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Uncertainty has become a defining feature of life today, a reality that challenges workplace leaders to adapt rapidly, make decisions with limited information, and foster stability amid constant and sometimes highly erratic change. At the same time, this uncertainty directly affects employees, making it incumbent upon leaders to provide the support and direction their teams need to successfully navigate an unpredictable world with both resilience and clarity. It goes without saying that the role of a leader has grown increasingly more complex, requiring us to instill stability, foster adaptability, and maintain focus without being overwhelmed by the relentless pace of change. In just the past month in America, weve witnessed the introduction, removal, and reintroduction of tariffs, massively disrupted supply chains, a whipsawing stock market (putting everyones retirement savings at risk), major companies mandating a return to office work, and the emergence of artificial intelligence technologiesinnovations sparking equal parts excitement and fear as they reshape industries and raise questions about job security and the future of work. Its a lot for all of us to deal with. Through my own leadership experience, Ive learned that its absolutely pointless to try to control chaosand far wiser to coach teams on how to thrive in spite of it. The following are five strategies Ive used over the course of my career that workplace leaders can adopt to help their people negotiate complexity and perform at their bestregardless of what turbulence the universe throws our way: 1. Be a Rational Optimist In todays world, its all too easy for pessimism to seep into our consciousness and negatively shape how we interact with those we lead. Being an abject pessimist, however, is entirely at odds with effective leadership, as it curtails productivity, stifles creativity, narrows perspective, and stands in the way of meaningful progress. Yet, while pessimism can directly undermine progress, leaning too far into optimism also carries its own risks. Effective leadership requires striking a balanceoffering hope and inspiration while remaining realistic about the challenges ahead. In his book Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes, New York Times bestselling author Morgan Housel makes this exact point by urging leaders to be rational optimists. He emphasizes that our role as leaders is to imbue a deep belief in people that difficult challenges can indeed be overcome, while also being very honest about the strong likelihood that theyll face setbacks, surprises, and disappointments along the way. When people know to expect a rough road ahead, choosing hope over despair naturally opens the door to opportunities and more creative solutions. 2. Foster Team Connection and Belonging When teams face uncertain times, the belief that everyone is in this together is a powerful force for fostering unity, sustaining morale, and motivating employees to collaborate and support each other to overcome major challenges. This is why leaders who prioritize team connection create environments where individuals feel secure enough to navigate difficulties together. The goal is to cultivate a team culture where no one feels isolated and everyone is inspired to have each other’s backtruly embodying the spirit of all for one and one for all. Recent research shows that feelings of belonging are the glue that holds teams together, as well as being the cornerstone of employee well-being. For leaders, creating this sense of belonging requires nurturing deeper relationships with our employees and learning their concerns. Its also about fostering an environment where differences are celebrated, inclusion is more than a buzzword, and every voice carries weight. Togetherness can be a great source of strength. 3. Proactively Build Team Resilience Long before crises or unexpected setbacks arise, leaders must not only remind employees that risk is an inherent aspect of every business. They must equip them to respond emotionally, to even the smallest hurdles, with confidence and resilience. As Nassim Taleb, the author of bestselling books on randomness and complexity, wisely advises, leaders should prioritize preparation over prediction, focusing on flexibility and readiness rather than relying on forecasts that are often uncertain or incomplete. One way to achieve this is by regularly engaging employees in what if discussionsposing questions like, How would we respond if this situation happened? Additionally, empowering teams to collaboratively brainstorm solutions to everyday challenges on their own will help build their adaptability and creativity muscles, so they are ready when needed. Finally, workplace leaders must cultivate their own self-mastery during challenging times. Learning how to maintain composure, reframe setbacks as opportunities, and display optimism in the worst of times is a collective skill set that demands diligent effort and commitment to develop. In the end, leaders must model the behavior theyll expect from their team. 4. Influence Through Stories, Less Through Data In Same as Ever, Morgan Housel clarifies that humans are wired for stories, not spreadsheets. Highlighting how storytelling creates clarity and sparks action, he explains, We dont think in terms of odds and probabilities; we think in terms of narratives. Unlike raw data or abstract concepts, stories resonate deeply because they are inherently relatable and emotionally engaging. Imagine a CEO whos suddenly faced with a market downturn. Instead of bombarding employees with forecasts and financial metrics, telling stories about times in the past when their company was faced with great difficultiesand triumphedis a transformative way of framing the current challenge as being equally surmountable. According to Housel, We live in a world where people are bored, impatient, emotional and need complicated things distilled into easy-to-grasp scenes. So, craft stories that make the unknown feel conquerable, and watch them resonate with your teams. 5. Set Reasonable Expectations When unforeseen disruptions occur, projects often veer off schedule, and teams fall behind on critical targets. These setbacks are pivotal moments for leadership, as the urge to quickly regain momentum can place employees in an untenable position, feeling as if theyre fighting against the universe. In these circumstances, wise leaders display patience and avoid placing undue pressure on their teams by setting unrealistic goals. Instead, they emphasize that while external factors may be uncontrollable, effort is always within their influenceeven in the absence of guarantees. In the 1970s, Disneys stock dropped 70%. Walt Disney responded by setting modest internal goals, assuring employees that he believed the company would recover through steady, determined action. His measured approach proved to foster resilience across the organization. Navigating rough seas In times of turbulence, the tems that will thrive are those who work cohesively, maintain an optimistic yet pragmatic outlook (acknowledging that big challenges may not have simple solutions, but can be conquered), and are trained to pivot rather than freeze when circumstances seem most dire. And, while we might wish for life to be easier and our objectives more readily attainable, we should also always remember that a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.
Category:
E-Commerce
After a two-year battle with regulators, a federal judge ruled in late December to block the merger of grocery behemoths Kroger and Albertsons. The deal fell apart after facing significant pushbackand a lawsuitfrom the Federal Trade Commission under the Biden administration, in part over concerns that unionized grocery workers would have less leverage to negotiate wage increases and respond to layoffs following a merger. Those concerns were not unfounded: The overwhelming majority of grocery workers (92%) are frontline staff in nonsupervisory positions, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statisticsand as industry leaders, Kroger and Albertsons employ 28% of grocery workers across the country. Hourly wages for all grocery workers have effectively stagnated for the past two decades, hovering just under $18 in 2024 when adjusted for inflation, and weekly earnings have actually dropped by 15%. A new report by the nonprofit organization Economic Roundtablewhich draws heavily on surveys of Kroger and Albertsons workers in California, Colorado, and Washington conducted by the United Food and Commercial Workers unionsuggests that understaffing at these grocery stores impacts many workers and exacerbates the industry-wide issue of depressed wages. For many grocery employees, chronic understaffing and being denied additional hours on the job without a meaningful increase in hourly pay makes it even more difficult to earn a living wage. The report’s authors argue that reduced staffing at grocery stores has affected the shopping experience for consumers, as workers struggle to keep shelves fully stocked and manage their workload. Three-quarters of workers surveyed by UFCW said they struggled to finish assigned tasks during shifts. Kroger itself reported 14.1% fewer labor hours per store in 2023 than in 2019. But the Economic Roundtables report estimates that Kroger decreased labor hours despite increased demand due to e-commerce sales, leading to a labor shortfall of 21% relative to 2019. At Albertsons, which the report found was already understaffed in 2019, the shortfall amounted to 13%. In a statement to Fast Company, a Kroger spokesperson said, We are committed to improving associates wages and benefits while keeping prices affordable for customers. We intentionally staff our stores to keep them running smoothly and creating an outstanding customer experience. Our decisions are data-driven to balance workload, schedules and customer service. Unrealistic demands by UFCW that do not reflect today’s competitive retail landscape will jeopardize the long-term sustainability of unionized businesses and advance non-union competitors. (Albertsons did not respond to a request for comment.) The rise of lower staffing levels alongside wage stagnation also measurably affects workers ability to manage their finances and cover basic expenses. In the UFCW surveys, many grocery workers report getting their hours cut or being denied additional hours by their employera trend that is also captured by BLS data, which indicates that average weekly hours logged by nonsupervisory workers have dropped 11% since 2003 to under 29 hours. Grocery workers are also more likely, on average, to be part-time employees relative to workers in other industries, with the share of workers being 58% greater. By and large, the workers surveyed believed their pay did not fairly compensate them for their workload and experience, and that they saw themselves as essential frontline workers but were not treated as such by their employers. Many of them reported struggling to afford monthly expenses like rent, with more than two-thirds of grocery workers claiming to not have secure housing. Only 16% of grocery workers said they made enough money to cover basic expenses. On average, annual pay for nonsupervisory grocery workers in the regions surveyed is just over $25,000and many such workers are eligible for Medicaid and other federal programs that help support low-income families. Over the past few decades, wage stagnationand the yawning gap between worker pay and executive compensationhas impacted rank-and-file employees across industries. Even so, many workers have actually seen a bump in pay: According to the Economic Roundtable report, weekly earnings have increased by 15% over the past 20 years for production and nonsupervisory workers in other industries. Grocery workers, however, have experienced the opposite, leading to a 50% gap in pay relative to workers in other industriesa shift that the report finds has also coincided with a notable decline in union membership across the grocery industry.
Category:
E-Commerce
Branded is a weekly column devoted to the intersection of marketing, business, design, and culture. Its the promotional event nobody asked for: You could call it Tariff Deal Days. From auto dealers to underwear brands, companies are cajoling consumers to buy now before tariffs jack up prices, cause shortages, or both. Despite constant uncertainty about how a U.S. versus everybody trade war might play out, the widespread consensus that prices will rise is translating into short-term marketing hook. Some brands have taken a blunt tone in messages to customers and on social media. Underwear maker MeUndies CEO criticized the tariffs with an expletive in an Instagram postbefore announcing a tariff-inspired discount code. Lingerie and swimsuit brand Bare Necessities touted a pre-tariff sale in a text to customers that was picked up by CNBC and others: We didnt know how to spell tariff last week, but we do know this: Up to 30% off is a good idea! Clothing brand Universal Standard emailed customers about a Mystery Box promotion offering deals on pieces already in its warehouses and thus un-tariffed. In an attention-getting message to shoppers, luggage brand BÉIS conceded price increases were likely on the way even though weve considered everything from company-wide ramen diets to asking our CEO to start an OnlyFans. The message: Buy now! While these Tariff Deal Days campaigns have been piling up lately, moves toward converting the looming tariff threat into a sales call to action were bubbling up even before the Trump administrations Liberation Day announcement of its sweeping tariff regime on April 2. At least one Subaru dealer began promoting pre-tariff savingsbasically estimating a tariffs potential future cost to shoppers and positioning it as discountin late March. Sticker company Stickerjunkie admitted it was as uncertain as everyone else about price hikes in a March Instagram post promoting a Pre-Tariff Sale of its own. Other brand responses have ranged from limited-time markdowns to more general encouragement to shop before theyre forced to raise prices. Partly this is about signaling transparency and a were-all-in-this-together vibe to consumers in a muddled and ominous retail environment. But its also about getting sales on the books: Smaller brands and businesses may be particularly motivated to get more cash on hand as soon as possible to buy time to rethink supply chains and otherwise weather whatever that trade battles turn into in the months ahead, and beyond. And many consumers seem to be in a similarly uncertain state thats left many open to deals. Theres an expectation that certain products are going to be expensive, so having a promotion today is very valuable, a KPMG analyst told NBC, citing a survey from the accounting firm finding roughly half of consumers are looking for pre-tariff deals. The flurry of pre-tariff branding moves comes on the heels of months of cautious watching and waiting by advertisers about whats going to happen, and how to communicate with customers about it. A few, including Chipotle and Rivian, are currently saying they wont raise prices. Others, such as Ford, are highlighting their best made-in-America stories. (About three-quarters of Ford vehicles are manufactured in the U.S., a fact thats now marketing gold, according to Adweek; that said, Ford has also announced trade-war-related price bumps for three of its models.) Still othersfrom Adidas to Walmart to Mattelare simply warning of likely price hikes; Black & Decker and Shein have started them. Many ad agencies expect ad budgets will be cut by up to 10% this year. Another notable strategy has come from discount online retailer Temu, which has begun breaking out and labeling the export feethat is, tariff coststhat is driving up its prices. Amazon reportedly considered a similar move before the Trump administration harshly criticized the idea. But consumers seem to want such informationnearly three-quarters of adults in one poll said they would be at least somewhat interested in seeing tariff impacts quantified. Maybe that thirst for clarity isnt surprising, given the marketplace chaos that seems likely headed our way this year. In fact, while pre-tariff branding events will presumably be fleeting, the most important thing brands may achieve with their openly tariff-centric marketing is a sense of openness and communication with consumers. A protracted trade war will mean escalating rhetoric and frustrating uncertainties, and for better or worse brands will have to figure out the best way to be part of that conversation.
Category:
E-Commerce
An irony of mainstream corporate sustainability efforts is that they focus significantly on the power of consumption. H&M promotes its Conscious Collection that uses organic cotton or recycled polyester. Samsung’s Galaxy for the Planet showcases its use of recycled plastics in its devices and sustainable packaging. When companies advertise their products as sustainable, consumers frequently assume they can buy new items more frequently, making such moves paradoxically self-defeating. But these marketing ploys typically only focus on a selective element of a products impact. The problem is that while each individual product may have less of an impact than what came before it, the increase in overall consumption mitigates any environmental savings, and so inherently perpetuates the cycle of consumption thats a root cause of todays environmental problems. Over the last half century and more, the environmental movement has gradually morphed into a consumer movement, with corporate messaging expertly shifting responsibility from systemic change to individual purchasing decisions. Weve been led to believe that the solution to environmental catastrophe lies in meticulously examining product labels for terms like organic, sustainably produced, green, and other buzzwords often coined by corporations themselves. Millennials and Gen Z are portrayed as eco-conscious generations that will correct the poor environmental decisions of their parents. But while many initiatives today tick corporate sustainability boxes and make individuals feel like their purchases are righteous, they fail to address the deeper systemic challenge: as long as companies prioritize endless growth, they will continue to push more consumptionand no amount of green products can offset that. We need to come to grips with the fact that consumption isand will always beexceedingly hard to constrain, especially when companies are spending over $1 trillion a year to convince us to buy more. Any sustainability effort that relies solely on the purchase of more responsible goods will fail. This challenge has only intensified in the current political landscape. Since returning to office, President Trump and his administration have relaxed standards for fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions for vehicles, and claimed that more drilling would bring down energy bills. Furthermore, the Department of Energy announced plans to pause efficiency standards for seven categories of appliances, while the Environmental Protection Agency began overhauling the WaterSense label program to prioritize effectiveness and consumer experience over efficiency. These policy shifts effectively prioritize short-term economic growth and resource extraction over environmental stewardship, and they create a regulatory landscape that rewards consumption rather than conservation and regeneration. Given this, what can companies do to address the fundamental paradox of sustainable consumption? Creating sustainable consumption opportunities starts before the purchase A first step for companies interested in consumption being sustainable is to ensure that their entire supply chains are built on sustainable and equitable principles. Reducing the footprint and environmental impact of products in this way is a much more robust path to sustainable consumption than todays focus on telling consumers to buy products with green attributes. For instance, beverage maker Guayakí Yerba Mate has developed a regenerative model that connects the dots between consumers purchasing its products and positive societal and environmental effects in its supply chains. Ben Mand, CEO of Guayakí, told me that his company works in the Atlantic Forest communities in South America where yerba mate leaves from a tree in the holly family are grown. They work with smallholder producers to implement high environmental and social standards, and then ensure that the economic benefits of their work flow directly into the communities rather than being captured by intermediaries. In other words, if companies can ensure their production and distribution create an overall positive benefit, the environmental problems that stem from the eventual consumption of their products are significantly reduced. It may seem easy to dismiss strategies like these because theyre done by a company in a niche category. But Ive observed similar practices being scaled in many other prominent multinational firms across industries around the globe. For instance, leading global coffee maker Illycaff created a regenerative coffee production system, focused on enhancing biodiversity, improving soil health, and fostering resilient farming communities. Illycaff collaborates directly with coffee farmers in South America and Africa to support agro-ecological practices that not only boost crop yields but also protect ecosystems. This approach ensures the long-term viability of coffee cultivationa crop under significant environmental threatwhile promoting fair trade and social equity. Thus, one way to mitigate the paradox of consumption is by starting with materials and supply chains and fostering a model where each purchase directly delivers social and environmental benefits to the communities producing the raw materials. The difference between H&M and Samsung versus Guayakí and Illycaff is subtle but important. H&M and Samsung spotlight isolated green featureslike recycled materialsto market select products. Guayakí and Illycaff, by contrast, embed sustainability throughout their supply chains, prioritizing the overall impact of their businesses rather than promoting individual eco-friendly attributes. Helping consumers understand the extended life cycles of products Moving up the value chain also highlights the importance of the design of production systems. Ikea, the worlds largest furniture retailer with more than 480 stores across 63 markets, offers another example of how a global corporation can fundamentally reimagine its relationship with consumption. In an industry where Americans discard more than 12 million tons of furniture annually, Ikea is working to break the take-make-dispose cycle that has defined furniture retail. As Mardi Ditze, country sustainability manager for Ikea U.S., explained to me, a key initiative is the Buy Back & Resell program, launched in 2022, which allows customers to return an Ikea product they no longer want and then receive credits worth between 30% and 50% of the original price. Depending on the condition, items are either resold, refurbished, or recycled. This program is now operational in most U.S. stores and accepts nearly 3,000 products for resale. Each returned item undergoes a detailed evaluation process, prioritizing resale through their As-is section, with recycling as a last resort. Hege Sbjrnsen, Ikeas sustainability manager for the U.K. and Ireland, said the plan would help to promote Ikeas progress toward achieving its fully circular and climate positive goals by 2030. In addition, Ikea has introduced the Ikea Preowned platform, which facilitates peer-to-peer sales of secondhand furniture. The program is currently being tested in Madrid and Oslo, with potential global expansion. The Swedish retailer already resells some 47 million products worldwide. Companies like Patagonia and Eileen Fisher are also challenging throwaway culture by designing programs that extend product life cycles and reduce waste. Patagonias Worn Wear initiative repairs and resells used gearmore than 130,000 items in 2024 alonethereby encouraging shared responsibility between brand and customer. Eileen Fishers take-back program has reclaimed more than two million garments, transforming them into resale items, new clothing, or other goods, and built dedicated facilities to support this near-zero-waste model. Both companies demonstrate how brands can work to reshape purchasing habits and production systems to prioritize sustainability. Conclusion Theres no denying that people will want to keep buying new products. We must therefore move beyond current paradigms that place the onus on consumers to drive sustainability. If we are to achieve legitimate sustainable consumption, businesses must redesign their value chains from the ground up and embed environmental and social responsibility into every decision from design, sourcing, and production to also how they communicate with consumers. Since returning to office, the Trump administration has systematically dismantled environmental protections that could have incentivized more sustainable business practices. But the examples of Guayakí, Illy, Ikea, Patagonia, and Eileen Fisher point toward an alternative paradigmone where consumption isnt positioned as the solution to our environmental crisis, but rather as one element in a broader economic system designed primarily to serve people and planet.
Category:
E-Commerce
When Christopher Pelkey was killed in a road rage incident in Arizona, his family was left not only to grieve but also to navigate how to represent him in court. As they prepared to confront his killer, Gabriel Horcasitas, during sentencing, they made an unusual and deeply controversial choice: to have Pelkey appear to speak from beyond the grave. To do so, they turned to technology: An AI-generated video featuring a re-created voice and likeness of Pelkey was presented as a victim impact statement ahead of sentencing. The video showed a digitally resurrected Pelkey appearing to speak directly to the judge. Of course, the statement wasnt truly Pelkeys. He couldnt have possibly said those wordshe died the day Horcasitas shot him. Yet the judge accepted the AI-generated message, even acknowledging its effect. You allowed Chris to speak from his heart as you saw it, the judge said. Horcasitas was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison. The extraordinary courtroom moment has sparked widespread discussion, not just for its emotional power but for the precedent it may set. Arizona’s victims rights laws allow the families of deceased victims to determine how their impact statements are delivered. But legal and AI experts warn that this precedent is far from harmless. “I have sympathy for the family members who constructed the video,” says Eerke Boiten, a professor at De Montfort University in the U.K. specializing in AI. “Knowing Pelkey, they likely had a preconceived view of how he might have felt, and AI gave them a way of putting that across that many found attractive and convincing.” Still, Boiten is uneasy about how the video has been interpreted by both the public and possibly the court. The video should be read as a statement of opinion from the family members, with AI providing a convincing presentation of that, he explains. Yet public reaction suggests it was taken as something more. The reactions show that it was taken as an almost factual contribution from Pelkey instead, Boiten says. The victims’ rights attorney who represented Pelkeys family told 404 Media that at no point did anyone try to pass it off as Chriss own words. Yet the emotionally charged format of presenting a deepfaked version of the deceased gives those words far more weight than if they had simply been read aloud. And its worth emphasizing: Pelkey could never have written them himself. Its an inappropriate use of AI which has no relevance and should have no role at sentencing, says Julian Roberts, emeritus professor of criminology at the University of Oxford and executive director of the Sentencing Academy. Data protection specialist Jon Baines of the firm Mishcon de Reya adds that the incident is profoundly troubling from an ethical standpoint. Roberts argues that using an AI-generated likeness of a victim oversteps the purpose of a victim impact statement. The victim statement should inform the court about the impact of the crime on the victim and advise of any possible impact of the imposition of a community order, et cetera, he says. It is not an exercise in memorializing the victim. In his view, thats exactly what the Pelkey video did. Roberts also criticized the content of the statement itself: The statement should contain information, not opinion or inventionhuman or AI-derived. Still, a precedent has now been setat least in Arizona. One that blurs the line between mourning and manipulation. One that allows people to speak from beyond the graveand could, in the future, influence the length of prison sentences in ways that justice systems may not yet be prepared to handle.
Category:
E-Commerce
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