Today's Leadership Pulse
Adobe eyes new CEO to steer AI‑driven future as shares tumble
Adobe is preparing to replace long‑time CEO Shantanu Narayen after nearly two decades at the helm. Analysts expect an internal promotion, with David Wadhwani or Anil Chakravarthy as frontrunners, as the company seeks to embed generative AI across Creative Cloud, Photoshop and Acrobat amid a >30% share decline this year.
Evening Roundup, April 27
The Evening Roundup for April 27 aggregates several high‑impact stories shaping tech, climate policy, sports, and finance. It spotlights the public feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, which threatens to delay AI collaboration, and reports the Supreme Court’s decision to dismantle the Clean Power Plan, rolling back U.S. emissions goals. The edition also critiques the Moneyball‑style analytics in sports, examines the recent “Kash Crash” in crypto markets, and highlights coverage of a growing democracy movement. Together, these pieces illustrate intersecting pressures on innovation, regulation, and public trust.
Craig Plescia: Building Success Through Discipline and Execution
Craig Plescia, founder and CEO of Plescia Construction & Development, turned a two‑decade‑long career in commercial building into a scalable, disciplined enterprise. Early brand obscurity and erratic deal flow prompted heavy investment in SEO, advertising, and a dedicated business‑development hire....
Beth Israel Lahey Health Names Network President
Boston‑based Beth Israel Lahey Health announced Sue Chapman Moss as president of its Performance Network. In the role, Moss will steer the clinically integrated network of physicians, clinicians and hospitals. She joins from Bayada Home Health Care, where she oversaw payer...
New SCAI President Dawn Abbott Outlines Workforce, Training and Inclusion Priorities
Dawn Abbott, MD, has taken the helm of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) and is prioritizing workforce sustainability, expanded training pathways, and greater inclusion in interventional cardiology. She highlighted a mismatch between the growing number of fellowship...
Cottage Health Formalizes Innovation with New Leadership Role
Cottage Health in Santa Barbara has created its first chief innovation officer role, appointing Dr. Ryan Kelly to lead the Compton Center for Medical Excellence and Innovation. The new office will formalize idea intake, evaluation and decision‑making processes, aiming for...
Freddy's Appoints Rafik Farouk and Jackie Lobdell to Development Leadership Roles
Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers appointed Rafik Farouk as Vice President of Business Development and Jackie Lobdell as Vice President of Franchise Sales. Both executives bring decades of restaurant and franchise expertise to support the chain’s aggressive expansion. Freddy's is...
(Podcast) Upgrade 613: I Know I Picked Too Many iPods
Apple announced that longtime CEO Tim Cook will step down after a 12‑year tenure, naming hardware veteran John Ternus as his successor. The transition raises questions about Apple’s strategic direction under Ternus, especially given his track record with iPhone and Mac product...
Blog: (Re)Designing Care Delivery and Operating Models for the Future at the AHA Leadership Summit
The American Hospital Association’s 2025 Leadership Summit convened senior health‑care executives, clinicians, and innovators in Denver from July 12‑14, spotlighting new care‑delivery and operating‑model strategies. Key sessions examined AI‑enabled patient experiences, value‑based reimbursement, and integrated health networks. The AHA Board elected...
Untethered’s Andrea Holyfield on Why Employee Misalignment Drives Turnover
Andrea Holyfield, CEO of Untethered, warned that employee turnover often stems from internal misalignment rather than external factors. She highlighted gaps between promised success metrics, growth opportunities, and daily reality as silent drivers of disengagement. Holyfield urged companies to broaden...
Mid‑career Men Often Prioritize Spouse over Leadership Growth
It's been awhile since I've had 1:1 exec coaching clients, but I'm working with a couple of client orgs where leader dev is part of the performance improvement puzzle. And what never, ever, gets old for me as a career and...
Study Finds AI‑Driven Personal Support May Undermine Workplace Connection
A Harvard Business Review study of 1,545 U.S. knowledge workers reveals that more than half feel lonely at work while turning to AI for career advice and emotional validation. The findings warn that substituting human interaction with AI could erode...
Artsy and Artnet Merge in $71 M Deal Backed by Beowolff Capital
Artsy and Artnet have merged under the private‑equity firm Beowolff Capital in a €65 million ($71 million) transaction at a 97% premium. CEO Jeffrey Yin will run the combined entity while Beowolff founder Andrew Wolff becomes chairman, prompting questions about market power,...
Lightmatter Appoints Roy Kim as VP of Product to Scale Photonic Interconnects
Lightmatter announced Roy Kim as its new Vice President of Product. Kim, who spent over 15 years leading AI infrastructure at Google, AMD and NVIDIA, will steer the company’s Passage™ photonic interconnect and Guide™ VLSP light engine toward volume production...
HR Teams Lean on Brokers as 93% Seek Expanded Advisory Services
HR departments are increasingly relying on staffing brokers, with 93% of brokers saying clients now want strategic support beyond traditional benefits. The shift is driven by economic uncertainty, rapid AI adoption, and a volatile hiring market that forces HR leaders...
Tenzai Adds Guardicore Veterans to Leadership as AI‑Cybersecurity Firm Scales
AI‑cybersecurity startup Tenzai has named former Guardicore leaders Nathan Perdue as chief revenue officer and Ilan Stern as chief people officer. The hires are intended to accelerate the company’s go‑to‑market push and hiring surge following a $75 million seed financing.
Wellington Management Expands Alternatives Platform, Opens Madrid Office and Appoints New Leaders
Wellington Management disclosed a multi‑pronged expansion of its alternative‑investment platform, the launch of a new office in Madrid and a series of senior‑leadership appointments. The moves are aimed at deepening the firm’s hedge‑fund‑style product suite and capturing more institutional flow...
Telephone & Data Systems Appoints Bill Case as SVP and CIO to Steer Tech Transformation
Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) announced the immediate appointment of Bill Case as senior vice president and chief information officer. The former WOW! executive brings deep broadband and cybersecurity experience to support TDS’s fiber expansion and digital infrastructure strategy. The...
Hexagon AB Names Enrique Patrickson as New Group CFO to Accelerate Finance Strategy
Hexagon AB announced today that Enrique Patrickson will take over as Group Chief Financial Officer. The veteran finance executive brings experience from Triton Partners, Viaplay Group and Electrolux, positioning the industrial‑technology firm to sharpen its capital strategy and drive growth...
Strategic Visibility Emerges as Key to Executive Promotion, Says Leadership Coach Brian Baldari
Brian Baldari, founder of ResilExec Coaching, says high‑performing directors and VPs often stall below the C‑suite because their visibility is misaligned with enterprise priorities. He proposes a "Strategic Visibility" framework that turns exposure into a designed asset, aiming to bridge...
Gene D'Adamo Announces Jan 2027 Retirement as CEO of Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust
Gene D'Adamo will retire in January 2027 as president and CEO of the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust after a 12‑year tenure that saw $214 million in grants and the expansion of the Season for Sharing program, which has raised more...
Culture Fit Masks Bias, Blocks Diverse Talent
Culture Fit Means We Like People Who Look Like Us "Culture fit" has become the legally defensible reason to reject candidates who would otherwise force difficult hiring conversations. SHRM's 2026 talent acquisition analysis points to unstructured interviews as consistent predictors of...
Family Offices Face Hiring Crisis, Career Paths Missing
It’s not easy for Family Offices to recruit and retain staff • 78% of family offices reported difficulties in hiring staff • 54% of family offices reported difficulties in retaining staff • Large family offices reported an average turnover of one employee...
(Re)Designing Care Delivery and Operating Models for the Future at the AHA Leadership Summit
The American Hospital Association’s Leadership Summit will convene July 12‑14 in Denver, gathering more than 125 speakers from over 60 hospitals and health systems. The three‑day program tackles the most pressing challenges in health care, including value‑based care, workforce redesign, AI,...
Founders: Do It Yourself, Talk to Customers First
The best advice I could give any early-stage founder right now: Stop hiring and focus on talking to customers. The simple playbook: > Do everything yourself until it physically breaks > Figure out who your best customers actually are > Only sell to them -...
Engineers Fill Gaps Due to Broken Organizational Design
Your engineer just ran a stakeholder meeting. No one asked them to. No one trained them to. No one paid them to. But the work needed doing and they were standing closest. That’s not initiative. That’s ORGANIZATIONAL GRAVITY pulling skilled people into roles leadership never filled. You...
Under Pressure: How HR Should Push Back on Questionable Hires
Recent audits of Canada’s IRCC and OC Transpo reveal senior leaders pushing unqualified candidates, exposing HR’s vulnerability to political pressure. In both cases, hires lacked required experience, language skills, or education, undermining merit‑based staffing. Academics Samantha Hancock and Tiziana Casciaro advise...
OpenAI's Future Shifts: Rapid Learning, New Direction
‘We will learn quickly and course-correct’ — Sam Altman says this is OpenAI’s future, but it’s not the one it started with https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/openai/we-will-learn-quickly-and-course-correct-sam-altman-says-this-is-openais-future-but-its-not-the-one-it-started-with
Disney Appoints Henri Ringel as VPS and General Manager for Central and Latin America
The Walt Disney Company Latin America announced Henri Ringel as Senior Vice President and General Manager for Central and South America, effective May 1. Ringel will also keep his role as Head of Content Sales and Acquisitions for the broader Latin...
Leadership Transitions Demand Honesty, Not Just Press Releases
The article argues that leadership transitions demand genuine honesty rather than polished press releases. It warns that boards often default to surface‑level messaging, leaving critical performance gaps and cultural issues unaddressed. By embedding transparent dialogue and data‑driven assessments into succession...
Barton Malow Chief Reveals ‘Big Change’ Behind 100-Year-Old Company’s Longevity
Barton Malow President and CEO Ryan Maibach attributes the firm’s century‑long durability to a decisive leadership change in 2011 that forced the Southfield‑based contractor to innovate. The abrupt transition, described on ENR’s Groundbreakers podcast, pushed the company to reassess decision‑making and...
How Leaders Unintentionally Teach Teams to Hide Risks — and How to Change That
Leaders unintentionally train teams to hide risks because early disclosure brings scrutiny, extra meetings, and perceived failure. As a result, employees wait until issues become unavoidable, turning risks into costly problems. Adding more reporting templates improves data quality but does...
Ankit Tandon Named Vice Chairman of G6 Hospitality
PRISM appointed its global COO Ankit Tandon as vice chairman of G6 Hospitality. Tandon will join CEO Sonal Sinha on the board and focus on franchise partner relations and building a stronger local team. The reshuffle also installs Anuj Ladha...
Painful but Necessary: Lopez Majority Justifies Leadership Shake-Up
The Lopez family majority, controlling about 71% of Lopez Inc., voted to remove cousin Federico “Piki” Lopez as president, citing a loss of trust and serious governance concerns. The dispute centers on two First Gen Corp. transactions—a PHP 50 billion (≈$900 million) sale of...
Why Long-Term Thinking Wins for Lake Washington Partners
Lake Washington Partners (LWP) emphasizes a generational, portfolio‑first strategy across ten states and multiple asset classes, treating each acquisition as a building block for a national, long‑term portfolio. The firm remains ultra‑conservative amid high interest rates, tight capital, and entitlement...
Lululemon Just Committed Brand Harakiri.
Lululemon announced Nike veteran Heidi O’Neill as its incoming CEO, prompting a 12% share drop that erased about $2 billion in market value. O’Neill’s tenure at Nike coincided with the brand’s aggressive wholesale retreat, loss of shelf space to Hoka and...
Cao Swiftly Undoes Phelan's Naval Reorg, Signaling Shift
Initial reports indicate Hung Cao is moving fast. Earlier in the Trump Administration, Phelan attempted to consolidate several naval departments, including rapid capabilities and intelligence, under the Secretary of the Navy. Which departments will be affected remains unclear, but multiple sources tell...
Diagnose Skill, Hill, or Will to Boost Performance
Dear managers, When framing employee performance issue, ask yourself, is this a: 1. skill problem? (lack of expertise) 2. hill problem? (difficult task) 3. will problem? (attitude, not aptitude) Smart leaders find root cause and precisely coach towards higher performance.
Your First Year as a Nonprofit Leader: A Practical Checklist for New Executive Directors
The ENGAGE Blog outlines a practical checklist for new nonprofit executive directors, emphasizing relationship building, strategic groundwork, and operational readiness. New leaders are urged to meet 50 key stakeholders, begin drafting a strategic plan, and establish succession and risk‑management frameworks...
Founders Excel as War‑Time CEOs Over Rented Leaders
Do founders realDo founders really make better "war time CEOs" vs rented ones? Michael Nathanson of @MoffettNathanso joined Dan on the latest RiskReversal pod 🎙️ https://t.co/JY0pW3EfTN
Altman Concealed Ownership of OpenAI Startup Fund, Misled Congress
Scam Altman didn’t tell the OpenAI board that he OWNED the OpenAI Startup Fund. Altman lied in congressional testimony that he didn’t have financial gain from OpenAI.
Chris Zuzick Elected Chair of PMA Board
The Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) has appointed Chris Zuzick, vice president of Waukesha Metal Products, as its 2026 board chair. He succeeds Gene Lambert of Batesville Tool & Die, while Eagle Metals’ Brian Murphy will serve as vice chair and...
Apple’s CEO Pushes Shift to AI‑driven Intent Ecosystem
Apple's new CEO "must transition Apple from the “Glass Slab” to the “Intelligence Grid”, a world where your AirPods see what you see, and your Vision Pro-style glasses whisper the “Intent” you haven’t even spoken yet." https://t.co/k77NCo9Rk8 via @sebastianbarros
Maryland Gov. Moore Empowers School Staff, Boosts Male Leadership
There’s something rather elegant about what @GovWesMoore is doing in Maryland. Recognising that the people already in our schools, our paraprofessionals, our support staff, have what it takes to lead & deliberately opening doors for more men to do it....
Snap Founder Pivots to AI Amid Layoffs
Snap Inc. announced it will lay off about 1,000 employees and close 300 open positions, targeting $500 million in annual cost reductions. The company says AI now generates 65% of its code, accelerating development and efficiency. Activist investor Irenic Capital, which...
Giga Berlin's Sick Leave Plummets Thanks to New Workforce Spirit
André @AndrThie has really kicked the Giga Berlin team into new gear: the sick leave rate has dropped to >5%, a big difference to ~15%+ from 2024. Thierig attributed the shift to a “new spirit” within the workforce. Read exactly which...
Leaders Must Master Real AI Skills, Not Buzzwords
How should leaders embrace AI? Such confusion out there. It’s more than simply saying "AI agents" in response to every question. Leaders need to understand the skills we need for today and tomorrow. @forbes https://t.co/aaN8g7TCgb
AT&T Launches $90 Bundle to Curb Churn; ESET Adds eCrime Reports
AT&T rolled out a $90 OneConnect bundled plan that combines wireless and fiber internet to slow postpaid churn, and cybersecurity firm ESET launched eCrime Reports to give security teams curated threat intelligence. Both moves reflect a tactical shift toward integrated...
Enduring Entrepreneurs Win Through Execution, Vision, Not Just Invention
The ranking highlights what defines lasting impact. Across decades, the greatest entrepreneurs are not just innovators, but leaders who built systems, scaled ideas and reshaped entire industries. The pattern is consistent. Enduring success comes from execution and vision, not just invention. https://t.co/JlboSmuQKA...
Steve Jobs Prioritized Beauty and Creation over Wealth
Larry Ellison on Steve Jobs: Apple became the most valuable company on earth and it wasn’t even one of Steve’s goals. He wasn’t trying to be rich. He wasn’t trying to be famous. He was obsessed with the creative process and...
AIG Completes CEO Succession Plan; Anderson to Take Reins
American International Group announced that Eric Anderson will assume the roles of president and chief executive officer on June 1, succeeding Peter Zaffino, who will move to the position of executive chair of the board. Anderson, a former Aon executive with nearly...