News & Updates

Several weeks ago, I spent a few days with about 200 leaders from the International Better Business Bureau at their annual Trust Summit and Torch Awards. I was there to deliver my keynote, The Mission Doesn’t Pause for Burnout, but one of the best parts of the week was sitting in the audience and listening. • Zach Mercurio spent two hours talking about mattering, and the impact leaders have when people know they are seen, valued, and needed. • Tal Goldhamer took us into AI

Most leaders can tell you whether their organization met its goals last quarter. Ask whether the organization became more excellent, and the answer gets harder. Did people build new capabilities? Did customers have a better experience? Did the team strengthen its ability to handle the next challenge? Those questions rarely fit neatly on a scorecard, and they have a great deal to do with whether today’s performance can continue. In a recent AFN peer discussion, we explored exc

We talk a lot about burnout. But what about the people who are working in the same demanding, always-on environments and somehow managing to perform at a high level without burning themselves out? That question led Nick Petrie and his team through five years of research and ultimately to his new book, Burn Bright: 10 Habits to Sustain High Performance. Recently, Nick joined Sixth Wing Partner Bridget Ruiz for a conversation about what they discovered. And it turns out, the pe

“Empower your people.” It sounds simple enough. But giving someone permission to make decisions and creating an organization where people are actually equipped to make them are two very different things. Decision rights were the focus of a recent Sixth Wing peer learning conversation with our Chiefs of Staff, and what started as a discussion about ownership quickly broadened into broader questions about trust, accountability, organizational speed, strategy, and leadership its

Across organizations, industries, and executive teams, every leader's situation is different. Yet over time, certain patterns begin to emerge. One of those patterns is that leadership can become surprisingly isolating. The higher someone moves within an organization, the fewer places they often have to think out loud, wrestle with uncertainty, pressure-test ideas, or simply hear how other leaders are navigating similar challenges. There certainly isn't a shortage of leadershi

With Subject Matter Experts Kellie Mix, Executive Coach, Project Manager, Certified Burnout Expert, Sixth Wing John Previtera, Executive Coach, Facilitator, Certified Burnout Expert, AFN ​ ​ Resilience at the Speed of Life The Edge of Resilience Series Part 2 Facilitated by Kellie Mix & John PreviteraIn our hyper-accelerated world, resilience isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity. Resilience at the Speed of Life offers insight into how resilience manifests differently for caregi

With Subject Matter Experts Bryan Rutberg, Keynote Speaker, Customer Engagement Consultant, Bryan Rutberg Matt Sitter, CEO, AFN and Partner, Sixth Wing ​ ​ Do You Know Your Customers Well Enough? Social connection is more rare AND more sought-after in a business environment where so much now happens on screens. We cannot move too far away from the warmth and connection of human engagement or we’ll miss important moments. Streamlined ordering systems, self-service apps, AI-dri