechkin for parts of five seasons with the Capitals (2007-2012), has seen firsthand the impact The Great 8 has had on the club's culture.

NYU professor Suzy Welch recentlyreleased the results of her study on Gen Z and businesses across America. Welch teaches M.B.A. students and attempts to prepare them for a life of purpose and leadership. There's just one problem: their values. Welch's analysis produced an outcome that startled her and her team: A mere 2% of Generation Z members hold the values that companies want most in new hires, which are achievement, learning, and an unbridled desire to work. Generation Z respondents' top three values were: