What's on Your Mind?

At 10:24 p.m., while brushing his teeth, my husband’s phone pings. It’s not an emergency. No one is bleeding. No building is on fire. It’s an email that begins with the words, “Just circling back.” In France, this would be illegal. Or at least deeply frowned upon. Since 2017, French workers at companies with more than 50 employees have had a legally protected right to disconnect. That means, employers can’t expect workers to answer emails or messages after hours. Similar policies exist across Europe, including Spain, Belgium, and Greece. Meanwhile, in America, we’re circling back at bedtime. The Country That Turned “Always On” Into a Personality Trait …

Everybody loves the idea of feedback, defined broadly as information provided to someone about their performance, behavior, or actions. This makes a great deal of sense. Indeed, many studies have consistently shown that feedback from others plays an important role in helping us understand who we are, including how we differ from others. It is vital for improving managers’ and leaders’ performance and for helping people evolve and develop, both professionally and personally. Conversely, being feedback-deprived, or having a tendency to ignore it, increases the gap between how good you think you are, and how good you actually are—at times, to painfully delusional lev…

A group of college students braved the frigid New England weather on Dec. 13, 2025, to attend a late afternoon review session at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Eleven of those students were struck by gunfire when a shooter entered the lecture hall. Two didn’t survive. Shortly after, a petition circulated calling for better security for Brown students, including ID-card entry to campus buildings and improved surveillance cameras. As often happens in the aftermath of tragedy, the conversation turned to lessons for the future, especially in terms of school security. There has been rapid growth of the nation’s now US$4 billion school security industry. …

If a single type of building could define our present time, it would undoubtedly be the data center. Underpinning the increasingly online way we work, shop, and entertain ourselves, data centers provide the computing power and storage to handle all the Zoom calls, Amazon purchases, and Netflix streams a person can cram into their day. And now as compute-hungry artificial intelligence dominates the future of nearly every sector of the economy—and possibly society as a whole—the data center will become even more ubiquitous. A headlong data center building boom is already underway. One report finds that average monthly spending on data centers has increased 400% in the l…

A few weeks ago, I led a leadership workshop for a group of executive women leaders in Birmingham, Alabama. Before I begin leadership workshops, I ask the participants what they want out of our time together. This year, one answer has emerged consistently on top: connection. This isn’t surprising. 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 recent announcement by McKinsey & Company that it plans to cut roughly 10% of its workforce has sent ripples through the consulting world, reigniting debate about the future of the industry. This is not about one firm, one round of layoffs, or one business cycle. It signals an irreversible shift in how value is created in consulting. Having spent a significant part of my career at McKinsey, I saw it grow and flourish in an era when information was scarce. Even basic market intelligence required large teams working for months to gather and synthesize data. The digital age brought a data explosion and democratized access, and McKinsey adapted again by expanding …

Resilience is a much-needed skill in today’s tough job market. Despite the headlines lambasting young employees as “lazy” and “entitled”, a Big Four consulting firm is taking matters into its own hands and offering training for recent grads. PwC will give its new young hires “resilience” training to toughen them up for careers as management consultants. The firm has introduced the initiative in the UK to help Gen Z brush up on their “human skills,” including communication with clients and handling day-to-day work dynamics, like pressure or criticism. “Quite often we are struck that the graduates that join us… don’t always have the resilience; they don’t always h…

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! 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. From technological advances and geopolitical changes to workplace culture shifts and market pressures, 2025 has been a year of change, uncertainty, and disruption. I’m Gwen Moran, and for nearly three years as Modern CEO’s editor, I’ve had a front-row seat as Mansueto Ventures CEO and Chief Content Officer Stephanie Mehta talks to business leaders and expert…

When I talk with business leaders about Gen Z, the same frustration often bubbles up: “They won’t stay.” It’s said with a kind of bewildered shrug, as if the younger generation has suddenly rewritten the rules out of thin air. I heard it again last week during a radio segment I did about generational dynamics at work. The host asked why Gen Z feels so comfortable moving on so quickly. Here’s what I’ve learned after a decade teaching them, coaching them, and watching them navigate the workplace: Gen Z doesn’t think they’re doing anything unusual. And frankly, once you look at the data, it’s hard to argue with them. A new Youngstown State University study of 1,000 f…

Shares in Rocket Lab Corp were heading for their second day of gains on Monday after the aerospace manufacturer was named as one of four companies that will build tracking satellites for the U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA). The stock (Nasdaq: RKLB) was up more than 4% in premarket trading on Monday as of this writing. That’s in addition to a jump of 17% on Friday when the news was announced. Share are now trading at record highs. What did the Space Development Agency announce? The SDA, a unit of the United States Space Force, said on Friday that it awarded four companies with contracts to build 72 satellites—or 18 apiece—with the aim of expanding missile …

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” opened with $345 million in worldwide sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, notching the second-best global debut of the year and potentially putting James Cameron on course to set yet more blockbuster records. Sixteen years into the “Avatar” saga, Pandora is still abundant in box-office riches. “Fire and Ash,” the third film in Cameron’s science-fiction franchise, launched with $88 million domestically and $257 million internationally. The only film to open bigger in 2025 was “Zootopia 2” ($497.2 million over three days). In the coming weeks, “Fire and Ash” will have the significant benefit of the highly lucrative holiday moviegoing corrido…

Power was restored Sunday to the bulk of the 130,000 homes and businesses in San Francisco impacted by a massive outage a day earlier that caused major disruptions in the city. About 17,000 customers remained without power as of noon Sunday, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said. PG&E said earlier its crews were working to restore electricity in several neighborhoods and small areas of downtown San Francisco following Saturday’s outage. PG&E in a statement said it expects to restore power to remaining customers no later than 2 p.m. Monday. “The damage from the fire in our substation was significant and extensive, and the repairs and safe restoration will be complex…

Shares in Rocket Lab Corp were heading for their second day of gains on Monday after the aerospace manufacturer was named as one of four companies that will build tracking satellites for the U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA). The stock (Nasdaq: RKLB) was up more than 4% in premarket trading on Monday as of this writing. That’s in addition to a jump of 17% on Friday when the news was announced. Share are now trading at record highs. What did the Space Development Agency announce? The SDA, a unit of the United States Space Force, said on Friday that it awarded four companies with contracts to build 72 satellites—or 18 apiece—with the aim of expanding missile …

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s net worth surged to $749 billion late Friday after the Delaware Supreme Court reinstated Tesla stock options worth $139 billion that were voided last year, according to Forbes’ billionaires index. Musk’s 2018 pay package, once worth $56 billion, was restored by the Delaware Supreme Court on Friday, two years after a lower court struck down the compensation deal as “unfathomable.” The Supreme Court said that a 2024 ruling that rescinded the pay package had been improper and inequitable to Musk. Earlier this week, Musk became the first person ever to surpass $600 billion in net worth on the heels of reports that his aerospace startup SpaceX…

Fintech firm Mercury recently dropped some data that made me smile. It ranked the top five coffee shops powering founders in San Francisco based on actual transaction data: Sightglass, CoffeeShop, Equator, Saint Frank, Ritual. I’ve built Octolane with my cofounder, Rafi, from every single one of them. But here’s what the data doesn’t show: the $500,000 investment term sheet I negotiated over a cortado at Cafe Réveille. The $800,000 deal I closed while sitting next to a grad student cramming for finals. The three customers who became friends, then advocates, then our biggest champions, all because we met first over coffee, not Zoom. When I was in high school, I cle…

For 50 years, America’s generosity has been stuck in neutral with charitable giving frozen at 2.5% of GDP. But not because people stopped caring. In 2024, total giving hit record highs, and food banks saw donations surge as families faced delays in SNAP benefits. The heart is there. What’s missing is technology that turns generosity into lasting impact. We can’t solve today’s biggest problems, from food insecurity to climate change to health inequity, without unlocking the full potential of AI. For the first time, technology connects data across causes, predicts needs before they arise, and turns generosity into measurable progress. If generosity is the fuel, AI is th…

Instacart said Monday that it will no longer allow retailers to use an AI-powered price testing program, two weeks after an extensive investigation showed wide discrepancies in the cost of groceries purchased through the platform. Effective immediately, retailers will no longer be able to use Eversight technology to run price tests on Instacart, the San Francisco-based company said in a blog post. Previously, a small number of retail partners were able to conduct testing that resulted in different prices for the same item at the same store—something that “missed the mark for some customers,” Instacart said in a blog post. “At a time when families are working excep…

Coinbase said on Monday it will buy prediction markets startup The Clearing Company, its tenth acquisition this year, as the crypto exchange looks to expand beyond its core digital assets business. Prediction markets let users buy and sell contracts tied to the outcomes of real-world events, ranging from elections and economic data to sports and policy decisions, effectively turning investors’ forecasts into tradable markets. Supporters say the prices can reflect collective expectations more accurately than polls or forecasts, while critics argue the products blur the line between financial markets and betting, drawing growing scrutiny from regulators. Predict…

If you’re thinking of buying your kid a talking teddy bear, you’re likely envisioning it whispering supportive guidance and teaching about the ways of the world. You probably don’t imagine them engaging in sexual roleplay—or giving advice to toddlers about how to light matches. Yet that’s what consumer watchdog the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) found in a recent test of new toys for the holiday period. FoloToy’s AI teddy bear Kumma, which uses OpenAI’s GPT-4o model to power its speech, was all too willing to go astray when in conversation with kids, PIRG found. Using AI models’ voice mode for children’s toys makes sense: The tech is tailor-made for the mag…

For most of my career at L’Oréal, I sold confidence in a tube: lipstick. But lipstick isn’t just about applying color to your lips. It’s about identity. Ritual. Power. Beauty has never been superficial. It’s always been about self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-expression, knowing that how you’re feeling inside is reflected on the outside. Today, the boldest expression of that confidence comes from beyond the makeup bag: It’s a full night’s sleep working with a skincare routine, balanced hormones supporting a healthy glow, nutrients fueling both energy and radiance, and gut health supporting complexion. The truth is simple: Health is the new lipstick. Healt…

December is here, and another year has blown by. Chances are, you’re going to get some time off for the holidays. If so, you may have a week(-ish) to recharge before you have to ramp back up in January. In order to get the most out of your time off, it would be ideal if you could unplug from work completely to give your mind a rest and to focus on family, friends, and yourself. There are a few things you can do to prepare now that will help a lot and will also make your transition back to the office go smoothly. Close as many tasks as possible Research going back almost 100 years finds that when you have a task to complete, you are highly motivated to finish it…

Gen Zers, who were practically born with smartphones and iPads in their hands, have grown up completely immersed in the information highway. Therefore, it should come as no big surprise that those born as digital natives—deeply connected to culture, trends, politics, and business—have different ideas about what their contributions to the world should look like. They deeply value work-life balance and they need to feel like the work they do has meaning. Globally, they are the generation most concerned about issues like corruption and inequality. They’re striving to create change—and they’re committed. Still, Gen Zers often get called out for being entitled, lazy,…

How should leaders prepare for AI’s accelerating impact on work and everyday life? AI scientist, entrepreneur, and Pioneers of AI podcast host Rana el Kaliouby shares her predictions for the year ahead—from physical AI entering the real world to what it means to onboard AI into your org chart. El Kaliouby cuts through today’s biggest AI headlines, bringing to light the insights that will matter most in the months to come. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by former Fast Company editor-in-chief Robert Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with today’s top business…

By the end of October, David, who works at a roughly 2,000-person finance firm in New York, already knew he’d be working during the holiday season this year. Usually at the office, he learned he’d at least get to work remotely between December 26 and January 1—with the way the financial calendar fell, it was inevitable that he couldn’t just disappear for clients (like institutional investors and family offices) during that time. He says the schedule doesn’t really bother him. “I’m not in a trench in the middle of a battlefield here. I’m not laying bricks,” he says. “It’s not terribly unrealistic work that they’re asking us to do.” Mainly, he’s expected to respond…