What’s worse than no dessert?

Thanksgiving is complicated. Especially this year. While we pine for the iconic holiday fantasy of eating way too much turkey and stuffing, watching football, and hanging out with friends and family (even the annoying ones), the truth is more challenging for many of us. One survey found that “people would rather skip dessert than risk hearing […]

The topic no one wanted to talk about

Last week, I was the emcee at the HR Innovators CHRO Summit. The theme was creating the conditions for performance—pretty wide open, right? Five minutes into the first session, the first presenter said, “I’m done talking about ‘return to office,’” and I saw heads nodding and eyes rolling. I was happy for the break because […]

It’s a big day for managers

Happy (if you can call it that) Election Day. I hope you have a chance to exercise your right to vote today. As you know this political season is especially turbulent. It can be an incredibly challenging time for managers, with so many emotions running high.  So what can you do?  A great human leader […]

What matters more than money?

This weekend I went to UPenn’s Family Weekend. In between parties and darties,* my son Daniel interviewed Vivek Sagi, Chief Technology Officer at Eventbrite as part of the Wharton Advisory Board Conference. It was cool seeing him up there doing what I do for a living! In addition to questions about the role of AI in […]

Maybe happiness isn’t the only goal

A CHRO recently told me that their employees want full flexibility around when and why they come to the office, and that’s what they’re getting. And no big surprise: these employees are happy! The company was even featured as one of the Great Places to Work—the holy grail of a great culture. However, the CHRO […]

Why are you meeting?

I was reviewing my video content with Chris West, a producer who is working on my new speaker reel. He gave me some constructive ideas and tweaks—we can all improve! But the best feedback happened when we were talking about my keynote, How to Be a Great Human Leader in the Age of AI. I could […]

my 2020 prediction came true

Four and half years ago, I was asked this question in an interview: What will work look like in 2025? My answer, which I gave from my kitchen in my pandemic mullet—business on top, sweats on the bottom—was, “I think it will look close to what it looked like in 2019.” Enter Andy Jassy, President and […]

don’t swap Gen Z for AI

Last week I came across a Newsweek article titled, “Companies Are Quickly Firing Gen Z Employees.” It’s worth a read, but the gist is that businesses are concerned that recent college grads are unprepared for work and lack both communication skills and professionalism. In fact, six in ten employers who have hired college grads have already fired grads hired […]

turkey, cheese, or roast beef?

Last week I got two texts at literally the same moment. One from my father who had just had back surgery and was moving into rehab and the other from my daughter who had just been diagnosed with three strains of E. coli. Where she got it is anyone’s guess?? I took a deep breath and […]

Is ChatGPT real writing?

Last week I was creating a document for an upcoming project. The person who helped me create the document casually called upon ChatGPT to insert some placeholder text for the copy that I would be ultimately writing. I thought—NO WAY! Not my work. As a writer, I like my own voice, and I’m going to […]