On Culture: Bold Bets in the Year of the Fire Horse

Myste Wylde
10 hours ago
5 min read

Dear Culturati Insider,

Happy Lunar New Year. The Year of the Fire Horse, in the Chinese zodiac, marks a rare surge of intensity and forward motion. It is both a forecast and an invitation.

Seen once every 60 years, this is a time for transformation and bold bets, personally and for our organizations. In periods of elevated uncertainty, the prevailing belief is that risk requires a proven track record, but new data tells a different story. A 15-year study of nearly 6,000 public companies found that while 90% cut M&A spending when volatility rose, the minority that doubled down achieved nearly twice the revenue growth and roughly 50% higher shareholder returns over the following three years, without greater downside risk. To take advantage of the opportunity, leaders are preparing in advance, resisting herd behavior, and acting with both discipline and conviction.

The secret sauce is how you metabolize uncertainty. The poet John Keats called it negative capability or the capacity to tolerate doubt or not-knowing. Capacity is a critical leadership skill in our VUCA world. To grow it, leaders are unlearning the reflex to react or reassure as knee jerk responses. Can you sit with incomplete information without forcing a premature answer? Can you hold tension in a room without rushing to smooth it over? This helps sharpen judgment, strengthen trust, and build greater cohesion over time.

In honor of the new year, Asian American leaders are channeling intensity into strategic action. Jing Gao (Fly by Jing) is converting brand heat into sustained market position. Yanghee Paik (Rael) is deepening customer commitment and reinforcing internal standards. And Brandon Tseng (Shield AI) is scaling complex defense technology with operational rigor. The throughline is intensity governed by integrity. When leaders act in alignment, welcome scrutiny, and build reputations through consistency, execution accelerates alongside trust.

The Fire Horse amplifies what you bring to it. This is the time to focus your priorities, deepen the relationships that lower friction, and structure ambition into deliberate bets. Resilience will determine durability. Confidence can be built in increments and setbacks treated as information. Protecting recovery will ensure you continue to burn brightly instead of burning out. May courage call you into your highest character, and may the fire of this year illuminate both the leader you are and the one you are becoming.

马年大吉 Mǎ nián dàjí,

Myste Wylde, COO

The Case for Making Bold Bets in Uncertain Times

MIT Sloan Management Review

By Adam Job, Ulrich Pidun, and Valentín Szekasy

Summary: A study of nearly 6,000 public companies over 15 years examined how firms responded during periods of elevated industry uncertainty. While 90% cut M&A spending, the small group that doubled down generated nearly twice the revenue growth and about 50% higher shareholder returns over the next three years, without greater downside risk. The findings challenge three common assumptions: bold moves require strong prior performance, a history of risk-taking, or a diversified cushion. Companies that acted with disciplined conviction, resisted herd behavior, and prepared in advance to deploy capital when conditions shifted captured disproportionate gains. In volatile markets, hesitation compounds less than courage.

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To Lead Through Uncertainty, Unlearn Your Assumptions

Harvard Business Review

By Annie Peshkam

Summary: Leadership development has long centered on strategy, execution, and influence, yet research shows organizations now prize resilience, adaptability, connection, and imagination alongside output. McKinsey & Company frames the shift as an inside-out move grounded in presence. The real divide is between competence and capacity. Competence delivers results when conditions are predictable. Capacity defines whether a leader can remain steady when ambiguity rises and emotion runs high. Growing capacity requires unlearning the reflex to move fast, soothe quickly, or tighten control. Leaders who pause, name what is difficult, share the weight, and stay with tension build trust, sharpen judgment, and execute with greater cohesion. In volatile markets, inner steadiness becomes a form of strategic leverage.

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What Are Asian American Business Leaders Doing for the Year of the Fire Horse?

Inc.

By Jennifer Conrad

Summary: The Year of the Fire Horse provides a leadership opportunity to convert intensity into disciplined transformation. Founders across industries are translating high energy into focused execution. Jing Gao of Fly by Jing frames it as momentum paired with long-term positioning. Yanghee Paik of Rael is prioritizing customer depth and durable culture over surface growth. TJ Yoon of House of Balance is replacing vanity metrics with retention and disciplined expansion. Shield AI’s Brandon Tseng is scaling advanced defense technology with operational rigor. The broader lesson applies beyond the zodiac. When conditions accelerate, leaders can claim visibility, sharpen focus, deepen relationships, and channel ambition into structured bets. Energy multiplies outcomes. Discipline shapes them.

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3 Science-Backed Ways to Measure Integrity

Fast Company

By Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

Summary: Integrity consistently ranks among the strongest predictors of leadership effectiveness because trust lowers transaction costs, accelerates coordination, and sustains discretionary effort. Leaders viewed as ethical earn greater commitment and faster execution. Research highlights three reliable signals. First, track consistency between words and actions over time. Second, assess dark traits such as narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy, which correlate with deception and counterproductive behavior in power roles. Third, rely on peer ratings and longitudinal 360 feedback, which outperform first impressions in identifying moral reliability.

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The Year of the Fire Horse: A Call to Adventure

Psychology Today

By Michele M. Tugade Ph.D.

Summary: The Year of the Fire Horse brings intensity, and resilience determines whether that intensity compounds or consumes. Research offers a disciplined approach. Self-efficacy, built through small, repeatable wins, predicts persistence and performance under pressure. A growth mindset strengthens adaptability by framing setbacks as data for improvement. Self-compassion reduces anxiety and sustains effort after failure. Emotional flexibility and cognitive reappraisal lower stress reactivity and protect decision quality. Brief positive emotions expand perspective and replenish psychological resources. Leaders who set incremental goals, reframe adversity, name emotions with precision, and balance activation with recovery convert volatility into durable momentum.

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