What's on Your Mind?

At this year’s Web Summit in Lisbon, Hayden Brown, president and CEO of Upwork, was asked which leadership skills are most in demand today. Her answer was immediate: The demand for soft skills is rising. As AI algorithms increasingly take over routine tasks, the qualities that can’t be automated—communication clarity, the ability to work effectively with people, and conflict-resolution skills—are becoming essential for career growth. This trend extends far beyond the tech sector. According to LinkedIn’s Work Change Report, 70% of skills used across most professions will change by 2030; AI will be the main catalyst. Against this backdrop, I’ve become convinced that sof…

Today’s corporate job market presents serious challenges for recent college grads. In part, that’s because the job market is difficult for everyone. But it’s also because entry-level job seekers don’t have as much experience and must work harder to show why their skill set and background makes them a good fit for a role. I recently reached out to Katie Smith, who offers career guidance for young professionals on her site Get a Corporate Job. She encourages students to take the following steps to land their first full-time position—and others to come. 1. UNDERSTAND THE JOBS LISTED First, begin with a deep dive into the jobs that interest you. You may have a majo…

As the end of 2025 approaches, a viral TikTok trend is helping people achieve their wellness goals: “The Great Lock In” encourages participants to finish the year strong by fully focusing on their life goals from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31. Many people focus on exercise or eating healthier. But the trend can also help you achieve your financial goals. There are no set rules for “The Great Lock In.” The phrase “lock in” is popular on social media and it means to focus intensely on a task. “Something I like about this particular trend is that it’s like New Year’s resolutions’ little sister,” said Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, financial therapist and founder of Mind Money Balance, a…

Picture this: It’s Black Friday, and the point-of-sale system your thousands of customers depend on keeps crashing. Understandably, those retailers are livid. Complaints pour in day after day, and you start to wonder if the business will survive. That’s exactly what happened to me when I was just starting out as an entrepreneur nearly 20 years ago. And as painful as it was, that near-death experience taught me something invaluable: the power of calm leadership. In today’s unpredictable world, whether that’s due to economic, environmental, or political events—it can be harder than ever to stay calm and centered. Company leaders are no exception to this. Yet it’s c…

Spring showers might bring flowers, but they can be a real hassle when you’re trying to look presentable at the office. Many of the best raincoats are made by outdoor brands, which tend to focus on utility rather than aesthetics. But a rugged jacket that is perfect for hiking through the rain can really ruin a professional look. When you’re headed to work, what you need is a jacket that is sleek and minimal, inspired by a traditional silhouette, like a trench coat or a car coat, but made from high-tech waterproof or water repellent materials. And ideally, you can find one that is so elegant that you want to reach for it throughout the spring and fall, even when …

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. I like pushing AI to be less predictable. When AI assistants are less bland and more bold, they challenge my blind spots and nudge me to rethink. So I asked one of the boldest AI experimenters I know, Alexandra Samuel, to share unconventional tips and tactics when she visited New York recently from Vancouver. Alex, who writes about AI for The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review, surprised me with the scale of her AI efforts. She described creating 200-plus automation scripts and building a personal idea database that h…

As 2025 comes to a close, business leaders are inevitably already planning how 2026 will shape up, particularly as the last year proved to be a tumultuous one. The so-called AI boom is still booming, corporate DEI initiatives have shrunk or disappeared altogether, and return-to-office mandates have tightened. No one has a crystal ball to predict emerging technologies, financial headwinds, political hurdles, and market trends for the next year. But that doesn’t mean that companies can sit back—there are steps to take now to help insulate your company against potential turbulence in the coming year, while simultaneously fostering success by focusing on the human aspects…

Your watch says you had three hours of deep sleep. Should you believe it? Millions of people rely on phone apps and wearable devices like rings, smartwatches and sensors to monitor how well they’re sleeping, but these trackers don’t necessarily measure sleep directly. Instead, they infer states of slumber from signals like heart rate and movement, raising questions about how reliable the information is and how seriously it should be taken. The U.S. sleep-tracking devices market generated about $5 billion in 2023 and is expected to double in revenue by 2030, according to market research firm Grand View Research. As the devices continue to gain popularity, experts say it …

What do prison and business have in common? At first glance, nothing. One is a place where hope and trust are scarce, and every decision you make is a matter of survival. The other is a world built on innovation and collaboration, full of opportunities. But when you strip them both down to their core, you’ll find the same thing: leadership. And not the kind of leadership you read about in glossy books. I’m talking about real-life, earned leadership. My name is Andre Norman, and I was once sentenced to more than 100 years in prison. That kind of time breaks most men. But I worked day in and day out to earn my freedom and, after 14 years, I reentered the world as a comp…

AI is poised to reshape businesses, but too many executives are oversimplifying its potential, focusing on automation rather than collaboration. As someone who’s spent my career studying the future of work, I’m excited about AI’s breakthrough potential—but cautious of the narratives being rushed into the spotlight. Recently, I reviewed Anthropic’s study, Which Economic Tasks Are Performed with AI? Evidence from Millions of Claude Conversations, and found that AI’s real impact isn’t as clear-cut as many believe. While AI is transforming business, leaders are overlooking key realities about AI’s impact and its real-world applications. Here’s what many are still getting…

Conferences can be great for creating energy and fueling motivation. I recently attended a creative living workshop led by Elizabeth Gilbert at Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Arizona. I left feeling ready to take on the world. Unfortunately, that feeling can fade when you log off the computer, step off the plane, or simply reenter normal life. For me, my feeling of confidence towards more creative projects started to dwindle and imposter syndrome reentered my internal dialogue. “Inspirational environments trigger a dopamine response that temporarily alters our baseline state, creating what neuroscientists call a peak state,” says Andrew Hogue, co-CEO of the nervous syst…

A little known security feature on iPhones is in the spotlight after it stymied efforts by U.S. federal authorities to search devices seized from a reporter. Apple’s Lockdown Mode recently prevented FBI agents from getting into Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s iPhone. Agents seized the phone, as well as two MacBooks and other electronic devices, when they searched Natanson’s home last month as part of an investigation into a Pentagon contractor accused of illegally handling classified information. But the FBI reported that its Computer Analysis Response Team “could not extract” data from the iPhone because it was in Lockdown Mode, according to a court filing. …

All last week, OpenAI watchers reported seeing strange things. References to GPT-5.1 kept showing up in OpenAI’s codebase, and a “cloaked” model codenamed Polaris Alpha and widely believed to have come from OpenAI randomly appeared in OpenRouter, a platform that AI nerds use to test new systems. Today, we learned what was going on. OpenAI announced the release of its brand new 5.1 model, an updated and revamped version of the GPT-5 model the company debuted in August. As a former OpenAI Beta tester–and someone who burns through millions of GPT-5 tokens every month–here’s what you need to know about GPT-5.1. A smarter, friendlier robot In their relea…

Israa Nasir is a psychotherapist and founder of WellGuide, a digital community for mental health awareness. Her work centers around helping people redefine their relationship with productivity and achievement to lead more mindful, purpose-driven lives. She has been featured in Vox, NBC, and Teen Vogue and invited to speak at Google, Meta, and Yale. What’s the big idea? Productivity isn’t always a good thing. It can be a way to fill the void of unmet emotional needs, perpetuate a constant state of busyness, and erode well-being. For productivity to be healthy rather than toxic—an activity, not an identity—it must come from a place of self-care, balance, and personal…

Below, Brad Stulberg shares five key insights from his new book, The Way of Excellence: A Guide to True Greatness and Deep Satisfaction in a Chaotic World. Brad is on faculty at the University of Michigan. He is a performance coach and regularly contributes pieces about sustainable excellence to the New York Times. His work has also been featured in The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic, among many other outlets. He serves as co-host of the podcast excellence, actually. What’s the big idea? What if excellence isn’t about winning, talent, or perfect conditions? Lasting performance and real fulfillment live in our curiosity, resilience, and love of the process…

Below, Marc Brackett shares five key insights from his new book, Dealing with Feeling: Use Your Emotions to Create the Life You Want. Marc is the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a professor at Yale’s Child Study Center. He is the author of the bestselling book Permission to Feel and over 200 scholarly articles, with his research featured in the New York Times, Good Morning America, and Today. Together with Pinterest cofounder Ben Silbermann, Marc launched the award-winning How We Feel app. He is also the producer of the documentary America Unfiltered: Portraits and Voices of a Nation and host of the podcast Dealing with Feeling. …

Even if you’re a regular Alexa user, there’s a good chance you haven’t discovered some of its most efficient features. Actually, strike that: There’s a good chance you’re only using your Alexa device to set timers and play music. But Alexa does so much more! Here are five commands to add to your vernacular that could save you tons of time with regular use. “Alexa, check traffic” Once you link your home and work addresses in the Alexa app, simply asking to check traffic will give the time between your home and office by default—always handy when you’re heading out the door. You also can ask for traffic conditions to a certain destination. Alexa just told…

If you’re still using Google Calendar like it’s 2009—just punching in appointments and letting it ride—you’re leaving productivity on the table. While we’re all drowning in digital noise, the single best thing you can do is carve out some actual, useful time. These five tricks are simple to implement, and they turn your basic calendar into a surprisingly effective time-management copilot. So, stop scheduling and start planning. The shortcut-iest shortcutsYou know what’s less efficient than a two-hour conference call? Constantly clicking the “Create” button or dragging your mouse to the next available time slot. Instead, just hit the C key on your keyboard. The event creat…

Paula Davis is the founder and CEO of the Stress & Resilience Institute. She is a globally recognized expert and adviser regarding burnout prevention at work and building resilient teams. Previously, she practiced law, and then during her postgraduate training for her psychology master’s degree, she was selected to be part of the University of Pennsylvania’s faculty teaching resilience skills to soldiers for the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness program. What’s the big idea? To increase well-being, motivation, engagement, resilience, or the many words that describe thriving teams, we must understand that leadership behaviors drive employee experie…

Andrew Brodsky is a management professor at McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also CEO of Ping Group and has received numerous awards, including being chosen by Poets & Quants as one of the Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors of 2023. What’s the big idea? Instant messaging, email, video calls, and other digital tools have largely replaced in-person communication for most workplaces. We have all become virtual communicators, and with this comes a new set of rules for interpersonal success. The PING framework distills best practices for optimal outcomes when relying on technology to communicate. Below, Andrew shares five key i…

Never before has the CMO position been more complex—or more essential to driving business results. The mark of success for any chief marketing officer is their impact on the long-term trajectory of a beloved brand. So, what does that look like in a year as chaotic as 2025, where there’s been on-again, off-again tariffs, massive holding company mergers, and the continued rise of AI across the board? I reached out to CMOs from Hinge, McDonald’s, Crayola, State Farm, and Kraft Heinz, five marketing leaders operating at the top of their game, navigating the chaos, and getting results. We talked about what lessons they’ve learned from the past year, issues they’ll be…

A decade ago, I spearheaded my organization’s strategic expansion into a new Eurasian market. Almost immediately, it became evident that our conventional playbook was inadequate. Success in this complex landscape required not just an understanding of business metrics, but a profound appreciation for cultural nuances and regional dynamics. We made a pivotal decision: We set aside our polished PowerPoint presentations and embraced a more human-centric approach. Instead of relying on formalities, we engaged in candid, face-to-face negotiations—often over a steaming cup of tea. This deliberate shift in strategy was about building genuine relationships, and it worked. …

At first glance, your Kindle might seem like a no-frills reading device: straightforward, minimal, and focused on the basics. Kind of like an actual book, huh? But beneath its simple exterior lies a surprising range of features, tools, and tricks designed to make reading smoother, smarter, and more enjoyable. So, whether you’re a seasoned reader or new to Kindle, here are five hidden gems to take your reading experience to the next level. Double-Tap to Turn PagesAmazon may have killed off physical buttons, there’s a new feature that might help ease the pain. If you’ve got the most recent Kindle Paperwhite or the new Kindle Colorsoft, you now have access to double-tap func…