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For decades, MBA programs, leadership trainings, and consultancies have told us that effective leaders share a set of essential competencies. You know the lists: empathy, strategic vision, humility, charisma, psychological safety, communication skills. These ideas get repeated in boardrooms and promised in executive education programs. But if these competencies were truly essential, then the leaders we most admire should have them. The truth is, they often dont. This never made sense to me. In addition to my writing and research, Ive spent the past 15 years running a secret dining experience called the Influencers Dinner. Weve hosted close to 4,000 Olympians, Nobel laureates, executives, astronauts, Grammy-winning artists, Oscar-winning directors, and even the occasional prime minister or princess. And what became clear, sitting across the table from these leaders, is that while all of them were wildly effective, there was no commonality in their skills. Some were quiet, others loud. Some thrived on collaboration, others preferred making decisions on their own. Yet each led organizations, movements, or creative projects that shaped the world. Look at the most impactful leaders you know and you see the same thing. Elon Musk is not known for humility or building consensus. Steve Jobs was not exactly famous for psychological safety. Yet both are considered among the most effective leaders of our time. So what explains it? The Psychology of Following: The Future Effect The only thing that defines a leader is that they have followers. And people follow for one main reason: We dont relate to the present, we relate to the future we believe we have. Think back to high school. On Friday afternoons at 1 p.m., we were still stuck in class, but felt excited because the weekend was ahead. On Sunday nights at 6 p.m., we were free, but anxious, already anticipating Monday. The difference wasnt the present, it was the future we expected. The way we feel about now depends on what we think tomorrow will look like. This is exactly how we respond to leaders. When we interact with someone who makes us feel theres a better future ahead, we follow them. We dont need to like them. We can even dislike them. But if they make us believe tomorrow will be better, well follow and often forgive their flaws. So if you want people to follow you, ask yourself: How do they feel about the future when they interact with you? The Myth of Vision and Charisma Ask people why they follow leaders and youll often hear vision and charisma. But most leaders dont have both. Many dont have either. What they do have are a few super skills that are disproportionately strong. These super skills are so powerful that they convince people the future will be different and better. Heres the point: dont waste time trying to fit some generic leadership model. Instead, figure out the one or two strengths that make people feel optimistic about the future when they deal with you, and then lean into those. Its not about being good at everything. Its about being exceptional at something that makes others believe tomorrow will be better. The Catch: Leadership Effectiveness But heres the problem. Getting people to follow doesnt mean youll succeed. Crowds can follow someone straight into failure. You can gather a crew for the heist without knowing how to get away with it. Leadership explains why people gather. It doesnt explain whether they succeed. For success, we need something else. Enter Team Intelligence If leadership gets the crew together, team intelligence determines whether they actually pull off the job. Team intelligence is not about IQ, degrees, or resumes. Its about the habits and skills that make groups smarter and more effective together than they could ever be alone. IQ turns out to be a poor predictor of group success. Studies of basketball teams, for example, show that it isnt the players with the highest salaries or raw talent who decide the outcome. Its the quality of the coach. The coach aligns reasoning, manages attention, and makes sure resources are used well. Similarly, research shows that team intelligence has more to do with collaboration and communication than with the average IQ of team members. There are three pillars that determine whether a team thrives or fails: Reasoning: aligning on clear goals and purpose so debates lead to better solutions rather than power struggles. Attention: managing focus and communication so people feel safe enough to share ideas and challenge assumptions. Resources: surfacing hidden skills and networks within the team and making sure the right expertise is available at the right time. Implications for Leaders Across Sectors For leaders in business, government, education, or nonprofits, the lesson is simple: Stop chasing the illusion of being well-rounded. Instead, recognize your super skill, the thing that makes people feel tomorrow will be better. Then focus on cultivating team intelligence. When reasoning, attention, and resources are in place, your team doesnt just follow. They actually succeed. Conclusion: The New and Better Future Leadership is not about checking boxes on a competency model. Its about making people feel theres a new and better future. Thats why people follow. But whether that following leads to real results depends on team intelligence. The challenge for leaders today is not to be more well-rounded, but to be more intentional. Lean into the super skills that inspire followership, and build the reasoning, attention, and resources that make teams effective. Thats how a vision becomes reality, and how a better future becomes possible.
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E-Commerce
Microsoft just redesigned all of its Office icons to embrace the AI era, and, according to the company, that means ditching solid shapes for all things fluid and vibrant. The 12 new icons, which began rolling out on October 1, encompass all of Microsoft’s platforms from Outlook to Word Documents and Teams. This is the first time that Microsoft has updated the icons aesthetics in seven years, and the companys designers have reworked every logo to be curvier, brighter, and more colorful. Today, as we roll out refreshed icons for Microsoft 365 apps, small but significant design changes are a reflection and a signal, a Microsoft blog post, published on October 1, reads. As a reflection, they encapsulate how AI is shifting the discipline of design and the nature of product development. Microsofts new icons are reflective of a broader trend in the tech world. Now that AI is ushering in the next major era of the industry, its biggest players are trying to figure out exactly how these expanded capabilities should be reflected in their branding. So far, one trend is clear: AI is becoming visually synonymous with a colorful gradient. [Image: Microsoft] Why Microsoft just redesigned its icons Microsoft, like many of its competitors, was a victim of the 2010s blanding trend, when companies across a variety of sectors were scrambling to trade their serif wordmarks for sans-serif and ditching 3D logos for ulta-simple 2D shapes. For tech companies, blanding and flat logo design was especially rampant, as simplified branding made it easier to design for different devices and apps (Google was arguably one of the first tech companies to go bland back in 2013). Microsofts last icon redesign effort was in 2018, when it adopted ultra-flattened versions of its 10 Office app logos. Per the recent blog post, those designs were intended to offer a connected look across platforms and devices in the early days of apps that composed together and truly collaborative experiences. Now, the post continues, workflows have undergone a major change thanks to AI: collaboration is no longer just human-to-human, but also human-to-AI. A timeline of Microsofts icon progression. [Image: Microsoft] With that paradigm shift come significant changes to the UX discipline itself and how we approach product making, the post continues. It explains that, while longer cycles of development used to be followed with a reveal of big changes, AI models are allowing UX developers to make changes in continuous waves. Research shows changes to iconography are almost always received as a signal for product changes and in an era of ongoing, smaller shifts, the icons should reflect that. [Image: Microsoft] The flat logo is out. Say hello to the gradient logo Microsofts answer to that challenge has been to bring a tiny bit of life back into its icons. A broader color palette has allowed the company to give icons like the Outlook envelope, PowerPoint bubble, and Teams people more visual depth. Any sharp shapes and crisp lines have also been swapped with curved ones. Weve modernized Microsoft 365 icons to feel alive and approachablesoft curves, smooth folds, and dynamic motion that reflect Copilots brand,” says Gareth Oystryk, Microsoft 365’s senior director of consumer marketing. Perhaps most noticeably, Microsoft has implemented a gradient color palette across almost every icon. Words flat blue hues are now blue, navy, and purple; PowerPoints orange is accented with pink and red; and Excels green includes a hint of yellow. [Image: Microsoft] Where gradients were once subtle, theyre now richer and more vibrant, featuring exaggerated analogous transitions that improve contrast and accessibility, the post reads. This shift makes the icons feel brighter, punchier, and more dynamic. Gradients have long been a motif of choice for tech companies (see Instagram and Apple Music), but, more recently, theyve become analogous with AI for companies that choose not to go the Open AI black void route. Microsofts own Copilot has embraced a gradient logo, alongside others including Apple Intelligence, Google Gemini, and Meta AI. Google recently reworked its iconic G to feature a gradient across all platforms, noting at the time that the move visually reflects our evolution in the AI era. This embrace of gradients is, to some extent, Big Techs safest answer to visualizing something as amorphous as AI. But it may also be evidence that the tech design pendulum is swinging away from blanding and back toward an earlier era of playful color and skeuomorphic icons. If flat logos were the hallmark of the digital era, its possible that gradient logos are becoming the symbol of the AI age.
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E-Commerce
Office dress code has been trending more casual for years, and the pandemic helped turn athleisure and sweatpants into business casual. And now, there’s a growing debate around one practice long thought to be standard for anyone wishing to look presentable and professional: ironing. In fact, many people on social media are saying they never iron anythingwhether its work clothes or otherwise. For science, how many of you still own an ironthe one for taking wrinkles out of clothingAND know how to use it? one Threads user recently asked. Its a sentiment others have shared online from TikTok to Facebook. Naturally, the replies were divided. I use mine weekly and I can’t imagine how anyone can look as though they haven’t just rolled out of bed without one, one user replied. Do I own an iron? Yes. Do I know how to use it? Also yes, replied another. Have I used it at any time in the past 7 years? Hard no. While it might be tempting to put the decline in ironing down the generational differences. Growing up during COVID with remote learning on Zoom from home for years, Gen Z has struggled with navigating dressier attire. But the reality is more complex. Just a few years ago, after all, headlines constantly churned about how millennials killed everything from napkins to mayonnaise, homeownership, and middle management. It is true, roughly 30% of 18- to 34-year-olds dont own an iron and have never even touched one before, according to reports. Yet, the debate to iron or not to iron transcends generational dividesin some cases, uniting generations over a common cause. A screenshot on Reddit reads: One main thing millennials can be proud of is that we collectively banished ironing clothes. Responding to the post, one reply read: Im GenX. I refuse to wear clothes that require high maintenance or ironing. Another wrote: Gen Z here (26) similar with me, I know how to iron but I very rarely do it cus I mostly dont have too. Modern easy-care fabrics, the invention of handheld steamers and wrinkle release spray, as well as shifting work culture that encourage less formal dressing, have turned a once essential appliance into a relic of a bygone era for some. As one response to a viral post by The Imperfect Mum read: “My mum once said she doesn’t remember the ’80s because she spent the entire decade ironing.” The rise of dual-career households means many simply dont have the time, or the desire, to stand at the ironing board for hours on a Sunday ironing socks for the week ahead. This iron avoidance has led to the development of a number of ingenious coping mechanisms: Dark colors and synthetic fabrics hide wrinkles better. Dryers, or hair straighteners, can stand in for irons in a crunch. Leaving the house in slightly rumpled outfits is no longer the fashion faux pas it used to be. (Besides, the creases will probably relax by the time you get to where you need to be.) Still, there remain those who point blank refuse to leave the house in a wrinkled shirt, diligently hauling out the ironing board on the daily. And truly? Nothing says you have your life together quite like a crisp, crease-free shirt.
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E-Commerce
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