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Before he lost his job in a mass firing by the Trump administration last Friday, Nate Vince was the only locksmith for the hundreds of buildings and millions of visitors at Yosemite National Park. “Imagine a city-size place with one locksmith to all those people,” Vince says. “When there’s a car accident and an emergency medical person can’t get into a vehicle, or can’t get into their supplies they need, they would call me.” Now, with the nearest cities hours away, there’s no one who can easily do the same work. He says a coworker who was also fired was the park’s only HVAC technician, handling heating and cooling for every building in the park. At a nearby national monument, he says a friend who was a park ranger was fired despite the fact that he was that park’s only EMTa first responder who has saved lives. This is flat-out reckless, the park ranger, Alex Wild, wrote on Instagram after the elimination of his job. Wild had always had good performance reviews. But like other workers who were fired, he got a form email saying that he had failed to demonstrate fitness or qualifications for continued employment. A National Park Service employee is seen as photographers flock to take photos of Firefall at Horsetail Fall in Yosemite National Park, California, United States on February 19, 2025. [Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu/Getty Images] Rethink your vacation plans In Southern California, a worker at a national forest who was fired said that part of their job involved preventing wildfires. “My crew is responsible for so much prevention and post-wildfire cleanup, and at this point its almost a guarantee that this forest will have some sort of major wildfire, as it has for the last few years,” the former employee said off the record. Across the country, around 1,000 National Park Service employees were fired on February 14, from staff who run ticket booths to janitors. Another 3,400 workers were fired from the Forest Service. Hundreds of other employees chose to accept the government’s (likely illegal, and unfunded) offer to resign from their job and still get paid for months. The net effect: If youre planning a vacation to a national park or public lands this spring or summer, the experience might be very different than it was in the past. Bathrooms might be closed or overflowing with trash because there arent enough workers to clean them. Trails might fall into disrepair. Some smaller parks may have to shut down entirely. And ecosystems are likely to suffer. Visitors are already seeing changes now. Last weekend, if you tried to go Franklin Falls, part of a national forest in Washington, you would have seen a barricade on the road and a sign saying that the trailhead was closed due to the large-scale termination of Forest Service employees. If you tried to visit the Grand Canyon, you would have waited twice as long as usual at the entrance. Cuts on top of cuts The cuts compound challenges that parks had after years of inadequate funding. Our parks were already stretched thin, says John Gardner, senior director on budget and appropriations at the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association. Since 2010, he says, staffing in national parks has dropped by 20%, while the number of visitors grew by an average of 16%. (The situation is worse in some parks, like Zion, which has twice as many visitors no additional staff.) Now, Gardner says, there are positions across the boardfrom maintenance to resource care to interpretation that have been lost. And that threatens the protection of cultural and natural resources as well as the visiting experience. Work behind the scenes to manage forests and other ecosystems will suffer. Were not the people you see out on the trails leading walks, but were the reason that the resources are there for visitors to enjoy, says Angela Moxley, a botanist who was just fired from her job restoring habitats and studying endangered species at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia, and who says she is speaking on behalf of herself, not representing the of the park or the Park Service. One of the things I still cant wrap my head around is that I just had to walk away from all of these projects I was working on,” she says. “There was no time to make any sort of plans to hand over the work or discuss any of it. And there aren’t going to be enough people left anyway to take over the project, anyway.” In November and December, for example, she sowed seeds into wetlands, and had planned to go out next month to see which plants had germinated and determine the next steps to take. “Now I’ll never know,” she says. Like other workers who were fired on Valentine’s Day, she was in a probationary periodshe had been in her current role for just under a year, meaning that she didn’t have the same job protections as staff with more tenure. She also got the same email as others, blaming her performance for the firing, despite excellent performance reviews. When Trump took office in January, seasonal Park Service employees also had their job offers rescinded. After pressure, the Department of the Interior said last week that it would reinstate 5,000 of those employees. But Gardner says that its an open question how quickly those positions can be filled now; some workers have moved on, and others will question whether they really want the jobs. I think youre going to see a lot of people wary of applying, and theyre going to consider other opportunities, says Gerry Seavo James, a deputy campaign director at the Sierra Club. At some parks where the number of visitors peaks in the spring, onboarding for seasonal visitors typically would have started now. The delays mean that parks likely could be critically understaffed.
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The most important leadership strategies are often the ones you dont see. The quiet, behind-the-scenes work that truly drives success might not make the headlines, but it makes all the difference. We spoke to 10 experienced leaders who opened up about the practical, everyday practices they use to transform team dynamics and boost business outcomes. From creating space for honest conversations to fine-tuning how work gets done, these insights show that small, thoughtful changes can have a big impact. Create space for vulnerability and open dialog One of the most impactful but often invisible aspects of leadership is creating space for vulnerability and open dialog within the team. As leaders, we’re often expected to be solutions-oriented, decisive, and forward-focused. While these traits are critical, the behind-the-scenes work of fostering trust and ensuring everyone feels heard is just as vital, though it rarely makes the highlight reel. A real-life example comes from my time leading marketing at a private company. The team was incredibly talented but stretched thin as we took on a large-scale branding initiative. It was clear that the surface-level team updates weren’t addressing the underlying stress and misalignment. So, I introduced a weekly stand up meeting. It was a simple concept: every team member anonymously submitted one thing they felt was working well and one thing causing frustration. The key wasn’t just collecting feedback, it was addressing it transparently. Each week, I’d share a summary of the submissions and collaborate with the team to find actionable solutions. This process wasn’t glamorous, and it required consistency and vulnerability. I had to acknowledge blind spots, accept critique, and, sometimes, admit we didn’t have an immediate fix. Also, that it would take all of us to solve. Over time, this practice reshaped our team dynamics. People felt safe to speak up and trust grew stronger. Productivity soared because the hidden obstacles were brought to light and resolved. The importance of this kind of invisible work lies in the ripple effect. When team members feel heard and supported, they don’t just work harder, they work smarter and with greater collaboration. Leadership isn’t always about big wins or public recognition; it’s about the small, consistent actions that cultivate an environment where people can thrive. That effort to foster a culture of trust continues to influence how I lead today with clients. It’s the foundation for building stronger teams, which is ultimately the backbone of any organization’s success. Renae Scott, founder and CEO, Bee Collaborative LLC Revise and adjust treatment plans As a leader in physical therapy and sports medicine, I consider one of the most vital back-office tasks to be the careful revising and adjusting of treatment plans for each specific patient. Often, this requires staying late to evaluate patient progress based on data accumulation, researching new techniques, and communicating with other professionals so that the provided care is not only effective but also at the forefront of the latest developments in the field. This may not always be work that’s directly visible to my team, but it does set the bar for the quality of care we provide. By doing so, I model for them what thoroughness and continuous learning look like; this has cultivated a culture of dedication and excellence in the team. Over time, this invisible effort has engendered trust, inspired others to go the extra mile, and strengthened our collective commitment to the success of our patients. Amir Majidi, physiotherapist, CEO Sports Medicine Clinic, Push Pounds Review team workloads weekly I’ve learned that one of the most crucial behind-the-scenes tasks is something surprisingly simple: I spend two hours every Sunday reviewing each team member’s workload for the upcoming week. This habit started after I noticed our best analyst getting burned out from uneven task distribution. Looking deeper, I found that different client projects had similar deadlines, creating hidden pressure points nobody could see from their individual view. The impact of this weekly review surprised me. By redistributing work and adjusting timelines before the week started, our team’s stress levels dropped significantly. Our internal surveys showed a 20% decrease in reported overtime hours, and our project completion rate improved. One specific win stands out the most. Last month, I spotted three major reports due on the same day for different clients. By shifting one deadline earlier and one later, our team delivered higher quality work on all three projects. This invisible work of load balancing might not always show up in metrics directly, but it’s transformed how smoothly our projects flow. Vukasin Ilic, SEO consultant and CEO, Linkter Observe and shape communication styles As a 25-year veteran behavior analyst and subject matter expert in neurodiversity, it’s part of my involuntary operating system that I am constantly observing and shaping communication styles to elicit the best thinking in my team. Understanding that context and lived experience has shaped individual preferences and communication styles helps reduce friction and problem solve faster than continually trying to force all individuals into one communication style. For example, individuals from the boomer generation often tend to prefer a quick phone call to discuss a matter rather than texting or email, whereas individuals from Gen X and younger tend to prefer quick written communication. I think this may be in part due to the education and training of older generations to have a far more formal written style. Also, as a female leader of an all male team I am acutely aware of communication differences between genders. I use humor to point out disparities to a group of individuals who obviously are open to such feedback by way of joining a queer, female CEO in a company called NonBinary Solutions. Modeling authenticity invites others to be authentic and understanding that different individuals have different communication styles fosters trust in an organization. Allowing all individuals to be authentically themselves invites collaboration, innovation, and builds psychological safety. And you can still create healthy boundaries and call out bias when you see it to foster growth. It’s not binary. By acknowledging that each team member thinks differently, we create space to appreciate creative collaboration to problem-solving. Things are not black and whitesolutions often live in the gray. Amanda Ralston, founder and CEO, NonBinary Solutions Develop and maintain emotional regulation/h2> One critical piece of behind-the-scenes work I prioritize as a leader is developing and maintaining my emotional regulation. Leadership can be demanding, and in a world that often feels increasingly chaotic, I recognize that how I manage my emotions has a profound ripple effect on the people I serve. Each day, I carve out at least 30 minutes for practices that help me stay centered. Meditation and affirmations are a staple of this routine. These practices allow me to connect deeply with my inner self, align my thoughts with my values, and set a positive tone for the day. Breathwork has also become an invaluable tool for me. It’s a simple yet profound way to regulate my nervous system, helping me stay calm and focused, especially when I’m navigating high-stress situations. I’ve recently been learning HeartMath’s approach to building heart-brain coherence. This practice is about harmonizing my emotions and thoughts to strengthen emotional resilience and promote a sense of calm clarity. It not only enhances my ability to respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively but also fosters a deep sense of emotional balance. This work is invisible to others, but its importance cannot be overstated. By showing up grounded, I create a sense of safety and stability for my community. When people know they’re interacting with someone who listens deeply, responds thoughtfully, and doesn’t let external chaos dictate their energy, it encourages trust and openness. This emotional consistency allows for more authentic communication and collaboration, which are the cornerstones of healthy relationships and effective leadership. The people I serve feel empowered to bring their whole selves to the table because they see it modeled in me. It has also fostered a culture of calm confidence within my community. By prioritizing my emotional regulation, I not only strengthen my ability to lead but also inspire others to embrace their own emotional resilience. This, in turn, equips them to navigate challenges with greater clarity, courage, and composure. The unseen work of emotional regulation may never make headlines, but it’s the steady undercurrent that allows me to lead with intention and more grace, even amidst the most challenging times. This commitment to grounding myself daily ensures I can show up as the leader my community deserves. Natalie Jobity, leadership elevation strategist, keynote speaker, best-selling author, The Unveiled Way Design strategic icebreakers for meetings One simple example of my behind-the-scenes work as a leader is strategically designing the first five minutes of our team meetings to promote skill-building and relationship-building in the areas my team needs. I call them “strategic icebreakers.” While it may seem like a simple icebreaker, I carefully choose questions or activities that align with the challenges or goals the team will face in the near future. For instance, if collaboration with another department is upcoming, I’ll use a question like, “What’s one skill you admire in a colleague?” to foster a mindset of mutual respect. If the team is presenting at a conference, I might ask, “What’s a story in our industry that has inspired you recently?” to get them thinking about compelling narratives. When stress is high, we might start with a quick breathing exercise or, “What’s one thing you do to recharge during a busy week?” This invisible work matters because it sets the tone for the meeting and primes the team for the tasks ahead. It also consistently builds relationships and trust, even in virtual and hybrid environments. Over time, this intentional approach has positively impacted our team dynamics by fostering a sense of connection, purpose, and alignment that extends far beyond the icebreakers themselves. Bailey Parnell, founder and CEO, SkillsCamp Curate Personalized Growth Roadmaps One of the most unique and often unseen aspects of my leadership is curating personalized “growth roadmaps” for every team member. This isn’t just about job responsibilitiesit’s about understanding what drives each person, what they’re passionate about, and how they want to grow both professionally and personally. Some want more 1:1 meetings for guidance, others prefer fewer meetings to focus, some are looking for tips on growing their LinkedIn presence, while others need accountability partners to stay on track. By getting to the heart of what each individual needs, I can tailor my approach, offering support where it’s most needed. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach; it’s about aligning their role with their personal goals. This level of personalization is crucial because everyone on the team is motivated by different factors. By understanding what they need to succeed and feel fulfilled, I can provide the right kind of environment for them to thrive. Whether it’s a space to be creative, the opportunity for deeper mentorship, or the chance to grow their personal brand, this approach ensures that people feel empowered and engaged in what they do. For example, one team member wanted more frequent feedback and strategic input, so I set up regular 1:1s with them. Another person needed fewer meetings to stay in a creative flow, so I gave them more flexibility in their schedule. Some were eager to build their LinkedIn presence, so I offered tips and coaching, while others needed a push to stay accountable, so I paired them with accountability partners. AJ Eckstein, founder and CEO, Creator Match Foster cross-team communication and alignment One example of behind-the-scenes work I do is fostering cross-team communication and alignment. It’s not something that’s immediately visible, but it’s crucial for keeping everyone on the same page, especially as the organization grows. I spend a significant amount of time in one-on-one conversations with team leads, understanding their challenges, and finding ways to bridge gaps between departments. This work is important because miscommunication or misalignment can slow progress and create frustration among teams. By staying proactive, I ensure that everyone understands how their work contributes to the bigger picture and where they can support each other. The impact? It’s created a more collaborative environment where teams feel supported and empowered to work together. This invisible effort has strengthened our team dynamics, leading to faster problem-solving, smoother project execution, and a stronger sense of shared purpose. Yuying Deng, CEO, Esevel Reflect before making decisions One of the most impactful, yet often invisible, aspects of my role as a leader is the time I spend in quiet reflection before making decisions that affect our company. Whether it’s choosing a strategic direction or addressing operational challenges, I take a step back to evluate how these choices will impact every stakeholderour employees, vendors, clients, and the broader ecosystem of our business. This approach is deeply rooted in my military experience, where I learned that every decision has cascading effects on the mission, the team, and the larger operation. That same principle applies in business leadershipevery choice I make must be thoughtful and precise, with a clear understanding of how it will ripple through the organization. This intentional process requires me to disconnect and think deeply about long-term implications. While it might look like I’m “off the grid,” I’m actually mapping out how a single decision could affect every layer of the business. This ensures that when I communicate a decision with my team, I’m prepared to address follow-up questions and explain the rationale clearly. Not everyone sees the full picturethey may only focus on how a decision affects their specific role or department. By taking the time to consider how my choices impact everyone, I help align our team around a shared vision, reduce friction, and create a culture where people trust that their perspectives have been factored into the bigger picture. It’s invisible work, but it’s essential for fostering trust, cohesion, and long-term success within the company. Tabatha Turman, CEO, Integrated Finance and Accounting Solutions Embed values in every business aspect Much of the behind-the-scenes work I do revolves around ensuring our values are embedded in every aspect of the business. Sustainability isn’t just a marketing messageit’s a guiding principle that requires ongoing decisions around materials, supply chain processes, and product innovation. I dedicate significant time to conversations with suppliers, auditing production methods, and improving our B Corp scores to ensure we remain true to our mission of creating a more sustainable world. It’s not glamorous, but it’s vital to maintaining authenticity and building trust with our customers. Embedding values into the core of our business is crucial for three reasons: Building trust and reputation: Stakeholdersincluding customers, partners, and investorsengage more deeply with companies that consistently uphold their values, enhancing our integrity and reputation. Improving employee engagement and retention: A company that practices what it preaches fosters a positive work environment, reduces turnover, and attracts talent aligned with its mission. Enhancing customer loyalty: Authenticity and ethical principles resonate with customers, creating stronger emotional connections and driving long-term loyalty. A strong team culture is equally important. Investing in people ensures they feel valued and see a clear connection between their aspirations and the company’s success. This drives engagement and motivation, creating a ripple effect of positivity and collaboration. This approach has fostered a culture of trust, psychological safety, and empowerment, allowing team members to bring their authentic selves to work and take ownership of their roles. It strengthens our resilience in high-pressure situations and deepens the sense of community that fuels collaboration and innovation. Phoebe Yu, founder and CEO, ettitude
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Welcome to AI Decoded, Fast Companys weekly newsletter that breaks down the most important news in the world of AI. You can sign up to receive this newsletter every week here. Inside the new Grok 3 model In just two years, Elon Musks xAI has become one of a dozen or so labs capable of developing state-of-the-art AI models. Now xAI is out with its Grok 3 large language model, which beats state-of-the-art frontier models, such as OpenAIs GPT-4o and DeepSeeks V3, in common mathematics, science, and coding benchmarks by a wide margin. Meanwhile, the smaller Grok 3-mini performs at par with the larger competing models. The new Grok model reportedly was trained using unprecedented computing powerfirst with a cluster of 100,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs. A small group of rival developers have been testing an early version of Grok 3, and most say theyre impressed, with some caveats. OpenAI cofounder Andrej Karpathy posted on X that Grok 3 exhibited sharp reasoning skills and was able to resolve some complex problems. He estimates that the model is on par with OpenAIs o1-Pro reasoning model and slightly better than DeepSeek-R1 and Googles Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking. However, he did find that Grok 3 choked on some prompts commonly known to give large transformer models trouble, such as determining how many Ls are in Lollapalooza, for example. Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang posted on X that Grok 3 is a state-of-the-art model and gives it props for achieving the top spot on the Chatbot Arena benchmark. Whereas AI skeptic Gary Marcus, who also posted on X, said that while Grok 3 shows real progress, it doesnt represent a significant leap beyond existing models. More benchmark test scores will surface in the coming days and weeks to provide a fuller picture of how Grok 3 stacks up against the competition. Impressive as that is, the development of new thinking models is now moving so fast that Grok 3 could disappear back into the pack of benchmark performers three months from now. AI labs are only now learning how to scale up the computing power that thinking models use after being presented with a problem. Upcoming models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek, and others will show the fruits of that research. Brookings: The AI revolutions winners and losers wont be who or where youd think A new Brookings Institution analysis of AIs effects on jobs and job losses suggests highly educated urban workers will be most at risk of losing their jobs. The last industrial revolution mainly affected lower-wage manufacturing and service jobs in smaller towns and rural areas. This time around, itll be knowledge workers in tech hubs and financial centers who will face the greatest exposure to AI-driven change. In San Jose’s Santa Clara County, Brookings found that nearly 43% of workers could see half or more of their tasks transformed by AI tools including OpenAIs ChatGPT and Anthropics Claude. Meanwhile, workers in less tech-oriented regions like Las Vegas would see less than a third of their tasks altered by AI tools. This pattern holds true across the nation, with major disparities even within states: California’s exposure rates range from 42.8% in tech-heavy Santa Clara County to just 26.7% in rural Mono County. Its not so surprising when one looks at the technology itself, according to Brookingss report. Factory-floor machinery was meant to replace repetitive physical tasks, while generative AI specializes in cognitive work: writing, analysis, coding, and other knowledge-based tasks. The more education and higher wages a job requires, the more likely it is to be touched by AI capabilities. Brookings, a D.C.-based policy think tank, says lawmakers should be thinking about ways of protecting the jobs of urban-knowledge workers, and reskilling them, while ensuring that rural areas aren’t left behind in accessing AI’s productivity benefits. The geography of technological disruption has been rewritten, the think tank says, and the implications for workforce development and economic inequality are only just beginning to emerge. Ex-OpenAI Mira Murati unveils AI startup, but its focus remains vague Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati has unveiled her new AI company, Thinking Machines Lab. While the product the startup intends to build remains unclear, Murati apparently intends to build AI in a very different way than her former companyout in the open. The AI research community used to be a fairly chatty place, but the research breakthroughs that led to ChatGPT soon attracted a lot of moneyand with big money comes more secrecy. So, while companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic closely guard their training methods, Murati said in a blog post that Thinking Machines will regularly publish its technical insights, research papers, and code. If DeepSeek is any guide (it open-sourced its models and published its research methods), this practice could intensify the race toward the industrys goal of creating artificial general intelligence (that is, AI thats generally smarter than humans). Muratis blog post also expresses an intent to create models that can be more easily steered toward specific applications in specific subject areas. AI systems remain difficult for people to customize to their specific needs and values, Murati wrote. She said her company will build systems that are more widely understood, customizable, and generally capable. The Information reports that more than two-thirds of the researchers at Muratis company come from OpenAI, including OpenAI cofounder John Schulman and former head of safety Lilian Weng. The startup intends to build systems that assist humans, not replace them. Instead of focusing solely on making fully autonomous AI systems, we are excited to build multimodal systems that work with people collaboratively, Murati wrote. We see enormous potential for AI to help in every field of work. Beyond that, little is known about what Thinking Machines Lab will build. Based on Muratis background and statements, it seems likely that the company will focus on very large foundation models that can be trained or adapted to many different specialized tasks. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that another OpenAI alum, cofounder Ilya Sutskever, is in talks to raise more than $1 billion in funding in a round that could value his AI startup, Safe Superintelligence, at more than $30 billion. More AI coverage from Fast Company:
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