Coffee badging. The Great Stay. Revenge quitting. 

This year has seen no shortage of terms to describe the new ways we work.

As 2024 comes to a close, Fast Company’s Work Life team has been thinking about the major trends we’ve seen this year—but also what the new year will bring. Here are some of the biggest stories we’ll be monitoring in 2025.

1. The fight over RTO

Why are we still talking about a return to office? We’ve been chronicling the push to get workers back into physical offices for over three years now, but the rift between what most employees want (flexibility and a hybrid schedule) and what some leaders want (in-office collaboration and a return to pre-pandemic workplace norms) remains. As much as everyone wants to move on from this debate, we’re likely to see more companies adjust their policies in 2025, especially following major employers like Amazon deciding to bring workers back to the office five days a week.

Even with additional in-office pressure, many companies will still commit to some version of hybrid work. “Hybrid work is the new normal,” Sam Naficy, CEO of the employee visibility and productivity intelligence software provider Prodoscore, tells writer Stephanie Vozza. “Despite the push for in-office mandates, hybrid work is here to stay, driven by the need for flexibility. Few companies will fully revert to all-office models without risking talent loss.”

Of course, in some cases, RTO office mandates may actually be designed to get workers to quit. Last month, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who are set to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal expressing the hope that requiring federal workers to come in to an office full-time would lead to resignations. “Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome: If federal employees don’t want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn’t pay them for the COVID-era privilege of staying home,” they wrote.

2. AI affecting jobs—and hiring

We’ve spent much of this year chronicling employee concerns about the ways in which AI will affect careers. That impact is already being felt. A November study showed a 21% reduction in job posts “for automation-prone jobs related to writing and coding compared to jobs requiring manual-intensive skills” since ChatGPT was introduced.

Many experts, however, are bullish on the positive impacts of AI to reduce boring tasks—and even to create new jobs altogether. “It is normal to worry about the loss of jobs that comes with a new technology,” writes futurist Frank Diana. “But there has always been fear around new technologies, and almost without fail, the new technology has led to more jobs than the previous technology ever allowed.”

One of the areas where we’re already AI changing things is in hiring. While many companies have long used AI to screen candidates through applicant-tracking systems, more are likely to embrace AI in the process in 2025.

According to one recent study from Resume Builder, nearly 70% plan to use AI for some part of the hiring process by the end of 2025. It’s not just the initial vetting process that is transforming: 23% of companies surveyed already rely on AI to conduct interviews and another 19% said they plan to start using AI for interviews within the next year.

Adam Charlson, managing partner of Focus Search Partners, cautions against allowing AI to take over the process. “AI can quickly sift through a vast pool of résumés and pinpoint those that best match the keywords in a job posting,” writes Charlson. “But can AI alone truly determine the best fit for a position? The short answer is no. While AI can do a lot, it doesn’t replace a human when it comes to hiring.” 

3. The backlash to DEI

This year saw many companies—including Walmart, Lowe’s, Ford, John Deere, Harley Davidson, Jack Daniels, and Toyota—scale back DEI programs in response to conservative activism. Anti-DEI sentiment appears to be reaching some employees, too. In a November 2024 Pew study, 23% of workers described focusing on DEI as “a bad thing” compared with 16% in 2023.

But DEI is not over, writes Out & Equal’s Erin Uritus and Witeck Communications, Inc.’s Bob Witeck. “The truth is that we are not witnessing a sea change in the marketplace or an erosion in public attitudes,” write Uritus and Witeck. “Most businesses understand that DEI is good for workers and good for business.”

With the arrival of a new Trump administration, there will likely be additional pressures on DEI programs. We’ll be watching carefully in the new year to explore how businesses committed to greater equity in the workplace rebrand or shift their efforts.

When high school students and their families investigate which college is the best fit, they will inevitably be inundated with various facts and figures. Brochures and websites might highlight the school’s dining halls or student-led clubs and activities. But one of the most important statistics for students and families to consider when choosing a college is the career outcomes of its graduates.

This is, perhaps, the greatest selling point for any institution of higher education. Students consistently say that finding a good-paying job is among the top reasons why they go to college.

As scholars of career education, we believe it’s important for students and families to know there may be more under the surface to those career outcome statistics.

Why career placement matters

What does “career success” even mean, and why should students or their parents care? How do colleges measure it? And most importantly, how are those statistics verified?

These are all questions that should be on the minds of prospective students and their families. It’s worth asking these questions during college visits.

Put simply, career success or career outcomes refer to a graduate’s employment or academic enrollment status within a period of time after graduating college. By industry standards, a graduate may achieve career success if they are employed or continuing their education within six months of graduation. So when we at Champlain College tout a 90% career success rate for our class of 2023, what we mean is that 90% of the class was either employed or continuing their education within six months of graduation.

Sounds good, right? But compared with what?

The National Association of Colleges and Employers releases annual reports with national career success outcomes. Their latest report, released in October 2024, showed that the national average for career success rates in the class of 2023 was nearly 85%. So, yes, it is good.

Critical to this career success rate, however, is another number—one that’s less discussed but also very telling. That’s the knowledge rate, or the percentage of graduates who shared their outcomes with their college after graduating and that the college can reasonably verify. Think of it this way: If a college boasts 100% career success for a graduating class, but their knowledge rate is only 50%, then that “100% career success” becomes a lot less impressive, as it represents only half the class.

All of these numbers are part of the First-Destination Survey, designed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers and distributed by more than 300 universities and colleges across the country, including Champlain College.

According to the organization’s most recent annual report, which reflects data collected from the class of 2023, the national knowledge rate for bachelor’s degree students was only 56%. That means that the national career success average of 85% reported by the class of 2023 represents just over half of all graduates.

That means that when it comes to the career success outcomes touted by any given college or university—even those that make annual “best of” rankings—it’s safe to assume that the numbers reflect only 56% of the institution’s students. Say a college reports a 90% career success rate of its 1,000 graduates, then we would expect 900 of those students to be employed or pursuing a further degree. But if the knowledge rate for that institution is 50%, then the college is claiming a very high level of overall success while having data for only half of its graduating class.

Data is public

Most colleges and universities release career success and knowledge rates to the public in annual reports. If you’re a prospective student considering a college, you can and should really delve into these statistics.

For example, if you look at some of the colleges on The Wall Street Journal’s best value list, you can see some low knowledge rates. Baruch College earned the top spot for best value, and the school’s success rate for the class of 2022 was 96%. However, its knowledge rate was only 49%.

Similarly, Bowdoin College reported for its class of 2022 a 92% career success rate, with a response rate of 35%.

That is not to say these schools are doing anything wrong. The point is that prospective students can educate themselves more on career success rates and corresponding knowledge rates.

Of course, knowledge rates also vary widely. Babson College, which ranked second on WSJ’s best colleges of 2025, reported an impressive career success rate of nearly 99%, with a knowledge rate of 83%. Davidson College reported a 91% career success rate for 2023, with a knowledge rate of 82%.

At Champlain College, where we serve as career coaches, our class of 2023 reported a career success rate of 90%, with a 81% knowledge rate.

Questions to ask

When prospective students are on college tours or interacting with admissions counselors, they should come prepared with probing questions regarding career success. Here are some questions that we think prospective students should ask college admissions counselors about the institution’s career success:

1. What is the process for tracking career success? You should learn the full process – how the school collects data and reports out on the statistics, and what trends, if any, the institution has noticed in its graduates’ career success over the years.

2. What is the school’s knowledge rate? If it’s low, it may be a reflection on either the institution’s career services or the quality of the overall student experience at that institution. If so, ask whether faculty are involved in the process to get a better idea of where the weakness lies.

3. When does the data collection process start and how long does it take? It should be an ongoing process, allowing for students to share career success both prior to and following graduation.

4. What kinds of additional questions did the school ask in its First-Destination Survey? Beyond relevant career information, is the institution asking about students’ internship experience? Did they study abroad? What other types of experiential learning or leadership opportunities did they undertake? What kind of advice do they have for prospective students? And, importantly, how do you verify student career success?

Equipped with these questions—and the understanding that career success rates are critical in the college selection process—students can feel more confident than they would otherwise that they have a good understanding of how well the institution prepares them for success after graduation.

Many schools publish their career outcomes directly on their website, but you can always speak with an admissions counselor to learn more.

Kerry Shackett is a co-director of the Career Collaborative and a career coach at Champlain College.

Patricia Boera is a co-director of the Career Collaborative at Champlain College.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Logging onto LinkedIn, your feed is likely full of “Open to Work” profiles and posts about the struggle of finding a job in today’s market. Your LinkedIn inbox is probably a lot quieter with fewer recruiters reaching out with job opportunities than at the height of the Great Resignation just two years ago. 

Whether you are a new graduate navigating a career pivot or just looking for greener pastures, the common sentiment of job seekers is that it’s becoming exceedingly difficult to land an interview, let alone an offer. With applications up 6% from October 2023, competition remains stiff. To make matters more difficult, how hiring teams review applications has also changed.   

Application tracking systems (ATS) are now the status quo for companies to manage job openings and vet potential candidates. While not a new development, they are continuing to shake up the job application process and transform how talent is evaluated, engaged, and hired. 

Fueled by AI, these systems are now aiding hiring teams in ways that would have been unimaginable just a decade ago, through matching candidates to open roles, providing recommendations and explainable rankings, parsing résumés, and more. With these systems, recruiters are empowered to be more streamlined and efficient in managing applications, scheduling interviews, and connecting with potential candidates.  

So, if the way recruiters approach their candidate search evolved, why haven’t job seekers’ strategies? As recruiters rethink their processes with AI, applicants should, too. Job seekers must figure out how to navigate a transforming landscape where AI shapes how we approach and think about the hiring system.  

Let’s dive into three key changes to the recruitment process and how candidates can respond and stand apart from their peers.   

Skills over experience

Over the past several years, skills-matching technology has been the most notable advancement in recruitment to come out of the AI revolution. Recruiters have turned a growing focus towards skills-based hiring, ensuring a candidate is the best fit for a role based on the capabilities they have on hand.

Gone are the days when an expensive degree or a specific internship on your résumé sealed the deal. If AI can’t “see” the skills they’re looking for in your résumé, it is likely moving on to the next applicant. With skills-matching AI in their toolbox, recruiters spend less time scanning through résumés and more time engaging with prospective candidates.  

What this means for you: It’s time for a résumé revamp. The experience-forward résumés of the past will not help you stand out to a large language model scanning for a specific skill. Don’t get me wrong: job experience is still valuable. But instead of just listing past job duties, focus on the how: what skills you used, and how they made an impact. This shift democratizes the playing field, making way for those from nontraditional backgrounds. If you can demonstrate the skills, you’re in the game.  

The automation of candidate communication and engagement  

Waiting to hear back from a potential employer can be stressful for job seekers. In fact, almost a quarter (23%) of candidates find the most frustrating aspect of the application process is feeling like their application is going into a digital black hole, per research from iCIMS.

But that wait is not just about hearing if their application has been accepted or if they landed the job. A lot of the waiting is the result of scheduling interviews, asking clarifying questions on company culture, etc.

Chatbots are becoming the go-to option to help streamline candidate communication so job seekers can get answers fast, schedule interviews more quickly, and leverage their recruiter contact strategically to understand what the hiring manager is looking for in the role.   

What this means for you: Don’t just dismiss the ping of a chatbot on a career page—use it to supercharge both your application and interview process. Chatbots are a safe space to ask the questions you want answered about company culture or an open position that you might be too nervous to ask a recruiter about. For example, you can ask chatbots about benefits, company offerings, the job description, and more. Use this knowledge to discern if the role is the right fit for you before applying and help prepare for your interviews once you progress in the application process.    

AI leveraged at every part of the recruitment process   

According to 500 TA pros, AI tools save them 2.39 hours a week on average, and 64% of those TA pros want to see more AI in their workflows. So, where is AI coming into play today? Thirty percent use GenAI specifically to write job descriptions and another 36% to draft interview questions.   

What this means for you: Use AI in your job search. There is a double standard with AI usage in today’s labor market. iCIMS research has found that 87% of recruiters say its adoption in the application process has raised red flags. As technology becomes more ubiquitous in culture and the workplace, AI will be seen as a tool—just like a search engine—to help fuel one’s job search.

For now, use AI as more of a yellow flag. It will never be okay to blindly copy and paste AI-generated résumés or cover letters. Your unique insight and human touch will always be necessary and what recruiters truly want to see.

Instead, use GenAI to prep for your interviews by feeding it the job description and asking what questions a hiring manager would ask, so you can come to an interview fully prepared. You can also use it to review your résumé and help streamline and identify the skills you want to highlight most for the job you are applying for. Just remember, when it comes to using AI in your job search, no one knows you or your work experience better than you do.   

Adapting to an AI-enhanced job market  

As the recruitment process continues to be infused with more technology, job seekers must move away from the mentality of “gaming the system” or “beating the AI” and instead see the new status quo of hiring and evolve their strategies to meet recruiters where they are at.  

With every instance of automation in the recruitment process, the goal has been to make life easier for candidates and their potential employers. However, this cannot be true without some adaptations and tweaks. Trying to go about the application process in the same ways we always have doesn’t make sense in a world where the entire recruitment journey has been AI-enhanced. The right opportunity is out there, and these small adjustments can make a big difference in helping you land your next role. 

The new year—and the return of the Trump administration to the White House—could bring all kinds of changes to the workplace. The president-elect is likely to reverse some of the wins of the Biden administration, which included expanding legal immigration to embracing pro-labor policies that help promote organizing efforts.

Many people fear that Trump will reinstate some of the anti-immigration measures he introduced during his first term, which restricted all kinds of immigration and also impacted highly skilled workers. While Biden’s pick to lead the National Labor Relations Board—Jennifer Abruzzo—has taken significant steps to bolster labor rights and strengthen workplace protections over the past four years, Trump’s appointees are likely to undo much of that work. 

Then there are the proposals laid out in Project 2025, which take aim at workplace safety standards and organizing rights and even suggest eliminating public sector unions. (Trump has already selected several people for his administration with ties to Project 2025—after spending the campaign trying to distance himself from the initiative.) Should Trump choose to pursue many of those recommendations, his second term could prove even more damaging to workers’ rights. 

Still, despite the looming uncertainty, there are a number of laws and policies that have already been enacted and will go into effect in 2025—many of which will benefit rank and file workers in the new year.   

Minimum wage increases

States across the U.S.—and the political spectrum—have boosted the minimum wage over the last decade, partly in response to the Fight for $15 movement and other worker-led campaigns. Fourteen states have since passed a $15 hourly minimum wage, though some of them are still phasing in the new pay floor. In 2025, workers across 23 states and 65 localities will see their wages rise; by the end of the year, the minimum wage will exceed $15 in nine states and cross $17 in 51 cities and counties. 

In states such as California and New Jersey, some healthcare workers will benefit from significant pay bumps, putting their hourly pay above $18. Across a handful of localities—including Washington, D.C., and Chicago—tipped workers will also get a raise, as those regions work toward phasing out the subminimum wage. This year, Michigan became the first state to eliminate the subminimum wage, which means tipped workers there will also see a wage increase in 2025.

Pay transparency

Fourteen states and several localities have now passed laws mandating that employers share some measure of pay transparency, whether that means posting salary ranges in job listings or providing that insight during hiring negotiations.

As of 2025, the majority of employers across five of those states—Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Vermont—will have to provide salary data when posting job openings, arming candidates with more information as they navigate discussions of compensation. A pay transparency law passed in Washington, D.C., also took effect earlier this year. 

While some companies have sought to get around the law, usually by posting overly broad salary ranges, these measures have continued to gain traction and are catalyzing more pay transparency across the private sector. (Early data also suggests that these laws are closing the gender pay gap more quickly in states like Colorado, which was the first to implement pay transparency.) A number of other states, such as Michigan, are considering putting a similar law in the books, while others have introduced bills that failed to progress through the state legislature. 

Paid sick leave 

While paid family leave legislation has stalled at the federal level, many states have found a way to secure coverage for workers who need time off for health reasons or caregiving responsibilities. Some of the broader paid leave laws are only slated for enforcement in 2026, but starting next year, workers in Alaska, Missouri, and Nebraska can reap the benefits of access to paid sick leave if they need to take sick days for health reasons or to care for an ailing family member. 

As of 2025, certain states with existing sick leave laws will extend coverage to include experiences including pregnancy loss or adoption or have expanded the definition of “family members” who are typically covered. In New York, a new amendment—and the first of its kind—will grant pregnant workers another 20 hours of paid prenatal leave (in addition to the state’s existing sick leave policy), which can be put toward doctors’ appointments and other prenatal care as needed.  

Retail worker protections

In a handful of states, retail employees will gain new protections due to legislation that aims to prevent workplace violence. The Retail Worker Safety Act, which passed in New York, requires that all retailers have a clear workplace violence prevention policy and training program; larger workplaces are even required to install panic buttons. (While the law will be enforced in the new year, employers do have until 2027 to put a panic button system in place.)

A similar law was enacted in California, though it does not mandate the use of panic buttons. Both measures are partly a response to the increased violence and harassment retail workers often face on the job, which has only worsened since the pandemic.

Beyond protections against violence, retail employees have also notched other wins that could improve their working conditions. This year, city officials in Ann Arbor, Michigan, approved a law that will enable workers—whether in retail or hospitality—to sit while on the job, as long as that doesn’t interfere with their duties.

Similar “right to sit” laws have already been enacted in California, Florida, and Wisconsin, and in some states, there are still dated laws on the books that only grant women the right to sit. While pregnant workers, for example, are eligible for accommodations that would allow them to sit on the job as needed, these laws are largely modeled after norms in European countries, where retail workers are often seated.

Overtime eligibility

Earlier this year, the Biden administration finalized a rule that seemed like a boon for millions of salaried workers, making them newly eligible for overtime pay. It was the first time in decades that overtime eligibility had been expanded significantly; unlike hourly workers, salaried employees are typically not entitled to overtime pay unless their salary is below a certain threshold.

Under the Trump administration, employers were only required to pay overtime to workers whose salary was $35,568 or less; after the rule took effect in July, however, workers were eligible if they earned up to $43,888, and the salary cap would have increased again to $58,656 by 2025.

But in November, a federal judge struck down the rule, revoking overtime pay for workers who had qualified for it this year—and blocking a new group of workers from eligibility in 2025. (An estimated four million workers would have been impacted in the first year of implementation, according to the Labor Department.)

It’s not clear whether eligibility could change again under Trump, who has said he is opposed to the idea of overtime pay and already took steps to limit overtime during his first administration. Some of the recommendations in Project 2025 suggest that Trump might go even further when he assumes the presidency, by chipping away at existing overtime benefits or offering loopholes to employers who want to avoid paying up.

One of the benefits of rewatching your favorite holiday films year after year is getting the opportunity to take a deeper look into the stories. We’re all familiar with overt themes about how Christmas is a time for giving, togetherness, and Red Ryder carbine-action, 200-shot range model air rifles—but the hidden messages in these movies can also provide some surprisingly cogent financial advice. In particular, the Grinch and other Christmas movie villains teach some of the most useful lessons about money. Here’s how the worst characters in your beloved Christmas movies can change how you look at money.

The Grinch reminds us to ask ourselves why

He’s a mean one, that Mr. Grinch. He steals Christmas just so the Whos down in Whoville can’t have it. While the noise the Whos make during their holiday celebrations could be an understandable complaint, there is no real reason for him to take out his frustration by snatching the roast beast (and stockings, ornaments, and other non-noisemaking holiday accouterments).

The Grinch should have questioned his own motives when little Cindy Lou Who finds him stealing her family’s Christmas tree and asks him, “Sandy Claus, why?” But our small-hearted anti-hero comes up with a lie instead of actually engaging with Cindy Lou’s question. However, the innocent query gets to the heart of what’s wrong with the Grinch’s plan.

The Grinch is looking to hoard Christmas because he doesn’t like that other people enjoy it. His “why” is both inherently selfish and short-sighted, since Christmas joy arrives in Whoville anyway, even without presents, decorations, or food. He didn’t actually want what he stole, and his theft didn’t do anything to stop the singing. Had he asked himself why, he might have realized what really wanted was to not be quite so alone.

While none of us wants to think we’re Grinch-like, it’s easy for us to treat money like he treats Christmas. Those of us who have enough may still want more without questioning why we want it. Getting more money can seem like an end in itself, but that may mean we don’t think through what it costs us to keep acquiring more, and we don’t figure out what it is we really want.

Mr. Potter teaches us that the power of money has limits

A key figure in the long line of Chirstmas baddies that includes Scrooge and the Grinch, the villain of the 1946 classic It’s a Wonderful Life is the heartless Mr. Potter, who owns the bank and most of the town of Bedford Falls. George Bailey’s Building & Loan is the only thing keeping Mr. Potter from completely dominating and destroying the small town.

In one of his more subtle attempts to dissolve the Building & Loan, Potter offers George a job for $20,000 per year (over $320,000 in 2024 dollars). While George is momentarily dazzled by the huge dollar amount, he quickly recognizes that taking the job offer will mean the downfall of the Building & Loan.

Later in the film, George’s Uncle Billy loses the Building & Loan’s $8,000 cash deposit (nearly $130,000 in 2024 dollars) by accidentally handing it over to Mr. Potter. When George approaches Mr. Potter to ask for a loan to replace the money, offering his small life insurance policy as collateral, Potter is delighted to point out that George is worth more money dead than alive.

Mr. Potter believes throughout the film that he should be able to get what he wants because he has money. He tries to entice George Bailey with a huge salary early on, and later assumes that he has George and his Building & Loan over a barrel because of the missing deposit. But in both cases, the power he wields with his money is no match for George’s idealism and morals and the respect the rest of the town has for him. The money Potter wields can’t deliver him the Building & Loan because there is a limit to the power of his wealth.

(That said, Mr. Potter does successfully get away with stealing the $8,000. Unfortunately, justice does tend to work differently for those with money.)

Hans Gruber shows us corporate greed is a type of terrorism

Alan Rickman’s portrayal of the faux-terrorist Hans Gruber in Die Hard is part of what makes this film as delightfully rewatchable as How the Grinch Stole Christmas or It’s a Wonderful Life. Gruber’s team claims to take the party guests at Nakatomi Plaza hostage for ideological reasons, but they are actually after the $640 million in bearer bonds (over $17 billion in 2024 dollars) hidden in the building’s vault.

Throughout the film, the Nakatomi Corporation executives hosting the office party are compared to Gruber. The sleazy Harry Ellis tries to befriend the terrorists by telling them, “Hey, business is business. You use a gun, I use a fountain pen, what’s the difference?” Similarly, Gruber remarks on Joseph Takagi’s John Phillips suit, saying that he has two himself. The audience is invited to see the parallels between the terrorists and the businessmen.

The characterization of protagonist John McClane as a regular Joe compared with Gruber and the businessmen helps reinforce the similarities between the terrorists and the corporate executives. McClane is a New York cop who is uncomfortable in a limousine and resentful of the gold Rolex watch his estranged wife Holly received as a gift. He spends the film fighting the terrorists while also trying to win Holly back from her new life and corporate career.

When Gruber grabs onto Holly’s Rolex in the finale, the connection between terrorism and corporate greed goes from metaphor to reality. The watch represents the Nakatomi Corporation, since it was a gift to Holly from her workplace, and the greedy Gruber grabs onto it in a last-ditch effort to kill Holly and McClane. Only by unclasping the watch–releasing his wife from the thrall of corporate greed–can McClane kill the terrorist.

Learning from villains

Curling up with a classic Christmas movie is a delightful way to spend a snowy evening. But while you watch, remember that even the characters you most love to hate can teach you something unexpected.

In addition to letting your heart grow three sizes, remind yourself to ask why you sometimes act Grinchly. While you feel the warm truth that no one is poor who has friends, take the time to be thankful that money’s power is limited. And as you enjoy the seasonal cries of Yippee-Ki-Yay, remember there’s a thin line between greed that destroys via business practices and greed that destroys via terror plots.

Alex Morgan doesn’t like the word retirement. “I’ve been saying ‘post-playing career,’” she said, “because retirement makes it sound like I’m old. It’s definitely more of a transition.”

Morgan, 35, announced her retirement in September, along with the news that she’s pregnant with her second child. In her 15-year career, Morgan was prolific on the pitch, scoring 123 goals for the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT)—fifth-most all-time)—and winning two World Cups, an Olympic gold medal, four Concacaf Player of the Year awards, and many more accolades along the way.

Perhaps more importantly, her career spanned a period of meteoric growth in women’s sports that saw breakthroughs in gender equality, with Morgan at the fore of some of the most crucial efforts. In 2016, she was part of a group of USWNT players who filed a complaint with the ​​Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over inequality in pay and treatment in U.S. women’s soccer. In 2022, the results of that filing required men and women to be paid an equal rate for all friendlies and tournaments, including the World Cup. She also fought for anti-harassment policies in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), helping transform team-player relations for a league that eventually grew to set valuation and attendance records in 2024.

Morgan recently talked with Fast Company about her retirement—what it looks like for her, how she’s navigated the process, and how she’s continuing to support current and future generations of female athletes, on and off the pitch.

It’s been nearly four months since you announced your retirement. What has life been like, and what does “retirement” look like for you?

For me, it’s been about getting into venture capital—doing a lot more investing and building my personal portfolio. I’ve been doing that quietly for the last four or five years. I have about 15 companies that I’ve invested in spanning sports, health tech, and consumer goods. Now, I have my own fund alongside my husband, which has been really exciting, and it’s something that I’ve been able to dedicate a lot more time to.

You mentioned you were investing in sports. As an investor, where do you see the most opportunity right now?

I think we’re seeing an incredible opportunity in the WNBA and the NWSL. The valuations of these teams and leagues are continuing to increase. And we’re seeing it not only here, but in women’s sports overseas as well. So what excites me most about my next chapter is that even though I’m not able to be on the field, I’m able to uplift and support women’s sports leagues and teams around the world.

You say you’re able to support women’s sports around the world. How so? What are you doing personally to support these teams and leagues in the U.S. and abroad?

I think it’s an all-around approach. Through my media company, Togetxer, we’re working to uplift these women and give them opportunities to share their stories, whether that’s through podcasts or short- or long-form content. Then there’s the investing side and the mentorship and advising roles, which I’m still refining to figure out how I can have the biggest impact. I’m also continuing to support the NWSL and looking for ways to be most impactful, whether that’s with my former team, the San Diego Wave, or the league as a whole. I’ve been a big advocate of the NWSL, playing in every season since its inception in 2013.

What’s it been like for you to witness the NWSL’s tremendous growth over the past 12 years?

It’s incredible to witness, and to have been part of it. Things really started to turn when we forced the league to be more professional with their standards in 2020 and 2021, pushing the league to adopt anti-harassment policies and regulations that really, at their core, protected players. There was sometimes a power imbalance between coaches or higher-ups and the players, so we wanted players to feel safe and protected and to have control over where they wanted to go—what city and market they wanted to play in. We wanted them to feel like their contracts were safe for that year and that they couldn’t be waived tomorrow and have their contract cut and their [team-provided] housing taken away. I think professionalizing things like that took the league to a whole new level.

Now, with the return on investment being so much larger, we’re seeing all these owners and funds coming in that I never would have imagined—like Sixth Street [investing $125 million] with Bay FC and Bob Iger and Willow Bay with Angel City FC [valued at $250 million]. It’s incredible to see these people not only wanting a piece of the upside in women’s soccer but also believing in its trajectory. The players have put in so much to make this work, and seeing it actually successful now is really exciting—and validating.

You say this is more of a transition than a “retirement.” Having navigated the process, what advice would you give someone who is going through a similar process of retirement or career transition?

The biggest thing I’ve learned is that nothing is a steady incline. There were peaks and valleys in my soccer career, and I have them post-career. Getting into venture involves a lot of learning, difficult days, and questioning yourself. Then you get a small win and you celebrate that, and that gives you the motivation to do the next thing. So you celebrate the small wins when you can, but you keep pushing forward and stay on track.

The most important thing is dedicating yourself to what you’re putting your time and effort into and not giving up when things get hard because they absolutely will.

The landscape of women’s sports has changed drastically during your career. How do you think the conversation around mental health has changed?

I think athletes want to feel supported. Period. I fought for pay equity, maternity leave, and support for moms as professional athletes. Those are specific needs. But taking care of your overall mental well-being is just as important.

Just look at what Powerade is doing now with The Athletes Code, announcing that they’re going to have it written into every athlete’s contract that they can pause their partnerships to prioritize their mental health—with continued pay and support, no questions asked. I think it’s extremely important in the landscape of professional sports. Because athletes do need that support. Every sport is as much mental as it is physical, and taking care of the mental side—even though you can’t see it—is just as important as the physical.

It’s something that I have absolutely needed to do in my career. When I came back after having my first child, it was really mentally draining—not getting a full night’s sleep and having a full-time job while playing for the National Team and Orlando and just trying to do it all at once. It was a lot. And I applaud Powerade for providing the kind of support athletes in those kinds of situations, and in general, require.

Having the ability to take a pause without retribution, without consequence, is extremely important because every athlete goes through periods where their sport becomes their identity—it’s how they’re validated in the community, how they value themselves or how others value them. That alone can be mentally draining. So I can see what Powerade is doing having a ripple effect in the sports community.

Why is it especially important for female athletes to have this kind of support from their sponsors and partners?

From my personal experience, soccer opens a lot of doors to these brand partnerships, but these partnerships actually account for more of my annual compensation than my sport alone. And I think that’s the case for a lot of female athletes and athletes who compete on the Olympic stage. A lot of their brand partnerships actually support them financially more than their sport can. So they disproportionately rely on their brand partners.

So you think athletes have more support now than ever before?

I think the evolution of everything outside of the physical aspect of sport has done a complete 180 from when I entered the game. And I think athletes perform at their best when they’re completely supported. That’s all athletes want. That involves pay equity. It involves accepting and embracing female athletes who want to become moms while staying at the top of their game. And it involves talking about mental health within sports.

I feel like we went through a dark time with athletes being vulnerable and then being shamed just because people couldn’t see their suffering. But I think we’re in a good place now, and I’m really proud of the work that I’ve put in—the work that a lot of my teammates and other athletes have put in, and now the work that the brands are putting in—to change that.

To see that now after playing professionally for 15 years, it feels good to be able to leave the sport—at least in a playing sense—knowing that not only do I walk away as a world champion and an Olympic champion, but I walk away actually leaving the sport better, and having athletes come into the sport where they feel supported enough to just play and be the best at it. That’s the best feeling for me.

As a stylist, Law Roach has helped stars like Zendaya, Celine Dion, and Anya Taylor-Joy stand out on the red carpet, dressing them in his signature mix of haute couture and vintage finds from designers such as Bob Mackie. Roach is also the author of How to Build a Fashion Icon, a guide to developing personal style. After announcing his retirement from day-to-day styling on Instagram in 2023, he launched School of Style, an educational program intended to help new stylists build a portfolio and get a foothold in the industry.

What’s your best habit, and what’s your worst?
My best is getting lots of sleep. My worst is caving in to my cravings; when I find something I like, I want to eat it every day until I’m sick of it. Right now I’m obsessed with gochujang sauce.

What do you do when you’re creatively stuck?
I’ll just take a nap.

Is there a businessperson you admire?
There’s a photographer and stylist I admire named Wisdom Kaye.

Is there a buzzword you never want to hear again?
“Diversity and inclusion.” I wish we could get to a point where that’s not even a thing because everybody is treated fairly and everybody has the same amount of equality and equity.

What’s the best mistake you ever made?
Retiring. When I wrote a now-infamous Instagram post, it was a way for me to take a breath. It was the best thing I ever did for myself. It gave me a chance to become happy.

How do you unplug?
I delete all social media off my phone.

Is there a book you recommend to everyone?
My book, How to Build a Fashion Icon. It teaches you that confidence can carry anything.

Which advice are you glad you ignored?
My first job was at a mental health facility. I wanted to quit and start my career in fashion. My grandmother told me not to because the job had healthcare benefits. I’m happy I didn’t listen to her.

What advice would you give your younger self?
Trust yourself.

Did you have a career fork in the road?
Working with Celine Dion put my name on a global level.

Do you have a wardrobe staple?
An oversize white button-down shirt. I get the cheapest brand in the biggest size off Amazon. I love being swallowed up by it. It’s versatile—I could wear it with a belt or with jeans or wrap it around me. I let it drop off my shoulder when I want to feel demure.

Who is your style icon?
Grace Jones.

What’s always in your bag?
Floss, La Roche-Posay Cicaplast lip balm, and a travel-size fragrance. Right now I’m wearing Good Girl Gone Bad from Kilian.

Do you have a favorite object in your office?
A Kehinde Wiley portrait of a young Black girl.

How do you exercise?
Shopping. Especially in Soho.

What TV show are you mid-binge on?
Emily in Paris. I feel like I should be on that show.

Do you have a mantra?
“The universe always protects and provides.”

What is your go-to food for fast fuel?
Peanut butter M&M’s and a sip of Pepsi—just enough to get that carbonation in my tummy.

Is there a meal you still fantasize about?
Dovetale, in London, has a sweet corn ravioli that I can’t stop thinking about.

What do you send to congratulate someone?
White flowers. A white bouquet or a single white orchid is so chic to me.

Is there a meeting you never miss?
I never miss any meetings.

Kendra Adachi is the host of The Lazy Genius Podcast and the New York Times bestselling author of two books, The Lazy Genius Way and The Lazy Genius Kitchen.

The goal of excellent time management shouldn’t be to achieve maximum productivity and perfection. That approach is a recipe for fleeting satisfaction amid anxiety and shame. To manage time without being at its mercy, learn to plan in a way that fills you with contentedness and confidence every single day. Learn to plan not for a good life someday but for good living today.

Below, Adachi shares five key insights from her new book, The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius. Listen to the audio version—read by Adachi herself—in the Next Big Idea App.

1. A good life doesn’t have to be great to matter.

In America, greatness, hustle, opportunity, and potential are in the fabric of our national identity. The American dream tells us to chase after and fight for what we want as we constantly seek to grow in greatness and prosperity. We should all be masters of our craft and our lives. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, some personalities are suited for the pursuit of greatness, some jobs require it, and some people genuinely love it. Trying to master something is a beautiful thing, and we all benefit from the mastery of others. But there is an expectation that if you’re not always trying to be great, you’re wasting your life. I disagree.

The reality is that most of us live fairly average lives, but rather than celebrating and cultivating contentment and valuing beauty in the ordinary, we’re told to keep hustling. Make every minute of every day count toward an invisible future that you have reverse-engineered and are constantly striving to bring to fruition. If you can’t do it, you’re considered not disciplined or motivated enough.

That’s a dangerous paradigm to live under. The future is beautiful. Mastery is, too, but I don’t think that is where we can begin.

2. You’re allowed to start with who and where you are today.

I have read many time management books over the years. I have bought many planners. I have gone into so many Januarys fiercely optimistic about what I would make better and accomplish because the future felt bright. But just like we can have an unbalanced obsession with mastery, we can have an unbalanced obsession with the future.

It is good and honorable to care about your future, plan for it, and take steps now to ensure it looks a certain way later. But you’re allowed to start with who and where you are today. You’re allowed to focus only on today without any consideration of the future. You can make decisions today that only serve today, and not later. Not every choice, task, or habit has to be in service to future dreams. They can, but they don’t have to.

I remember feeling the difficulty of this in my early 30s when I had two tiny kids. I was in my peak time management era, trying to get every bit of information I could on how to be the architect of my future. That message communicates a false sense of security that I am in full control of my life. I don’t know if you’ve ever spent an entire day with tiny children and then another day after that and then many, many more. You have very little control over what is going to happen. If the purpose of each day is to build on itself to serve an ideal, invisible future, those ordinary days that many people (especially women) have for months or years at a time feel like they are not enough. If that’s you, you might experience a deep sense of loss, resentment, and insufficiency when you look at your life.

In this pursuit of greatness and an invisible future, we often leave behind our humanity. We ignore the needs of our bodies, families, mental health, and peace. We don’t prioritize rest and play. We call ourselves lazy when we aren’t optimizing every moment. There is this undercurrent that the best version of us is in the future, and we should focus on that person rather than who we are right now.

In the current productivity paradigm, a contented life full of kindness, patience, and reasonable choices that honor who and where you are today is looked upon as an exception—as settling, as giving up. It’s a stopgap until you have enough energy, resources, discipline, and motivation to pursue greatness once again.

I believe you are allowed to start with who and where you are today, not as a second measure, excuse, or necessity before real work begins, but as the foundation for everything. When you start with who and where you are today, it invites a new goal.

3. The goal is not greatness. It’s integration.

Instead of greatness being the ultimate goal, what if it’s integration? What if it’s personal wholeness, groundedness, a steady stance in the face of any circumstance? Instead of reflecting on what happened during the day, what if you reflected on how you experienced it?

One of the most pivotal moments for me in this paradigm shift was about ten years ago when I was home with two small children. I was reading a time management book geared towards mothers, and the author described two separate days. The first was a day of chaos. Her girls didn’t nap; they threw their food; the errands were a bust; and the mom didn’t get a chance to sit down, let alone shower. It was the quintessential image of being a hot mess mom. Then she described the next day when her children napped simultaneously. She completed all the errands, looked put together while doing it, and made dinner ahead of time. When her husband came home, surprisingly, with some clients from out of town to join their family for dinner, she was ready. I remember reading the account of these two days and anticipating that her next line would be something like, “And both of those days matter.” But that’s not what she said. She said, “And that day [the second one] was the proudest I ever felt as a mother and wife.” I remember reading that like it happened yesterday. My heart sank. My confidence plummeted. I wanted permission to be myself, content with and proud of just getting through a hard day. That is when I realized I had a different goal. That author’s goal was greatness. Mine is integration.

When your entire life is oriented around being the truest version of yourself, no matter what happens, you are a lighthouse in the storm. You are an oak in the wind. You are the stubborn will of a toddler refusing to eat their peas. The strength that comes from the goal of personal integration is markedly different than the strength that comes from the goal of greatness. One is lifelong. The other is fickle. As my friend and poet David Gate wrote, “Hustle makes for a terrible compass.”

4. Your season of life matters.

We often see life as one long line from A to B. Ideally, there should be no speedbumps, detours, or changed minds during the journey. There always will be, but our intent is to avoid them at all costs. Stay the course.

My life is not at all like that.

Your season of life matters. If you are caring for an aging parent, adding a new baby to your family, changing jobs or homes, dealing with a chronic health condition, or struggling through a particularly tough season of mental illness, the way you manage your time and live your life must change. It’s not laziness or plugging a leak. Honoring your seasons of life matters. It’s critical to living a life of kindness and contentment.

You no longer have to put your head down and fight through a difficult time to maintain the priorities other people have placed on you, particularly the priority of greatness. When integration is the goal, you see your season of life not with resentment but with compassion. You can be who and where you are today because you recognize that it is a season—it is not forever, and you will honor it now.

5. It’s more valuable to learn how to pivot than how to plan.

The name of my book is The PLAN, so yes, I’m aware of the irony of this last insight. I love planning, and plans are valuable. However, we are far more likely to require skills of pivoting than those of planning.

Daily life is full of obstacles. We create a plan to get through the day, but when circumstances thwart those plans, we stand our ground, force rigidity (sometimes calling it discipline), and don’t respond kindly to whatever is happening. That posture is harmful and unnecessary.

Pivoting is a required skill, and we need to learn how to do it better. Rather than seeking out new and better ways to plan, prepare for the day, and create systems that succeed and routines that never break down, try putting some of that energy into learning to pivot. Be resilient and flexible when plans fall apart. Be nimble and compassionate. When you no longer pursue greatness first but instead honor integration and who you are today, your access to a skillset of pivoting is a beautifully wide door.

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This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.

The phrase “no risk, no reward” couldn’t be more spot-on for businesses and professionals trying to stand out in today’s crowded markets.

Harvard Business School Professor Robert Simons put it best: “Competing successfully in any industry involves some level of risk.” And he’s right—companies that take bold risks often see big payoffs. Just look at Netflix. They didn’t just disrupt the video rental industry; they bet big on streaming when it was still uncharted territory. That gamble paid off, with their stock soaring an incredible 6,230% in just a decade.

According to PwC’s Global Risk Survey, businesses that embrace strategic risk management are twice as likely to see faster revenue growth. But how do you figure out what’s a smart risk versus a reckless one? At Jotform, taking calculated risks—like launching new products or broadening our mission—has been a cornerstone of our success over the past 18 years. Here’s our simple three-step approach to evaluating and taking smart risks at work.

Shift away from managing outcomes

In order to become an expert at taking calculated risks, you have to understand certain truths about decision-making. 

First, humans tend to be risk averse because, as a growing body of research demonstrates, losses loom larger than potential gains. Even when the potential to gain $50 outweighs a $40 loss, the fear of losing still outweighs the pleasure of winning. 

To overcome our tendency to give disproportionate weight to losses, we can assess risks in batches, the same way we might consider individual financial investments as part of a larger portfolio—understanding that some losses are simply part of overall gains. Then, with each decision, focus your energy more on doing your due diligence—researching and analyzing trends, reading case studies, and conducting economic forecasting—and less on trying to anticipate the outcome. 

As Harvard Business Review notes, risk is unavoidable. Companies should switch from processes based on managing outcomes to processes encouraging calculating probabilities. As long as you do your research ahead of time, you can feel confident in your decision, even if it doesn’t pan out as hoped. After all, cultivating an atmosphere where failure is accepted (or embraced) is key to innovation and growth. 

Develop a contingency plan

While accepting that failure is possible, you can still plan for worst-case scenarios—in other words, develop a contingency plan. Developing a contingency plan helps transform a risk from reckless to measured. 

“Good contingency plans prioritize the risks an organization faces, delegate responsibility to members of the response teams, and increase the likelihood that the company will make a full recovery after a negative event,” says Mesh Flinders, Author at IBM Think. Give yourself peace of mind that even if all goes south, all will not be lost. You have a plan of action. 

Before following through with a given risk, think about the potential threat to your business. You want a clear picture of when the contingency plan should spring into action. Then, brainstorm the response you envision—for yourself or colleagues—with clear instructions and protocols. Make sure it’s crystal clear who’s responsible for which actions. 

Laying out these steps in advance can both minimize uncertainty and empower you and your team to respond quickly and calmly in the face of unexpected challenges.

Log your risks like business expenses

Finally, logging your business risks makes them feel more calculated and less impulsive. You can methodically create an organized record of decisions and track your patterns over time. 

At Jotform, we create and share templates for tracking risks the same way we do business expenses. This helps us ensure that risks are not only documented but easily accessible to the team. With this collective tracking method, we can view risks like a portfolio of investments, balancing losses against gains to get a broader perspective. 

Reviewing risks this way makes it easier to identify which decisions were beneficial and which need to be reevaluated. In most cases, we find that losses seem less catastrophic when weighed against cumulative gains. What’s more, knowing that failures are rarely disastrous, our team members feel more confident experimenting and innovating. 

But if patterns of losses do emerge—where failures clearly outweigh successes—this logging process gives us the data we need to spot recurring issues, analyze our decision-making habits, and refine our strategies.

In today’s world, reluctance to accept risks doesn’t just stifle innovation—it can have devastating consequences for a company’s long-term success. But taking risks doesn’t require risking it all. Hopefully, the above strategies can help you roll the dice with confidence. 

Women are set to control $30 trillion in personal wealth by 2030, according to a 2020 McKinsey report. Yet despite this display of financial power, female representation in the financial services industry is lacking.

Today, just about one-third of personal financial advisors are women. It’s paramount that the industry does more to bridge this gap. But increasing female representation isn’t just about equality. It’s about meeting the unique financial needs of female clients, fostering trust, and empowering women to take control of their financial futures.

I’ve spent more than 20 years in leadership roles across various industries, including financial services, where I now serve as Primerica CFO. Over the course of my career, I’ve witnessed tremendous progress in women leading at work. However, there’s still a lot of work to be done—particularly in the financial sector. In an industry where trust and relationships are imperative, our financial professionals should reflect the diversity of our clients.

The importance of representation in financial services

A recent Primerica report—based on the collective responses of more than 7,800 women across multiple surveys—highlights why such representation matters. Women want financial advice from someone they can relate to, someone who can empathize with their unique challenges and priorities. Yet, just under 33% of personal financial advisors are women. This  datapoint has remained flat for a decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With so few women working in financial services, many female clients simply don’t have the opportunity to form the connections they crave.

Worse, women continually underestimate themselves on complex financial tasks. While 78% of women Primerica surveyed expressed confidence in budgeting, only 34% felt secure in investing in stocks, bonds, or mutual funds. A recent Fidelity report complements this data. Although more women are entering the stock market, many lack confidence and say they are “overwhelmed” or “intimidated” by investing. Yet, studies have consistently shown that women are disciplined, long-term investors who often outperform their male counterparts. Without the confidence to invest, many women simply miss out on these opportunities.

Empowerment through representation

I’ve seen firsthand how representation empowers clients. Sixty percent of Primerica’s life-licensed sales force are women, making us one of the largest female financial sales force in North America. This allows us to connect with female clients on a deeper, more personal level, building trust and providing financial advice that resonates with their unique needs.

It’s important to note that increasing female representation isn’t and shouldn’t be about filling quotas. It’s about giving women role models in an industry historically dominated by men. When women see others in leadership roles, it signals that they, too, can achieve success. This visibility creates a ripple effect: It inspires young women to pursue careers in financial services and gradually shifting the industry’s culture to one that’s more inclusive.

The importance of attracting and retaining female employees

Achieving this bright future requires that financial services companies not only attract but also retain more female employees. They can do this by actively recruiting women, particularly at the college level, and making the opportunities for professional growth clear. Offering mentorship programs that pair young women with established female financial professionals can also help.

Additionally, firms must adopt policies to support work-life balance. Flexible schedules, remote work options, and opportunities for part-time roles are essential. This is especially the case for women caught in the “sandwich generation,” caring for both aging parents and young children. The financial services industry already offers a unique advantage with many roles that employees can fulfill remotely or with flexible hours. However, we need to make additional changes if we want to attract and retain female clients.

For clients, having access to a financial professional they trust is critical. According to Primerica’s report, only 18% of women currently work with a financial advisor. This is an alarming statistic considering the complexities of long-term financial planning, especially in the face of rising costs of living, health care, and education. Women also need professionals who can not only explain financial concepts but also empower them to feel confident in their decisions. More firms should make a concerted effort to educate families on budgeting, saving and debt management in addition to helping them understand more complex areas like retirement planning, investing and life insurance.

Increasing female representation helps everyone

Ultimately, women should be empowered not only as clients but also as key decision-makers within their households. By increasing female representation and fostering an inclusive environment, we can build a more trusted, effective industry that helps everyone achieve financial success. 

The time for change is now. We must recruit more women into financial services, provide them with the tools and mentorship they need to thrive, and create a culture that values flexibility and work-life balance. Only by doing so can we truly empower the next generation of female financial leaders and household CFOs.

The 2025 job search will likely look drastically different from searches in the past, driven by the ever-evolving role of technology in the professional world. What was once centered around printed paper résumés is now a complex process that involves AI, virtual networking, and professional branding through social media.

As we transition into the new year, it’s clear that technology will play a central role, enabling job seekers to discover new ways to stand out and connect with companies that align with their core values. Below are four trends we can expect to see grow–or emerge–in the coming year. 

The rise of video résumés

Video technology has become an essential tool for communication in the workplace, from daily team meetings to virtual happy hours. The job search is starting to experience a similar transformation, with video résumés gaining traction and likely to see wider adoption in 2025. By creating an engaging video résumé, job seekers can showcase not just their experience but also their personality, communication skills, and creativity, making a memorable impression sure to capture a hiring manager’s attention. 

Adapting to video résumés can help job seekers stand out in a competitive market. Video résumés should include an introduction and a brief overview of how your experience, skills, and qualifications align with the role. While jumping into a video may feel intimidating at first, it’s a great way to show adaptability to the growing professional landscape. 

Showcasing expertise and experience on social media 

Social media has become a key driver of professional branding. LinkedIn, in particular, has become the premier online space for creating dynamic professional brands and online content that act as a digital résumé or portfolio for job seekers. With short-form videos showing up more on LinkedIn, job seekers have a new opportunity to present themselves as thought leaders, industry experts, and desirable candidates through engaging video content–not just static posts. 

By leveraging social media platforms like LinkedIn, job seekers can build an online presence that reflects their professional identity. While posting valuable content is already a job search tip, in 2025, it will become essential for connecting with industry experts, peers, and opportunities worldwide. Building a strong, polished social media presence incorporating video can maximize how effectively any job seeker stands out in the new year’s job market. 

AI’s impact on the job search 

In 2025, AI’s role in recruitment will continue to grow, influencing how candidates are screened and selected. According to Zety, 58% of HR professionals believe it’s ethical for candidates to use AI during their job search and 38% are more likely to interview applicants who do so. New AI tools will streamline recruitment processes, likely changing how job seekers apply for roles and showcase their experiences. AI is expected to make it easier and faster to evaluate candidates not only on specific skillsets and experience but also on personality traits and other criteria that ensure both company and cultural fit. 

As AI automates basic work-related tasks, different skills may be prioritized in 2025 to enhance the effectiveness of these tools across various roles and industries. Skills that complement AI, like creativity, flexibility, and emotional intelligence, will step to the forefront. 

Skills-based hiring takes the lead

In 2024, we saw major developments as companies focused more on skills-based hiring over more traditional qualifications, like college degrees. This shift has opened new career opportunities for job seekers in 2025 and beyond, enabling professionals to pivot into roles that may have been inaccessible previously. Skills-based hiring is reshaping the professional landscape, allowing job seekers to transition into fields and positions based on their transferable skills. For applicants, this means focusing on both technical and soft skills to ensure they stay competitive in the 2025 job market. Data from Zety’s Recruitment Preferences Report shows that 39% of recruiters focus on skills when first evaluating a résumé with technical (38%) and soft skills (26%) being the two most important factors considered during the interview process.

With this approach, companies can prioritize candidates over credentials, while job seekers remain competitive by upskilling through online courses, certifications, and hands-on experience rather than relying on additional degrees that may be financially burdensome. Skills-based hiring allows both job seekers and companies to find a better fit for specific roles, ultimately boosting productivity, innovation, and diversity. 

As the job search landscape evolves, 2025 promises new ways for candidates to showcase their unique value and brand while seeking roles that truly match their skills and diverse experiences. This upcoming year presents fresh opportunities for job seekers to stand out and for companies to connect with uniquely qualified talent. Let’s welcome a new era of hiring–one that encourages innovation, creativity, and purpose in both finding positions and hiring talent.  

Workplace burnout has reached epidemic levels. A recent Deloitte survey found that 77% of full-time U.S. employees have experienced burnout in their current job, with more than half saying they’ve faced it multiple times. Nearly 70% feel their employers aren’t doing enough to address burnout, and 21% report no initiatives from their companies at all.

While companies often respond with wellness programs, meditation rooms, or meeting-free Fridays, these well-intentioned fixes are performative at best. Many employees are either too busy to use them or unaware that they even exist. More importantly, they fail to address the root cause: the way we work just isn’t working.

Employees report feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and disconnected, buried in mundane tasks without the sense they’re making a meaningful impact. What people need isn’t more “quick fixes” but a fundamental shift in how work feels—where they regain control, find purpose, and stay energized. 

“As adults, we often forget how to play (like kids)—being silly and being engaged with each other. One of the most important things we can do as leaders at times of stress is to change the environment in which our teams work,” says Sandy Ono, CMO at OpenText. “When we create work environments with clarity, commitment, and creativity, our teams understand the game they are in, the guardrails of the game, and feel much more energized in their daily work.” 

Here are five small but powerful habits to help you achieve that. The beauty is that they’re easy to try and have an immediate impact. 

5-minute moves

Deadlines make it tempting to skip breaks, but research shows even a quick five-minute walk every 30 minutes reduces stress, sharpens focus, and can lower blood sugar levels by up to 50%. This isn’t just for physical health—it clears the mind and renews energy to return to tasks feeling refreshed.

Moving to think and destress is an old, proven practice: Try taking frequent mini-breaks, even if it’s just a lap around the house, the kitchen, or the office. Do a phone call rather than a Zoom or Teams call so participants can move during the meeting instead of being anchored to a desk. Little movements add up to healthy habits.

Say no, or practice ‘yes, if’

Meetings and tasks pile up fast, swallowing hours that could be spent on valuable work. The “say no” or “yes, if” strategy is a powerful habit to combat this. Rather than saying yes to every request, decline requests for your time if you feel it’s unnecessary, or, add conditions by setting boundaries. If saying no feels difficult, try “yes, if.” This approach introduces the concept of trade-offs (and fairness) when requesting your help and gives you agency over your time. It also stops colleagues from assuming they can take people’s time freely without considering other priorities you may be juggling. 

Block time for deep work

The constant influx of emails, pings, and notifications keeps employees in reactive mode. Set aside dedicated time each week for “deep work”—undisturbed time for complex thinking, free from interruptions. If you’re a leader, suggest your team try doing the same.

In my company, dedicating a half-day each week for deep thinking work has been transformative. I allow my team to block time on their calendar and actually mandate they use that time for focused, uninterrupted work. No one needs to put fake meetings on their calendar to protect their team because I, as the boss, insist they do. Team members feel more engaged, and productive, and experience a real sense of accomplishment. Deep work time doesn’t just boost productivity—it fuels purpose and job satisfaction.

End the day by setting your VIPs

Many people start the day by setting goals, but I would flip that thinking on its head: Ending each day with a quick prep for tomorrow can be more powerful. Here’s how it works: Review what you accomplished, then identify the top two priorities for the next day, aka your VIPs (Very Important Projects). This simple habit shifts mornings from reactive scrambling to focused productivity. Encourage your team to try it, and they’ll start each day with a compass, not a clock.

Stop stress in the moment: Breathe

Breathing exercises might seem trivial, but box breathing is highly effective for stress management. I used to roll my eyes at suggestions like this, but then I tried it, and guess what? It works. Used by Navy SEALs, it involves inhaling for four seconds, holding for four, exhaling for four, and holding again for four. Repeating this centers the mind and calms the nerves.

Try it for yourself. And if you’re in a position to do so, encourage others to use box breathing as a tool for high-stress moments, too. After a tense meeting or challenging project, a minute of box breathing can restore focus and prevent stress from accumulating. 

Less fluff, more focus

Ditching surface-level fixes in favor of meaningful change is essential to transforming your workplace. Support your team with these small but powerful habits to restore focus, resilience, and a sense of purpose. Burnout shouldn’t be the norm; together, we can build a culture where employees feel empowered and excited about their work.

Let’s create workplaces where mental health, productivity, and happiness go hand in hand. Embrace these habits, lead by example, and watch your team transform from burned out to balanced, engaged, and energized.

Leaders don’t always have the answers, and the best of them know that and will often be the first to remind you of this. Consider a situation in which a leader opens up a discussion about a topic important to an upcoming meeting and invites discussion and disagreement with her proposed course of action. She weighs alternatives and takes into account a variety of opinions.

Contrast that case with a leader who gets defensive at the first sign of disagreement. This leader defends the choices she has made, shuts down offers of alternative perspectives, and ultimately fails to learn much from a group discussion.

This first leader feels like she is handling the situation better than the second, and is clearly displaying more confidence in her ability—despite showing vulnerability that she may be wrong on some counts.

In order to have the confidence to display this vulnerability in a group setting, you must believe that you belong in the discussion and in your role. This belief then allows you to treat discussions as being about the topic at hand, rather than thinking of them as a referendum on your knowledge and skills. As a result, finding out that someone disagrees with your proposed course of action signals that you may need to change your thinking about the issue, but says nothing about your fitness to lead.

When you have doubts that you should be in your role, then you start looking to others for evidence that you deserve to lead. Disagreement and suggestions that you consider an alternate approach are now taken as threats to your position, rather than differing perspectives on the current topic. You defend yourself vigorously, because you feel like you are fighting for your role as a leader.

At the root of the problem here is that if you get defensive when you have a lack of knowledge or have a disagreement about approach, you’re outsourcing your confidence to someone else. You’re allowing someone else’s approval or disapproval—their agreement or disagreement—to determine whether you think that you should have your role as a leader.

In the end, leadership is not about your position in an org chart. It relies on you own belief in the contributions you can make to an organization. You’re leading whenever you engage in constructive discussions that promote disagreement and challenge in order to reach a positive outcome. Only you should decide whether you belong in the room.

Wouldn’t it be great to have a crystal ball that would give you a peek into the future? Winning lottery numbers aside, knowing what lies ahead could give you insights to workplace trends that could propel your career growth. 

Sometimes, though, there are clues hiding in the past and present that can point the way. We talked to hiring experts and CEOs to get their take on what could be waiting for us after the ball drops in Time Square. 

1. Hybrid Is Here to Stay

“The full return has failed,” says Frank Weishaupt, CEO of the AI-powered video conferencing tool Owl Labs. “Our data shows full-time office work is down 6%, with remote roles up 57% year-over-year. The flexible ‘3-2’ hybrid model is set to become the norm, while companies still mandating five-day office work face the threat of increased employee turnover.”

Sam Naficy, CEO of the employee visibility and productivity intelligence software provider Prodoscore, agrees: “Hybrid work is the new normal,” he says. “Despite the push for in-office mandates, hybrid work is here to stay, driven by the need for flexibility. Few companies will fully revert to all-office models without risking talent loss.”

An Owl Labs survey found that employees rank flexible hours nearly as highly as healthcare benefits in evaluating prospective employers. “[This underscores] a shift toward autonomy and balance as key components of job satisfaction,” says Weishaupt. “To adapt, companies should embrace a more flexible approach, including meeting-free days and valuing outcomes over rigid hours.”

2. Paid Leave Requests and Resignations Will Rise

If your company is pushing for RTO, don’t be surprised by a mountain of paid leave requests or even resignations, says Deborah Hanus, CEO of Sparrow, an employee leave management platform. 

“The push for a return to office will have unintended consequences,” says Hanus. “We expect to see a rise in disability and caregiving leave requests as employees seek ways to maintain remote or hybrid work arrangements in addition to an increase in resignations as people find ways to maintain their routines with employers who support the reality of their needs to work remotely.” 

Organizations clinging to rigid in-office policies risk alienating their workforce and losing productivity in the process.

3. AI Will Accelerate Careers 

AI will move beyond being just a task helper to becoming a career enabler in 2025, predicts Danielle McMahan, chief people officer for academic publishers Wiley. “Organizations will focus on using AI to create personalized career pathways and helping employees align their skills and aspirations with future opportunities,” she says.

Shaji Mathew, group head of human resource development at IT-service provider Infosys, agrees: “AI itself has the potential to help employees enhance their skills and advance their careers through personalized and targeted training, he says. “It can help identify skills gaps, recommend new skills, and create tailored learning paths to continuous learning.” 

To tap into the potential, however, leaders will need to develop upskilling and reskilling initiatives to prepare their people for the evolving future of work, says Mathew. “While AI can provide insights based on data, humans give it meaning and purpose,” he says. “In 2025, employers should focus on building this human + AI work model, integrating AI with human capabilities to amplify the latter while upskilling their employees so they can be the ‘I’ in AI.” 

McMahan says AI training should be an urgent priority for the year ahead, referencing a Wiley Workplace Intelligence survey that found 61% of workers are eager for AI training. “This points to the growing role AI is playing in the workplace and the need for AI-driven development strategies,” she says. “I fully expect that the growing emphasis on AI learning and development will also help to shift AI from enabling tasks to enabling career growth.”

4. Recruiters’ Core Role Will Change 

AI will also impact the role of recruiters. In addition to being integrated into applicant tracking systems to match keywords, Felix Kim, CEO of the recruitment platform Redrob, predicts that AI will take over the interview process, either by serving as the sole interviewer or providing questions that maintain consistency and reduce bias. 

“We still want the human in human resources—it’s an essential part,” he says. “But sourcing candidates and doing the initial phone screen calls aren’t the core aspects of recruitment. We’ll start to see a bigger difference between a great recruiter and a mediocre recruiter, because AI will be able to duplicate what a mediocre recruiter is doing. The core aspect of a recruiter is to get that human connection and get people pumped up about a job or an opportunity that might not be visible just through a job description.” 

5. The Continuation of ‘Conscious Unbossing’

“Conscious unbossing” became a popular phrase in the latter part of 2024 used to describe the current leadership climate. It describes the resistance newer generations are having when it comes to stepping into leadership roles. Stephanie Neal, director of research at DDI, leadership development and HR consultants, predicts that the trend will continue

“There’s different reasons that leaders are motivated to take on leadership roles,” she says. “We’re seeing some tension in the workplace around that. The biggest risk to us is that leaders who do take early first management roles, often regret it if they don’t get the support that they need.” 

Neal says organizations must address if they want to attract leaders to their roles. “Keep them growing and keep them feeling like they have a purpose,” she says. “One of the biggest mistakes that organizations often make is taking top technical people that have done well in their individual contributor roles and advancing them into the management.”

In September, Amazon made an announcement that came as a surprise to many corporate employees, along with tech observers who might have assumed hybrid work was a given among the industry’s major players. Starting in January, the tech giant would require that all employees come back to the office five days a week, in a rebuke of the hybrid policy that is common across tech.

Many employees were still chafing against the demands of Amazon’s three-day return-to-office mandate, which was implemented in 2023 and had already required that certain workers move closer to an office or resign. The latest iteration of Amazon’s policy, however, goes several steps beyond that—and it already seems to be driving employees to leave the company.

A former design technologist who asked to remain anonymous to protect his identity said he made the decision to resign just a few weeks ago, after over a decade at Amazon. His decision was fueled in part by frustration with the mounting RTO mandates—which he claims are more rigid than Amazon’s pre-pandemic approach to remote work—and how they were affecting his colleagues’ lives. But he also felt that senior leadership did not have clear reasons for forcing employees back into the office, especially given Jassy had previously expressed his support for continued remote work.

“For me, it was what I felt was dishonest communication from up top, and the impact that I kept seeing from this policy,” he told Fast Company. “As far as I’m concerned, this group of people at the top lied to me [and] tried to gaslight us. And I don’t see how I can trust any other decisions that they are making.”

A new survey conducted by the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), a labor union coalition that aims to hold corporations accountable through research and campaigns, set out to capture sentiment among corporate workers at Amazon following the latest mandate.

The survey, which polled 1,065 employees through the month of November and was released today, reveals that a substantial share of the company’s corporate workforce already has a foot out the door: Nearly half of respondents (48%) claimed to have already applied for new jobs, while 68% said they were “somewhat likely” or “very likely” to leave Amazon within the next year. (SOC reached workers through public social media platforms and a handful of digital ads, and workers also circulated it amongst themselves on private forums like Discord.) 

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and other senior leaders have framed the decision to fully return to the office as a crucial way to boost collaboration and innovation, arguing that the existing in-office requirement had only “strengthened” that belief. “When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant,” Jassy wrote in September. (Amazon did not provide a comment on the record for this story.)

But the vast majority of surveyed workers dismissed this notion; 81% said their relationships with coworkers would either remain the same or perhaps become worse as a result of the new policy, and even more respondents anticipated their productivity would decrease. In fact, many of them (45%) said that they weren’t even assigned to the same office as their manager, while 38% said they only worked alongside a fraction of their team members—either 20% or less. 

A significant portion of the surveyed employees (59%) had been hired remotely, or at least with the promise of a hybrid work arrangement; workers in that position did not necessarily live close to an Amazon hub. Despite that, nearly a quarter of workers surveyed by SOC (23%) have already moved at least once to comply with Amazon’s RTO policy—and following the five-day policy, a greater share of workers (26%) expect they will be forced to move. 

A senior cloud infrastructure architect—who recently left Amazon and asked to remain anonymous due to career repercussions—had joined in 2020 and was told his role would be permanently remote. While he wasn’t impacted by the previous in-office requirement, he said there was little clarity on whether he would be expected to relocate when the latest mandate was issued. “I wasn’t going to wait to get fired,” he told Fast Company. “So that’s why I left early.”

The survey findings are largely in line with media reports and employee feedback on platforms like Blind and Glassdoor—not to mention prevailing sentiment in the “Remote Advocacy” internal Slack channel, which has more than 30,000 members, according to former Amazon workers. But the SOC survey also highlights the disproportionate impact of Amazon’s policies on caregivers and disabled employees, something experts have warned about as return-to-office mandates have grown more popular.

Among the 38% of respondents who cited childcare or caregiving duties, just about all of them (93%) said the new in-office policy would make it more difficult for them to juggle those responsibilities. Those employees were also more likely to have scoped out new jobs: 57% of caregivers said they had applied to roles outside of Amazon, compared to 43% of other workers. 

Meanwhile, many disabled workers—who accounted for about 21% of survey respondents—have already struggled to get exemptions that allow them to work from home. Of those who had sought out an exemption to work from home due to the RTO requirement imposed in 2023, 45% said their request was denied. Of course, that figure does not take into account the share of disabled employees who might be further impacted under the new mandate: A recent Bloomberg report revealed that Amazon is revising its policy around exemptions for disabled workers, effectively making it more difficult for them to get accommodations to work from home. 

Some leaders across the tech industry have admitted RTO mandates were partly intended to trim headcount, and employers now anticipate some degree of turnover when they mandate that employees must return to the office. It likely doesn’t help when the rollout of these policies is not particularly smooth, which also seems to be the case at Amazon. This week, Business Insider reported that Amazon offices in certain locations, including New York and Houston, were not prepared to welcome employees back in January. (An Amazon spokesperson told Fast Company that offices would be ready for the vast majority of employees by January, but that there were different timelines for some locations.)

Perhaps most crucially for Amazon, however, these policy changes—and the messaging behind them—appear to have eroded trust among their employee base. When the survey asked for their reaction to the statement “I can trust my employer to follow through on its promises and commitments,” 84% of Amazon workers said they disagreed. Over three-quarters of respondents also said they would no longer recommend that a friend apply for a job at Amazon.

The senior cloud infrastructure architect who recently left Amazon said it felt like he had landed a “dream job” when he first got hired in 2020. “In my mind, I was thinking: I just found the company I’m going to retire from,” he said. But all that changed over the last two years, as senior leadership doubled down on bringing employees back to the office.

“The first time I said this isn’t going to be the company for me longterm was [in 2023] when Jassy said anyone who wasn’t happy with his non-data-driven decree should just leave—that we weren’t welcome,” he said. “Even though I wasn’t affected by the decree at the time, in my head, I’m going: Well, if that’s how flippant senior leadership is going to be to employees, why would I want to be here at all?”

In the business world, there’s a rare breed of companies that consistently outshine their peers. These organizations don’t just outperform—they redefine exceptional performance. With operating margins that run 50% to 150% higher than the competition, and market capitalizations up to six times their revenue, the highest-performing companies have mastered the art of sustained success. 

So, what sets these high-performing companies apart?  

It starts with a mindset. Leaders at high-performing companies set bold goals and hold themselves accountable for reaching them. By decentralizing, they push decision-making and profit-and-loss accountability further down the organizational chart, empowering teams at every level. This lean structure accelerates decision-making and instills a sense of ownership across the organization, with hands-on senior leaders who serve as teachers and coaches rather than distant overseers. 

Ultimately, these organizations’ leaders are never satisfied with the status quo. They constantly work to refine processes, innovate products, and sharpen strategies. While these may sound like standard practices, their rigor sets them apart. Organizational discipline in capital allocation—quick when necessary, patient when warranted—fuels growth in ways that seem counterintuitive to outsiders.  

But the key is focus: High-performing companies grow, divide, and grow again, creating value through excellence rather than sheer scale. 

Key leadership principles

In high-performing companies, growth happens either organically or through acquisitions, but they excel at optimizing what’s already in place. When a business becomes too unwieldy or complex, it’s split, spun off or divested to maintain focus on creating value through excellence—and to provide access to capital for the non-core units in the current structure. 

Leaders in these companies balance seemingly opposing traits. They’re both humble and ambitious, driving continuous improvement while embracing transformation. They provide freedom within clear guidelines, hold teams accountable without micromanaging and dive into the details without losing sight of the bigger picture. 

To achieve their ambitious goals and support a culture of excellence, these leaders follow three core principles. 

A performance ethic: At the heart of these high-performing companies lies a performance ethic among leaders—the blend of ambition and execution discipline. Ambition without discipline is just wishful thinking, while discipline without ambition is like running on a treadmill—lots of effort but no real progress.  

Ambition pushes companies and leaders to aim for the impossible, and even if they fall short, they often still achieve remarkable results. Stretch targets can’t be met by incremental improvements. They force organizations to fundamentally rethink how they operate.  

For example, teams may ask themselves, “How can we accomplish what we did last year in 70% of the time?” In these companies, a month’s progress often equates to a year’s work in a traditional organization. Central to this ambitious culture is the understanding that failure in pursuit of the impossible won’t be punished. 

Execution discipline, on the other hand, stems from self-discipline, making external control unnecessary. Every iteration is better than the last, with improvement becoming second nature. This discipline is often supported by an operating system or clear standards that reduce the variability of outcomes.  

Problem-solving and decision-making are grounded in facts and root-cause analysis, streamlining discussions with a common language. Plans are made, countermeasures taken and results delivered with precision. The compounding effect of small, timely decisions results in outstanding performance, but developing this discipline requires years of practice and rigor because it requires changing one’s DNA. 

Without a performance ethic, many companies fall into the trap of slow growth, inconsistent results, and missed targets. Lacking a clear vision and leadership, they settle for mediocrity or “acceptable underperformance.”  

Liberation leadership: Liberation leadership empowers organizations by fostering a sense of ownership and an entrepreneurial mindset within a clear framework of how we behave and do things. This leadership style combines a decentralized structure with a leadership approach that ignites energy and creativity across all levels, including the front line. 

In an empowering organizational structure, businesses are broken down into more manageable units, keeping them as small as practical, usually shaped by customer needs. This decentralization is comprehensive, minimizing reliance on centralized resources and oversight. Over time, the structure remains consistent with few reorganizations and full accountability for profit and loss (P&L) embedded early in an employee’s career, increasing in complexity as they grow.  

This model challenges the assumption that bigger units gain from synergies. In reality, scale can result in slower decision-making, blurred accountability, and hidden costs. Performance-driven cultures have shown that true P&L ownership leads to better results, far outweighing any inefficiencies that duplication of certain costs may bring. However, this freedom comes with responsibility. Decentralization must be grounded in a shared framework, behavioral standards, or non-negotiable proven business practices. 

Entrepreneurial leadership requires that independence is balanced by superiors who are detail-oriented. They know exactly what’s happening within the business, prioritizing data over presentation, and facts over opinions. These leaders are market-driven, curious, and motivated by achieving impact and excellence, not simply by acquiring power. Senior leaders see themselves as teachers, not controllers, actively participating in performance improvement efforts to both teach and learn.  

Credibility comes from being a top-notch practitioner of the company’s business model. That’s why it’s rare for outside hires to fill senior roles. Collaboration among P&L leaders is based on logic, facts, and transparency, happening only when it makes sense—not because it’s dictated from the top. 

On the flip side, centralized or matrixed organizations can stifle entrepreneurial spirit by imposing rigid top-down control and narrowing the scope of frontline responsibilities, leading to a lack of ownership. These structures change frequently due to internal power struggles, with senior leaders disconnected from the day-to-day business and market realities. 

A reinvention mindset: A reinvention mindset is fueled by relentless curiosity and a transformational approach from leadership, alongside a deep organizational commitment to ongoing enterprise reinvention.  

High-performing companies are industry leaders and often trailblazers, harnessing both past achievements and external disruptions to fuel strategic innovations that have the potential to transform their business. They don’t accept their circumstances or fate as fixed. They believe in their power to influence and shape their own future. 

In organizations with a culture of constant reinvention, the mantra is “There’s always a better way.” Aside from core ethics, behavioral norms, and integrity, few things are untouchable. Everything else is subject to rigorous evaluation and renewal. While leaders at these companies may be satisfied with their success, they are never content. Business portfolios, strategies, products, teams, and processes are constantly scrutinized and refined.  

Leaders in high-performing organizations are driven by the pursuit of impact and excellence rather than power, making bold decisions like de-mergers and realignment a common part of their growth cycle. They refine, grow and optimize, only to divide and start the process anew. This cycle is supported by fact-based, rigorous capital allocation and a streamlined business model. 

Leaders with a transformational mindset thrive in companies that embrace reinvention. They actively seek out challenges, aiming for breakthroughs rather than incremental improvements. Constantly scanning for potential disruptions, they are proactive and act quickly without waiting for unnecessary approvals. Their leadership style evolves alongside the business, built on a foundation of curiosity and a willingness to adapt. 

It’s time for a holistic approach to performance 

It’s easy to be drawn to individual elements of this approach—ambition, autonomy, reinvention—but lasting success comes only when all three work in concert.  

A performance ethic without liberation leadership results in a rigid, top-down structure in which a senior leader becomes a bottleneck and the source of all wisdom. On the other hand, liberation leadership without a reinvention mindset and performance ethic creates contented fiefdoms that fall short of their potential.

Sustainable performance emerges only when these forces align and support each other. 

The most successful organizations are those whose leaders understand that performance is not just about meeting targets—it’s about continuously pushing the limits of what’s possible. By blending a performance ethic, liberation leadership, and a reinvention mindset, these companies create a dynamic environment where innovation thrives, ownership is embraced and progress is relentless.  

This holistic approach doesn’t simply drive short-term gains; it builds a foundation for long-term success. For these companies, excellence is not a destination but an ever-evolving journey, constantly refining, growing, and redefining the standards of achievement. 

Regardless of your political affiliation, this year’s presidential election results showcased one powerful commonality: People are starving to be seen, acknowledged, and witnessed.  

While the 2024 election—like several before it—proved to be divisive and riddled with conflict, it offers an important lesson for businesses and leaders seeking to overcome inevitable friction within their own teams.  

We live in a fragmented and confusing world. According to the 2023 Ernst & Young LLP Empathy in Business Survey, 86% of employees believe empathetic leadership boosts morale, while 87% say empathy is essential to fostering an inclusive environment. In Paul J. Zak’s 2017 article in The Harvard Business Review, he noted that people at high-trust companies reported 76% more engagement than those at low-trust companies.

However, Gallup continues to report dismal employee engagement across global organizations at just 23%. A McKinsey Health Institute global survey found that toxic workplace behavior is the biggest driver of negative workplace outcomes, such as burnout and an employee’s intent to leave.  

Over my last several articles, I’ve explored the neurobiology of belonging and the combined power of the left and right hemispheres of the brain to convert conflict into connection. Now, we’ll explore how leaders must evolve their management style by considering the underlying needs in all of us and asking: “Am I equipped to make high-quality decisions during high-friction times?” 

High emotional intelligence—the ability to manage your own emotions and understand the emotions of those around you—is now table stakes for leaders in battling toxic workplace behavior as we enter 2025. The modern leader will practice emotional maturity. They will: 

• Realize their workforce consists of a collection of nervous systems and will strive to understand the basics of neuroscience to effectively guide their teams. 

• Hold boundaries, be accountable, give difficult yet constructive feedback, and take time to self-reflect.  

• Master the leadership algorithm with a methodical cycle of planning, executing, checking, and adjusting to drive trust among teams and boost productivity.  

Good leaders know how to plan and execute—to build a strategy and implement it. Emotionally mature leaders plan and execute, but also know how to check, adjust, and integrate these steps into the leadership algorithm using tactical empathy and resonant language to drive engagement with their teams. These two steps—check and adjust—allow us to slow down to ultimately move faster. Or, in other words, to reduce friction to make higher-quality decisions that drive better results.  

I recently connected with a potential guest for my podcast over Zoom. They were several minutes late due to technical difficulties and by the time they logged on, they expressed anger that Zoom made them late. After that moment of distress, they tersely asked, “I’m here now, what can I do for you?” 

It would have been easy to breeze over this comment for the sake of the task at hand. But at what cost to the relationship? Instead, I invited both of us to check in and take a deep breath. I apologized for the horrible experience and shared my appreciation that they made the effort to proceed with the call. Then we adjusted.

I acknowledged that their nervous system might still be activated from the stress of trying to join the call. I offered to slow down and just say “hello” before digging into our meeting. My guest was shocked—they’d never seen anyone react to friction this way. As a result, we authentically connected for 20 minutes, leading them to request an in-person podcast recording instead of a virtual one—a more mutually beneficial outcome. 

So, how can forging connections like this built on emotional maturity apply within a team leadership dynamic? Let’s say you, the leader, want to develop a go-to-market strategy for an innovative new product.  

In the traditional planning phase, you’ll ask questions like, “What are we going to do and how are we going to do it?” Before rushing through the planning stage to execution, check and adjust. Engage in self-reflection and hold conversations with your team members. Ask questions like: 

• What legacy knowledge might a team member have about this project that I don’t? 

• What am I not considering? What went wrong in the past that is important to consider moving forward? 

• Whose voices and perspectives need to be included in developing this strategy? 

• Are we forgetting to loop in a member of a cross-functional team? 

• Where is the friction in my team or on this project? Is there an unresolved conflict that needs to be addressed? 

This process of self-reflection and discovery can lead to adjustments to the planning phase, enabling leaders to engage their teams using resonant language to name and acknowledge unmet needs, feelings of exclusion, or negative experiences that could inhibit that plan’s success. Making these kinds of adjustments requires leaders to sit in discomfort, to give and receive constructive feedback—however difficult—and demonstrate emotional maturity that fosters inclusion and forges connections that enable better decisions . . . as a result of less friction.  

Employee satisfaction is plummeting, and businesses are struggling to keep their talent engaged and fulfilled. Research by Gallup shows that 51% of employees are actively looking for other work. While the top reason for this trend is predictable—employees are looking for higher pay and better benefits—there’s another reason worth exploring: lack of career development and opportunities. This trend highlights the need for organizations to implement strategies that will inspire their employees to stay, and one way to do this is through emphasizing cross-functional mobility.

Throughout my twelve years at Allianz Trade, I’ve been given flexibility to explore various positions, from marketing and communications to human resources, sales, and distribution. In my previous role with the company as chief human resources and communications officer for the Americas region, I led employee-focused programs to cultivate engagement, enhance recognition and rewards, and promote learning and development programs. 

Now, in my new role as chief commercial officer for the region, I’m focusing on something completely different: the organization’s distribution strategy and growth initiatives. While my day-to-day is vastly different, I draw from my past experiences daily to help drive the organization forward.

My personal career trajectory underscores the relevance of encouraging emerging leaders to embrace cross-functional opportunities. This is how companies of all industries and sizes can cultivate well-rounded leadership profiles, retain and motivate in-house talent, and unlock growth and innovation.

Identify Interested Employees

Organizations should create a process to proactively identify employees interested in cross-functional opportunities. We do this through annual succession planning and creating a personal development plan with our employees. Early in my tenure at Allianz Trade, I communicated my interest in geographic mobility (performing the same or similar role in a different country) and functional mobility (moving to a distinct discipline within the organization). 

By capturing these ambitions during my annual review process, the company understood my goals and supported me along the way. Understanding whether an employee is interested in exploring different functions within the organization empowers them to step outside of their comfort zone knowing they have the company’s support, as it did for me.

Promote Hands-On Experience

While reading about a role provides insight, there is no substitute for firsthand experience gained by stepping into the shoes of colleagues in other departments. Shadow programs are an excellent way to encourage employees to try their hand at something they may otherwise overlook. 

I’ve participated in several shadow programs during my career, including valuable time spent in our U.K. and Italian businesses shadowing their marketing teams, as well as in Paris shadowing HR colleagues. These experiences were monumental in shaping my personal growth and professional perspective. When considering a new position in human resources after spending decades in marketing, investing meaningful time shadowing HR colleagues was a game-changer for me.

Offer Mentorship for Growth and Development

Research indicates that 90% of employees with mentors report greater job satisfaction. Mentorship is crucial to helping employees feel supported, understood, and valued. Your company can support cross-functional mobility by facilitating mentoring programs where colleagues can learn from experienced leaders with similar career journeys. Over the years, several mentors have played an instrumental role in my development, serving as sounding boards, coaches, challengers, and supporters.

The benefits of mentorship flow both ways. I’ve also grown as a leader as a result of being a mentor myself. I’ve had the pleasure of mentoring individuals through formal programs, and informal sessions over the years. The experience always challenges me to hone in on my own values, and to have the courage to share about times when I’ve taken professional risks and failed.

With confidence in their current position and exposure to other job functions they might explore, employees feel supported to learn new skills, enabling them to discover the areas of work that motivate and drive them. This not only fosters personal growth but also strengthens the organization by aligning employee passion with business goals.

By building from within and developing leaders with a wide range of skills, organizations are better equipped to meet the challenges of their work and more likely to retain talent by offering diverse and multi-faceted career paths.

Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company’s work-life advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions.

Q: How should I talk about my layoff on social media?

A: First of all, if you are reading this and you’ve been impacted by a layoff, I’m so sorry. If you liked your job and felt like you were doing good work, it’s an especially devastating blow. But in any circumstance, losing your job turns your world upside down. It’s easier said than done, but please don’t take it personally. The longer you work (especially in volatile industries like tech, retail and media), the more likely that you’ll face a layoff at some point.

I was laid off from my magazine job in 2009. I was truly devastated and confused. Social media was newer then and I wasn’t an early adopter. But even if I was active on LinkedIn, I likely wouldn’t have posted about my layoff. I felt embarrassed, even though I knew it wasn’t my fault.

Times have completely changed and posting about layoffs on LinkedIn and other social media platforms is the norm now. But there a few things to consider:

Draft and wait

Emotions are running super high when you first lose your job. If it helps you vent to draft a post on your personal or professional social media account, go ahead and do so, but don’t hit publish. Express those feelings to your friends and family verbally or in private messages. Give yourself a day or two for the dust to settle a little before putting out a public message.

Consider other ways to get the word out

After your cooling-off period, it’s professional and understandable to post a short note on LinkedIn that you were impacted by a recent round of layoffs at your company. Just make sure you don’t disclose anything that will compromise your severance. (Some companies may ask you to sign a separation agreement that limits what you can say publicly about your job.)

Consider other ways to spread the news that you are looking for your next role. If you have a good relationship with your boss or colleagues who didn’t lose their jobs, consider asking them to post on your behalf. Those left behind after a layoff can have a feeling of survivor’s guilt (I’ve been there, too) and are often happy to do what they can to help. As a bonus, your boss is likely to have a wider network than you, so having someone else post on your behalf will reach more people. 

Another option is to use the “Open to Work” feature on LinkedIn to show that you are looking for new opportunities, without explicitly saying you were laid off. You can limit who sees that you’re open to work to only those using LinkedIn Recruiter. Or, if you want to be more public about it, you can opt for the “Open to Work” badge, though some have mixed feelings about whether this seems too desperate.

‘Be bright, be brief, be gone.’

If you do decide to post about your layoff on social media, Paul Wolfe, a former human resources executive for Indeed, advises you to “be bright, be brief, be gone.” What he means is to keep your post positive and short. I mostly agree, but I think it’s fine to express some genuine emotion by saying something like “Unfortunately, I was impacted by the recent layoffs at [name of company]. While I’m sad that my time with [company name] has ended, I enjoyed my [number of years] working with [names of colleagues].”

Catherine Fisher, a LinkedIn career expert, also points out that it’s important to be specific about what you hope to accomplish with your post. Think about what you’re asking of your network. Use your post to say more than that you’re out of work. “[Consider] what skills that you have that make you right for what you’re looking for, and then how your network can help,” she says. “Are you looking for introductions? Are you looking for advice about how to approach the job search? Being specific about what you need will help ensure that you get it.”

Best of luck that you’ll land on your feet in a better position. Need more advice on posting on social media about your layoff? Here you go:

• This is the best way to announce your layoff on LinkedIn
• Just got laid off? Here’s how to talk about it with your family and friends
• Exactly what to say to someone who’s been laid off
• What you should and shouldn’t post on LinkedIn after your layoff

Supporting a team member who’s going through a difficult time in their personal life can be a delicate situation. As a manager, you need to balance empathy with practicality and offer help while also ensuring the work doesn’t fall off track. This is a tough spot to be in, and one that management training doesn’t always cover.

As a management consultant and coach, this is one of the things that I get asked a lot. If this is something you’re struggling with, know that you’re not alone. The following practices can help.

Be realistic about your role

First things first, remember that as a manager, you’re not a therapist. It can be tempting to dive in and try to “fix” or even rescue your team member, especially if they’re going through a tough time. But that’s not your role, and it’s not realistic. Think of your support as an anchor. They don’t need you to solve their problems, but they do need to feel like they’re not facing them alone.

Consider saying something like the following: “I want to listen and be able to support you. There may be things that you want to share that I don’t have the skill to help you with, and the last thing I want is for you to open up and me not be able to help. If I feel that is happening, are you ok with me saying, “I think we’re heading towards a topic I’m not able to help with?” This way, you’re setting boundaries but also showing them that you genuinely care about their well-being.

Often the biggest single differentiator between this being resolved and not is the team member knowing that you, the manager, cares. They want to know that what they’re going through isn’t an inconvenience, and that you care about them personally and want to help.

Listen to understand, not respond

Once you’ve established that supportive boundary, it’s time to listen. And by “listen,” I mean really listen. Too often, we’re just waiting for our turn to talk. But in this case, you want to let them do the talking. Think of listening as a way to help them process, rather than an opportunity to give advice or find quick solutions. Once they’ve finished talking, consider replying with the following phrases:

“I can hear how difficult this is for you. It sounds like you’ve feeling overwhelmed at the moment

“So you’re saying that you’re not getting any time to yourself in the evenings which is causing you to feel burnout and not able to recharge for the next day? Have I got that right”?

“What do you feel would help make things more manageable right now?”

Often, when people feel genuinely heard, they’re more capable of finding solutions. Sometimes, the most significant support you can offer is simply to give them a safe space to talk, be heard, and process what they’re going through.

In fact, one of the most common reasons people feel unsupported at work is that they didn’t feel heard. In mediation, I often hear managers insist that they did listen (and  then show their notes to prove it). What they’re doing is confusing the surface level action of listening with the deeper skill of listening  to help the other person feel heard. 

Consider the kind of support they need

Once they’ve had a chance to talk things through, ask them directly: “How would you like to be supported right now?” You’re aiming to show them respect for their autonomy and give them the space to communicate what they need, rather than assuming you know the answer. Remember, they’re the expert in their own lives. You’re just a visitor with a very small snapshot of what’s going on.

Sometimes, they might ask for support that isn’t entirely realistic. If that happens, you need to be honest about what’s possible while showing that you’re open to finding creative solutions together. You could say something like the following: “I know that’s not possible unfortunately. Which means it’s my job to be creative about meeting your needs. I’m hoping we can work it out together“

By involving them in this way, you’re taking a collaborative approach, which often makes them feel more empowered and supported.

Be open to make small accommodations

If they’re dealing with personal issues, a few adjustments can make a huge difference, even if they’re minor ones. Maybe they need a flexible start time or a few additional breaks during the day. Small accommodations like this can help that person feel supported and also demonstrate to the rest of the team that you’re willing to help everyone through tough times.

By being flexible, you’re also building trust. When team members see that you care about them as people, not just as workers, they’re more likely to stay engaged and motivated, even during challenging times.

In the end, supporting someone who’s facing difficulties is about balancing empathy with practicality. While you can’t solve every problem, you can make a big difference simply by caring, listening actively, and being willing to make adjustments when you can. Remember, being a supportive manager doesn’t mean you have to have all the answers. It just means that you’re there when it matters.