January 2026

There’s an old saying in business: “Experience is a tough teacher, because you get the lesson after the test.” One retail sporting goods company learned that the hard way.

Building a Culture the Right Way

Years ago, when the company was expanding, its leadership decided to take hiring seriously, very seriously. They understood that parents don’t always teach values like honesty, reliability, and work ethic. Instead of leaving things to chance, they invested in pre-employment testing designed to screen for traits such as integrity, dependability, and work ethic.

They wanted employees who believed a job was a privilege, who delivered an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay, and who didn’t view cutting corners or taking what wasn’t theirs as acceptable.

The strategy worked.

Their stores were staffed with hardworking, engaged people. Employee theft was almost nonexistent. Workers’ compensation claims were fair and legitimate. Productivity was strong. Turnover was low.

For years, the company quietly thrived under this system.

Well-Meaning Misstep

Then, leadership changed.

A manager who wasn’t part of the original discussions noticed something: the company hadn’t experienced theft problems or fraudulent claims in years. To him, the testing looked unnecessary.

At a meeting, he made his case: “We could save money and time by skipping pre-employment testing. After all, we’ve never had issues with theft, fraud, or turnover.”

On paper, it looked like an easy win. Eliminate a line item, streamline the hiring process, and keep moving forward.

The fatal flaw? He never connected the dots. One of the biggest reasons the company didn’t have those problems was precisely because they had been screening out the wrong people before they were ever hired.

When the Guard Drops

The decision was made. The company stopped testing.

Within months, small cracks began to show. Then, in less than a year, those cracks became craters.

Inventory disappeared. It wasn’t just the small, easy-to-miss items, but expensive baseball gloves, high-end bats, and protective hockey gear. Losses climbed and profits didn’t.

Time and money were drained away on investigations, legal consultations, and audits. Managers who should have been focused on serving customers were stuck chasing down theft. Profits suffered, morale dipped, and trust eroded.

All this happened because the company believed they could save a few dollars by dropping the very system that had been silently protecting them all along.

The Pain of Regret

The irony wasn’t lost on them.

For years, their investment in pre-employment testing had quietly paid dividends. It didn’t appear as much in the form of extra revenue as it did in the absence of problems.

But once the guardrails were removed, the true cost of ignoring integrity in hiring was revealed.

By the time leadership realized the mistake, the damage had already been done.

The Takeaway for Leaders

This isn’t just a story about a sporting goods retailer. It’s a cautionary tale for every business owner, CEO, and HR executive.

When it comes to hiring, the systems you put in place to protect your company are invisible when they’re working. It’s tempting to assume that because you don’t see problems, the protection is unnecessary. But prevention often appears invisible until you stop doing it.

Cutting corners might save a dollar today, but it can cost you hundreds tomorrow. Sometimes, the best measure of success is the absence of problems you’ll never have to face.

So, whether your company is already using tools to screen for integrity, reliability, and work ethic or considering whether to start, the lesson is clear.

The price of regret is far higher than the price of prevention.

In our most recent interview, labor relations strategist Jason Greer offered something different: not just how to respond to union drives, but how to build workplaces so strong that unions never find a foothold.

Drawing from decades of frontline experience, Greer unpacked the emotional and cultural drivers behind organizing efforts and why even good leaders sometimes lose employee trust. His message was clear: employees don’t want a fight. They want to feel like they matter.

Respect and Recognition: More Than Words

Greer emphasized that people will work for money, but they’ll die for respect and recognition. Real engagement isn’t about perks or slogans; it’s about leaders who see their people, know their names, and show up with empathy.

When leaders ask, “What do you need to make this a place you want to work?” the answers are often surprisingly simple: cross-training, mentorship, visibility. “We want to grow. We want to be seen,” employees say. That connection is everything.

Transparency Calms the Chaos

Greer discussed how stress, silence, and Sunday-night dread often stem from leaders withholding information. In the absence of transparency, employees fill the gaps with fear.

Greer urged leaders to stop underestimating their workforce’s emotional intelligence. “Tell the truth, even when it’s hard,” he advised. “If bonuses are changing, explain why. If growth is slowing, share that too. People don’t expect perfection, they expect honesty.”

Acknowledge Strengths and Preferences

Not every leader is a people person, and that’s okay. Greer shared the importance of knowing your team’s strengths. “Put the numbers person in front of spreadsheets, and the people person in front of the team.”

Internal Marketing: Broadcast the Good You Do

Greer noted that many companies offer generous benefits or make sacrifices for staff, but fail to communicate it. “Employees can’t value what they don’t know exists,” he warned.

Example: a company that shielded staff from rising health care costs, but never explained it. The result? Resentment instead of gratitude. “You’ve got to market your goodwill,” Greer said. “Don’t assume people see it.”

Balance Efficiency with Humanity

Operational efficiency doesn’t have to come at the cost of culture. Greer encouraged experimentation with transparency. “If a new bonus structure flops, own it. If a decision backfires, say so. Employees will forgive a mistake. What they won’t forgive is indifference.”

Social Justice, Politics, and Cultural Tension

Employees today don’t check their values at the door. Greer cited examples where political contributions, dress code policies, or silence on social issues triggered backlash. “If you support one group’s expression, but suppress another’s, you create confusion and conflict.”

Consistency, clarity, and openness are the antidotes.

The Final Question: What Really Matters?

When asked for the single most important advice for sustaining a positive, union-free workplace, Greer didn’t hesitate:

Know what they worry about during their commute. Know what excites them at work. Know what they dream about after they clock out.

It is important to know your people. And by know, I mean REALLY get to know them.

Recently, I had an experience with a company and thought, “I hate this … Why do they make me do this?” This question wasn’t because of curiosity. No, I was thinking that this is something other customers must hate as well, but they make them do it anyway.

So, I started a personal brainstorming session to list various processes, requirements, policies, rules, and more that cause customers to question why they continue to do business with these companies.

Of course, my mind immediately went to customer service and experience issues, but there’s much more. With that in mind, here are seven practices, steps, processes, and policies that customers hate, but companies make them do it anyway.

To Wait – Long hold times and long lines are frustrating and send negative messages, such as the customer’s time isn’t valued or the company is understaffed.

Repeating Anything – Calling customer support and being passed around to different people, having to repeat your story again and again, isn’t fun. Nor is filling out forms that repeat the information you’ve already filled out on previous forms.

Finding Hidden Fees – A stated price should be the price – with no extra fees. I recently checked into a hotel. They told me I had a $30 food and beverage credit as part of my stay – a nice surprise. Upon checking out, I noticed a $30 charge referred to as a “Destination Fee.” I asked about it, and the clerk said it was to cover the $30 food and beverage credit.

Filling Out Bad Surveys – Customers are learning to dislike surveys, especially if they are long. There are right and wrong ways to do surveys. And a bad survey shouldn’t be the last thing a customer experiences when doing business with you.

Annoying Pop-Up Windows – If you’ve been on a website and are reading information or an article and pesky pop-up windows keep interrupting you with irrelevant messages and advertising, you’re a victim of annoying pop-up windows.

Listening to Complicated Phone Options – If you’ve called a company and been told to “listen to the following as our options have changed,” so you listen to the many options, and once you choose one, there are even more options … Well, I think you get the picture. There’s better technology to get the customer to the right person or the information they need.

Anything that Requires Unnecessary Effort – Maybe you have a simple request or question. Why should it take a long time to fill out forms, answer unnecessary questions or more to get an answer?

There is a theme to this list. All of these imply the company doesn’t respect the customer’s time, energy, and effort. The goal should be the opposite: to respect and value your customer’s time, energy, and effort.

Don’t create friction and put customers through anything more than necessary to get them what they want. In short, have a goal to be the easiest company to do business with. If you’re serious about it, you’ll find ways to eliminate and mitigate friction. And this list is far from complete. There are many, many other things customers hate doing.

So, here’s your assignment. Sit down with your team and brainstorm all the things they hate to do when doing business with any company. Then, ask what they think customers might hate about doing business with you. This can be processes, steps, policies, and more.

Once you have the list, you know what to do. Eliminate all that makes doing business with you painful – or at least make some of the less painful. Don’t make your customers do things they hate doing!

Business leaders often focus on performance, productivity, and profit. What they don’t always talk about is the emotional cost of sustaining it all. For high performers—particularly those running companies or climbing the ranks in fast-moving organizations—the pursuit of success can quietly erode energy, joy, and meaningful relationships.

That’s something Cindy Van Eeckhout, founder of Alegria Coaching and creator of the Joy of Life Method, understands deeply. After building multiple businesses while juggling parenting and professional growth, she realized hitting goals wasn’t the whole story. The deeper question became: At what cost?

The Achievement Trap

Many leaders operate in a constant state of urgency. Days are packed with meetings, deadlines, and decisions. Evenings feel rushed, and weekends blur together. The same drive that helped them succeed can also become the force that burns them out. Cindy described how this pressure creates fatigue, disconnection, guilt, and a growing sense that something important is missing.

While burnout is the term most often used, it isn’t always a dramatic collapse. Sometimes it shows up as a slow drain of vitality and satisfaction.

Reclaiming Energy with Intention

Instead of calling for dramatic changes, Cindy encourages small, sustainable adjustments that allow people to reconnect with what energizes them. Practices like mindful breathing, expressing gratitude, and being fully present during key moments can help leaders stay grounded. These shifts aren’t about squeezing more productivity out of the day; they’re about creating moments of clarity within the chaos.

The goal is not to work less, but to lead with greater intention and balance.

Rethinking “Busy”

Cindy often observes a pattern where leaders equate activity with value. Packed calendars become a badge of honor, but much of that activity is reactive or draining. Behind the scenes, these overloaded schedules often reduce creativity, decision-making, and well-being.

Prioritization, she explained, isn’t just a time management tactic. It’s a leadership discipline. When leaders identify their highest-leverage tasks and eliminate or delegate the rest, they create more space for impact—with less stress.

Boundaries as Strategic Tools

Cindy also emphasized the role of boundaries in building a sustainable life. These aren’t just protective walls; they are structural supports for long-term success. Carving out time for health, family, or simply quiet moments doesn’t detract from achievement. It sustains it.

For many driven professionals, the hardest part is not knowing they need space, but granting themselves permission to take it.

When Relationships Begin to Fade

One of the most common regrets Cindy hears from leaders is the realization that they’ve been physically present but emotionally distant from the people who matter most. Whether with children, partners, or aging parents, the moments that truly connect us can’t be outsourced or rescheduled.

She pointed out that even small moments of intentional presence can transform relationships. It’s not about doing more, but about showing up differently.

Pressure vs. Momentum

Not all pressure is harmful. In fact, bursts of pressure can unlock creativity and drive performance. The danger lies in allowing that pressure to become constant. When everything feels urgent, nothing gets the attention it deserves.

Cindy encourages leaders to distinguish between momentum, energy that builds, and overload, which depletes. Momentum is aligned with purpose; overload is often driven by fear or habit.

Scaling Without Self-Sacrifice

As organizations grow, leaders are often the bottleneck. When they feel the need to control everything or refuse to trust their teams, growth stalls. Cindy shared how leaders who develop self-awareness, set clear priorities, and invest in their energy are the ones who can lead effectively at scale.

In this light, sustainable leadership isn’t about pushing harder. It’s about aligning effort with what truly matters.

Redefining Ambition

For today’s leaders, the next level may not be about expanding goals. It may be about evolving them. Success could mean building a company that doesn’t require heroic effort every day. It could mean finally having the energy to enjoy what you’ve built.

Cindy’s insights suggest that ambition doesn’t have to be abandoned. It just needs to be recalibrated, so it leads to more than just achievement. It leads to fulfillment.

In the race to scale and innovate, company culture can feel like a side project—something to deal with after the metrics, the tech, and the talent pipeline. But what if culture wasn’t a soft concept or an HR initiative, but the most practical tool you had to drive performance, engagement, and profit?

Chris Dyer, bestselling author of The Power of Company Culture and Remote Work, doesn’t just believe that—it’s how he built fast-growth companies that consistently ranked among the best places to work. His experience leading through economic downturns and the rise of remote work revealed a truth that many executives overlook: culture is not an art. It’s a science—and more importantly, a CEO’s job.

From Command and Control to Culture as Strategy

Dyer candidly admitted that his early leadership style mirrored his time as a college sports coach—strong on direction, light on listening. But when the 2009 recession hit, everything changed. “I realized the organization was not responding the way I thought it should. If it’s not working, and I’m the CEO, it’s on me.”

That insight became a turning point. Each year, Dyer took on one major people problem, from growth constraints to burnout, and tackled it head-on. Instead of hiding in spreadsheets or strategy decks, he stepped into the role of what he calls a “CEO with a CPO’s mindset”—an executive who treats people, not just profit, as the core performance lever.

Mediocre vs. Great Culture: The Real Difference

Most leaders know when they’re in a bad culture: low morale, high turnover, and hallway whispers that swell into internal crisis. But too many settle for “good enough”—what Dyer calls the corporate equivalent of a Toyota Corolla. Reliable, but uninspired.

Great cultures, he found, share seven specific traits: transparency, positivity, listening, embracing mistakes, celebrating uniqueness, recognition, and measurement. Most companies fall short not because they don’t care, but because they treat culture as subjective, when in fact, it’s measurable and improvable.

Transparency: The First and Hardest Step

Dyer places transparency at the top of the hierarchy—not just sharing financials, but openly communicating why people are hired or let go, what team goals are, and how success is defined. Without this, fear fills the gap, creating what psychologists call a “negativity bias.” Employees assume the worst, spread rumors, and disengage.

In Dyer’s experience, leaders who keep employees in the loop don’t just get loyalty—they get better ideas.

“Once I started sharing what I knew, their ideas got better than mine.” – Chris Dyer

Positivity that Isn’t Toxic

Dyer’s “positivity pillar” isn’t about sugarcoating. It’s about magnification—spotlighting what’s working and doubling down. In one company, instead of obsessing over underperformers, they supported top salespeople with assistants, freeing them up to sell even more. That’s not soft—it’s strategic resource allocation.

He also advocates for a “Year of Yes” mindset (inspired by Shonda Rhimes’ book), encouraging leaders to respond with “Yes, and…” or “Yes, but…” to ideas, even when the answer will ultimately be “no.” This subtle linguistic shift trains teams to think collaboratively and problem-solve creatively, rather than shutting down prematurely.

Mistakes vs. Errors: A Crucial Distinction

Dyer stresses the need to distinguish between errors (due to carelessness or lack of training) and mistakes (well-intentioned choices that didn’t pan out). The former requires correction. The latter deserves recognition.

This principle fosters innovation because people won’t take calculated risks if they fear punishment. “Celebrate mistakes. Learn from them. That’s how you grow,” Dyer said.

Recognition: Bottom-Up, Not Top-Down

If your employee recognition program is still driven by a “Manager of the Month” poster in the break room, Dyer suggests it’s time to rethink.

He advocates for organic, peer-driven recognition systems embedded in daily tools like Slack or Teams—systems where anyone can thank a colleague publicly. These micro-moments of appreciation build trust and morale faster than any manager-curated award ever could.

He contrasts this with a large hospitality company’s approach, where all team members on a shift earn reward points when one is recognized by a guest. Why? Because support roles often enable front-facing wins. That’s systemic recognition.

Making Remote Work Actually Work

Dyer’s companies embraced remote work long before it was trendy—or necessary. But to make it work, he stresses, you can’t just “lift and shift” office culture to Zoom. Everything must be redesigned.

One practical fix? The “cockroach meeting.” These are quick, 15-minute optional video calls anyone can start to squash a small issue before it becomes an infestation. They’re fast, collaborative, and remove bottlenecks before they slow down productivity.

He also implemented centralized communication (Slack only, no texts or emails), standardized naming for different meeting types, and time-zone-conscious workflows. For asynchronous teams, that means planning for intentional handoffs and documenting everything clearly.

Another tip: encourage employees to block out their “golden hour”—that time of peak productivity—and treat it as sacred. Protecting that window empowers people to do their best work, uninterrupted.

One-on-Ones Are Overrated—Here’s What to Do Instead

One-on-one meetings are often cited as best practice, but Dyer calls most of them “a waste of time.” Instead, he recommends group performance check-ins where all team members meet, share progress, and offer support or accountability. “It builds collective intelligence, not just vertical hierarchy,” he explained.

By sharing progress transparently, teams become self-correcting, and leaders can step into a facilitative, not directive, role.

Culture Is Not HR’s Job

While HR plays a support role, Dyer insists culture belongs at the top. “It’s the CEO’s responsibility to drive and reinforce the behaviors they want.” Every quarter, he would choose one core people problem—whether it was burnout, communication gaps, or turnover—and focus relentlessly on solving it.

The Bottom Line

Chris Dyer’s playbook is proof that culture is neither a soft skill nor a side project. When treated with rigor and intentionality, it becomes a competitive advantage.

And in an era where employees have more choices, hybrid work is here to stay, and AI is reshaping roles—there’s never been a more urgent time for leaders to invest in the human systems that make business actually work.

Because as Dyer shows, a high-performance culture doesn’t happen by accident—it happens by design.

The payroll industry (and many others) is missing the diamonds in its goldmine. The question is, are you?

If you want to see the future of business, look where others see waste. That’s where resourceful people find their fortune.

The Pattern of Brilliance

Alex Hormozi once told a story about sawmills. They used to pay people to haul away sawdust — literal trash.

Then someone realized that sawdust, mixed with glue and compression, could become particle board — a product worth selling.

They didn’t invent a new process. They reimagined what they already had. They turned waste into wealth.

That’s what separates operators from visionaries. Operators optimize what exists. Visionaries reimagine what’s possible.

The Bezos Play: Three Streams, One Strategy

A few weeks ago, I was watching Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime. A commercial came on for laundry detergent.

Then something subtle but brilliant happened.

A banner popped up inviting viewers to buy that exact detergent on Amazon.com.

That’s when it hit me.

Jeff Bezos didn’t build Prime Video to compete with Netflix. That was never the goal.

He built it to control the full loop — attention, advertising, and transactions.

He makes money three times from the same action:

1. Viewers pay for Prime access.

2. Advertisers pay Amazon to promote their products.

3. Customers pay again when they buy those products on Amazon.

That’s not just entertainment. That’s an ecosystem.

Bezos found a way to make money at every stage of the customer journey — from watching the game to buying the soap.

He didn’t create new work. He made the existing work infinitely more valuable.

That’s not luck. That’s vision and resourcefulness.

The Blind Spot in Every Business

Now, bring it closer to home.

Every company creates byproducts — not just physical waste, but data waste: reports, metrics, and trends that get collected, filed, and forgotten.

That’s your sawdust.

Most leaders ignore it. They pay to store it. They never ask, “What could this be worth if I looked at it differently?”

Every organization has profit leaks — inefficiencies, turnover, disengagement — quietly draining the bottom line. They also have missed opportunities, like sleeping giants ready to be awakened!

The clues are everywhere. They just need the right lens to be seen and the right tools to extract their value.

An Industry to Watch: Payroll

If you want to see where this pattern might explode next, keep your eyes on payroll services.

On the surface, it’s a simple service industry — efficient, compliant, and essential. But look closer, and it’s one of the most undervalued data engines in the economy.

Payroll companies are sitting on gold mines of information — labor costs, turnover trends, overtime patterns, benefit utilization — data that quietly reveals where profit leaks and retention risks live inside every client organization.

They already have the goldmine. But buried inside are diamonds most of them don’t know exist.

Even if they did, they wouldn’t know where to look or how to extract them. It’s not expensive or complicated — they just need the right tools and the right lens.

With a shift in perspective, payroll companies could:

Help clients identify and plug hidden profit leaks.

Turn “data dust” into high-value insights.

Transform payroll from a cost center into a strategic profit multiplier.

When that happens, payroll will stop being a back-office service and start being a front-line business advantage.

The Prediction

Here’s what I believe: In the next few years, we’ll see a handful of payroll companies wake up to this opportunity.

They’ll stop selling efficiency and start selling insight. They’ll redefine their role from processors to profit partners. And when they do, they’ll dominate their markets.

Everyone else will wonder how they missed it — how the diamonds were sitting in their goldmine the whole time.

(*Note: From where I stand, it’s obvious. From inside the payroll industry, it’s invisible — otherwise, they’d have done it already. I’ve already seen what’s coming. I’m just curious who’s sharp enough to ask where to look.)

The Challenge

For every business leader reading this, the takeaway is the same:

What “sawdust” are you ignoring that could be valuable?

What data or byproduct could become a new revenue stream if you saw it differently?

What goldmine are you standing on — unaware of the diamonds inside?

The winners of the next decade won’t be those with the most resources. They’ll be the ones who are most resourceful.

And right now, payroll is the perfect case study — and maybe the perfect warning — for every other industry still sitting on invisible wealth.

What happens when employees don’t understand how their pay works? They disengage.

For more than 30 years, compensation strategist Scott Trumpolt has helped organizations untangle the knot between performance, pay, and purpose. He has worked with companies across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Caribbean, designing systems that do more than distribute money; they build trust.

According to Trumpolt, compensation is often misunderstood by leadership teams. It’s not just a line item or a legal obligation; it’s a cultural signal.

“Compensation, as important as it is in terms of a true reason why employees leave an organization, is not among the very top reasons,” he says. “It’s more about that relationship with their immediate manager. They’re having that lack of engagement.”

In other words, the danger isn’t necessarily how much someone is paid. It’s whether they understand how their pay works, how they can grow it, and what that says about their future.

Pay Transparency Is About the Journey, Not Just the Number

Many companies treat compensation as a static figure: here’s your role, here’s your range, end of story. But that misses a deeper opportunity to drive engagement and performance.

“It’s not just knowing what your job gets paid in the marketplace,” Trumpolt says. “It’s how do I grow my pay over time?”

He points to the concept of career architecture, a structured way to show employees how they can progress within a role or across functions. One organization he worked with implemented such a system after internal surveys revealed people didn’t feel underpaid; they just didn’t know how to advance.

“They focused on the concept of getting employees to understand that pay and career development are directly linked in the marketplace,” he says. “After a couple of years of implementing this, their employee engagement levels went up in those specific categories.”

It wasn’t about posting salary bands. It was about mapping a path forward.

Warning Signs That Your Pay Strategy Isn’t Working

How can leaders tell if their compensation system is actually hurting engagement? Trumpolt points to two clear signals:

High-performing employees are voluntarily leaving.

Internal surveys show low scores in compensation-related areas.

These red flags don’t always mean people feel underpaid, but they often feel disconnected from the process.

It Starts With Philosophy, Then Adds Flexibility

According to Trumpolt, smart compensation begins with a clear pay philosophy. Does your company aim to pay at market median or above? Do you prioritize base pay or variable incentives? These choices shape everything else, from structure to retention.

But flexibility is also key.

“Each job has its own unique market value,” he says. “Some roles you want to pay higher than market. It’s about providing business flexibility.”

That flexibility, however, only works when it’s grounded in strategy and supported by communication.

Pay Transparency Laws Are Raising the Bar

As more states adopt laws requiring salary ranges in job postings, many companies are scrambling to adjust. Trumpolt believes this legal shift is a turning point.

“It’s a wake-up call for employers,” he says. “Since they have to post these ranges, they have to get their internal house even more in order.”

Why? Because employees, both current and prospective, will start asking smart questions. If three team members with similar experience and performance are scattered across the range without explanation, trust suffers.

Trumpolt recalls seeing this firsthand: “They had been there for a while, they were good performers, but they weren’t being paid appropriately for their level of contribution.”

The issue wasn’t the range. It was the inconsistency in how it was applied and explained.

Managers Make or Break the Message

Even the most thoughtfully designed compensation system can fail if managers don’t know how to talk about it.

“They need tools to understand how the employees’ pay links to this idea of career development and how that fits into the business need of the organization,” Trumpolt says.

Too often, managers default to vague justifications like “This is what our budget allows” or “Everyone’s getting 3%.” Instead, Trumpolt encourages conversations that are forward-looking and specific: what the business needs next year, how the employee can grow, and what that growth could mean for their compensation.

“That is the essence of what I think employees are looking for. How do I fit into this company’s vision on a longer-term nature instead of it being very tactical?”

In the end, Trumpolt says the real value of compensation lies in how it’s used, not just what it costs.

“Every one of your programs has to be looked at in terms of what this does to strengthen the employee engagement factor,” he says. “Because strengthening employee engagement is going to get the business results up.”

Leaders who treat compensation as a strategic lever, not just a compliance exercise, can create workplaces where people understand not just what they earn, but why—and, more importantly, how to grow.

Dr. Don Barden isn’t just making bold predictions. He’s mapping out a future grounded in data. A classically trained economist, bestselling author, and globally sought-after leadership advisor, Dr. Barden is known for helping billion-dollar companies and high-level executives achieve transformational breakthroughs.

His latest research, detailed in the book Here Come the Girls, may be his most groundbreaking yet. He predicts that between 2028 and 2032, women will take over global leadership—and in doing so, unlock an unprecedented economic boom.

“It’s not a prediction anymore. It’s already happening. As of today, 42% of leadership roles worldwide are held by women. And based on our analysis, women will become the majority in global business leadership and ownership by 2028.”

The Data Is Clear: Women Are Better at This

This shift isn’t just symbolic. It’s strategic. When Dr. Barden’s team analyzed thousands of businesses worldwide, one thing stood out: Female-led companies consistently outperform their male-led counterparts by a factor of three.

Compared to male-led organizations, female-led businesses:

1. Generate 3x the revenue

2. Achieve 3x the profit

3. Double their employee retention (6 years vs. 3 years on average)

4. See increased productivity in years four through six of employment

5. Foster stronger employee loyalty and customer alignment

“Women are stepping into leadership roles and they’re redefining how leadership works,” Barden explained. “Their approach builds empowered teams who solve problems before they even reach the top.”

The Secret Sauce: Empathy, Empowerment, and Collective Genius

Traditional leadership, especially in male-dominated industries, often centers on one person solving problems. But Barden’s research reveals a different, more effective pattern in female leadership. It involves three simple but powerful steps:

1. Sympathy for the problem

2. Empathy for the person

3. Empowerment through collaboration

Rather than immediately taking control, female leaders listen deeply, separate the issue from the individual, and ask: “If I gave you a magic wand, how would you solve this?” In 94% of cases, the team member already knows the solution. And when they’re trusted to act, they feel seen, heard, and valued—conditions that fuel innovation and performance.

“Confidence is a byproduct of commitment, courage, and capabilities,” Barden said. “Women are building that in their teams every day.”

Why This Is Good News for Everyone

This isn’t male-bashing. It’s an economic opportunity. As more leaders, male and female, adopt this collaborative style, the entire system benefits. Companies that embrace these principles are already seeing rapid growth. Those who don’t may find themselves left behind.

In fact, Barden argues that when companies collaborate instead of compete, growth becomes exponential—not additive. A 3x business collaborating with another 3x business doesn’t equal 6x. It equals 3x cubed—up to 9x growth.

“This is the best thing to happen to the global economy in modern history,” he said. “The timing is perfect. As women rise in leadership, the world is finally ready for what they bring.”

How to Prepare

Barden suggests three steps for business leaders who want to stay ahead of this shift:

1. Conduct an honest self-assessment. Ask yourself: Am I empowering my team or accidentally muting their potential?

2. Make a commitment and be courageous. True growth requires emotional intelligence, vulnerability, and a willingness to change.

3. Invest in new capabilities. Don’t wait for a crisis. Learn from the best, model inclusive leadership, and rewire your culture to meet the moment.

This isn’t a trend. It’s a transformation.

“When people feel seen, heard, and understood, they feel valued,” said Barden. “And when they feel valued, they will move mountains for you.”

Final Thoughts

The rise of women in leadership is not a threat—it’s a breakthrough. It’s not about replacing men; it’s about evolving leadership. Companies that embrace this shift will be the ones leading the next economic revolution.

Because the future of leadership isn’t male or female. It’s empowered, collaborative, and transformational. And it starts now.

Most leaders talk about vision. Few know how to make it stick. Fewer still can rally people around it when things get hard.

Ash Seddeek has spent decades coaching executives at companies like Cisco, Oracle, and Deloitte. He’s helped them shape and share visions that aren’t just words on the wall—they’re blueprints for change. As a bestselling author and founder of Executive Greatness, his mission is simple: help leaders take their vision from aspiration to execution.

Here’s what business owners and CEOs can learn from Ash’s deep experience leading change in some of the world’s most complex organizations.

The Best Leaders Start by “Time Traveling”

According to Ash, compelling vision doesn’t start with spreadsheets or slide decks—it starts with imagination. Great leaders mentally travel years into the future and ask: What will our customers, patients, or employees experience when we succeed?

From that mental vantage point, they look around, notice the delight, ease, or impact their work has created, and return with urgency. That emotional connection fuels a desire to inspire others. This vivid future must then be made real for the team—not as a fantasy, but as a goal worth chasing.

Don’t Just Dream It. Deconstruct It.

Having a clear picture of the future isn’t enough. Leaders must break the vision down into understandable building blocks.

Ash emphasized the importance of connecting the “dream” with the day-to-day: explaining how customers, employees, and systems will benefit, what needs to change, and how those changes will unfold. When teams can see the path—not just the destination—they’re more likely to believe and participate.

This kind of breakdown moves vision from theory to traction.

Use Storytelling, Not Just Strategy

Ash pointed to real-world examples like Kaiser Permanente, which reimagined patient experience by addressing pain points—like confusing appointment systems and scattered data. They documented real frustrations, understood internal limitations, and then designed improvements grounded in empathy and clarity.

Leaders who build trust do so by grounding change in human experience. Whether addressing healthcare, finance, or operations, vision that connects emotionally lands better than vision presented as bullet points.

Move from Aspiration to Inspiration

Aspiration lives in the leader’s head. Inspiration happens when others feel it too.

Ash warned that if leaders fail to energize their teams, they may hear “Why is this being done to us?” instead of “Why wouldn’t we do this?”

The secret: speak to groups and individuals. Cascade the message. Get leaders at every level to echo the same values and vision. Personalize the message. Help each team member see what the future means for them.

Big or Small, It’s About Shared Emotion

Whether leading a team of ten or ten thousand, the goal is the same: help people feel connected to the bigger purpose.

Ash encouraged leaders to lean into shared human experiences—especially when addressing large audiences. For smaller groups or one-on-ones, start by understanding the individual’s context. Ask questions. Listen first. Then tailor the vision to meet their world.

Connection is built through empathy.

Adaptation Isn’t a Weakness—It’s Wisdom

When circumstances shift, great leaders don’t cling blindly to the original plan. They openly acknowledge what’s changed, what remains, and how to adjust together.

Ash recommended leaders embrace co-creation—whether through design-thinking workshops, feedback loops, or simple honest conversations. Adjustments to vision become easier when people already feel included in shaping it.

Frequent, authentic communication prevents confusion and rumors from filling the void.

Watch the Right Signals

So, how do you know whether to persist or pivot?

Ash suggested monitoring customer adoption metrics. Are users engaging with the new experience or tool? Are they using it often, or ignoring it? Leaders should regularly review usage, feedback, and adoption patterns. If things don’t resonate, it’s time to ask why—and adjust.

Data tells you what’s happening. Conversations help explain why.

Bring Skeptics In Early

Change often triggers anxiety. Ash urges leaders to approach skeptics with curiosity, not defensiveness.

Instead of presenting a fully baked plan, ask team members about their goals, ideas, and frustrations. Understand what they care about, then incorporate those insights. This builds trust and reduces resistance—especially when the vision threatens the status quo.

The people closest to the work often hold the keys to making your vision real.

Aligning Competing Departments Starts with Empathy

When departments clash over priorities, Ash recommends a simple principle: help them walk in each other’s shoes.

In cross-functional workshops, teams can examine how their work connects to customer experience, where breakdowns occur, and what each department needs to do their part well. Resistance often fades when people feel heard, seen, and respected.

This “cohesive tissue weaving,” as Ash calls it, is essential for systems change—not just process change.

Repeat Yourself. Then Repeat Yourself Again.

One of the most common mistakes leaders make? Saying the vision once and assuming it stuck.

Ash emphasized the importance of frequent, multi-channel communication—emails, meetings, town halls, physical posters, and direct conversations. Leaders must ensure the message gets through in the ways people actually receive and retain information.

Don’t just assume your managers are cascading the message. Check. Show up. Reinforce. Then repeat.

Anchor Vision in Purpose

A compelling vision answers what will change. But the why comes from the company’s mission.

Ash encouraged leaders to anchor their message in the reason the organization exists in the first place. Whether it’s improving lives through healthcare or empowering families financially, reconnecting with that deeper purpose helps employees care.

Purpose gives meaning to the struggle. It fuels resilience.

AI Will Change How We Communicate Vision

Looking ahead, Ash believes technology will make it easier to visualize and share future states. AI-powered simulations and tools will help teams see what change will look like—and what role they’ll play in it.

This increased clarity could accelerate innovation and help teams align more quickly than ever before.

Final Thought

Ash Seddeek’s insights remind us that vision isn’t just a lofty idea—it’s a tool. When used well, it becomes a compass, a rally cry, and a source of meaning for people at every level of your company.

If you’re a CEO or executive trying to lead through change, remember: it’s not enough to cast the vision. You have to co-create it, communicate it often, and connect it to purpose. Only then will people see themselves in it—and fight to make it real.

From pizza Fridays to motivational posters, most companies confuse perks with purpose. “Commitment to Excellence” banners don’t move the needle when people don’t believe leadership means it. As Les Landes puts it, “The problem isn’t the icing. It’s the cake.”

Landes calls this the “program trap”—a tendency for well-meaning leaders to launch new initiatives without fundamentally changing the culture or operations that shape daily work. These one-off events may create momentary enthusiasm, but they rarely result in lasting change.

“The default behavior in organizations is habit,” he explains. “Unless you intentionally build a system that breaks that pattern and encourages continuous improvement, nothing changes.”

Why Many Leaders Miss the Point

Often leaders assume that engagement is about being nice or offering incentives. But Landes says effective engagement is built on three things:

1. Honest communication about current conditions and future direction.

2. A clear path for employees to be heard, valued, and taken seriously.

3. The ability for people to have some control over decisions that affect their work.

In short, engagement is about trust and adult-to-adult relationships. It’s not about telling people what to do. It’s about setting expectations and supporting their ability to contribute meaningfully.

Rethinking Accountability

Landes also emphasizes the importance of what he calls “constructive accountability.” Instead of blaming people when results fall short, managers should ask, “What’s getting in the way?” That simple question shifts the dynamic from defensiveness to problem-solving and reinforces a culture where people take ownership.

This philosophy shows up again in how Landes defines trust: believing people will do the right thing, the right way, at the right time. That kind of trust is built when leaders show care, are honest, follow through, demonstrate competence, and take responsibility when things go wrong.

Culture Gaps and a Better Way to Measure Them

One of Landes’ most innovative tools is his cultural assessment, which avoids traditional one-to-five rating scales. Instead, employees rank 40 cultural value statements from “most like” to “least like” their current workplace. Then they repeat the process for their desired culture.

The result? A precise, visual map of the gap between reality and aspiration. When done across teams, it also reveals the disconnects between management’s perception and employees’ lived experience.

According to Landes, this tool doesn’t just measure culture—it creates the conversation leaders need to have. “You don’t have to fix everything at once. Start with the biggest, clearest gaps. Use that as the foundation for meaningful action.”

What Leaders Can Do Tomorrow

When asked for actionable next steps, Landes offered a short list of practices any leader can implement immediately:

Start regular team huddles focused on continuous improvement.

Replace performance shaming with curiosity: “What’s getting in the way?”

Recognize contributions frequently and authentically.

Conduct “stay interviews” instead of waiting for exit interviews.

Timeless Lessons in a Fast-Changing World

The business landscape will continue to evolve, but Landes believes certain principles will only become more critical:

Treat people as adults.

Communicate frequently and transparently.

Build systems that support performance, not slogans that pretend to.

Make engagement the byproduct of doing real work better.

If there’s one phrase Landes would put on every office wall, it’s this: “Always treat people as the source of the solution, not the cause of the problem.”