Your org may feel aligned until pressure hits. This issue looks at coherence, megamanagers, mentorship, and the wisdom of water.

As 2026 begins, outdated operating models, rising risk, and AI speed are testing how prepared leaders really are.

2026 tests executive maturity. AI, climate pressure, stalled advancement, burnout, and hidden emotional labor are reshaping what leadership requires.

Trust rarely breaks in big moments but in daily signals that go unaddressed. This week, we examine how leaders rebuild alignment, resilience, and confidence at speed.

AI is no longer the constraint, leadership is. This week’s On Culture explores how perspective, design, and agency define the next advantage.

Transformation sticks when people choose it. This week’s On Culture explores why meaning drives adoption and how leaders design change that earns belief.

We brought back the Entrepreneurs’ Invitational and filled the room with founders, operators, investors, and friends—a mix of old Austin energy and new. Many congrats to our winners.

Fear isn’t the enemy—unexamined fear is. We all carry private worries: losing purpose, not being heard, missing our moment, being misunderstood. Organizations fear, too—loss of control, broken trust, stalled voice. The real work is slowing down our reactions, naming what’s underneath, and choosing clarity instead of defensiveness. Trust is built in those moments. When we acknowledge fear, we regain agency.

Driving a 38-foot camper down a dark highway became a metaphor for leadership—fear and focus coexisting on the road to growth. Myste Wylde reflects on change as a series of seasons—growth, transition, recovery, and reset—each demanding its own pace. Research from HBR, MIT Sloan, and Forbes shows that adaptable leaders who balance exploration and execution sustain engagement, innovation, and trust. The only way out, in work and life, is through.