KFC's new president, Catherine Tan-Gillespie, took an unconventional approach to turn the company around—by being upfront and honest with customers about its challenges.

A recent study highlights that remote work can significantly contribute to feelings of isolation and mental health struggles. Instead of forcing employees back to the office, forward-thinking leaders should focus on understanding and addressing these challenges to create a supportive work environment.

While having confidence and valuing one’s own insights is important, leaders often achieve better results by seeking guidance from external experts beyond their immediate team.

When team members contribute actively to creating solutions, their commitment to bringing those ideas to life strengthens significantly.

Certain management behaviors can greatly harm employee retention and overall morale. Recognizing and avoiding these pitfalls is key to keeping your best talent engaged and motivated.

Many organizations invest large sums in leadership training yet overlook the crucial middle managers who have the greatest impact on performance and culture.

Box CEO Aaron Levie points out that many CEOs experience what he calls "AI psychosis," where unrealistic expectations and misunderstandings about AI cloud their judgment. It's refreshing to see leaders finally acknowledging the mistakes they've made with AI initiatives, fostering a more honest and productive conversation around the technology's real impact and challenges.

Delta's Chief Sustainability Officer, Amelia DeLuca, champions environmental leadership through technology innovation and driving organizational change. Her approach focuses on making Delta's operations more sustainable while fostering the airline’s long-term growth, sharing her authentic perspective on leadership.

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A consulting manager found herself taking after-hours calls and late-night texts from anxious employees amid corporate uncertainty and AI transitions, exemplifying the growing expectations for leaders to show empathy and compassion. Across industries, employees' stress and worries about economic challenges and AI's impact are rising, increasing the demand for leaders to offer emotional support. However, women leaders disproportionately carry this emotional labor, often dedicating over 30% of their workweek to caring tasks such as listening to anxieties and offering encouragement — an invisible, unpaid 'empathy tax.' This care fatigue, stemming from constantly managing others' emotions, can lead to burnout and attrition among women in leadership roles. Research shows women are expected to demonstrate warmth and compassion, and when they don’t, face negative perceptions, further entrenching this unequal burden. The empathy tax manifests in absorbing others' emotions, being graded on compassion, and sacrificing time essential for core responsibilities. To counteract these effects, women need to set boundaries and reject harmful narratives about self-sacrifice, while organizations must assess care fatigue, support boundaries, and promote empathy in all leaders, including men. Only by recognizing and sharing emotional labor can organizations sustain empathic leadership and retain female talent.

Trustworthy leaders inspire their teams to go the extra mile because people naturally work harder when they believe in their leader.