Today's Leadership Pulse
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang pledges $150B annual investment in Taiwan to cement AI leadership
Jensen Huang announced Nvidia will invest about $150 billion each year in Taiwan and launch a $5 trillion headquarters project by 2030, creating roughly 4,000 high‑skill jobs and deepening ties with TSMC. The plan positions the island as the epicentre of the AI revolution.
Also developing:
- KFF founder‑CEO Drew Altman to retire after three decades, succeeded by senior executives
- Brex co‑founder Henrique Dubugras demands 8 am‑10 pm, seven‑day workweeks for AI‑native team, sparking labor tension
- Wix CEO Avishai Abrahami warns of potential layoffs affecting 1,000 staff as company restructures
How Inclusive Leadership Drives Stronger Creativity and Performance
The article argues that inclusive leadership is now a strategic imperative for communications firms, where Millennials and Gen Z comprise nearly 60 % of the workforce and demand values‑aligned cultures. It cites data showing low employee engagement and a 23 % profitability gap between high‑ and low‑engagement companies, underscoring the financial risk of exclusion. Inclusive practices—psychological safety, diverse idea sharing, and equitable promotion—are presented as drivers of creativity and talent retention. The piece concludes that measuring both revenue and culture is essential for sustainable growth.
Why Blended Workforces Fail without This New Kind of Leadership
Organizations are shifting to an "agentic" blended workforce that mixes permanent staff, freelancers, contractors, and AI agents, delivering rapid skill access and demand‑driven scaling. This model promises flexibility and resilience but exposes a leadership gap, as traditional management struggles to...
Lockton Appoints Aon’s Livy Dai as China CEO
Lockton has appointed Livy Dai, a veteran of Aon, as chief executive of its China operations based in Shanghai. Dai, who spent 29 years at Aon and helped launch the Aon‑COFCO joint venture and the Nanjing branch, will report to...
Women Are Still Being Badly Overlooked in Hiring
Despite advances in analytics and AI, many firms still miss top leadership talent, especially women. Women now comprise over half the workforce, earn most higher‑education degrees, and score higher on emotional intelligence, collaboration and integrity. Yet executive pipelines narrow sharply...
‘Disruption for In-House Legal Departments Is Coming From the Companies They Represent’: FjordStream’s Bjarne Tellmann
Bjarne Tellmann, former GC of FTSE 100 firms, launched FjordStream Advisors to advise legal departments on AI, digital transformation, and executive coaching. The firm offers three services: technology strategy advisory, senior‑leader coaching, and thought‑leadership workshops. Tellmann warns that many GCs prioritize...
Saunders Appointed MD of Sky Business
Sky has appointed Damian Saunders as Managing Director of its Sky Business division, marking the latest step in the company’s B2B expansion. Saunders, who joined Sky in 2012 and has held multiple senior roles—including Strategy and Commercial Director and CRO—has...
Empathy Beats Résumé: Memorable Leadership over Credentials
Two candidates, same role. Same question Candidate A: “I have five years of management experience and I’ve led teams of ten people.” Candidate B: “I learned early that people don’t work harder just because you tell them to. They work harder when they feel...
How Walmart CEO John Furner Is Using His Father’s Lessons—And AI—To Steer a $1 Trillion Giant
John Furner, who rose from an hourly associate to Walmart’s CEO in 2022, is steering the $1 trillion retailer through a tech‑focused transformation. Drawing on his father’s "people helping people" ethos, he has reshaped compensation, boosting top managers’ pay to as...
Why Expertise Is Becoming Cheap—And What Leaders Must Build Instead
In this episode, host David Rice talks with author Chris Deaver about the hidden role of fear in high‑performing organizations and how it masquerades as excellence. They explore how current compensation and promotion systems reward visibility and solo "superhero" work,...
Standard Chartered Reports Progress on Gender Diversity, Extends Senior Women Leadership Target to 35% by 2028
Standard Chartered’s 2025 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Impact Report shows women now hold 45.5% of board seats and half of its management team, up sharply from 23% board representation in 2016. Senior leadership women rose to 33%, and the bank...
A New Generation of Nordic Air Cargo Leaders Emerge
ECS Group is reshaping the Nordic air‑cargo landscape by promoting internal talent into senior management roles, blending operational know‑how with commercial and digital expertise. Recent appointments, such as Thomas Olesen at Skylog Denmark, have already delivered measurable results, including a...
What’s Keeping Presidents Up at Night in 2026
The Inside Higher Ed‑Hanover Research 2026 Survey of 430 college and university presidents shows financial volatility and political interference emerging as the fastest‑growing risks, with 45 percent and 43 percent of leaders flagging them respectively. A second Trump administration has intensified regulatory...
Presidents Pressured in Trump’s Second Term
A new Inside Higher Ed survey of U.S. college presidents reveals that the second Trump administration—dubbed Trump 2.0—has deepened regulatory and financial strain on higher education. Over 80% of respondents say the administration harms the sector’s financial outlook and diversity, equity,...
Startup SecureNative AI Appoints Peter Lillywhite, Inks Dicker Data Deal
SecureNative AI has appointed Peter Lillywhite as co‑founder to strengthen its Microsoft security capabilities. Lillywhite, former founder of Xello Australia and leader of its Microsoft practice, joins existing founder Sean Roberts, whose background includes multiple tech exits. The startup also...
How To Create More Human Workplaces By Tackling Hidden Patterns
Clay Parker Jones’s new book *Hidden Patterns* offers a systems‑level playbook for building more human workplaces. It catalogs 75 recurring organizational problems and pairs each with core solutions framed as reusable patterns rather than prescriptive procedures. Drawing on behavioral science...
The Role of the ‘Squeezed Middle’ in Surviving Change
Gary Cookson’s upcoming book highlights the pivotal role of middle managers in navigating organisational change. Positioned between senior leaders and front‑line staff, they translate strategic visions into actionable steps while managing resistance and performance pressures. Effective change hinges on two‑way...
Lead Like Her: Marcy Schaffir, Turnaround Legend
Marcy Schaffir, former chief merchandising officer of Lane Bryant, was thrust into leading the brand after a pandemic‑era bankruptcy eliminated senior roles. She prioritized personal well‑being, restructured the leadership team, and pivoted product assortments and e‑commerce fulfillment, driving the company’s most...
ReThinking: How to Spot Psychopaths and Narcissists, with Leanne Ten Brinke
In this episode of Rethinking, Adam Grant talks with social psychologist Leanne ten Brinke about the science of dark personalities—psychopathy, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and sadism—collectively called the dark tetrad. Ten Brinke explains how subtle cues like reduced contagious yawning, atypical facial...
Midwest People: March 2026
Midwest construction firms announced several senior leadership changes in March 2026. Kadean Construction promoted Aaron Retherford to president and reorganized its health‑care and commercial units under Travis Mulder, while appointing Jim Driscoll and Joe Kelley to new strategic roles. Burns...
True Leadership Forged in Darkness, Not Polished Success
We sanitize success. In boardrooms and biographies, we polish the narrative until the ascent looks like a clean, linear climb. But the leaders who sustain performance rarely learned their deepest lessons in the sun. They learned them in the dark. Rock...
Empathy Delivers Real ROI, Says Former Fortune 500 VP
From Fortune 500 VP to Resilience Advocate: The True ROI of Empathy https://t.co/yr3Daj5sJ7 via @DLAIgnite #SocialSelling #DigitalSelling #Sales #SalesLeader #Leadership #Culture #Motivation #Marketing #Success #Mindset #Entrepreneur #Management #Productivity #Inspiration https://t.co/9Ab4VWap7o
Evrideo Appoints Rob Malcolm and Greg Willis as Senior Executives
Evrideo, the cloud‑native SaaS platform for broadcast operations, announced two senior‑level hires. Rob Malcolm joins as Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Product Officer, bringing over 25 years of SaaS and broadcast experience. Greg Willis becomes Vice President of Sales &...
How to Transition From Operator to Business Leader
The article explains that moving from a hands‑on operator to a strategic business leader requires a fundamental shift in mindset, behavior, and performance metrics. It emphasizes delegating tasks, building robust systems, and freeing up time for strategic thinking. The piece...
Smoother Insurance Agency Succession Planning
The article stresses that independent insurance agents should embed technology‑enabled operations from day one to ensure smooth succession planning. Leveraging agency management systems provides real‑time performance metrics, AI‑driven client knowledge transfer, and automated renewal tracking, which together lower handoff friction...
Mental Decluttering Relieves Stress and Improves Decision-Making
Therese Yeung, an accredited coach, explains that the brain fixates on unfinished tasks, creating mental clutter that drains leaders' energy. Practicing mental decluttering—whether of physical, digital, or thought spaces—provides immediate tension relief and a feeling of lightness. This clearing isn’t...
CB Hot Suit Takes: Lisa Sutton Gardner, Founder / Director, Enigma
Lisa Sutton Gardner, founder and director of Enigma, reflects on a 38‑year advertising career that began after reading Ogilvy. She highlights Enigma’s new "Here for Good" brand platform for Newcastle Permanent, built on human insight and designed to be unignorable....
AppsFlyer Appoints Nakad in GM Role
AppsFlyer announced the creation of a General Manager role for Western Europe and the Middle East, appointing Alexia Nakad to lead the region. The new position underscores the firm’s push to expand its omni‑channel and data‑collaboration strategy across high‑growth markets. Nakad...
Building From the Ground Up: A Leadership Journey in #GiveToGain
Deputy CEO Doris Ong recounts her rise from ERA Singapore’s management trainee program to leading its project marketing arm, which has sold over 60,000 homes across 450 developments. She leveraged that experience to champion ESG initiatives, community partnerships, and a...
Turning Strategy Slides Into Real Decision Power
Companies often have strategy slides. But when real decisions happen, people still ask: “What does strategy mean here?” On March 17 at 10 AM ET I’m joining Adam Zales of Amplify to discuss how strategy leaders translate strategy into action. #Strategy #Innovation #Leadership #CorporateStrategy...
Tangela Q. Parker: Leading with Discipline and Trust
Tangela Q. Parker, a veteran corporate affairs executive, has spent more than two decades shaping communication strategy for major healthcare firms such as CVS Health, Centene, UnitedHealthcare and Humana. Her recent role as senior vice president of external affairs for...
How to Lead People Who Have Never Followed
Entrepreneurial leaders often overlook the need to teach followership, assuming team members will intuitively know how to support a vision. The article argues that imposing hierarchy or pure democracy can erode culture, and instead advocates clear direction, resource allocation, and...
Tim Cook Credits Jobs' “Reality Distortion Field” For Joining Apple
‘He is a once-in-a-thousand-years kind of person’: Tim Cook explains how the Steve Jobs reality distortion field convinced him to join Apple https://www.techradar.com/phones/iphone/he-is-a-once-in-a-thousand-years-kind-of-person-tim-cook-explains-how-the-steve-jobs-reality-distortion-field-convinced-him-to-join-apple
Silent Complaints Reveal Hidden Leadership Blind Spots
Most people think they are doing ok in their leadership role bc no one is complaining. A few recent clients thought the same thing. When we went through an audit, what we actually found: - Stepping in to do the work of other...
Real Elevates Team Leader to Executive Growth Role
The Real Brokerage has created a chief growth officer role and appointed top‑producing agent Jason Cassity to lead it. With more than 33,000 agents—a 30% year‑over‑year increase—the firm aims to accelerate acquisition, activation, and retention while preserving its culture. Cassity...
Neuroscience Tips To Thrive In Later-Career Work with Dr. David Rock
In this episode, Dr. David Rock explains that the brain remains highly plastic well into the 80s and 90s, so learning capacity does not diminish with age, though motivation often does. He highlights the mutual benefits of engaging later‑career employees...
Choose Impact Over Title: Management Isn't Mandatory
Before you decide to be a manager, you should think hard about whether it's the right path for you. Because you don't have to do it. Especially if you don't really want to, but believe the management ladder is the...
The 25 Most Influential Executives in Food and Beverage (2026)
The 2026 list of the 25 most influential food‑and‑beverage executives replaces revenue‑centric rankings with a seven‑signal influence model, measuring LinkedIn reach, earnings‑call narrative, M&A activity, conference keynotes, trade‑press visibility, policy shaping, and transformation impact. The list highlights leaders from both...
The Executive Communication Skills Employers Will Demand in 2026
Executives in 2026 must treat communication as a strategic imperative, turning complex data into clear, actionable insight. The rise of global, data‑heavy teams and hybrid workforces makes persuasive messaging a competitive differentiator. Structured programs—such as MBAs focused on executive communication—are...
Fix Blind Spots, Turn Good Intentions Into True Leadership
Weak leadership can hide behind good intentions... but your team feels the difference every day. Fix these blind spots, and you won’t just be a better manager, you’ll build a team that wants to follow you. (Repost from a few months ago) #management #leadership...
Inspire Purpose, Not Tasks, to Achieve Greatness
If you want to build a ship, do not drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry https://t.co/ie1ZWsH3ii
Uber CEO: Work Hard or We’ll ‘Push You Out’
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told the "Diary of a CEO" podcast that employees must answer emails even on weekends and that failure to meet this expectation will result in termination. He framed constant availability as the most important skill and...
Leaders Must Tackle Bias, Misinformation, Not Just Hallucinations
Ethical AI literacy requires more than worrying about hallucinations; leaders must confront bias, misinformation, and overly "yes-driven" cultures that pressure data to fit the narrative. #EthicalAI #CIO #CHRO #CEO https://t.co/aiB5P99ido
Too Many Ideas Stall Progress, Bezos Warns
Jeff Bezos with a very powerful lesson on ideas - too many ideas can create a backlog of unfinished work and a business distraction https://t.co/HwSACVocYA
In Customer-Facing Jobs, Where’s the Line for Tolerating Abuse From the Public?
A healthcare worker describes a tense encounter where a patient’s husband verbally berated staff after a system outage prevented treatment. The incident highlights the gray area between understandable frustration and verbal abuse, especially when staff lack clear guidelines. The article...
Every Career Stage Requires Speaking Skills—Learnable Power
At every stage of your career, when you open your mouth you sell yourself, your ideas, your value, and your ability. Fortunately, even if you’re not a born communicator, the ability to deliver a powerful presentation can be learned. #coachingskills #executivecoach...
Small, Easy Wins Boost Daily Mindfulness and Connection
Low-Friction Goals Drink a cup of water before a cup of coffee. Have one conversation that solely benefits another. Listen without interrupting during one meeting today.
BILD Announces 2026 Board Leadership Appointments
The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) announced its 2026 Board leadership slate, naming Jason Sheldon of Remington Group as Chair and Remo Agostino of The Daniels Corporation as Vice Chair. Cheryl Shindruk of Geranium will stay on as...
Uncover Leadership Tactics Business Schools Overlook
What are we reading? Title: “The leaders toolkit - Tools, strategies and tactics they never teach you at business school” Author: Dave Berkus @daveberkus #Books #Sales #Marketing #SocialSelling #leadership https://t.co/qHyodV8wap https://t.co/1l5eP8RF1O
Crude Spike Turns Market Binary, Leaders React Predictably
In this episode, we discuss how the recent spike in crude has created a “one-variable market,” where leadership becomes highly binary. We also discuss how leadership typically behaves during and after an exogenous shock. https://t.co/bvqWT3unbt
Jimmy John’s Promotes CMO to President
Jimmy John’s announced that chief marketing officer Darin Dugan will assume the role of brand president, replacing long‑time president James North. North will transition to a global brand ambassador position and become a franchisee. Kate Carpenter, formerly vice president of integrated marketing, steps...