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Ministers argued the direct action group engaged in a campaign of criminal damage and violenceView the full article

Marks & Spencer is one of the latest U.K. high-street brands to launch a skiwear collection. Even supermarket Lidl is in on the action, with items in its ski range priced at less than 5 pounds (roughly $6.75). This follows earlier moves by fast-fashion retailers such as Topshop, which launched SNO in the mid 2010’s, and Zara’s imaginatively titled Zara Ski collection, which launched in 2023. Fast-fashion brand PrettyLittleThing’s Apres Ski edit (a collection of clothes chosen for a specific theme) tells potential shoppers that going skiing is “not necessarily essential,” which is good, because many of the products in the collection are listed as athleisure, not sportswear. It’s not just the high street. Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand Skims has recently collaborated with the North Face and has dressed Team USA for the 2026 Winter Olympics—though these are strictly designed to serve the athletes during downtime, not for the piste. Alongside dedicated skiwear lines, the apres-ski aesthetic has become a recurring seasonal trend over recent years, expanding well beyond the slopes. You may have noticed the slew of ski-themed sweatshirts across the market. One of these, an Abercrombie & Fitch sweatshirt, went viral in January after a buyer noticed that the depicted resort was actually Val Thorens, France—not Aspen, Colorado, as the text printed on the garment claimed. It is not only the quality of ski-themed fashion products that is a cause for concern, but also those designed for the slope. Many of these high-street collections have received criticism from consumers, with some claiming that the garments are “not fit for purpose.” Meanwhile, many influencers have taken to social media to warn their followers to avoid skiing in garments from fast-fashion brands. Such were the complaints that Zara Ski reportedly renamed its products “water resistant” instead of “waterproof.” These collections respond, in part, to a genuine need for women’s sportswear that is practical, fashionable, and, most critically, affordable. Ski and performance wear in general is costly, and such collections being both fashionable and relatively low-cost make for an attractive prospect. And yet, if these garments are so poorly suited to skiing, then what are they for? The visual allure of skiing Despite sports playing a key role in challenging gender ideology and perceptions of female physicality, the perceived importance of femininity and how women look while doing sports has lingered. Images of sportswomen frequently fixate on gender difference and femininity is foregrounded over athleticism. Here, the glamorous image of skiing has much to account for. Glamour relies on distance and difference to conjure a feeling of longing. For many, the novelty of eating fondue at 3,000 feet is out of reach, as is the ever-increasing price of a lift pass. Throughout the 20th century, the glamour of skiing has been defined by women’s fashion. In the 1920s, Vogue magazine featured illustrations of elongated skiing women on their covers. Designer Pucci’s aerodynamic one-piece ski suit premiered in Harper’s Bazaar magazine in 1947, while Moncler’s ski anoraks—photographed on Jackie Kennedy in 1966—gave birth to a vision of American ski “cool.” Changing ski fashions were recorded in photographer Slim Aarons’s resort photography, capturing the leisure class on and off piste between the 1950s and 1980s. Vogue Archive Women’s fashionable skiwear has taken many forms since the activity first became popular in the 1920s. It was during this decade that skiing became a marker of affluence. Leather, gaberdine, fur, and wool were popular materials in early women’s skiwear and were selected for their natural properties; water-repellence, insulation, breathability. By the mid-century, women’s skiwear became more focused on silhouette and excess fabric was considered unfeminine. Equally, skiwear gradually became more colourful, and in the fashion press women were even encouraged to match their lipstick to their ski ensemble. By the 1980s, skiwear aligned with the fashionable “wedge” silhouette; causing the shoulders of ski jackets to widen and salopettes (ski trousers with shoulder braces) to draw even tighter. These historic developments parallel today’s aesthetic ski trend where fashion and image arguably comes before function. For example, PrettyLittleThing’s models are photographed on fake slopes, holding vintage skis. The glamorous image of the skiing woman lies not only in the clothing but in her stasis. The suggestion is that ski culture does not necessarily require skiing at all: It may simply involve occupying the most visible terrace, Aperol in hand. No wonder then, that so many fast-fashion ski lines for women are deeply impractical—they appear designed less for physical exertion than for visual consumption. They sell women on the alluring glamour of skiing, while leaving them out in the cold. There is an additional irony here: Climate change means that skiing is becoming increasingly exclusive. Lower-level resorts are closing as the snow line moves up, meaning fewer options and increased demand. In this sense, the image of skiing looks to become even more glamorous via increasing inaccessibility and therefore distance. Fast-fashion has a negative impact on the environment, and the ski aesthetic risks damaging the very thing it claims to celebrate. This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org, The Conversation UK may earn a commission. Tamsin Johnson is a PhD candidate in visual cultures at Nottingham Trent University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. View the full article

No matter how much you like your coworkers, you’re going to have some conflicts with them. Most of those conflicts involve differences of opinion or approach. A colleague may do something that irks you or causes difficulties for the work you’re doing. While those conflicts may lead to tension for some period, you typically get beyond those difficulties and may even wind up with a closer relationship to them later. But, there are some colleagues where anger hardens into resentment. That can cause real workplace problems, because you’re going to have to engage with that colleague which can get in the way of a project’s success. Plus, no matter how good you think you are at hiding your resentments, chances are your feelings for that person shine through in your engagements with them as well as your conversations about them. Not only will those resentments make projects harder to do, they can also stand in the way of your success in your organization. After all, most promotions involve moving up in leadership. Companies like to promote individuals they think will bring people together rather than dividing them. Your resentments mark you as a source of division rather than unity. So, how can you get over a resentment? After all, you can’t just wave a magic wand and have your feelings go away. Talk it out The best strategy for dealing with resentments is to talk about it with your colleague. When someone has done something that continues to bother you, it can be valuable to clear the air. Conversations like this aren’t always an option, but if they are the can be quite effective in moving your relationship forward (even if they are uncomfortable in the moment). Invite your colleague out for coffee. Your colleague might be surprised by this invitation, because (chances are) they know that you are annoyed at them. Let them know that what they did, how it affected you, and why you are still upset about it. Before you have that conversation, you should actually practice saying all of this so that you have words to describe it clearly. Don’t wing it. This strategy can be helpful for a few reasons. First, there are times where you say your grievance it out loud when practicing it and then realize that the problem here is you. That is, you may discover that you have been making a bigger deal out of something than it is worth. Second, there are times when the other party doesn’t realize the impact their actions had on you. This conversation may help them to better recognize the impact of what they do on others. Third, this conversation is likely to help you to see the event from a different perspective. When you talk out a complicated interaction, you may find that the other person’s actions were completely sensible from their perspective, while you had been feeling like they had bad intent. Forgive (and forget) Another powerful tool for dealing with resentment is to forgive the other person. That resentment you’re carrying is fundamentally about your reaction to that person as a result of your reaction to them. When you see them or think about them, you are reminded of what they did, and the bad feeling wells up again. When you forgive someone else, you are acknowledging what they did and the bad impact it had, and then you are accepting that action. Research suggests that forgiveness primarily benefits the forgiver. In particular, when you forgive someone, it dampens the negative emotions you experience later. It also makes some of the details of what the other person did less memorable. So, by forgiving the other person, you are taking an important step toward enabling that resentment to have less impact on your behavior in the future than it does now. Look in the mirror If you find yourself unable to talk with the other person or to forgive them, it is time to take a look at yourself. No matter how good a person you are or how much you strive to be a good colleague, you have probably had some moments where your actions harmed someone else. Because you like to think of yourself as a good person, you probably focus less on your bad moments than on your good ones. As a result, you may not remember some of the times that your actions had a negative impact on others. When you call to mind a few instances of your own less-than-stellar behavior, it can sometimes open you up to forgiving someone else. It can be particularly helpful if you think about times that other people have forgiven you for something you did. Imagine what your life would be like if everyone resented you for things you did in your worst moments. Recognize that your own career and success is owed in part to the willingness of others to forgive you. Finally, just because you forgive someone or let go of a resentment doesn’t mean you have to trust them blindly. If someone has treated you badly in the past and you are not convinced that they are reformed, you should still be vigilant when you work with them in the future. You can be careful in your engagements with a colleague while still treating them cordially and respectfully. View the full article

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here. The conversation around energy use in the United States has become . . . electric. Everyone from President Donald The President to the cohosts of Today show has been talking about the surging demand for, and rising costs of, electrons. Many people worry that utilities won’t be able to produce enough power. But a report released today argues that the better question is: Can we use what utilities already produce more efficiently in order to absorb the coming surge? “A lot of folks have been looking at this from the perspective of, Do we need more supply-side resources and gas plants?” said Mike Specian, utilities manager with the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, or ACEEE, who wrote the report. “We found that there is a lack of discussion of demand-side measures.” When Specian dug into the data, he discovered that implementing energy-efficiency measures and shifting electricity usage to lower-demand times are two of the fastest and cheapest ways of meeting growing thirst for electricity. These moves could help meet much, if not all, of the nation’s projected load growth. Moreover, they would cost only half—or less—what building out new infrastructure would, while avoiding the emissions those operations would bring. But Specian also found that governments could be doing more to incentivize utilities to take advantage of these demand-side gains. “Energy efficiency and flexibility are still a massive untapped resource in the U.S.,” he said. “As we get to higher levels of electrification, it’s going to become increasingly important.” The report estimated that by 2040, utility-driven efficiency programs could cut usage by about 8 percent, or around 70 gigawatts, and that making those cuts currently costs around $20.70 per megawatt. The cheapest gas-fired power plants now start at about $45 per kilowatt generated. While the cost of load shifting is harder to pin down, the report estimates moving electricity use away from peak hours—often through time-of-use pricing, smart devices, or utility controls—to times when the grid is less strained and power is cheaper could save another 60 to 200 gigawatts of power by 2035. That alone would far outweigh even the most aggressive near-term projections for data center capacity growth. Vijay Modi, director of the Quadracci Sustainable Engineering Laboratory at Columbia University, agrees that energy efficiency is critical but isn’t sure how many easy savings are left to be had. He also believes that governments at every level—rather than utilities—are best suited to incentivize that work. He sees greater potential in balancing loads to ease peak demand. “This is a big concern,” he said, explaining that when peak load goes up, it could require upgrading substations, transformers, power lines, and a host of other distribution equipment. That raises costs and rates. Utilities, he added, are well positioned to solve this because they have the data needed to effectively shift usage and are already taking steps in that direction by investing in load management software, installing battery storage and generating electricity closer to end users with things like small-scale renewable energy. “It defers some of the heavy investment,” said Modi. “In turn, the customer also benefits.” Specian says that one reason utilities tend to focus on the supply side of the equation is that they can often make more money that way. Building infrastructure is considered a capital investment, and utilities can pass that cost on to customers, plus an additional rate of return, or premium, which is typically around 10 percent. Energy-efficiency programs, however, are generally considered an operating expense, which aren’t eligible for a rate of return. This setup, he said, motivates utilities to build new infrastructure rather than conserve energy, even if the latter presents a more affordable option for ratepayers. “Our incentives aren’t properly lined up,” said Specian. State legislators and regulators can address this, he said, by implementing energy-efficiency resource standards or performance-based regulation. “Decoupling,” which separates a company’s revenue from the amount of electricity it sells, is another tactic that many states are adopting. Joe Daniel, who runs the carbon-free electricity team at the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute, has also been watching a model known as “fuel cost sharing,” which allows utilities and ratepayers to share any savings or added costs rather than passing them on entirely to customers. “It’s a policy that seems to make logical sense,” he said. A handful of states across the political spectrum have adopted the approach, and of the people he’s spoken with or heard from, Daniel said “every consumer advocate, every state public commissioner, likes it.” The Edison Electric Institute, which represents all of the country’s investor-owned electric companies, told Grist that regardless of regulation, utilities are making progress in these areas. “EEI’s member companies operate robust energy-efficiency programs that save enough electricity each year to power nearly 30 million U.S. homes,” the organization said in a statement. “Electric companies continue to work closely with customers who are interested in demand response, energy efficiency, and other load-flexibility programs that can reduce their energy use and costs.” Because infrastructure changes happen on long timelines, it’s critical to keep pushing on these levers now, said Ben Finkelor, executive director of the Energy and Efficiency Institute at the University of California, Davis. “The planning is 10 years out,” he said, adding that preparing today could save billions in the future. “Perhaps we can avoid building those baseload assets.” Specian hopes his report reaches legislatures, regulators, and consumers alike. Whoever reads it, he says the message should be clear. —By Tik Root This article originally appeared in Grist. Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org. View the full article

For the past two years, artificial intelligence has felt oddly flat. Large language models spread at unprecedented speed, but they also erased much of the competitive gradient. Everyone has access to the same models, the same interfaces, and, increasingly, the same answers. What initially looked like a technological revolution quickly started to resemble a utility: powerful, impressive, and largely interchangeable, a dynamic already visible in the rapid commoditization of foundation models across providers like OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Meta. That flattening is not an accident. LLMs are extraordinarily good at one thing—learning from text—but structurally incapable of another: understanding how the real world behaves. They do not model causality, they do not learn from physical or operational feedback, and they do not build internal representations of environments, important limitations that even their most prominent proponents now openly acknowledge. They predict words, not consequences, a distinction that becomes painfully obvious the moment these systems are asked to operate outside purely linguistic domains. The false choice holding AI strategy back Much of today’s AI strategy is trapped in binary thinking. Either companies “rent intelligence” from generic models, or they attempt to build everything themselves: proprietary infrastructure, bespoke compute stacks, and custom AI pipelines that mimic hyperscalers. That framing is both unrealistic and historically illiterate. Most companies did not become competitive by building their own databases. They did not write their own operating systems. They did not construct hyperscale data centers to extract value from analytics. Instead, they adopted shared platforms and built highly customized systems on top of them, systems that reflected their specific processes, constraints, and incentives. AI will follow the same path. World models are not infrastructure projects World models, systems that learn how environments behave, incorporate feedback, and enable prediction and planning, have a long intellectual history in AI research. More recently, they have reemerged as a central research direction precisely because LLMs plateau when faced with reality, causality, and time. They are often described as if they required vertical integration at every layer. That assumption is wrong. Most companies will not build bespoke data centers or proprietary compute stacks to run world models. Expecting them to do so repeats the same mistake seen in earlier “AI-first” or “cloud-native” narratives, where infrastructure ambition was confused with strategic necessity. What will actually happen is more subtle and more powerful: World models will become a new abstraction layer in the enterprise stack, built on top of shared platforms in the same way databases, ERPs, and cloud analytics are today. The infrastructure will be common. The understanding will not. Why platforms will make world models ubiquitous Just as cloud platforms democratized access to large-scale computation, emerging AI platforms will make world modeling accessible without requiring companies to reinvent the stack. They will handle simulation engines, training pipelines, integration with sensors and systems, and the heavy computational lifting—exactly the direction already visible in reinforcement learning, robotics, and industrial AI platforms. This does not commoditize world models. It does the opposite. When the platform layer is shared, differentiation moves upward. Companies compete not on who owns the hardware, but on how well their models reflect reality: which variables they include, how they encode constraints, how feedback loops are designed, and how quickly predictions are corrected when the world disagrees. Two companies can run on the same platform and still operate with radically different levels of understanding. From linguistic intelligence to operational intelligence LLMs flattened AI adoption because they made linguistic intelligence universal. But purely text-trained systems lack deeper contextual grounding, causal reasoning, and temporal understanding, limitations well documented in foundation-model research. World models will unflatten it again by reintroducing context, causality, and time, the very properties missing from purely text-trained systems. In logistics, for example, the advantage will not come from asking a chatbot about supply chain optimization. It will come from a model that understands how delays propagate, how inventory decisions interact with demand variability, and how small changes ripple through the system over weeks or months. Where competitive advantage will actually live The real differentiation will be epistemic, not infrastructural. It will come from how disciplined a company is about data quality, how rigorously it closes feedback loops between prediction and outcome (Remember this sentence: Feedback is all you need), and how well organizational incentives align with learning rather than narrative convenience. World models reward companies that are willing to be corrected by reality, and punish those that are not. Platforms will matter enormously. But platforms only standardize capability, not knowledge. Shared infrastructure does not produce shared understanding: Two companies can run on the same cloud, use the same AI platform, even deploy the same underlying techniques, and still end up with radically different outcomes, because understanding is not embedded in the infrastructure. It emerges from how a company models its own reality. Understanding lives higher up the stack, in choices that platforms cannot make for you: which variables matter, which trade-offs are real, which constraints are binding, what counts as success, how feedback is incorporated, and how errors are corrected. A platform can let you build a world model, but it cannot tell you what your world actually is. Think of it this way: Every company using SAP does not have the same operational insight. Every company running on AWS does not have the same analytical sophistication. The infrastructure is shared; the mental model is not. The same will be true for world models. Platforms make world models possible. Understanding makes them valuable. The next enterprise AI stack In the next phase of AI, competitive advantage will not come from building proprietary infrastructure. It will come from building better models of reality on top of platforms that make world modeling ubiquitous. That is a far more demanding challenge than buying computing power. And it is one that no amount of prompt engineering will be able to solve. View the full article

Bing Webmaster Tools now shows how often your content is cited in AI answers. See what the dashboard tracks, what‘s missing, and how to act on the data. View the full article

A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a hierarchical breakdown of the tasks required to complete a project. Learn how it can help you manage your projects. The post Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Guide: Examples, Templates & Methods appeared first on project-management.com. View the full article

Thomas Woldbye says passengers at UK’s only hub airport are often in ‘the wrong place’ View the full article

Most managers are using AI the same way they use any productivity tool: to move faster. It summarizes meetings, drafts responses, and clears small tasks off the plate. That helps, but it misses the real shift. The real change begins when AI stops assisting and starts acting. When systems resolve issues, trigger workflows, and make routine decisions without human involvement, the work itself changes. And when the work changes, the job has to change too. Let’s take the example of an airline and lost luggage. Generative AI can explain what steps to take to recover a lost bag. Agentic AI aims to actually find the bag, reroute it, and deliver it. The person that was working in lost luggage, doing these easily automated tasks, can now be freed to become more of a concierge for these disgruntled passengers. As agentic AI solves the problem, the human handles the soft skills of apologizing, and offering vouchers to smooth the passenger’s transition to a new locale that was disrupted by a misplaced bag, and perhaps going a step further to make personal recommendations for local shops to pick up supplies. With AI moving from reporting information to taking action, leaders can now rethink how jobs are designed, measured, and supported to best maximize on the potential of the position and the abilities of the person in it. According to data from McKinsey, 78% percent of respondents have said their organizations use AI in at least one business function. Though some are still applying it on top of existing roles rather than redesigning work around it. 1. When tasks disappear, judgment becomes the job Many roles are still structured around task lists: answer tickets, process requests, close cases. As AI takes on more repeatable execution, what remains for humans are exceptions, tradeoffs, and judgment calls that don’t come with a script. Take for example a member of the service team at a car dealership. Up until now the majority of their tasks have been scheduling appointments, sending follow-up emails, making follow-up calls and texts. Agentic AI can remove the bulk of that work. Now that member of the team can make the decisions that require nuance and critical thinking. They know that the owner of a certain vehicle is retired and has trouble getting around. They can see that their appointment is on a morning when it might snow. The human then calls the customer and rebooks them for when the weather is more favorable. These sorts of human touches are what will now set this dealership apart and grow customer loyalty. 2. Measure what humans now contribute As AI absorbs volume, measuring people on speed and responsiveness pushes them to compete with machines on machine strengths. Instead, evaluation should reflect what humans uniquely provide: quality of judgment, ability to prevent repeat issues, and stewardship of systems that learn over time. In the example above, the service team member at the car dealership could now be assessed not by number of appointments set, or cancellations rescheduled, but by outcomes such as customer satisfaction, and repeat business. The KPIs should be in-person or over the phone touch points with a customer to up-sell, or suggest better services that their vehicle will need. 3. Human accountability for AI work When AI is involved, ownership has to be explicit. Someone must own outcomes, even if a system takes the action. Someone must own escalation rules, workflows, and reviews. Without that clarity, AI doesn’t reduce friction, it just shifts it to the moment something goes wrong. In the car dealership example, a human should still be overseeing the AI agents doing the work and ensuring that it’s done well. If there are problems, they should be able to catch them and come up with solutions. One of the biggest risks with AI isn’t failure, it’s neglect from humans overseeing the overall strategy and bigger goals that the AI is completing. Systems that “mostly work” fade into the background until they don’t. Teams need protected time to review where AI performed well, where it struggled, and why. Looking ahead This shift isn’t theoretical. Klarna has publicly described how its AI assistant now handles a significant share of customer service interactions, an example of how quickly AI moves from support tool to frontline worker. Once AI is doing real work, the old job descriptions stop making sense. Roles, accountability, metrics, and oversight all need to be redesigned together. AI improves fastest when humans actively review and guide it, not when oversight is treated as an afterthought. The next phase of work isn’t about managing people plus tools. It’s about designing systems where expectations are clear, ownership is explicit, humans focus on meaningful decisions, and AI quietly handles the rest. If leaders don’t redesign the job intentionally, it will be redesigned for them, by the technology, by urgent failures, and by the slow erosion of clarity inside their teams. View the full article

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. A medical tech repeatedly proselytized to me An experience I had recently with a medical provider has me wondering if what I felt to be inappropriate and unprofessional is a behavior worth raising with my doctor, who owns the practice. I live in area of the south where most people assume that everyone is Christian and believes in God — the kind of place where wishing someone “Happy Holidays” is likely to result in a tonally aggressive reply of “Merry Christmas.” Usually I let religious speak in various businesses just roll off me. I recently underwent TMS treatment for chronic, major depression. As part of that, I received 36 treatments that required me to go to my psychiatrist’s office every weekday for five-minute sessions with one of the techs. Early in the treatment, the tech would reference God and how he helped her, and I just let it ride and wouldn’t engage. But by the final two weeks, she escalated to asking me about my own beliefs. I eventually told her I’m not religious. She spent the next few sessions telling me that if I would just let God into my life, that would make all the difference. I expressed discomfort with the topic (clearly and directly), but she persisted. So my question is whether this is worth mentioning to the psychiatrist on my next visit. This is most definitely not a religiously-affiliated practice. Part of me feels terrible about the idea of getting her in trouble. I do believe she meant well. Plus, I have to go to the office every few months and will likely encounter her as she is in the front office when not administering treatments. So that could be awkward. But I’m also highly annoyed that I was repeatedly proselytized to while essentially a captive audience. What do you think? Would you want this behavior reported to you if it were your employee? Without any doubt whatsoever, I would strongly want to know about it! In fact, I would be horrified if I found out this had been going on and no one had told me. Hopefully your doctor feels the same way. The tech is representing the medical practice and the doctor; she’s not there to proselytize, and you’re not there to be proselytized to. It would be wildly inappropriate under any circumstances, but the fact that she persisted after you asked her to stop makes it even worse. Tell your doctor what happened. Say it was frequent and persistent, and she didn’t stop after you asked her to, and say that you don’t come there to be proselytized at. 2. My boss thinks our obnoxious, racist coworker is funny My workplace has become increasingly toxic due to poor management and enabling of inappropriate behavior. Our manager is a bully who operates by singling out team members while cultivating favorites and gossiping about colleagues. Her current favorite is Ryan, a 25-year-old man in his first professional role who has been with the team for two years. While Ryan is fundamentally a nice person, he lacks professional maturity. The rest of the team consists of women at least twice his age, some of whom actively encourage his behavior because they want to be in his good graces. Because Ryan is protected by our manager, he faces no consequences for increasingly disruptive behavior: * Constant crude humor (fart jokes throughout the day) * Physical pranks (lowering colleagues’ chairs while they’re working) * Graphic discussions of his sex life * Showing explicit images to female colleagues * Making racist and anti-immigrant comments When I’ve tried to address this, some colleagues tell me I’m being “uptight” and that he “improves the vibe.” Our manager witnesses much of this behavior and either laughs along or gives him minimal warnings. I’m concerned that making a formal complaint will result in workplace retaliation, both from the manager and from colleagues who see Ryan as popular. How can I professionally address his behavior without isolating myself or becoming a target? How’s your HR? Ideally you’d report what’s happening to HR (meaning both Ryan and your manager) and specifically say that you’re concerned about retaliation from your manager and coworkers for reporting it, and ask them to take clear steps to ensure that doesn’t happen. Legally, they’re obligated to do that; permitting a manager to retaliate against an employee for making a good-faith report of harassment or discrimination is illegal — and employment lawyers will tell you that retaliation can be a lot easier to prove than harassment or discrimination is. But companies break the law in this area all the time, so you’d want to have some idea of how your company’s HR handles things. If HR isn’t an option, the other option is to call it out in the moment and not be deterred by coworkers saying you’re too uptight. Sample language: * “I don’t want to hear about your sex life. Please stop talking about it.” * “Don’t use language like that around me.” * “That’s an awful thing to say.” * “You could hurt someone doing that, and you’re putting the company at legal risk.” * “If you show me photos like that again, I’ll ask HR to tell you to stop.” * “This is getting really boring.” But there’s no way to push back on Ryan that guarantees you won’t become a target yourself, particularly with the sort of manager you described. Can you work on getting out of there? For what it’s worth, I’m pretty skeptical that Ryan is a nice person. Related: how to deal with a racist coworker is it worth going to HR about a bad manager? 3. When the reference-checker is an employee I fired At a former job, two employees on my team were Philip and Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s work was okay, but she was a toxic personality and I ended up terminating her employment. (There is of course more to this story but it isn’t relevant to my question.) Philip and Elizabeth were peers and I believe got on fine. Philip was a great employee. He and I have since also both left for other companies. Philip reached out asking me to be a reference for a new job, and I am very happy to do so. However I just heard from the recruiter with his potential new employer and the person they want to set me up to talk about Philip with is Elizabeth, who now works there. I fired her not quite two years ago, and I absolutely do not want to talk to her. Nor can I imagine she’d want to talk to me. And I don’t want to harm Philip’s chances. He knows I fired Elizabeth but not any specifics. What do I do? I’m leaning toward telling the recruiter I’m happy to recommend Philip but Elizabeth and I have a negative history. But obviously this employer must like Elizabeth so I’m concerned anything I say will reflect badly on Philip. Tell Philip he should find another reference? Help! I agree with your instincts! Tell the recruiter that you enthusiastically recommend Philip but that you have a complicated history with Elizabeth, having worked together in the past, and so you wonder if there’s someone else there who you could offer the reference to instead. If the recruiter says Elizabeth is the only option — well, ideally you’d suck it up and do it … but if you think that’s likely to harm Philip’s chances, then at that point you should lay it out for him and ask how he’d like to handle it. Sample language for that: “I’m happy to give anyone who asks a glowing reference for you but, between the two of us, there’s some tension between Elizabeth and me, and I don’t want that to hurt your chances at this job. Would you like me to go ahead and talk to her, or would you rather give them someone else to speak to?” 4. Does “don’t take a counteroffer” apply when both offers are internal? I really appreciated the post that gathered all of your advice on counter offers together in one place! I’ve been curious whether your advice changes when the second offer is an internal one? How do you approach things when you’ve been holding out for and/or been promised a promotion or a new role that’s taking forever to materialize — but accepting an interview (or getting an offer, keep your fingers crossed for me!) in another department gets your current leader to make the dangled promised position materialize? Do the same principles apply as when it’s two companies vying for you? A lot of the same principles apply: you still want to ask yourself why it took you being ready to leave for your manager to get it together for you, and whether it’ll be a similar battle to get other things you’ve earned in the future. And the same caveats apply about making sure they’re really going to follow through on their promises, not resume dragging their feet once the immediate crisis of you leaving is averted. The piece that can be different is that your company is less likely to see you as “disloyal” (a ridiculous concept regardless) — but you should weight the other factors pretty heavily. The post my boss thinks our obnoxious coworker is funny, medical tech proselytized to me, and more appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

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When crafting an ideal business statement format, it’s essential to focus on clarity and conciseness. A well-structured statement should articulate your organization’s core objectives and values in just two to three sentences. This guarantees that it resonates with stakeholders and aligns with your mission. Furthermore, regularly revising the statement keeps it relevant in a dynamic market. Discovering how to effectively implement these strategies can greatly improve your business’s public engagement. Key Takeaways Start with a clear articulation of core objectives and customer needs in two to three sentences. Incorporate the organization’s core values to ensure alignment with its principles. Use precise language to communicate operational intent and avoid ambiguity. Integrate feedback from stakeholders to enhance resonance and relevance. Regularly update the statement to reflect changes in market conditions and strategic goals. What Is a Business Purpose Statement? A business purpose statement is a crucial element that defines your organization’s goals and operational intent. It succinctly outlines why your business exists and the specific needs it aims to fulfill for customers. Unlike mission and vision statements, it focuses more on your operational objectives. To craft a strong purpose statement, you should research the market, understand customer requirements, and include stakeholder feedback. Make sure it’s clearly formatted for readability and consistently presented across all platforms, including your website and social media. This approach maximizes public awareness. Effective examples can range from raising awareness about social issues to providing specific educational resources. Think of it as a guiding star, much like a business financial statement template or financial overview template, guaranteeing clarity in your financial statement sample format. Key Elements of an Effective Business Purpose Statement When crafting your business purpose statement, focus on clarity of objectives, alignment with your company’s values, and keeping it brief yet precise. You want to guarantee that it clearly communicates what your business stands for and how it addresses customer needs. Clarity of Objectives Crafting a clear business purpose statement is essential for defining your organization’s core objectives and effectively communicating its mission. This statement should succinctly outline what sets your business apart and how it meets customer needs. Aim for brevity—one to two sentences can make it memorable and easy to convey to employees and clients alike. Including feedback from stakeholders improves its relevance, ensuring it aligns with market expectations. As you develop this statement, consider using a financial statement template or a statement of financial performance template to illustrate your goals, akin to a small business income statement that highlights financial objectives. Regularly revisit and update your purpose statement to reflect changes in market conditions and strategic goals. Alignment With Values Aligning your business purpose statement with your organization’s core values is crucial for nurturing authenticity and trust among stakeholders. Your statement should clearly articulate these values as you identify the specific needs of your target market. By demonstrating how your business intends to meet these needs, you reinforce your commitment to your principles. Incorporating feedback from employees and customers during the creation process guarantees that your purpose resonates with shared values. When crafting your statement, consider using a concise business statement format, ideally under 25 words, to improve memorability. Regularly revisiting your purpose helps maintain alignment with evolving values and market conditions. This practice keeps your financial records template and income statement template relevant and engaging for all stakeholders. Brevity and Precision An effective business purpose statement must be brief and precise, as clarity is essential for conveying your company’s mission. Ideally, this statement should consist of two to three sentences that articulate your core objectives, products, or services. By addressing specific customer needs, you create a direct connection with your target market. Strong statements use vivid, actionable language as they avoid vague terms, enhancing your business identity. Regularly revising your statement keeps it relevant, aligning it with your evolving goals and market conditions. Just like a financial statement report template or a free financial report template, your purpose statement should be clear and to the point. Think of it as a profit and loss statement template, reflecting your business’s essence succinctly. Steps to Create a Compelling Business Purpose Statement Creating a compelling business purpose statement starts with a deep comprehension of your market and customers. Begin by conducting thorough market research to identify gaps and understand their needs. Incorporate feedback from employees and customers to guarantee your statement resonates with all stakeholders. Use a structured approach by defining your business’s vision, mission, and objectives, assuring clarity and alignment with your overall goals. Craft a concise statement, ideally one to two sentences, that captures why your business operates and the value it provides. Regularly revisit this statement as your business evolves, so it remains relevant. You can even refer to a free financial statement template or a small business income statement example to align your financial insights with your purpose. Researching the Market and Identifying Gaps Even though conducting market research may seem intimidating, it’s essential for identifying gaps that your business can exploit. Start by analyzing industry trends and customer preferences, using tools like surveys and focus groups. These methods reveal unmet needs and areas ripe for innovation. A successful strategy includes evaluating existing products for strengths and weaknesses, which can highlight opportunities for differentiation. Furthermore, reviewing secondary data sources, such as industry reports, expands your comprehension of market dynamics. Engaging with your target audience through feedback and social media interactions uncovers specific pain points. This process finally helps tailor your offerings effectively. Market Research Tools Insights Gained Application in Business Surveys Consumer preferences Product development Focus Groups Group feedback Service improvement Secondary Data Industry trends Strategic planning Social Media Customer pain points Marketing strategies Analytics Behavioral patterns Targeted advertising Understanding Customer Needs and Preferences How can businesses effectively understand customer needs and preferences? Start by conducting market research, as 70% of consumers favor brands that recognize their unique preferences and provide personalized experiences. Utilize surveys and feedback tools, since companies that actively seek customer input often see a 10-15% boost in satisfaction ratings. Analyzing customer behavior through data analytics can uncover buying patterns, with 63% of consumers expecting brands to understand their needs based on past interactions. Creating detailed customer personas using demographics, interests, and purchasing behaviors can tailor products effectively, leading to a 30% increase in engagement. Finally, regularly revisiting customer insights is essential, as 56% of preferences can shift within a year because of changing market trends and personal circumstances. Aligning Short- and Long-Term Business Goals To effectively align your short- and long-term business goals, it’s crucial to define clear objectives that guide your actions. By measuring progress regularly, you can guarantee that your immediate efforts contribute to broader aspirations, allowing for timely adjustments based on performance metrics and market feedback. This approach not just supports sustainable growth but additionally improves overall organizational engagement with the company’s vision. Defining Clear Objectives Defining clear objectives is crucial for any business aiming to achieve both short- and long-term success. Your short-term goals should focus on immediate actions and measurable outcomes, typically spanning a few months to a year. Conversely, long-term goals project 3-5 years ahead, outlining your desired direction and growth. Aligning these objectives guarantees that daily operations contribute to your broader vision, nurturing cohesion among employees. Utilizing the SMART criteria—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound—can improve clarity and accountability in achieving these goals. Engaging employees in the goal-setting process increases their commitment, allowing them to see how their contributions impact overall success. Regularly review and adjust your objectives based on performance data and market changes to maintain relevance and alignment. Measuring Progress Regularly Measuring progress regularly is essential for maintaining alignment between your short- and long-term goals. By establishing key performance indicators (KPIs), you can track specific metrics that reflect both immediate achievements and future objectives. Conducting quarterly reviews of your business plans facilitates timely adjustments, helping you identify trends and areas for improvement that align with your strategic goals. Utilizing tools like the Business Health Check Tool allows you to assess current performance relative to established targets, highlighting growth opportunities and potential challenges. Engaging your employees in progress assessments encourages a culture of accountability and motivation, ensuring their daily tasks connect with the overarching business vision and mission. Regular assessments keep your business agile, ready to pivot based on performance data and market conditions. Establishing Your Brand Vision and Mission Establishing your brand vision and mission is essential for guiding your company’s direction and uniting your team around shared goals. A brand vision statement articulates what you aspire to achieve in the long term, helping to shape strategic decisions. Conversely, a mission statement succinctly describes your purpose, values, and objectives, typically in one to three sentences focused on current actions. It’s important to make these statements unique, using strong language that engages stakeholders during the process of avoiding imitation of competitors. Involving employees in this process promotes ownership and guarantees alignment with your core values. Remember to revisit and update your vision and mission regularly to maintain relevance and adapt to changes in the business environment. Incorporating Feedback From Stakeholders How can you guarantee that your business statement resonates effectively with everyone involved? Incorporating feedback from stakeholders is key. By gathering insights from employees, customers, and partners, you make certain your statement reflects diverse perspectives and needs. Engaging these stakeholders during the drafting process leads to a better comprehension of your company’s purpose and values, enhancing clarity and impact. Regularly soliciting feedback helps you identify gaps, keeping the statement relevant and aligned with evolving goals. Stakeholder feedback as well refines language, making the statement more actionable and relatable. Utilize surveys, focus groups, or one-on-one interviews to collect diverse opinions, nurturing a sense of ownership and commitment to the finalized business statement, in the end strengthening your organization’s direction and unity. Formatting and Presenting Your Business Purpose Statement After gathering valuable feedback from stakeholders, the next step is to focus on formatting and presenting your business purpose statement effectively. A well-structured statement can boost your professionalism and clarity. Here are some key considerations: Use Consistent Formatting: Choose a readable font and size to guarantee clarity across platforms. Keep It Concise: Aim for one to two sentences that capture your core objectives and value. Choose Clear Language: Avoid jargon; your audience should easily understand your message. Prominent Placement: Publish your statement on your website and include it in marketing materials to effectively communicate your mission. Regularly revisit and update your statement to keep it relevant, reflecting any changes in your business direction or market conditions. Sharing Your Statement Across Platforms Sharing your business purpose statement across various platforms is essential for ensuring that your audience fully comprehends your mission and values. Make sure your statement is well-formatted and easy to read, using consistent font and size for a professional appearance. Publish it on your business website and social media channels to help customers grasp the purpose behind your products and services. To present your statement engagingly, consider using visual aids like infographics or videos, which can increase interaction and sharing. Regularly update your statement to reflect changes in your business goals or values, keeping your messaging relevant. Finally, encourage employee engagement by sharing the statement during team meetings and including it in internal communications for a unified comprehension of your purpose. Examples of Effective Business Purpose Statements Effective business purpose statements serve as a foundation for any company’s identity, clearly articulating its objectives and the value it provides to customers. To create an impactful statement, consider these key elements: Conciseness: Keep it to one to three sentences for clarity. Customer Focus: Highlight how your business meets customer needs and stands out from competitors. Market Insights: Integrate findings from market research and customer feedback to show awareness of your audience. Social Responsibility: Include commitments, such as “Strive to protect wildlife through education about endangered species,” to improve community engagement. The Role of a Business Purpose Statement in Strategic Planning A business purpose statement clearly defines your core objectives, which serves as an essential foundation for strategic planning. By aligning your business strategies with this statement, you guarantee that decisions are made in harmony with your company’s mission and long-term goals. This alignment not merely clarifies your direction but likewise helps you effectively allocate resources to meet customer needs and market demands. Defining Core Objectives Comprehending the essence of a business purpose statement is essential for any organization aiming to define its core objectives effectively. This statement articulates why your company exists and guides your strategic planning. To create a meaningful business purpose statement, consider the following: Identify how your business serves customer needs. Distinguish your unique value proposition from competitors. Utilize customer feedback and market research to refine your statement. Regularly revisit and update the purpose to align with evolving missions and market conditions. Aligning Business Strategies Aligning business strategies with your core objectives is vital for achieving long-term success. A well-crafted business purpose statement provides a solid foundation for this alignment, guaranteeing all activities support your organization’s goals. It helps you articulate your unique value proposition, which is critical for guiding both marketing strategies and operational decisions. By clearly defining your objectives, the purpose statement enables you to evaluate market opportunities and threats, making your strategic planning more informed. Incorporating stakeholder feedback into your purpose statement allows your organization to adapt to changing market conditions. Regularly revisiting and updating this statement guarantees it aligns with your evolving vision and mission, driving continuous improvement in your strategic initiatives. Adapting Your Statement to Changing Business Environments As market trends and consumer needs evolve, it’s crucial to regularly revisit and update your business statements to maintain their relevance and effectiveness. Here are key actions to evaluate: Gather feedback from employees, customers, and stakeholders to guarantee your statements align with current perceptions. Monitor industry developments and competitor actions to proactively adapt your statements and maintain a competitive edge. Incorporate measurable goals and outcomes, enabling you to track progress and make informed decisions based on performance data. Reflect evolving values and culture in your statements to improve employee engagement and alignment with long-term objectives. Frequently Asked Questions How Do You Write a Business Statement? To write a business statement, start by identifying your company’s purpose, vision, and core values. Clearly define the industry you operate in and highlight what makes your business unique. Aim for a concise format, ideally under 25 words, using strong language that conveys actionable goals. Engage stakeholders for feedback to guarantee clarity and resonance. Finally, revisit and update your statement regularly to reflect any changes in your business environment or values. What Is the Best Format for a Business Plan? The best format for a business plan includes four key sections. Start with an executive summary that captures your business’s essence, followed by a company description detailing your mission and offerings. Next, conduct a thorough market analysis to understand your competition and target audience. Finally, present financial projections that outline expected income, expenses, and cash flow. This structure not only organizes your ideas but likewise attracts potential investors and clarifies your business direction. What Is the Format for a Business Mission Statement? To create an effective business mission statement, keep it between one and three sentences. Clearly define your company’s purpose, the industry you’re in, and what makes you unique. Use vivid, action-oriented language to engage your audience. Involve stakeholders in the drafting process for valuable feedback, making certain it resonates with both internal and external audiences. Finally, make sure your mission statement is adaptable to reflect your company’s growth and changes in the business environment. What Is the Format of a Typical Business? A typical business format includes several key components. Start with an executive summary, outlining your business’s purpose and objectives. Follow with a market analysis to identify your target audience and competition. Next, detail your organizational structure, showcasing roles and responsibilities. Include financial projections that highlight expected revenues and expenses. Finally, guarantee the document maintains a consistent tone and clear language, making it easy for stakeholders to grasp vital information quickly. Conclusion In conclusion, a well-crafted business purpose statement clearly defines your organization’s objectives and values as it addresses customer needs. By incorporating key elements and regularly updating the statement, you guarantee it remains relevant in a dynamic market. Sharing this statement across various platforms improves public awareness and engagement. In the end, a strong business purpose statement serves not merely as a guide for strategic planning but likewise as a foundation for building lasting relationships with stakeholders and customers alike. Image via Google Gemini This article, "Ideal Business Statement Format?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

When crafting an ideal business statement format, it’s essential to focus on clarity and conciseness. A well-structured statement should articulate your organization’s core objectives and values in just two to three sentences. This guarantees that it resonates with stakeholders and aligns with your mission. Furthermore, regularly revising the statement keeps it relevant in a dynamic market. Discovering how to effectively implement these strategies can greatly improve your business’s public engagement. Key Takeaways Start with a clear articulation of core objectives and customer needs in two to three sentences. Incorporate the organization’s core values to ensure alignment with its principles. Use precise language to communicate operational intent and avoid ambiguity. Integrate feedback from stakeholders to enhance resonance and relevance. Regularly update the statement to reflect changes in market conditions and strategic goals. What Is a Business Purpose Statement? A business purpose statement is a crucial element that defines your organization’s goals and operational intent. It succinctly outlines why your business exists and the specific needs it aims to fulfill for customers. Unlike mission and vision statements, it focuses more on your operational objectives. To craft a strong purpose statement, you should research the market, understand customer requirements, and include stakeholder feedback. Make sure it’s clearly formatted for readability and consistently presented across all platforms, including your website and social media. This approach maximizes public awareness. Effective examples can range from raising awareness about social issues to providing specific educational resources. Think of it as a guiding star, much like a business financial statement template or financial overview template, guaranteeing clarity in your financial statement sample format. Key Elements of an Effective Business Purpose Statement When crafting your business purpose statement, focus on clarity of objectives, alignment with your company’s values, and keeping it brief yet precise. You want to guarantee that it clearly communicates what your business stands for and how it addresses customer needs. Clarity of Objectives Crafting a clear business purpose statement is essential for defining your organization’s core objectives and effectively communicating its mission. This statement should succinctly outline what sets your business apart and how it meets customer needs. Aim for brevity—one to two sentences can make it memorable and easy to convey to employees and clients alike. Including feedback from stakeholders improves its relevance, ensuring it aligns with market expectations. As you develop this statement, consider using a financial statement template or a statement of financial performance template to illustrate your goals, akin to a small business income statement that highlights financial objectives. Regularly revisit and update your purpose statement to reflect changes in market conditions and strategic goals. Alignment With Values Aligning your business purpose statement with your organization’s core values is crucial for nurturing authenticity and trust among stakeholders. Your statement should clearly articulate these values as you identify the specific needs of your target market. By demonstrating how your business intends to meet these needs, you reinforce your commitment to your principles. Incorporating feedback from employees and customers during the creation process guarantees that your purpose resonates with shared values. When crafting your statement, consider using a concise business statement format, ideally under 25 words, to improve memorability. Regularly revisiting your purpose helps maintain alignment with evolving values and market conditions. This practice keeps your financial records template and income statement template relevant and engaging for all stakeholders. Brevity and Precision An effective business purpose statement must be brief and precise, as clarity is essential for conveying your company’s mission. Ideally, this statement should consist of two to three sentences that articulate your core objectives, products, or services. By addressing specific customer needs, you create a direct connection with your target market. Strong statements use vivid, actionable language as they avoid vague terms, enhancing your business identity. Regularly revising your statement keeps it relevant, aligning it with your evolving goals and market conditions. Just like a financial statement report template or a free financial report template, your purpose statement should be clear and to the point. Think of it as a profit and loss statement template, reflecting your business’s essence succinctly. Steps to Create a Compelling Business Purpose Statement Creating a compelling business purpose statement starts with a deep comprehension of your market and customers. Begin by conducting thorough market research to identify gaps and understand their needs. Incorporate feedback from employees and customers to guarantee your statement resonates with all stakeholders. Use a structured approach by defining your business’s vision, mission, and objectives, assuring clarity and alignment with your overall goals. Craft a concise statement, ideally one to two sentences, that captures why your business operates and the value it provides. Regularly revisit this statement as your business evolves, so it remains relevant. You can even refer to a free financial statement template or a small business income statement example to align your financial insights with your purpose. Researching the Market and Identifying Gaps Even though conducting market research may seem intimidating, it’s essential for identifying gaps that your business can exploit. Start by analyzing industry trends and customer preferences, using tools like surveys and focus groups. These methods reveal unmet needs and areas ripe for innovation. A successful strategy includes evaluating existing products for strengths and weaknesses, which can highlight opportunities for differentiation. Furthermore, reviewing secondary data sources, such as industry reports, expands your comprehension of market dynamics. Engaging with your target audience through feedback and social media interactions uncovers specific pain points. This process finally helps tailor your offerings effectively. Market Research Tools Insights Gained Application in Business Surveys Consumer preferences Product development Focus Groups Group feedback Service improvement Secondary Data Industry trends Strategic planning Social Media Customer pain points Marketing strategies Analytics Behavioral patterns Targeted advertising Understanding Customer Needs and Preferences How can businesses effectively understand customer needs and preferences? Start by conducting market research, as 70% of consumers favor brands that recognize their unique preferences and provide personalized experiences. Utilize surveys and feedback tools, since companies that actively seek customer input often see a 10-15% boost in satisfaction ratings. Analyzing customer behavior through data analytics can uncover buying patterns, with 63% of consumers expecting brands to understand their needs based on past interactions. Creating detailed customer personas using demographics, interests, and purchasing behaviors can tailor products effectively, leading to a 30% increase in engagement. Finally, regularly revisiting customer insights is essential, as 56% of preferences can shift within a year because of changing market trends and personal circumstances. Aligning Short- and Long-Term Business Goals To effectively align your short- and long-term business goals, it’s crucial to define clear objectives that guide your actions. By measuring progress regularly, you can guarantee that your immediate efforts contribute to broader aspirations, allowing for timely adjustments based on performance metrics and market feedback. This approach not just supports sustainable growth but additionally improves overall organizational engagement with the company’s vision. Defining Clear Objectives Defining clear objectives is crucial for any business aiming to achieve both short- and long-term success. Your short-term goals should focus on immediate actions and measurable outcomes, typically spanning a few months to a year. Conversely, long-term goals project 3-5 years ahead, outlining your desired direction and growth. Aligning these objectives guarantees that daily operations contribute to your broader vision, nurturing cohesion among employees. Utilizing the SMART criteria—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound—can improve clarity and accountability in achieving these goals. Engaging employees in the goal-setting process increases their commitment, allowing them to see how their contributions impact overall success. Regularly review and adjust your objectives based on performance data and market changes to maintain relevance and alignment. Measuring Progress Regularly Measuring progress regularly is essential for maintaining alignment between your short- and long-term goals. By establishing key performance indicators (KPIs), you can track specific metrics that reflect both immediate achievements and future objectives. Conducting quarterly reviews of your business plans facilitates timely adjustments, helping you identify trends and areas for improvement that align with your strategic goals. Utilizing tools like the Business Health Check Tool allows you to assess current performance relative to established targets, highlighting growth opportunities and potential challenges. Engaging your employees in progress assessments encourages a culture of accountability and motivation, ensuring their daily tasks connect with the overarching business vision and mission. Regular assessments keep your business agile, ready to pivot based on performance data and market conditions. Establishing Your Brand Vision and Mission Establishing your brand vision and mission is essential for guiding your company’s direction and uniting your team around shared goals. A brand vision statement articulates what you aspire to achieve in the long term, helping to shape strategic decisions. Conversely, a mission statement succinctly describes your purpose, values, and objectives, typically in one to three sentences focused on current actions. It’s important to make these statements unique, using strong language that engages stakeholders during the process of avoiding imitation of competitors. Involving employees in this process promotes ownership and guarantees alignment with your core values. Remember to revisit and update your vision and mission regularly to maintain relevance and adapt to changes in the business environment. Incorporating Feedback From Stakeholders How can you guarantee that your business statement resonates effectively with everyone involved? Incorporating feedback from stakeholders is key. By gathering insights from employees, customers, and partners, you make certain your statement reflects diverse perspectives and needs. Engaging these stakeholders during the drafting process leads to a better comprehension of your company’s purpose and values, enhancing clarity and impact. Regularly soliciting feedback helps you identify gaps, keeping the statement relevant and aligned with evolving goals. Stakeholder feedback as well refines language, making the statement more actionable and relatable. Utilize surveys, focus groups, or one-on-one interviews to collect diverse opinions, nurturing a sense of ownership and commitment to the finalized business statement, in the end strengthening your organization’s direction and unity. Formatting and Presenting Your Business Purpose Statement After gathering valuable feedback from stakeholders, the next step is to focus on formatting and presenting your business purpose statement effectively. A well-structured statement can boost your professionalism and clarity. Here are some key considerations: Use Consistent Formatting: Choose a readable font and size to guarantee clarity across platforms. Keep It Concise: Aim for one to two sentences that capture your core objectives and value. Choose Clear Language: Avoid jargon; your audience should easily understand your message. Prominent Placement: Publish your statement on your website and include it in marketing materials to effectively communicate your mission. Regularly revisit and update your statement to keep it relevant, reflecting any changes in your business direction or market conditions. Sharing Your Statement Across Platforms Sharing your business purpose statement across various platforms is essential for ensuring that your audience fully comprehends your mission and values. Make sure your statement is well-formatted and easy to read, using consistent font and size for a professional appearance. Publish it on your business website and social media channels to help customers grasp the purpose behind your products and services. To present your statement engagingly, consider using visual aids like infographics or videos, which can increase interaction and sharing. Regularly update your statement to reflect changes in your business goals or values, keeping your messaging relevant. Finally, encourage employee engagement by sharing the statement during team meetings and including it in internal communications for a unified comprehension of your purpose. Examples of Effective Business Purpose Statements Effective business purpose statements serve as a foundation for any company’s identity, clearly articulating its objectives and the value it provides to customers. To create an impactful statement, consider these key elements: Conciseness: Keep it to one to three sentences for clarity. Customer Focus: Highlight how your business meets customer needs and stands out from competitors. Market Insights: Integrate findings from market research and customer feedback to show awareness of your audience. Social Responsibility: Include commitments, such as “Strive to protect wildlife through education about endangered species,” to improve community engagement. The Role of a Business Purpose Statement in Strategic Planning A business purpose statement clearly defines your core objectives, which serves as an essential foundation for strategic planning. By aligning your business strategies with this statement, you guarantee that decisions are made in harmony with your company’s mission and long-term goals. This alignment not merely clarifies your direction but likewise helps you effectively allocate resources to meet customer needs and market demands. Defining Core Objectives Comprehending the essence of a business purpose statement is essential for any organization aiming to define its core objectives effectively. This statement articulates why your company exists and guides your strategic planning. To create a meaningful business purpose statement, consider the following: Identify how your business serves customer needs. Distinguish your unique value proposition from competitors. Utilize customer feedback and market research to refine your statement. Regularly revisit and update the purpose to align with evolving missions and market conditions. Aligning Business Strategies Aligning business strategies with your core objectives is vital for achieving long-term success. A well-crafted business purpose statement provides a solid foundation for this alignment, guaranteeing all activities support your organization’s goals. It helps you articulate your unique value proposition, which is critical for guiding both marketing strategies and operational decisions. By clearly defining your objectives, the purpose statement enables you to evaluate market opportunities and threats, making your strategic planning more informed. Incorporating stakeholder feedback into your purpose statement allows your organization to adapt to changing market conditions. Regularly revisiting and updating this statement guarantees it aligns with your evolving vision and mission, driving continuous improvement in your strategic initiatives. Adapting Your Statement to Changing Business Environments As market trends and consumer needs evolve, it’s crucial to regularly revisit and update your business statements to maintain their relevance and effectiveness. Here are key actions to evaluate: Gather feedback from employees, customers, and stakeholders to guarantee your statements align with current perceptions. Monitor industry developments and competitor actions to proactively adapt your statements and maintain a competitive edge. Incorporate measurable goals and outcomes, enabling you to track progress and make informed decisions based on performance data. Reflect evolving values and culture in your statements to improve employee engagement and alignment with long-term objectives. Frequently Asked Questions How Do You Write a Business Statement? To write a business statement, start by identifying your company’s purpose, vision, and core values. Clearly define the industry you operate in and highlight what makes your business unique. Aim for a concise format, ideally under 25 words, using strong language that conveys actionable goals. Engage stakeholders for feedback to guarantee clarity and resonance. Finally, revisit and update your statement regularly to reflect any changes in your business environment or values. What Is the Best Format for a Business Plan? The best format for a business plan includes four key sections. Start with an executive summary that captures your business’s essence, followed by a company description detailing your mission and offerings. Next, conduct a thorough market analysis to understand your competition and target audience. Finally, present financial projections that outline expected income, expenses, and cash flow. This structure not only organizes your ideas but likewise attracts potential investors and clarifies your business direction. What Is the Format for a Business Mission Statement? To create an effective business mission statement, keep it between one and three sentences. Clearly define your company’s purpose, the industry you’re in, and what makes you unique. Use vivid, action-oriented language to engage your audience. Involve stakeholders in the drafting process for valuable feedback, making certain it resonates with both internal and external audiences. Finally, make sure your mission statement is adaptable to reflect your company’s growth and changes in the business environment. What Is the Format of a Typical Business? A typical business format includes several key components. Start with an executive summary, outlining your business’s purpose and objectives. Follow with a market analysis to identify your target audience and competition. Next, detail your organizational structure, showcasing roles and responsibilities. Include financial projections that highlight expected revenues and expenses. Finally, guarantee the document maintains a consistent tone and clear language, making it easy for stakeholders to grasp vital information quickly. Conclusion In conclusion, a well-crafted business purpose statement clearly defines your organization’s objectives and values as it addresses customer needs. By incorporating key elements and regularly updating the statement, you guarantee it remains relevant in a dynamic market. Sharing this statement across various platforms improves public awareness and engagement. In the end, a strong business purpose statement serves not merely as a guide for strategic planning but likewise as a foundation for building lasting relationships with stakeholders and customers alike. Image via Google Gemini This article, "Ideal Business Statement Format?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Attorney to depart Wall Street bank on June 30 after new documents revealed extent of her ties to the sex offender View the full article

For decades, America has told a singular story about success, suggesting that the only acceptable path to success is a four-year degree. Any other trajectory was treated as a detour. Fortunately, that story is changing with new, acceptable ways to achieve success. At both the federal and state levels, the U.S. is gradually reinventing its education system to value skills, not just diplomas. From new federal initiatives like Workforce Pell to state-led Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), policy is beginning to catch up to what the economy has been signaling for years. As a country, we need electricians, plumbers, welders, and builders as much as we need white-collar workers. A handful of states now have ESA programs. The main purpose of ESAs is to give parents flexibility with school choice. While ESAs are most widely used for private school tuition, some schools and school networks are now exploring using trades programs, including technical courses, apprenticeships, or industry certifications, as a differentiator to attract parents. There have also been changes to 529 college savings plans, and those funds can be used for short-term credentials and trade-related certificates. These small shifts mark a turning point and are building momentum towards career paths for many, rather than college for all. HANDS-ON EDUCATION For students, the shift can be life-changing. A report from the Southern Regional Education Board found that high school students who take three or more career technical education (CTE) credits had a reduced risk of dropping out. Students who don’t always thrive in traditional classroom settings are starting to see that the education system not only values them, but is welcoming them. I’ve seen the power of hands-on education at one of our customers, Oklahoma-based Pryor High School Innovation Center, which is utilizing interactive training to drive its HVAC pre-apprenticeship program. The program takes students from zero industry skills to job-ready through a curated pathway of online and in-person trades training. Learning should be more like a set of Lego blocks, and students can build their own pathway by stacking short-term credentials, apprenticeships, and hands-on training programs to suit their strengths. The ability to have a modular, customizable model of learning is emerging in real-time as states like Florida, Arizona, and Texas expand ESAs and workforce grants to fund job-specific education. The flexibility also means faster, stronger pipelines from high school to high-wage work. GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES CAN HELP Career pathways go beyond education and directly translate into national competitiveness. The Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS and Science Act created significant momentum for the U.S. manufacturing industry, but we need a skilled workforce to make that happen. The new Workforce Pell initiative can help. The rules now expand eligibility to short-term programs, typically just eight to 15 weeks, and directly lead to jobs. The impact could be transformative. The Workforce Pell expansion is expected to bring roughly 100,000 new students into short-term credentialing programs that were previously ineligible for aid. According to the Congressional Budget Office, about $300 million in new Pell funding will flow through the program, with average awards projected at $2,200 per student. The program is slated to take effect in July 2026. Last year, the U.S. Department of Labor announced over $86 million in Industry-Driven Skills Training Fund grants awarded to 14 states, designed to boost innovation, enhance domestic manufacturing and help meet workforce demands nationwide. Of the funding, $20 million will directly support training workers in marine electrical, manufacturing, welding, plus other skilled trades. WHO BENEFITS? While these programs benefit students by providing access to affordable, focused education that leads directly to employment, they also help businesses. Businesses will have access to a stronger, qualified talent pipeline to fill their gaps and replace retiring workers. The programs also help to power a cultural shift we’re seeing in the perception of skilled trades. For too long, education other than a four-year degree carried a stigma. Fortunately, that mindset is changing. In a recent Harris Poll, 91% of respondents agreed that trade jobs are just as vital to society as white-collar jobs, and 90% said skilled trades offer a faster and more affordable path to a good career. Gen Z has shown an increased interest in the trades, and this year alone, TikTok has virally turned trades like blacksmithing and horseshoeing into career paths. The Skilled Careers Coalition and SkillsUSA partnered with TikTok to influence students’ interest in trade schools, apprenticeships, and high-demand CTE careers. More exposure will go a long way to encourage the next generation of workers to explore and pursue skilled trades. A MORE COMPETITIVE ECONOMY If the federal and state governments continue to align policy and funding with workforce demand, we could see a future where students are able to pursue education tailored to their ambitions and natural aptitudes. Enabling this will do wonders for the economy and deliver a happier, more respectful and proud community. If you ever need a reminder of why this matters, go talk to an electrician or an HVAC technician. You will rarely meet anyone more proud of the role they play in keeping our world running. Forming a new ecosystem that treats education as a lifelong, adaptable tool that is built around outcomes will create, by extension, a more competitive economy. Doug Donovan is CEO and founder of Interplay Learning. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Presidents' Day is not until Monday, but as is often the case, the sales are already here. Amazon's sale features some notable deals on tech products like smartwatches, headphones, home appliances, speakers, and more. There are plenty of other Presidents Day sales on the way, so don't fret if nothing here catches your eye. Regardless, I've gathered the best of Amazon's sale below, which features a few all-time low prices, according to price-checking tools. Apple Watch Series 11 $299.00 at Amazon $399.00 Save $100.00 Get Deal Get Deal $299.00 at Amazon $399.00 Save $100.00 Beats Studio Pro - Wireless Bluetooth Noise Cancelling Headphone $169.95 at Amazon $349.99 Save $180.04 Get Deal Get Deal $169.95 at Amazon $349.99 Save $180.04 Shark Pet Cordless Essential Vacuum Cleaner (IX141) $179.99 at Amazon $299.99 Save $120.00 Get Deal Get Deal $179.99 at Amazon $299.99 Save $120.00 SAMSUNG 57" Odyssey Neo G9 $1,499.99 at Amazon $2,299.99 Save $800.00 Get Deal Get Deal $1,499.99 at Amazon $2,299.99 Save $800.00 Sonos Beam Gen 2 5.0ch Dolby Atmos Smart Soundbar (Black) $369.00 at Amazon $499.00 Save $130.00 Get Deal Get Deal $369.00 at Amazon $499.00 Save $130.00 Echo Show 11 Smart Display (Graphite) $179.99 at Amazon $219.99 Save $40.00 Get Deal Get Deal $179.99 at Amazon $219.99 Save $40.00 Bose Ultra Open Wireless Earbuds (Moonstone Blue) $199.00 at Amazon $299.00 Save $100.00 Get Deal Get Deal $199.00 at Amazon $299.00 Save $100.00 SHOKZ OpenRun $89.94 at Amazon $129.95 Save $40.01 Get Deal Get Deal $89.94 at Amazon $129.95 Save $40.01 SEE 5 MORE The Apple Watch Series 11 is $100 offThe Apple Watch Series 11 is the latest Apple Watch and it improves on the Series 10 in many ways. It has a longer battery life and tiny tweaks that make a big difference, like a brighter screen, greater durability, and new software features. Right now, the Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS 42mm) is down 25% to $299 (originally $399). The Beats Studio Pro headphones are 51% offBeats headphones are well-known for their style and seamless compatibility with Apple devices. Right now, the brand's flagship headphones with 40 hours of battery life, the Beats Studio Pro, are on sale for $169.95 (originally $349.99), the second-lowest price they have been. Every color is included in the sale. My favorite Shark vacuum is 40% offI've been loving the Shark Pet Cordless Vacuum for the past few months and have cleaned my rugs to a degree that none of my old vacuums were able to manage. It works for floors as well, and I've been using the light with the lights off to easily see any dirt on my floor. Get it for $179.99 (originally $299.99). A 57-inch curved Samsung gaming monitor for $800 offThe 57-inch Samsung Odyssey Neo G9, one of the best ultra-wide gaming monitors on the market, is currently on sale for $1,499.99 (originally $2,499.99 at launch). This monitor came out in 2023 with an "excellent" review from PCMag, mainly due to its impressive 7,680 by 2,160 4K native resolution, the ridiculous 57-inch screen size, its great color range and accuracy, the 240Hz refresh rate, and its design. The Sonos Beam Gen 2 soundbar is $140 offThe Sonos Beam Gen 2 is one of the best soundbars you can buy today, especially if you're short on space. This compact soundbar doesn't skimp on premium features, and it's currently down to $369 (originally $499), a near-record low. This is the soundbar I'd choose if I were looking for a powerful option that wouldn't take up a ton of space in my living room. The Amazon Echo Show 11 gets its first $40 discountAmazon released the Amazon Echo Show 11 last year to replace the 3rd Generation Echo Show 10. The upgraded home hub and smart speaker hybrid features a larger, sharper display; a separate static screen, Alexa+ capabilities, and other updates, and right now, it's at its lowest price since launch. You can get it for $179.99, down $40 from the usual price, and its lowest price ever. The SHOKZ OpenRun bone conduction headphones are $90The original OpenRun headphones are great for their current discounted price of $89.94 (originally $129.95); that's the lowest price they've been. You won't get the same thumpy bass you'd get from regular headphones, but they're still great, and the bone conduction technology adds a fun layer of novelty. The Bose Ultra Open earbuds are $100 offThe Bose Ultra Open earbuds cater to people who prefer awareness over isolation. Think cyclists, runners, or anyone who doesn’t want to miss the honk of a car while listening to music. Instead of sealing you off from the world, they sit outside your ears, letting in ambient sound while still delivering rich, detailed audio. Priced at $199 (down from its original $299), this is their lowest price yet. Our Best Editor-Vetted Presidents' Day Deals Right Now Apple AirPods 4 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $139.99 (List Price $179.00) Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 46mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - M/L. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant — $329.00 (List Price $429.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $299.00 (List Price $349.00) Bose QuietComfort Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones — $229.00 (List Price $349.00) Dell 16 DC16255 (AMD Ryzen 7 250, 512GB SSD, 16GB RAM, 2K Display) — $649.99 (List Price $869.99) HP Omen 35L (Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, RTX 5080, 2TB SSD, 64GB RAM) — (List Price $3,099.99 With Code "PRESDAYPC100") HP OmniBook X Flip Ngai 16-Inch (AMD Ryzen AI 7 350, Radeon 860M, 512GB SSD, 16GB RAM, 2K Display) — (List Price $649.99 With Code "PRESDAYPC50") Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

If you live near an AI data center, you may already be seeing higher electricity bills. But if that data center is for Anthropic, the AI company now says it will cover the price hikes consumers face. The data center boom unfolding across the country is driving up electricity costs and adding more stress to the power grid. That added demand means the grid needs serious upgrades, or even new sources of power. In many places, those rising costs are being passed directly onto community members. But more and more legislators and even tech executives are raising the idea that the companies behind the data centers should foot the bill. Anthropic, which created the Claude AI chatbot, is the latest company to join that mindset. “We’ve been clear that the U.S. needs to build AI infrastructure at scale to stay competitive, but the costs of powering our models should fall on Anthropic, not everyday Americans,” Dario Amodei, Anthropic founder and CEO, said in a statement. “We look forward to working with communities, local governments, and the [The President administration] to get this right.” How will this actually work? As Anthropic invests in more AI infrastructure, it says it will “will cover electricity price increases that consumers face from our data centers,” per a post to its website this week. “[AI] companies shouldn’t leave American ratepayers to pick up the tab.” Data centers can hike electricity costs because they drive up electricity demand and they can require costly infrastructure upgrades, the costs of which get passed on to ratepayers. Anthropic says it will address both of those factors, first by “covering 100% of the grid upgrades needed to interconnect our data centers, paid through increases to our monthly electric charges.” That could include things like new or upgraded transmission lines, substations, or generally any supporting infrastructure needed for its data centers. Anthropic also says it will develop new sources of power to add supply to the growing electricity demand; work with utilities to cover the price impacts where new power isn’t being generated yet; and reduce strain on the grid during peak demand times through optimization tools. Where Anthropic leases capacity from already-existing data centers, it says it is “exploring further ways to address our own workloads’ effects on prices.” The company adds that it supports federal policies that make it cheaper and quicker to bring new energy sources online. When asked if there was a limit to what Anthropic will cover, a spokesperson told Fast Company that its commitment extends to any “grid upgrades or development of new energy sources that would otherwise be passed onto ratepayers—provided that our data center causes these costs, and that they’re necessary to serve our data centers.” AI data centers are causing a natural gas surge Many companies are building new power sources to match their growing electricity needs. That can hike ratepayers’ bills because utilities can raise rates as a way to recover the costs of building the new power plants. But beyond that initial investment, the type of power generation that gets built also matters—for both ratepayers’ bills and the planet. Primarily, data centers are leading to a surge in new natural gas power plants. For example, in order to power a massive data center for Facebook parent company Meta Platforms in Louisiana, the local utility company proposed building three new natural gas power plants. Meta isn’t alone. Proposals for new natural gas plants in the United States tripled in 2025 compared to the year prior, according to Global Energy Monitor. The United States now has the most gas-fired power capacity in development (that includes projects that have been announced, are in pre-construction, and in construction), that nonprofit says—with more than a third of that capacity slated to directly power data centers. That’s bad for the environment: While not as environmentally harmful as coal, natural gas still comes with a lot of CO2 and methane emissions, which warm the planet. It’s also not necessarily great for ratepayers, because natural gas is “a famously volatile commodity,” as the World Resources Institute puts it. It’s vulnerable to huge price swings, and it’s frequently linked to rising electricity prices. In October 2025, natural gas prices were up 45% compared to the year prior, according to the U.S. Energy and Information Administration, and are expected to go up another 16% within the year. Renewables like wind and solar, on the other hand, are the cheapest source of new power generation. Can promises from Big Tech be enforced? In a July 2025 post, Anthropic said that it will accelerate geothermal, natural gas, and nuclear permitting, for AI data centers. But it’s not exactly clear how many natural gas plants are in the works to power Anthropic data centers, or if Anthropic’s promise to cover electricity hikes includes the price volatility of natural gas in new plants it brings online—not just the costs that come with recovering power plant construction expenses. Anthropic’s most recent announcement says it will “work to bring net-new power generation online to match our data centers’ electricity needs. Where new generation isn’t online, we’ll work with utilities and external experts to estimate and cover demand-driven price effects from our data centers.” When asked if it is specifically planning to build more natural gas capacity, if it has plans to add renewable power, and if price hikes from using more natural gas in the power generation Anthropic adds will also be covered, a spokesperson said the company doesn’t have “anything new to share at this time.” When asked if there’s a timeline to Anthropic’s commitment, the spokesperson said there is no end date, and the commitments apply to “any data centers we build in the U.S. “We have more to do, and we’ll continue to share updates as this work develops,” the company added. Anthropic is not the only company that has said it would foot the power bills for its data centers: Google, Microsoft, Meta, and others have made similar promises. But as CNN pointed out, companies have shared scant details on exactly how they’ll carry out those plans, and there’s not much in terms of regulation to enforce them, either. “Big tech companies are finally beginning to acknowledge that their data centers are saddling consumers with higher electricity costs and straining our power grid – but they still refuse to take full responsibility for these problems they are creating,” Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said in a statement to CNN. The statement was in response to letters that tech companies had sent to Senate Democrats regarding an investigation into how data centers are impacting electricity prices. “Without action from Congress,” he added, “they will continue to evade accountability.” View the full article

Faced with a sluggish job market, American workers got a bit of good news yesterday, with the release of the latest jobs report. Employers added 130,000 jobs in January—more job growth than the economy has seen in months—and the unemployment rate dropped ever-so-slightly to 4.3%. But not all workers stand to benefit equally from this surge in job creation. A new analysis from the Economic Policy Institute this week captures how Black women have been uniquely impacted by fluctuations in the economy and repeated cuts to the workforce over the last year—including The President’s directive to trim headcount across the federal government. That decision drove out about 277,000 workers. In 2025, the rate of employment among Black women dipped to 55.7%, a decrease of 1.4 percentage points. This is a particularly steep decline over the course of a year—among the “sharpest one-year declines” in the last 25 years, according to the EPI. As unemployment steadily climbed from 5.8% to 6.7% during 2025, Black women’s overall labor force participation dropped from 60.6% to 59.7%, indicating that more Black women have either left the workforce or stopped looking for a job. This shift in employment also appears to have largely affected Black women with college degrees. “I was surprised at the magnitude of the decline for college-educated Black women,” says Valerie Wilson, the director of the EPI’s Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy. The employment rate for Black women with at least a bachelor’s degree fell by over 3.5 percentage points in 2025—significantly more than among Black women who are not college graduates. Wilson puts forth two potential explanations for the marked impact on Black women. “One could be that this is just the leading edge of a broader slowdown,” she says. “A lot of people believe that Black workers broadly speaking—in this case Black women—are sort of the canary in the coal mine.” Black workers are often the first to feel the effects of a looming recession, since they tend to hold lower-wage jobs in higher numbers, which are more susceptible to economic headwinds. The losses among college-educated workers, however, point to another likely reason for the drop in employment. “Perhaps the more insidious explanation would be that this is some clear demonstration of anti-equity or anti-DEI backlash in action,” Wilson says. “In the federal government, I think that’s pretty explicit—the first departments they cut were DEI departments.” Women and people of color are reportedly overrepresented at many federal agencies, and nearly half of Black federal workers have at least a bachelor’s degree. But even beyond the public sector, the broader retreat from corporate DEI programs has likely contributed to those job losses, both because Black women were more likely to hold DEI-related roles and because those programs helped promote more diverse hiring across corporate America. Over the last two years, the The President administration’s attacks on DEI—enshrined in a number of executive orders—have driven many companies to disavow DEI and walk back their diversity commitments. In the private sector, Black women did see some gains in certain sectors, namely education and healthcare. But they also suffered job losses across a number of other industries like manufacturing and professional and business services, which saw a dip in employment for women overall. The umbrella category of “other services” also showed losses for Black women, which Wilson attributes to the greater share of those workers across non-profit roles and religious organizations. Perhaps the most unusual element of the current employment picture is that Black women have lost far more jobs than their male counterparts, per the EPI analysis. In fact, there has been an uptick in employment for Black men in the private sector, particularly across retail and professional and business services. “You don’t usually see a huge gap like that,” Wilson says. Even today’s jobs report—which shows a clear improvement in Black unemployment—does not necessarily signal a major turnaround for this group of workers, who seem to be at a particular disadvantage in the current labor market. “I can’t say this is a racial story [about] Black workers, broadly speaking,” Wilson says. “I can’t say it’s a women’s story, where it’s hitting all women the same. It is very specific to Black women.” View the full article