Q3 2025 Insights

This past quarter, generative AI accelerated its integration into business and society. Companies moved from pilots to enterprise-wide adoption, regulators began stepping up oversight and the workforce experienced rapid disruption. Those shifts were mirrored in the media: the tone moved from wide-eyed optimism to pragmatic consideration, so while coverage volume remained high, it increasingly scrutinized how AI should be used rather than if it should be used. These shifts underscore the need for leaders to:

This report outlines five key takeaways for executives and three signals to watch heading into Q4 2025, supported by practical recommendations.

Leadership must be prepared to change

Picture this: A seasoned Fortune 500 CEO sits across from their board, confidently presenting a five-year strategic plan built on decades of operational expertise and financial acumen.

The projections are precise, the market analysis thorough, and the execution timeline methodical.

Six months later, an AI system produces the same analysis in six minutes—with greater accuracy and deeper insights than the executive team spent months developing.

This isn’t a hypothetical scenario. It’s happening right now in boardrooms around the globe, and it’s fundamentally reshaping what it means to lead.

The artificial intelligence revolution is transforming the traditional executive competencies that have long dominated corporate leadership. And for organizations searching for their next CEO, this means the next five years will look dramatically different from the last twenty.

THE END OF THE 20TH-CENTURY EXECUTIVE PROFILE

This isn’t the first time a technological revolution demanded new kinds of leadership. The industrial age created the management structures we still largely operate within today.

Think about the typical CEO profile that’s dominated boardrooms since the post-World War II era. The profile is a product of management as a discipline, McKinsey-style analytical rigor, and the corporate structures that emerged to manage large-scale, global enterprises with increased efficiency and precision.

Often, they are consulting-trained CFOs or operations leaders who methodically climbed hierarchies designed for predictability. They’ve accumulated technical expertise, mastered financial engineering and shareholder relations, and proven themselves through increasingly complex operational challenges.

But here’s the problem. Traditional competencies are increasingly automatable. AI can handle much of the heavy lifting that once distinguished senior executives in terms of financial and strategic acumen.

What remains distinctly human—and therefore invaluable—are historically undervalued skills in corporate leadership.

As someone who spends my days helping Fortune 500 companies navigate organizational transformation, I’m witnessing this shift in real time.

THE NEW LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES THAT MATTER

The executives who will succeed in an AI-augmented world share characteristics that are remarkably different from those of yesterday’s corporate stars. Leaders in the new era will be uniquely skilled at:

Learning and teaching: As change accelerates, executives will need to be both learners (expressing curiosity about new systems and their potential) and teachers (helping their teams understand new ways of thinking and working). This is especially relevant in light of new MIT research, which found that 95% of AI pilot projects failed to deliver any discernible financial savings or profit uplift due to challenges such as workflow misalignment, inadequate integration, leadership or culture barriers, and other organizational issues.

Emotional intelligence and empathy: Leaders must excel at the distinctly human work of understanding, motivating, and connecting with people. They’ll use skills like cognitive empathy, or the ability to understand another person’s emotional state from an intellectual perspective. It’s a unique combination of thinking and feeling.

Comfort with ambiguity: Unlike previous eras, where leaders could paint clear visions of the future, today’s executives must guide organizations through constant uncertainty. The ability to work in gray zones, make decisions with incomplete information, and help teams navigate ambiguity becomes paramount.

Ethical decision-making: As AI assumes more decision-making responsibilities and the ethical implications of human-AI systems become increasingly complex, leaders will need increasingly sophisticated moral compasses.

Change agility and resilience: The half-life of business strategies continues to shrink. Leaders must adapt to continuous transformation rather than episodic change management. A growth mindset enables them to fail and learn quickly—for both themselves and their organizations.

THE PIPELINE CHALLENGE

Boards are beginning to recognize they need different kinds of leaders, but we may be creating a talent pipeline crisis.

Today’s emerging leaders will grow up in an AI-augmented workplace. They’re outsourcing more critical thinking to technology, spending less time in the trenches making tough judgment calls, and navigating fewer firsthand, real-world experiences that traditionally build executive competency.

It’s a classic catch-22: We need leaders who understand AI but also have deep human judgment. The very prevalence of AI may be preventing the next generation from developing that judgment.

The implications for executive recruitment are profound. First, boards must expand candidate pools beyond traditional executive development paths. The next great CEO might not have climbed a conventional corporate ladder but started their own AI-enabled company, led transformation initiatives across industries, or developed their leadership skills in entirely new contexts.

Second, boards should reconsider the premium placed on industry experience versus change leadership capabilities. In rapidly evolving sectors, deep industry knowledge may be less valuable than the ability to learn quickly, adapt continuously, and guide organizations through fundamental shifts.

Third, assessment processes need to evolve. Traditional executive interviews and reference checks may miss the competencies that matter most in AI-era leadership. Boards might need to evaluate candidates’ ability to work in ambiguous situations, their track record of bringing people along during transformation, and their approach to ethical decision-making in complex scenarios.

THE BROADER ORGANIZATIONAL QUESTION

All of this raises a fundamental question about the future of corporate structure itself. As AI enhances certain types of coordination and production, we may see a continued disaggregation of traditional corporate forms.

If that happens, tomorrow’s leaders will need to excel not only at running existing organizations, but also at reimagining how work is organized in the first place.

The leaders and leadership teams who will thrive won’t necessarily be the ones who’ve mastered traditional corporate roles. They’ll be the leaders who can operate in gray zones, guide teams through radical uncertainty, and maintain their humanity while leveraging unprecedented technological power.

Kate Bullinger is CEO of United Minds.

This article was originally published by Fast Company.

5 truths myths about internal communications… 

  1. Tailoring content to employee audiences is a cumbersome, imperfect science
  2. Delivering the right information when and where employees need it is a fool’s errand
  3. Learning and development is a boring, check-the-box activity
  4. Positioning leaders to your people can be like pulling teeth
  5. Quarterly town halls are the gold standard for engaging employees

Through the power of technology, we’re redefining what is true about internal comms. We’re not evolving, we’re leaping. Click below to discover the NEW truths about internal comms.

The multibillion-dollar consulting industry built on helping companies manage change is about to get very uncomfortable.

Change management is a multibillion-dollar industry built on the fundamental claim that most people dislike change, and that someone needs to manage that resistance. 

But after decades of organizational theories and billions in consulting fees, the industry does not work as promised: change management projects have a failure rate of around 70%. There’s a reason no one asked McKinsey or any other leading consulting firm to run DOGE.  

As enterprises large and small grapple with the wholesale transformation that will be wrought by the rise of artificial intelligence, it’s time to face an uncomfortable truth: Change, especially today, doesn’t happen in neat phases. It’s cyclical, unpredictable, and requires constant adaptation.  

The Old Model Never Worked–But It Especially Doesn’t Now  

Traditional change management follows a predictable model. Under investor scrutiny—or to avoid it—the CEO announces a transformation is coming. Consultants conduct surveys, present slides at workshops, and create communication plans to deal with signs of revolt. Success gets measured by stakeholder-focused metrics like “adoption rates,” and KPIs like “number of training programs deployed.” It’s an industry that prioritizes rationality at the expense of inspiration and serendipity. 

AI will be the force that kills this episodic approach. First, the tech is already moving too quickly for rigid approaches to be relevant. Second, AI requires significant amounts of training and customization to be effective in most organizations, rendering a “one-size-fits-most” approach obsolete. And finally, the human side of AI-driven change is more complicated than a standard reorganization—because AI anxiety strikes at the heart of what is human, and what sort of careers we and our children will have.  

In our recent work inside companies that are adopting new AI tools and workflows, we’ve seen the potential for a new way of working. Instead of a traditional change management approach, smart leaders today are understanding—and embracing—that change in the era of AI is often organically driven by shifts brought about by AI eureka moments. Competitive advantage is built not by how quickly you move humans through a change program, but how seamlessly your organization’s source code—the unique combination of people, process, and technology—rewrites itself in real time.

A Tale of Two Companies

Consider a recent tale of two companies.  

First, fintech company Klarna’s recent initiative to automate its customer service operations using generative AI. The company publicly claimed that its AI tools were performing the work of 700 full-time agents, leading to a dramatic reduction in hiring and headcount. The rollout was managed through a centralized, top-down approach: executive-led messaging, internal dashboards to track AI performance, and a focus on cost savings and productivity metrics. But the transition sparked internal unease and external criticism, and Klarna quietly began rehiring human agents within the year. The AI may have delivered efficiency on paper, but the rigid implementation and lack of human-centered change management eroded trust, both inside and outside the company. 

Contrast that with one of our clients—a multinational pharmaceutical organization that took a radically different approach. Rather than relying on static KPIs and sequential rollouts, they used AI to surface real-time insights from employee sentiment, social media behavior, and internal feedback loops. These insights continue to inform tailored interventions across roles and geographies. AI-powered chatbots enable employees to access personalized resources on demand, while leaders use behavioral analytics to trigger timely nudges and adapt strategies instantly. The result has been a more agile, inclusive transformation—where change has been continuously shaped by how employees are actually working.  

How Organizations Can Stay Ahead 

In this new world, “best practice” changes from week to week. But the most important trends we see in recent, successful transformations are:  

First, build a nonlinear approach. When it comes to generative and agentic AI, you often don’t know your best use cases until you experiment. Embrace the 3-D problem solving that comes with transformation by moving to organized but flexible processes that account for two-way feedback.  

Second, create pilots. Understand that new processes, technologies, and workflows will work differently for each organization and team. Select specific organizational areas for focused experimentation and training. Give them deadlines and establish feedback loops between pilot participants and the transformation team. Then, scale successful approaches across the organization using champions as advocates for the technology and its impact.  

Third, work to understand and activate teams with precision. Identify specific employee categories to play a role in championing change. Every organization has a group of early adopters—the “weekend warriors” who explore AI on their own time. And every organization also has laggards—those who will require structured protocols and personalized training plans to implement new systems. Focus your communications—and your expectations—by identifying each group and understanding the different needs it requires.  

Finally, empower leaders. Measure success not by who attended the meeting or did the training, but by who’s actually creating new pathways in process or technology. Encourage those leaders, from the CEO down, to show how they use AI tools, and arm with appropriate nudges for staff.  

According to the Boston Consulting Group, the small minority of companies already operating at this level are realizing 1.5× revenue growth, 1.6× shareholder returns, and 1.4× ROI. 

The goal is improving organizational metabolism so your organization stays healthy, instead of contracting a disease that needs treatment. The business model for change management consulting may shift to something far more organic: Enabling leaders to role model and guide, designing teams built for experimentation and imbuing organizational culture with a growth mindset. 

Adaptability counts most

Corporate America rewards risk-taking and stories about explosive growth, rapid innovation, and bottom-line-enhancing layoffs. But it’s adaptability that will count most in the AI era, and continuous improvement is what will deliver it. 

Organizations that continue to rely on traditional change management consultancies are not just wasting money—they’re actively handicapping their ability to compete in an increasingly dynamic business environment. Consultants can either change— the irony!— or go down with their ship.  

This article was originally published by Fast Company.

When organisations announce a new strategic direction, formal communications such as town halls, newsletters, and videos are expected. Yet, beyond traditional communication methods, what actions can senior leaders take to demonstrate commitment to new ways of thinking and working?  

The power of symbolic acts 

 ‘Symbolic acts’ are a powerful but often overlooked tool for shifting culture and moving the needle on a new vision or strategy.  

A ‘symbolic act’ is a highly visible action or decision leaders take to role model organisational changes.  

Symbolic acts in action 

What do symbolic acts look like?  

Consider an organisation that is refocusing on customer innovation, intent on being first to market with best-in-class products. Historically innovation has been stifled by red tape and a fear of failure.  

A senior leader could become a role model by regularly sharing personal stories of risk taking and failure, promoting a growth mindset and normalising calculated risk-taking. Alternatively, the leader may choose to speak last in every meeting, encouraging input from employees at more junior levels.  

The symbolic act should resonate with employees and provide a clear signal of a change in direction. Consider Steve Jobs’ decision to discontinue 70% of product lines upon returning as interim CEO of Apple in 1997. This act clearly communicated that Apple would focus on its core offering of personal computers. 

By “walking the talk” and executing symbolic acts that are meaningful and noticeable to employees, leaders demonstrate their commitment to thinking and acting differently. 

Some additional examples include:

Symbolic acts across the organisation 

Symbolic acts aren’t just for senior leaders. It is impactful when middle managers and influential frontline employees adopt symbolic acts.  

Symbolic acts can be individualized or collective. For example, employees could start meetings with a ‘value share’, or an entire leadership team might collectively adopt casual office attire. 

Symbolic acts are an effective way to deepen transformation efforts by positioning leaders to visibly and authentically role model the changes they want to see in the business. By incorporating symbolic acts into engagement strategies, leaders can deepen the impact of transformations. 

Have you employed symbolic acts in organizational changes? Or do you have alternative strategies for effective role modeling and engagement? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section. 

The role of the middle manager has already evolved beyond recognition

Cast yourself back to the early 1990s.  No internet, no email, no instant messaging or video calls.  Communication was slow and structured which reflected the hierarchical, top-down nature of many organisations.  The average middle manager acted as an administrative gatekeeper, controlling the bridge of communication and flow of information between executives, support functions and operational staff.

Technological advancement of the last 30 years has evolved the middle manager role beyond recognition. Now the middle layer takes on an increasingly strategic role in what have become much flatter organisational structures. Responsible for managing up, down and across. Middle managers are the driving force of business. They are the engine of performance and they have become responsible for everything from influencing and shaping the vision to communicating and executing the strategy.

It’s not surprising that as these roles have become less bureaucratic and administrative, ‘softer’ skills have become more important. We all know the best managers are the ones that can connect with you on a personal level and have the meaningful conversations that create a sense of belonging first and foremost, ignite commitment and drive performance. In other words – to be successful, middle managers must now develop their people skills in empathy, active listening, and influencing others.

But we’ve still not got it right. Middle managers cope with high stress and often little thanks.

We are not making the middle manager role easy though, when it’s never ‘enough’ and lacking in meaningful reward. Organisations are increasingly asking middle managers to do more with less as businesses continue to tighten belts and squeeze out efficiency. Middle manager workloads are high, expectations are higher, and both the external and internal operating contexts are often uncertain, changing and ambiguous. While we know that ‘ruthless prioritisation’ is the answer, it’s almost impossible to achieve. It’s no surprise that a global pandemic has forced many to re-consider their priorities, lifestyle and options, and that younger generations are shying away from progression into middle management in search of roles that offer less stress, more meaning.

The advancement of AI and agentic workforces could change everything. Again.

And what’s more we are facing into a very real and imminent scenario of being on the brink of another major shift in the way our workplaces operate. As AI capabilities continue to advance and business continues to de-layer organisational structures, middle managers may once again find themselves in a very different environment altogether. One where they are managing a broader, more cross-functional set of responsibilities, a mix of human and AI agentic teams, and perhaps in many cases even less resource.

Beyond the initial reaction of fear, this future holds an exciting opportunity for middle managers to make higher-value, more meaningful contributions to the business performance. But doing so relies on an enhanced set of capabilities over the ones needed today.

To succeed in the future middle managers will need different skills and capabilities.

If business wants the middle layer of their organisation to succeed, they must look to upskill and equip them in the essential skills of the future. This will become less about being the most applauded subject matter expert operating with the highest technical proficiency. Going forwards, leadership development must focus on a combination of:

But leadership development alone is not enough. It’s time to reinvent middle management and strengthen leadership at the essential core.

And yet, even if capability building will become an important lever, it’s not enough by itself. We know that even the very best leadership development courses don’t change business by themselves. It will take more than a 2-hour, 2-day, 2-week training to be able to shift what it means to be a middle manager, to embed a shift in ways of working that allows for higher-value contribution, to ensure that executives are playing a role in empowering this layer to step up. It will take a reinvention of middle management to strengthen leadership at the essential core.

The reinvention of middle management requires a systemic approach.

If we really want to shift the role of middle managers for the future, it will take a systemic approach that reviews organisational culture holistically, going beyond the mission statement and values.

It’s about reviewing the embedded ways of working in the organisation that come to characterise a middle manger’s day. The way individuals and teams collaborate and communicate with each other; the way work is managed and performance is measured; and the way the organisation learns and adapts to evolve. These, often unspoken, rules about how things get done must support the reinvention of middle management if we want to strengthen leadership at this level.

And this may mean reviewing the operating model, structure and accountabilities; how the business strategy is cascaded to inform day to day activities; the organisational symbols, rituals and stories as well as the leadership style – how are these factors contributing to the role of middle managers, and how do we shift them in support of the reinvention?

And if we get it right, middle management will become the pipeline of emerging leaders that it ought and deserves to be.

If it’s time for a reinvention of middle management in your organisation let’s talk about how United Minds can partner with you on:

Change & transformation: supporting the adoption and embedding of AI-driven ways of working.

Leadership development and capability building: in the competencies your leaders need to for today, as well as the technological, emotional and cognitive competencies they’ll need to lead humans in a future AI-enabled workplace.

Organisational redesign: designing sustainable structures, and future-proofed job roles with realistic expectations that are adaptable to technological, AI advancement.

Organisational culture: shifting expectations, mindsets and beliefs, as well as the ways of working, activities, and processes that either enable or prohibit progress towards the strategy.

Our research found that, across 50 engagement drivers, the further employees were from the top of their organization, the less engaged they felt—by a wide margin. This highlights the need for a way to change culture that truly reaches and involves the whole organization, not just the top. 

Culture is a powerful and sustainable source of advantage.  

It’s a bigger driver of job satisfaction than salary, and the biggest driver of attrition. Companies with strong innovation cultures are 60% more likely to be innovation leaders. More than four out of five executives believe an ineffective culture increases the chances of unethical behavior.  

Glassdoor, MIT, BCG, Journal of Financial Economics 

For most organizations, the culture they want feels out of reach.  

This is true both for leaders and their employees. According to the Journal of Financial Economics, 92% of surveyed executives believed that improving corporate culture would increase firm value—while 84% believed their company needed to improve their culture. For employees, the percentage who reported feeling connected to their company’s culture has remained flat at just above 20% for the last four years, according to Gallup. 

 
Journal of Financial Economics, Gallup  

What makes culture work so hard? 

In our research on the employee experience, we uncovered a pattern that may help us understand the real challenge we need to tackle. We observed that, across 50 drivers of the employee experience, the further you get from the top of an organization, the less connected and engaged employees tend to feel. 

We’ve color-coded the data to show you how persistent this pattern is. Check out the methodology behind the numbers on page 32 of our longitudinal study, “Employees Rising: Advocacy, Activism, Agency.” 
 

There is a 26% difference between the average engagement score of an organization’s leadership team (84%) and its individual contributors (58%). 

United Minds 

The data makes sense when you consider how culture work has always been done—and it illuminates the pain points leaders and practitioners should address to help their organizations build and maintain healthy, high-performing cultures.  

PAIN POINT #1 

One-time, one-way decisions 
Discussions about changing an organization’s culture tend to happen once among a small group. And once decisions are made, the work tends to focus on alerting and aligning people—versus truly engaging them in the process. 
 

PAIN POINT #2 

Words over actions 
The main work products of culture change are presentations that capture intent—versus targeted actions designed to quickly build momentum and drive measurable progress. 
 

PAIN POINT #3 

Mission: impossible 
The responsibility of using those work products to galvanize a workforce behind the new culture tends to rest with a few under-equipped leaders—most often leaders in middle and front-line management.  

Today’s version of culture work is like building a bonfire. Leaders build it big and build it once. And the further away you are, the less light and warmth you feel. And it’s clear the bonfire approach isn’t working. The gap between what leaders say and what people experience is widening. This impacts trust both inside and outside the company. 

Inside organizations, assumptions at the top tend to be rosier than the reality for the rest of employees, according to research from PwC: “86% of leaders think employee trust is high, compared to 67% of employees who say they highly trust their employer. This employee trust gap of 18 points is higher than in the past.” 

Outside, the gap between leaders and customers is even more pronounced: “90% of business executives think customers highly trust their companies while only 30% of consumers actually do.” 

For culture work to succeed, we should think of it like building a thousand campfires. Leaders hand out kindling, so the fire is sparked where people already are. Everyone can create it. Everyone can look after it. And the warmth reaches everyone who needs it. How could you do this? We suggest that you follow two principles when thinking about culture change. First, make it simple. Then, help it spread. 

Principle 1: Make it Simple. 

Focus the work on the vital few areas that drive the greatest, most immediate impact on your organization’s culture. In other words, focus on “The Why and The Way” of your organization. 

The Why is your guiding ambition. It can be as big as aligning to a new brand or merging two organizations. Or it can be as focused and surgical as a commitment to being the category’s top customer service brand.  

The Way is a set of nine critical behaviors you need working toward your ambition. Here’s a canvas showing “The Why and The Way” together. 

Nine behaviors drive culture change.  

We identified these nine behaviors based on our decades of collective experience and successful culture change engagements with leading organizations. These behaviors act as the building blocks of any organization’s culture. Through these 9 lenses, we can see how well your organization delivers on your guiding ambition—then take targeted action to unblock the path to performance. 

Lead  

  1. Prioritize: What does the organization signal is most important to focus on, implicitly and explicitly?  
  1. Measure: How does the organization measure success for the business and its people?  
  1. Reward: What kind of work is recognized and encouraged?  

Organize  

  1. Communicate: How is information stored, shared, and used to work toward the organization’s goals?  
  1. Collaborate: How do people work together and to what degree are they autonomous?  
  1. Resolve: How does conflict arise and get resolved?  

Evolve  

  1. Grow: How do individuals develop and progress in the organization?  
  1. Monitor: How well does the organization perceive opportunities and threats and how willing it is to change in response to them?  
  1. Adapt: How well does the organization change in reaction to the perceived opportunities and threats? 

Principle 2: Help it Spread. 

Work with a bias toward bottom-up action, not only top-down communication, so that we build agency in the people who have the greatest impact on the employee experience: middle managers, for three reasons. 

They are trusted. Our research shows that managers and their peers are the top two most trusted sources of information. 60% of hybrid knowledge workers report their direct manager is one of the top two influences on their connection to corporate culture.  

They have an outsized impact. Employees who have managers who listen to them and are committed to their success are an average of 3.3X more likely to agree across the 50 measured drivers of employee experience, and 58% less interested in leaving their job tomorrow than employees who don’t.  

They need support. Managers are the gatekeepers of change. Change spreads only with their support. To gain that support, we need to invest in their agency—meaning they need to:  

  1. See how they contribute to a future they believe in.  
  1. Have the means to make a positive impact.  
  1. Feel valued because of their work. 

United Minds, Gartner  

By making culture work simpler and focusing efforts on specific outcomes, this approach makes culture tangible and actionable, at the same time connecting the changes in behavior to intended business results.  

Galvanizing employee communities across the organization to co-create and spread culture requires leaders to part with the idea that they need to control culture and allow their teams to carry the spark, but the result — empowered, engaged teams inspired by your strategic intent — is worth the risk. 

In boardrooms worldwide, “doing more with less” has become the mandate of the moment. Trade wars, tariff hikes and economic uncertainty are forcing hard choices – whether that’s reducing overhead, downsizing or streamlining operating models. This is becoming more apparent in M&A context where organisations often need to adopt a “do more with less” approach ahead of integration to ensure ROI from the deal.

Naturally, doing more with less can feel like a struggle particularly against a backdrop of several turbulent years. Yet again we’re upping the ante, turning up the dial on the pressure cooker -and it hurts. But what if we’re thinking about pressure all wrong? What if constraint isn’t the enemy – but the catalyst?

When De Beers faced market crisis in 2008, they discovered something unexpected. The pressure didn’t break them, it transformed them. Under constraint, they reimagined their entire business model, creating a more agile organisation that thrived when conditions improved.

This isn’t just luck. Studies show that moderate pressure increases focus, accelerates decision-making, and triggers innovation. The key isn’t reducing pressure – it’s building the resilience to harness it.

Four Keys to Turning Pressure into Performance

1. Build Emotional Commitment – shift from Loss to Possibility

People who see pressure as a challenge perform better than those who see it as a threat (Lazarus, 1991). Netflix’s shift from DVD rental to streaming wasn’t just strategic – it required deep emotional resilience. They helped their team see the loss of their core business as an opportunity to own the future.

Quick wins:

Going deeper

2. Rational Understanding – demonstrate control in chaos

Research shows teams operating at 80-90% capacity make better decisions and waste less time than those at 60-70%. Why? Because constraints force better choices and a fixation on what’s within our control. When Toyota faced supply chain disruptions, they focused exclusively on what they could influence. This clarity helped them recover faster than competitors who tried to control everything.

Quick wins:

Going deeper:

3. Collective experiences – winning together, failing together

Collective experiences help teams navigate high-pressure situations by fostering social support, shared resilience, psychological safety, and collaborative problem-solving, which reduces stress and enhances overall performance. When Airbnb lost 80% of their business overnight in 2020, they turned crisis into cohesion. They created transparent daily updates, shared decision-making, and made space for collective problem-solving.

Quick wins:

Going deeper:

4. Input and contribution: feedback and dialogue

Around 84% of employees consider psychological safety as one of the most valued aspects of the workplace; and it’s proven to be vital in reducing stress and building resilience. When Zara faced supply chain chaos, they amplified voices from the front line, demonstrating that their best solutions came from those closest to the problems.

Quick wins

Going deeper:

In today’s business environment, pressure isn’t going away. The winners won’t be those who try to eliminate or ignore it, but those who learn to harness it.

The question isn’t how to do more with less. It’s how to use constraints to unlock possibilities that abundance keeps hidden.

Return to office: the leadership challenge your business can’t afford to get wrong

The debate on the return to office (RTO) isn’t just a logistical question; it’s a litmus test for leadership in a post-pandemic world. Policies that once seemed straightforward—mandating when and where employees work—are now fraught with complexity, nuance, and trade-offs.

For organisations navigating this challenge, the stakes couldn’t be higher: the risk of alienating top talent, stifling innovation, or fracturing cultures is very real. But so is the opportunity to create a model of work that strengthens engagement, drives performance, and sets the foundation for long-term success.

Here’s how leaders can tackle the thorniest questions surrounding RTO, and why getting it right requires a bold, evidence-based approach.

The cost of mandates: breaking the social contract

Enforcing RTO mandates without a clear rationale or employee input risks eroding trust. Employees crave agency and autonomy, and overly controlling policies can feel like a breach of the unspoken social contract between employer and employee.

The fallout? Disengagement, attrition, and a workforce that feels infantilised rather than empowered.

Leaders must ask themselves: How can we balance business needs with employee expectations in a way that fosters trust and accountability?

It’s part of a bigger employee value proposition picture

The RTO debate feels like a decision in its own right, but the truth is that leaders instead of determining the RTO strategy in isolation, leaders must see it as part of a wider employee value proposition strategy.

It starts by identifying who and where the talent you need to attract and retain is, understanding what their expectations are and then designing a holistic employee value proposition that includes your route for RTO and hybrid working. 

A rigid RTO stance risks alienating those who place a premium on flexibility, notably working parents, employees with caregiving roles, Gen Z workers who value independence and technological fluency, and individuals with disabilities for whom remote or hybrid work can offer essential accommodations.

Leaders must ask themselves: What talent do you need to attract and retain, what are their expectations and what is the holistic employee value proposition you offer?

The fairness equation

Fairness has emerged as a flashpoint in the RTO debate. Corporate employees who can work remotely often do, while frontline employees in retail, manufacturing, or healthcare have no such (or limited) flexibility. This disparity is a potential recipe for resentment and divide.

To bridge this gap, some organisations are redefining their cultures entirely – positioning corporate teams as “in service of” frontline workers. Others are introducing measures to create a sense of fairness, like shorter working weeks or improved benefits for frontline roles.

Leaders must ask themselves: What measures can we implement to address fairness head-on, ensuring every employee feels valued and respected?

The role of leadership

Returning to the office isn’t just about space—it’s about purpose. Employees, especially Gen Z, need to see the “why” behind RTO policies. They want clarity on what they’re expected to do in the office and how it aligns with organisational goals.

An arbitrary policy isn’t enough. What’s the purpose of those days? Are they for collaboration? Learning? Social connection? Without this clarity, the office risks becoming just another box to check.

Moreover, senior leaders must model the behaviours they want to see. Junior employees won’t buy into an RTO policy if they notice their managers are rarely present.

Leaders must ask themselves: What does it mean to ‘lead by example’ in a hybrid world and what can we do to ensure our actions match our words?

The cost to learning and development

We also know that with hybrid working comes a cost to learning and development, especially at more junior roles. It’s on both leaders and employees in their early careers to take responsibility for plugging the gap that working in person naturally provides for learning and growth opportunities.

Leaders must ask themselves: How can we create a culture of learning and collaboration in a hybrid world to support our continuous development and growth?

The hidden risks of RTO: innovation and well-being

Research shows that working remotely two days a week has little to no negative impact on productivity and even boosts job satisfaction. But it’s not without trade-offs.

Innovation, particularly across silos, often thrives on in-person interactions. Building trusted relationships and sparking spontaneous ideas are harder to replicate virtually.

At the same time, remote work has introduced the “cost of coordination”—an explosion of meetings that has left employees stretched thin and burned out.

We also know that as we learn to adopt AI into our day-to-day, we risk disconnecting from colleagues even further—turning to AI to ask questions and solve problems, rather than the humans in our teams.

Hybrid models that don’t address these issues risk exacerbating well-being and innovation challenges.

Leaders must ask themselves: Where is the sweet spot? How can we be deliberate about the way our teams work together to harness the benefits of both remote and in-person work?

The future of work

The return to office is not just a logistical exercise; it’s an opportunity to reimagine the future of work. Leaders who succeed will:

  1. Determine the RTO stance as part or a wider employee value proposition strategy: identify the talent you need to attract and retain, what their needs and expectations are and determine your hybrid working approach accordingly.
  2. Involve employees in decision-making: RTO policies imposed on employees rather than developed with them can expect to fail. Employees want agency, not mandates.
  3. Define the purpose of office time: Focus on collaboration, learning, and culture-building—not simply presence.
  4. Address fairness head-on: Acknowledge and address disparities between different employee groups.
  5. Equip middle managers: Managers are not the decision-makers but they are the linchpins of any RTO strategy. Yet they’re often the least prepared to navigate the complexities. Investing in their skills and confidence is critical.
  6. Make data-driven decisions: Use insights from productivity, engagement, and attrition data to refine policies over time. But we wary of strict tracking and monitoring of individuals that risks creating a rules-based culture of control and mistrust.

As Professor Thomas Roulet notes, “Hybrid work is an experiment in progress.” Organisations that approach it with humility, adaptability, and a commitment to fairness will not only navigate this transition—they’ll thrive in the new world of work.

The question isn’t whether to mandate a return to the office or not. It’s how to find the right solution for your organisation and launch it in a way that builds trust, drives performance, and sets the foundation for long-term success.

Learn more about United Minds’ approach and process to determining and launching an RTO position.

We’d love to know what you think, get in touch!

Over the past six months, we’ve seen a surge in clients asking for support with their Gen-AI transformation efforts. There’s a growing recognition that Gen AI is not just another technological shift—it’s a transformation unlike any before. As businesses move from pilots to full-scale adoption, they can’t afford to overlook the psychological responses to this change. Working closely with heads of AI and digital transformation leaders, we’ve gained an understanding into why Gen AI adoption demands a distinct approach, how it diverges from past digital transformations, and why the human side of change is now more crucial than ever. 

Why AI adoption needs a different approach 

  1. It’s learning by doing like never before – in training teams around Gen-AI we learnt very quickly that Gen AI is best understood through hands-on exploration, as its power truly unfolds when people use it directly. Unlike past digital transformations, there are no strict guidelines; it’s intuitive, and personal discovery is essential for shifting mindsets and forming a new relationship with technology. 

Overcome this by: Leaders need to trust their teams’ abilities to explore and grow. Encourage this with behavioral nudges that build confidence, and set up regular touchpoints for sharing successes, failures, and innovations. 

  1. People come to AI with diverse perceptions, biases and expectations – Gen-AI is forcing people to reflect on the purpose and meaning of work, and critically their role within it (self-determination theory). The fear of the unknown, combined with the status-quo bias means people are reacting in more extreme ways, and there is far more loss aversion to overcome. Layer on top of that change fatigue from years of digital transformation efforts, and you’ve got yourself a pressure cooker for resistance.  

Overcome this by: meeting people where they’re at, overcommunicating and being completely transparent (and human) about both the tools and their limitations, and about the change curve people may experience. Whatever you do, don’t let resistance hold you back, go where the energy is (because there’s as much curiosity as there is resistance) and create moments in time for celebration, excitement and engagement.  

  1. Building the plane while it’s taking off couldn’t be more true – In many cases organisations don’t know what the future state looks like. They may have a few use cases which are essential in telling the story and showing potential, but the end goal is still unclear. Tools are evolving and being built every day, we’ve only just scratched the surface of what the possibilities are. For many, that’s exciting, for others it brings a sense of uncertainty and fear. Lewin’s Change Model which encourages organisations to unfreeze, change then refreeze must happen simultaneously or at record-speed to be successful. In many ways the ‘refreeze’ stage isn’t possible; people will constantly be in the state of flux. A growth mindset becomes essential.  

Overcome this by: Tackling it and explaining it head on. Don’t try and pretend to have all the answers. Involve people in the process of defining the destination but leave that open to evolution as more knowledge is built.  

  1. Safety is paramount (both psychological and legal) – creating a culture of constant experimentation is essential, and that is only possible if psychological safety is in place. People need to feel comfortable to try and fail, whilst critically understanding the guardrails, legal and ethical implications particularly when Automation Bias can lead us to over-trust AI outputs. It’s in many ways a juxtaposition, one that requires careful thought and a highly tailored approach.  

Overcome this by: Be clear about the rules and open about the legal and compliance implications of using Gen AI. Invest in culture change efforts and behaviour change pilots to shift mindsets and ways of working. Critically, ensure leaders are driving accountability at the same time as creating the culture of psychological safety; a careful balance to strike.  

  1. Leaders are learning too – whereas in most change programmes, top down leadership role modelling is the first priority, with Gen-AI adoption, the most senior leaders are often the last to adapt their ways of working. Of course, they know at an organisational level it needs to happen and are keen advocates, but on a personal level they’re often resistant to trying it themselves. This needs to be overcome, but at the same time your greatest influencers may not be who you expect.  

Overcome this by: Invest in 1:1 coaching with leaders to help overcome any fear or resistance. Focus on creating a groundswell of influencers and champions at all levels of the organisation, use your Gen Z employees, give them a voice at the table of decision making, offer reverse coaching experiences for managers.  

This is arguably the biggest shake up of work as we know it since the first Industrial Revolution. To overlook the human aspect of this change would be to admit defeat before you’ve even begun. Join us at the upcoming Business Change Conference on 27 November where we’ll be joined by in-house Gen-AI experts who’ll share their learnings of Gen-AI adoption.