What's on Your Mind?

Tomorrow is the quarterly staff meeting, and project director Ann knows she needs to be ready. The agenda is familiar. At 3 p.m. she opens PowerPoint, pulls up the last deck, swaps in tomorrow’s date, and starts updating the numbers. By 5:30 pm, the slides are done. But is she ready? She has a deck, not a message. She has data, not direction. Communicating like a leader isn’t about updating presentations—it’s about shaping moments. And those moments are won or lost long before you step to the front of the room. Here are seven ways managers can ensure they’re making the most of their moment. 1. Know your plan Ann’s preparation went sideways the moment she o…

You sit down to tackle your to-do list, full of energy and ambition—but 20 minutes later, you’re bouncing between emails, Slack notifications, and random tabs about vacation deals. Another hour slips away. Sound familiar? In today’s distraction-saturated workplaces, focus has become one of the most valuable—and elusive—skills we can master. The good news is that the focus isn’t just a matter of willpower. It’s a rhythm that can be trained, like learning how to play an instrument. Drawing from decades as a professional musician and a consultant in neuroscience-based productivity strategies, I’ve seen firsthand how much the brain responds to rhythm, structure, and i…

2026 will be a crucial inflection point for businesses. The data are striking—the proportion of employees using AI in their role in the U.S. doubled between 2023 and 2025. Across the Atlantic, 30% of EU workers are already using AI in their jobs. And according to Gartner, by 2026 more than 100 million workers will collaborate with “robo-colleagues.” The question for the coming year, then, is no longer whether AI will transform your organization, it’s whether your leadership team will guide that transformation thoughtfully or let it happen haphazardly, tool by tool and team by team. I have spent much of the past year working with my research team and industry partn…

Fast Company is the official media partner of Summit Detroit. At Summit events, unlikely pairings of innovative yet seemingly disconnected people regularly take the stage. In the past, Summit attendees have heard Kendrick Lamar and Quentin Tarantino discuss their creative processes; investor Brad Gerstner do a deep dive into Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi’s background and upbringing; and Al Gore and actor and entrepreneur Jaden Smith unite over their work combating the climate crisis. This signature feature of Summit events will be no different at Summit Detroit this June 5–8. “Summit becomes the conduit for all of these amazing intersections to happen,” says Sum…

Like many industries, architecture has jumped on the artificial intelligence bandwagon. AI tools are becoming everyday parts of the practice of architecture, from iterating design concepts to optimizing floor plans to accelerating the creation of construction documents. Some architecture firms are even branding themselves as “AI-driven.” AI’s infusion into architecture is well underway, but it’s also an ongoing process. Firms are finding new ways of making these emerging tools work for the way they design buildings, while also grappling with what AI could do to a profession so dependent on actual human intelligence. Fast Company asked architects from some of the top f…

Artificial intelligence is permeating workplaces, changing the nature of jobs of every stripe. Teachers are using it to create lesson plans and grade papers. Marketing professionals are harnessing it to work a room and learn about the needs of potential clients. Product managers are asking AI to serve as an interpreter when technical conversations went over their heads in meetings. Some people who employ AI tools are concerned that widespread use of the technology could erode critical thinking skills, especially among children. They also caution that AI-assisted work needs to be checked carefully because the tools have been known to hallucinate and make mistakes. Here …

As far back as records of the subject go, the art and science of leadership has always addressed one constant question: How should humans lead other humans? Today, that paradigm is shifting. Leaders must now learn to guide hybrid teams—composed of both human professionals and AI systems that support and augment human team members, while increasingly also performing complex tasks independently. Already, more than 75% of knowledge workers report using AI at work. Meanwhile, Gartner predicts that 100 million workers will collaborate with “robo-colleagues” by 2026. This is not a minor evolution. It may be the most profound transformation in human history of how we con…

Unwanted phone calls are out of control. Whether it’s a robocall trying to sell you something or spam calls from scammers trying to rip you off, it’s enough to make you want to stop answering your phone. So what can you do to stop them? The scourge of unwanted phone calls has been branded an epidemic by consumer groups, while the Federal Communications Commission says it’s the top consumer complaint. The calls are a nuisance to many ordinary people, some of whom have complained to The Associated Press. “I need help on getting spam calls to stop,” one reader said in an email. She’s getting up to 14 calls a day despite the countermeasures she’s employed. As the name impl…

What you do? It starts with what you know. Here are seven ways to learn faster and retain more. 1. Test yourself. A classic study published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest shows self-testing is an extremely effective way to speed up the learning process. Partly that’s because of the additional context you create. Test yourself and answer incorrectly, and not only are you more likely to remember the right answer after you look it up, but you’ll also remember the fact you didn’t remember. (Especially if you tend to be hard on yourself.) So, don’t just rehearse your sales pitch. Test yourself on what comes after your intro. Test yourself by…

At its best, work can be energizing, creative, and meaningful. It can also be emotionally exhausting and stressful. Even in healthy organizations, we all deal with interpersonal tension, stinging feedback, impossible deadlines, and the constant pressure to perform. Add in the rapid pace of change and a steady diet of uncertainty, and it’s no wonder many of us feel perpetually on edge. Stress isn’t just a sign that something’s wrong—it’s a signal that something matters. Emotions like frustration, anxiety, and excitement all contain useful data about what’s important to us, what we value, and what we need. Yet in most workplaces, we’re trained to treat emotions as distr…

Nobody wants to sound weak. We all have a desire to be heard and taken seriously when we speak in meetings and other situations. But so many people pack their prose with words that discourage people from taking them seriously. Avoid the following words if you want to come across as a strong, convincing speaker. 1) JUST This word is an attention killer! Yet it is used all the time by speakers. For example “I just want to say,” or “It’s just a thought,” or “Let me just add that….” In all these instances the word “just” reduces the speaker by suggesting that what follows is of little value. A throwaway gift to the audience. By removing “just” from your spe…

Seven & i Holdings, the Japan-based owner of 7-Eleven, has announced that it plans to close hundreds of stores in North America over the next year. The store closures are an attempt to reduce costs and increase profitability for the chain of convenience stores ahead of a U.S. initial public offering for its North American unit, which was recently delayed. Here’s what you need to know. 645 store closures in North America Tucked away in Seven & i Holdings’ brief summary for its fiscal year 2025 last week was news that the company plans to close more than 1,000 locations in its fiscal year 2026, which runs from March 1, 2026, to February 28, 2027. Acc…

Staples is ready to party, just in time for graduation season. The office supply retailer is adding Party City shop-in-shops to 700-plus of its stores in 34 states across the U.S. Customers will be able to buy party supplies and decor, including balloons, gift bags, and favors; have helium balloons inflated; and order other celebration must-haves like personalized invitations, banners, and posters using Staples’ same-day print and marketing services. The companies announced their partnership in a joint news release on April 21. As part of the collaboration, Party City will also sell its products at Staples.com. Shoppers can use this store locator tool to find …

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. The authors of the most powerful memoirs, self-help books, and leadership bibles combine deep research and self-reflection—in the same way today’s executives need to blend data insights with emotional intelligence. As we look ahead to 2026, I asked eight authors of recent business and busin…

Financial markets are volatile. Consumer confidence is at its lowest level in five years. Economists say recession risks are rising. It all adds up to financial uncertainty for a lot of Americans. Roughly half of U.S. adults say that President The President’s trade policies will increase prices “a lot,” according to a recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center of Public Affairs Research. And about half of Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the possibility of the U.S. economy going into a recession in the next few months. Matt Watson, CEO of Origin, a financial planning app, says it’s a period of uncertainty for everyone, including experts. “No one…

The LA Art Book Fair returned this weekend with a new venue and a renewed sense of intention. Now in its eighth edition, the fair took over ArtCenter College of Design’s South Campus in Pasadena, California, transforming classrooms, courtyards, and even the rooftop of a Subaru Outback into vibrant hubs of independent publishing. Produced remotely by Printed Matter’s New York team, the fair was made possible through deep collaboration with LA’s creative community. Still reeling from January’s wildfires, the city’s small press scene showed up with resilience and purpose, supported by mutual aid efforts and fee waivers for affected publishers. At a time when book bans, c…

Jennifer Moss is a journalist, internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, and co-founder of the Work Better Institute. Her book The Burnout Epidemic was among Thinkers50’s 10 Best New Management Books for 2022. What’s the big idea? Leaders don’t need to take a ton of time overhauling company culture to create workplaces where employees want to spend their time. Simple shifts and incremental changes can foster community, fuel purpose, boost productivity, and deliver meaning to every team member. Jobs that employees actually like are the ultimate capitalist business strategy. Below, Jennifer shares eight key insights from her new book, Why Are We Here?: Creating …

Your first 90 days on a job are often the most important. That’s where you lay the foundation for the years to come and learn more about how your skills best fit into the organization. That’s just as true when you’re launching a startup. The early days of an entrepreneurial endeavor, especially in the fast-growing consulting space, not only help to define how the business is received, but also its trajectory. As the mad dash begins for clients, there are fundamentals that you’ll need to pay attention to and long-term planning you’ll need to focus on at the same time. Get these steps right and you can lay a foundation for future growth. Ignore them, and you could b…

Mark Zuckerberg’s marathon stint on the stand in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust trial against Meta—the parent company of WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook—has been eye-opening for several reasons. For hours, Zuckerberg has defended his company against accusations that it stifles competition by acquiring rivals just as they begin to pose a threat. A 2012 email chain presented by the FTC seems to tell its own story. In it, Zuckerberg discusses acquiring Path and Instagram, both emerging competitors at the time. “The businesses are nascent but the networks are established, the brands are already meaningful and if they grow to a large scale they could be v…

As return-to-office policies take hold and fully flexible work arrangements decline, employees are re-adapting to in-person interactions. One of the biggest challenges? Giving and receiving constructive feedback. Unlike praise, constructive feedback highlights areas for improvement—a critical driver of individual and organizational success, yet one that many find difficult. Whether remote or in-person, various factors, like overestimating negative consequences or fearing relationship fallout, often make both giving and receiving feedback feel high stakes. While virtual feedback has its own challenges—limited nonverbal cues, potential misinterpretation, and techno…

Only one in four U.S. employees strongly agree that their organization cares about their overall well-being, with stark implications. Gallup reports that high employee well-being leads to improved performance, fewer sick days, and lower rates of burnout and turnover. “When your employees’ well-being suffers, so does your organization’s bottom line,” the group noted. At one time we may have thought that workplace well-being was separate from personal well-being. But now with digital overload, remote work, and a blurring of lines between work and home, it is a critical area for addressing how we feel about life in general. So how can organizations make mental healt…