How to Make Work Antifragile: Leading with Guts, Heart, and Head
This morning, I was interviewed by Smith Quarterly magazine about the shifting workplace landscape. Here’s a quick summary of what I shared:
The Fragile State of Progress at Work
The workplace doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It mirrors the broader forces shaping our society — and right now, that reflection is unsettling.
In 2025, we've seen the progress we’ve made toward equity and inclusion get rolled back.
The Rollback of DEI
More than 50 major brands, including Target, IBM, and Goldman Sachs, have scaled back their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts this year.
Their retreat sends a clear message: what was once celebrated progress is now vulnerable to shifting cultural and political winds.
Who’s Leaving the Workforce?
The numbers are sobering:
1.2 million immigrants have exited the U.S. workforce.
350,000 women are no longer participating.
Black unemployment has reached 7.2% — nearly double the general rate. (Credit to Shalene Gupta, editor of Fast Company for these stats)
Each number tells a story of lost voices, representation, and income. Our workforce is becoming less diverse and less secure at a time when we need more resilience, not less.
Erosion of Trust
The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer highlights a disturbing trend: declining faith in government, media, NGOs, and institutions.
The anchor of trust, Edelman says, has shifted to employers. Employees are looking to their companies to do the right thing — not only in policies and benefits, but also in values and leadership.
A CEO Case Study: Leading with Heart, Guts, and Action
One of my clients, a CEO of a healthcare nonprofit, is living this reality right now. She’s responsible for navigating her organization through cultural shifts while still delivering critical services.
Instead of leaning on hierarchy or fear, she has chosen to lead with what I call “guts, heart, and head”:
Guts: Taking bold, proactive steps instead of waiting for external validation.
Heart: Building trust through compassion, empathy, and care for people.
Head: Anchoring actions in clear strategy and accountability.
(BTW, guts, heart, and head make up the "three brains" in this Neuroscience-based Trance: Three Brain Alignment for Leaders.)
We’re also reading Love as a Business Strategy together, because she knows what research (and experience) confirms: power plays backfire, but love and intention create sustainable cultures.
Why This Matters for Leaders
The fragile state of progress means today’s leaders are being asked to do more than just hit numbers. They’re being asked to rebuild trust.
They have to choose: will their organizations reflect the erosion we’re seeing everywhere else in society, or will they stand as anchors of stability, humanity, and inclusion?
This isn’t about polished statements or performative gestures. It’s about visible, credible action — holding people accountable while also protecting and empowering them.
And because the workplace is one of the few places where trust still has a foothold, leaders actually have a rare opportunity to grow it.
The Call to Action
Yes, progress feels fragile right now. But fragile doesn’t mean doomed. Fragility can be strengthened with intention — and even transformed into what Nassim Taleb calls antifragility.
Leaders who are willing to choose courage, who can combine accountability with compassion, will be remembered as the ones who helped their organizations become more resilient, more human, and more sustainable in uncertain times.
The question is: will we rise to meet that moment?
From Ideas to Action: An Invitation
It’s one thing to talk about antifragility, trust, and compassionate leadership — it’s another to practice it in real time.
That’s exactly what I help my clients do. My executive coaching isn’t about surface-level “fixes” or quick hacks.
It’s a unique process where we balance head, heart, and gut — combining clear-eyed strategy, courageous self-leadership, and compassion for both self and others. Together we co-create pragmatic action plans that move careers and cultures forward, even in uncertain times.
P. S. Whew — now that all that serious stuff is said and done… here’s yours truly at South Mountain Reservation yesterday with my friends at Asian Trail Mix, rocking a badass dressing on my middle finger. (The dressing comes off today, thank goodness ).
F authoritarianism.
F living in fear because of the news.
But yay for having a valid excuse to skip dishes for a week — courtesy of a benign mass that got surgically evicted from said finger.
