Latest news with #adaptability
Globe and Mail
11 hours ago
- General
- Globe and Mail
Your daily horoscope: June 3, 2025
As an air sign you are good at adapting to new situations and that will be a factor in your favour over the coming year. Others may be worried by the frenzied pace of change but for you it will be exciting and full of opportunity. It may be true that you have all the facts on your side but that won't stop friends and colleagues saying and doing stupid things. Some people cling so tightly to their illusions that day becomes night even though the sun is still shining. You may think that other people should be taking on more of the workload but just telling them to do it won't change a thing. You need to find a way to make it financially painful for them if they carry on avoiding their responsibilities. If you get too involved in your daily routine you could miss out on a creative opportunity of some kind. Do what has to be done and do it well but keep one eye open and don't be afraid to drop everything if a better offer comes along. As one of the zodiac's more sensitive signs you are usually good at spotting when a family member is feeling low. If that is the feeling you sense today you must do what you can to raise their spirits. Start by reminding them how much you love them. Your leadership skills will be much in demand over the next 24 hours, so much so that you may have to ration yourself! Help those who clearly need it the most and tell those you can't help today to ask you again tomorrow. The fact that you gained from someone else's misfortune is no big deal so long as you did not engineer that misfortune for them. Life gives and life takes and over time we all get what we need and deserve the most. Tell them that. Your confidence is such that you honestly believe you can do almost anything, but take notice of the word 'almost' because one or two objectives may still be beyond you. Later in the week though they will come within reach as well. You may be concerned that you are not making the most of your chances but don't worry about it too much because there will be other opportunities to shine. Come the end of the week you will be spoilt for choice. If you owe someone a favour you must pay it back quickly. Even if they say they don't expect anything in return you can be sure they will want something from you in the future. It may cost less if you repay the favour now. You may be pretty straightforward in your dealings but some of the people you are going to have to deal with between now and the end of the week will be sneaky in the extreme. Keep your wits about you and don't let anyone make decisions for you. If you want to make your life both simpler and happier then a major clear-out of your possessions is a must. Find a new home for anything that no longer serves a clear purpose for you but which could be of benefit to other people. If someone you work or do business with keeps making life difficult for you then get ruthless and tell them your partnership is at an end. You don't need them today, you won't need them tomorrow and you probably didn't need them yesterday either. Discover more about yourself at
Forbes
17 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
What Major Should I Choose? How To Navigate Career Plot Twists
graduate's career choices Spoiler alert: No college major guarantees you a beachside office, dream salary, or a LinkedIn headline that sparks professional envy. No degree comes with a golden ticket, just the chance to build one, piece by piece, through skills, curiosity, and real-world hustle. But before you switch majors for the third time this year, know that the real path to a fulfilling career may not lie in what you are studying, but in how you are learning. Today's job market rewards lifelong learning, adaptability, and a mashup of skills more than any single academic track. In her Forbes article, Dr. Diane Hamilton identifies curiosity as the most valuable asset in today's workplace. As the World Economic Forum's 2025 Future of Jobs Report points out, employers are increasingly prioritizing skills like critical thinking, AI literacy, and flexibility over traditional credentials alone. So no, your major is not a magic spell. But it can be a powerful part of your toolkit, if you treat it as a launchpad, not a label. Today's job market is more like a group project, at times messy, unpredictable, and usually carried by that one person who somehow went from studying philosophy to working in cybersecurity. From College to Career: Navigating Your Educational Journey The truth is, your degree is just one piece of the puzzle. It can help you get in the door, but it is your ability to learn quickly, work well with others, and handle change that really helps you stick around. In fact, a report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (2024) shows that most employers care more about things like communication, teamwork, and problem-solving than your exact major. The McKinsey & Company State of Organizations 2023 report found that transferable skills—like adaptability, digital fluency, and collaboration are key to career growth, especially as roles evolve and industries keep changing So no, your major does not lock you into one path. In fact, that is the exciting part. Many of today's most successful professionals started in one field and ended up thriving in another. What matters more than the title of your degree is how you build on it, through real-world experience, curiosity, and a willingness to keep learning as the world around you changes. While certain majors often grab the spotlight for their popularity, the reality of career paths is far less predictable. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW), no single major guarantees a set career trajectory or income level. What truly shapes career outcomes is a mix of skills gained, ongoing learning, and adaptability in a shifting job market. Skills like critical thinking, effective communication, problem-solving, and ethical reasoning are increasingly prized by employers across industries, regardless of the field of study. In fact, a 2022 report from Burning Glass Technologies highlights how the modern job market increasingly demands hybrid skill sets that blend technical know-how with strong interpersonal and analytical abilities, skills that many college majors help develop. The four skills the report focuses on, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Product Management, and Social Media are rapidly reshaping job requirements across many fields. These transferable skills equip graduates to tackle complex problems, adapt to a wide variety of industry challenges, and make valuable contributions across many professional settings. Young woman recording an audio podcast in a modern studio, wearing headphones and hipster glasses, ... More speaking to the microphone and holding a notepad WHAT'S NEXT? Your degree is not a guaranteed pass, but it lays an essential foundation. True success comes from combining classroom knowledge with hands-on experience and a continuous commitment to learning new skills, challenging yourself through projects across different fields. The most valuable asset is your ability to keep learning and adapting in an ever-changing world. Your major is a meaningful part of your journey, not a label that boxes you in. In today's fast-changing job market, those who thrive are not just degree holders but lifelong learners who embrace new challenges and develop a broad set of skills employers value. So whether your path feels traditional or unexpected, remember this: your education matters deeply because it equips you to think, solve problems, and grow. What truly sets you apart is how you build on that foundation throughout your career. The most important skill? Knowing that learning never stops.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
CEOs Jensen Huang And Dario Amodei On AI: Adapt Or Be Replaced
Jensen Huang and Dario Amodei's warning about AI. AFP via Getty Images One predicts AI will put 40 million people back to work. The other warns it could drive mass unemployment. Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Anthropic's Dario Amodei, despite their contrasting tones, are both broadcasting the same underlying truth: evolve or risk becoming obsolete. Whether it's reshaping industries, redefining roles, or redrawing the line between relevance and redundancy, AI is here in full force. For leaders, the question isn't whether AI will change everything. It's whether you're willing to change yourself fast enough to stay afloat. This realization of AI is what makes Huang's and Amodei's recent comments so critical. Not because they agree on the outcomes but because they're waving the same flag: radical adaptability isn't optional anymore. At the recent Milken Conference, Nvidia's Jensen Huang didn't sugarcoat the potential impact of AI. "Every job will be affected, and immediately," he warned. But Huang wasn't forecasting dystopia; he was emphasizing opportunity. In his view, AI can close global talent gaps, increase the GDP, and level the playing field. However, this only happens if people commit to learning and fully embracing artificial intelligence. "You're not going to lose your job to AI," he said. "You're going to lose your job to someone who uses AI." Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, by contrast, is raising the alarm. In recent interviews, he has been straightforward: AI is improving at nearly all intellectual tasks, even those typically performed by CEOs. In a discussion with Axios, he predicted that up to 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs could vanish within five years. He put it this way: 'Cancer is cured, the economy grows at 10% a year, the budget is balanced—and 20% of people don't have jobs.' These aren't opposing views. They're parallel warnings. Both point to the same truth: the cost of ignoring AI is compounding, particularly for those in leadership positions. No matter which prediction you believe, the path forward is the same. Radical adaptability is no longer a nice to have. It's the currency of continued relevance that gives you the best chance of staying ahead. It's about rewiring how you lead, think, and operate at the speed of disruption. In this new reality, clinging to stability is akin to a slow-motion decline. Here are two principles to begin practicing radical adaptability: Intel founder Andy Grove once wrote, "Only the paranoid survive." That mindset isn't about fear—it's about foresightedness. Huang echoes this sentiment: no role is immune from AI's reach, and machines won't overtake those who delay adapting—they'll be outpaced by those who have already learned to use them. Amodei also points to this blind spot, warning that most people—and many leaders—still don't realize how fast things are moving. That kind of lag in awareness is where disruption thrives. Practicing healthy paranoia means scanning for cracks before they break open. It's asking difficult questions before the market forces you to. It's not just designing a strategy for what could succeed—but instead for what could make today's model obsolete. Build before it's obvious. In the age of AI, staying a little paranoid might be your strongest competitive edge. According to the 2025 World Economic Forum's "Future of Jobs" Report, 41% of companies plan to downsize due to the impact of AI; however, 77% plan to reskill or upskill their employees. It's never been more obvious: what got you here won't keep you here. Amodei's warning about AI's acceleration on intellectual tasks shows that static expertise now has a short shelf life. Leaders who thrive will treat reinvention not as a pivot—but as a permanent operating system. That means evolving your digital fluency and skills, rethinking communication styles, and being willing to redefine what leadership looks like in a more machine-augmented world. Whether AI becomes a net benefit or net threat will be debated for years. But as both Huang and Amodei stress, this isn't something you can ignore. And for those in leadership, AI won't just test your strategy. It will test your identity. This scenario is where your ego comes into play. Leaders who are rigid in how they see themselves, their roles, or their industry will fall behind. The future won't belong to the biggest or the smartest. It'll belong to the most adaptable.
Forbes
4 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
How To Build AI Literacy: 16 Ways To Stay Relevant As A Professional
For a professional, staying relevant in a highly competitive landscape means continuously evolving. Today, that includes developing a strong grasp of how to leverage artificial intelligence in the workplace. You don't need to become an expert overnight, but building AI literacy and sharpening your digital skills can help you lead more effectively, make smarter decisions and stand out in your field. Below, 16 Forbes Coaches Council members share the practical tips and insights they would share with their own clients to help build confidence with AI and strengthen digital competencies. Whether you're exploring new career opportunities, stepping into a leadership role or simply aiming to keep up with change, these tips can help set you up for long-term success. Staying relevant in today's professional landscape isn't about becoming a tech expert. It's about embracing a mindset of adaptability, curiosity and intentional learning. In my work with clients, our focus isn't on chasing every new tool; it's on understanding how digital trends intersect with their industry, influence decision-making and shift what teams expect from their leaders. - Gina Martin, Gina Martin Coaching It is critical to guide clients to embrace AI by demystifying its role in their industry, offering hands-on tools and use cases and showing them how to integrate it into their daily work. Staying relevant means learning continuously—those who don't adapt risk falling behind. Leaders should always stay ahead, not play catch-up. - Tinna Jackson, Jackson Consulting Group, LLC I'd focus on three areas: mindset, skill set and action. I'd have clients state why this matters, then foster a growth mindset and commitment to continuous learning. Then, I'd guide them to relevant learning aids to build foundational AI knowledge, including its relevance to their industry. Finally, I'd help them apply their learning through projects or tools to improve their digital competency. - Ula Ojiaku, Mezahab Group I'd immerse them in 'real-world'' role-play labs: AI-simulated market shifts where they must adapt in real time—not theory, not tutorials, but lived, gamified disruption. Because relevance isn't taught; it's trained through tension, experimentation and reflection in synthetic futures. - Andre Shojaie, HumanLearn Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify? We encourage our clients to set aside time each week to understand the changes that are occurring in AI each week, and to put intentionality behind the time they spend to become and/or stay relevant. We also stay relevant in the latest AI updates ourselves in order to serve our clients better. At the very least, we recommend that our clients delegate or outsource the required digital competencies in order to remain relevant. - Gregg Frederick, G3 Development Group, Inc It is all about how AI is being grafted into your field. We are connecting clients to key classes, workshops and learnings that directly impact, and are being integrated into, their profession and work. It's not about going crazy and running to every 'must-see' AI seminar. It is about how you can learn what is being, and what will be, applied to your role, your job, your industry and your company. - John M. O'Connor, Career Pro Inc. AI is moving at such a pace that nobody can ever claim to have 'cracked it'—it's a consistently moving target with more to learn every day. Remember, almost every profession has to perform, record and submit some form of minimum continuous professional development hours per year in order to remain accredited. For a leader, their personal CPD hours now have to be AI-based. - Antonio Garrido, My Daily Leadership Start with curiosity, not code. I tell clients: You don't need to become an AI engineer; you need to know what questions to ask and what tools to use. Focus on use cases, not buzzwords. Relevance today means knowing enough to lead smart conversations, spot nonsense and stay ahead of the curve—without getting lost in the algorithm. - Anastasia Paruntseva, Visionary Partners Ltd. Encourage a digital mindset shift. We help clients shift from being passive tech users to strategic AI collaborators by: 1. framing AI as a partner, not a replacement; 2. encouraging experimentation with AI on safe, low-risk tasks (that is, those in which they have expertise so that AI hallucinations can be easily spotted); and 3. emphasizing ethics, data privacy and bias awareness in AI use. - Nick Leighton, Exactly Where You Want to Be I would start by turning AI literacy into a team sport rather than a solo study session. We would form a micro-learning pod where the client teaches one AI concept per week to their peers or even their kids, using plain language and silly metaphors. Relevance is not about mastering every tool; it is about making tech human and relatable, starting with oneself. AI is a friend; embrace it. - Thomas Lim, Centre for Systems Leadership (SIM Academy) I'd show clients (not tell them) how AI can solve everyday challenges. For instance, if they're in sales, I'd demonstrate how AI can automate lead scoring, saving them time and boosting sales. By showing the immediate benefits—like freeing up time or making smarter decisions—I'd help them see how AI can make their work easier and more impactful, sparking real excitement. - Shikha Bajaj, Own Your Color The fastest way to build AI literacy is to start using it. Explore what works in your role—using AI to polish or proof your writing or brainstorm ideas, for example—and where it may fall short, such as accurately pulling data or citations. As you do, check your company's guidelines on approved tools and confidentiality to ensure you're using AI responsibly. - Kathleen Shanley, Statice To stay relevant, I'd help clients understand how AI agents can optimize workflows, enhance decision-making and drive efficiency. We'd focus on practical learning—starting with data quality, bias detection and real use cases—so that they could confidently identify where AI adds value and how it complements their expertise. - Stephan Lendi, Newbury Media & Communications GmbH Focus on understanding your problems and existing solutions. You don't need to be an AI expert, but you should know how to use AI to solve your issues efficiently. Assess your skills, provide targeted training, encourage practical application, promote continuous learning, leverage AI tools and build a supportive network. This approach ensures you stay competitive and effective. - Aurelien Mangano, DevelUpLeaders AI is here, and it is not going away, so you either invest your time in becoming AI literate or you become obsolete. There are many online courses (including some good free ones) that start with the basics of what AI is and is not. I also encourage you to look into courses that discuss the application of AI in your particular field and industry. Talk to your engineers. Try AI copiloting with a virtual assistant in your downtime. - Katy MacKinnon Hansell, Katy Hansell Impact Partners I'd guide clients to adopt an AI copilot mindset—using AI as a thinking partner, not just a tool. Then we'd layer in weekly challenges with real tasks and real stakes, designed to build prompt fluency, pattern recognition and adaptive thinking. In a fast-forward world, relevance goes to those who upgrade how they think. - Adam Levine, InnerXLab
Harvard Business Review
4 days ago
- Business
- Harvard Business Review
When Your Go-To Leadership Style Stops Working
As you move into senior roles, some leadership styles will come more naturally than others, shaped by your personality and past successes. And over time, your favored style may become your brand, expected by others and increasingly authentic to you. But what happens when your preferred approach suddenly loses followership? If you don't adjust, you could diminish your credibility as a leader. On the other hand, adopting an unfamiliar style can be both awkward for you and confusing for your colleagues. The challenge to become versatile across leadership styles is arguably harder than improving technical expertise or strategic competence because it calls for personal transformation. And these days, if you're not committed to developing past your comfort zone, you're unlikely to inspire others to stretch themselves and follow your example. In my work coaching executives, I've seen that having the courage to develop greater adaptability in their leadership approach is worth the effort. Leaders who expand their range of styles not only sustain followership, they're often surprised by how agility gets easier with practice. Here are five strategies to help you successfully meet the moment when your default leadership style stops working. Scan for shifts in the business, stakeholders, and yourself. When your leadership style loses impact, it's typically because something changed in the systems around you. To avoid blind spots in your effectiveness, look for sudden changes in three areas: the business you serve, the stakeholders you manage and influence, and your personal concerns. Ask yourself: Have market dynamics, customer needs, or product strategies shifted? Are your stakeholders requiring something different in order to willingly follow you? And within yourself, have any new responsibilities demanded a change in your confidence and presence? I once coached a VP who noticed morale dropping across his team and complaints rising from internal customers about work delays. As he scanned for shifts in the business and key stakeholders, he recognized that constant pivots in strategy to keep up with market competition confused the team's priorities. At the same time, internal customers were applying pressure on shared projects. And the new VP, newly promoted, was trying too hard to please everyone, rather than managing around a clear vision and strategically setting boundaries on service. The result was a purely reactive team seen as order-takers targeted for criticism rather than valuable strategic partners. By scanning at the level of the business, stakeholders and self, the VP realized he needed to lead with more clarity and conviction to improve credibility around what his team could promise and deliver. Shifting his style with this intention helped reset and re-engage both his team and stakeholders more effectively. Identify a style you're overusing and try on new ones. To help you assess which styles you tend to favor, consider how you show up across these six leadership styles, as provided by psychologist Daniel Goleman's research: directive (using command and coercion), authoritative (defining a vision to follow), pacesetting (insisting on high standards), affiliative (preferring personal bonds), democratic (seeking consensus for decisions), and coaching (prioritizing individual growth). Several factors influence your chosen style, from your personality and unique strengths, to how you were taught about leadership, perhaps from prior bosses or mentors. But comfort breeds complacency, and as needs change, your over-reliance on one approach can limit future followership. One of my coaching clients was a CEO who had spent his whole career at his company. Because of his deep institutional knowledge and a scrappy, 'roll up your sleeves and get it done' personality, he preferred to operate in the weeds, involving himself in extremely tactical issues. This pacesetting style—hands on, detail oriented and pushing for his view of excellence—worked well when the company was small and his leadership team was made up of longtime colleagues who expected it. But as the business scaled and new leaders were hired to help the company develop a mature operational structure, his involvement became a bottleneck. And his style, once effective for solving simpler problems, now limited his managers' capabilities in addressing increasingly complex ones. He realized that in order to sustain effectiveness, he needed to try on some new styles, namely a visionary one that encouraged team ownership, and a coaching one that empowered others to grow themselves in preparation for future demands. Be transparent about style changes. Expanding your range of styles is a sign of sophisticated leadership, but be prepared for growing pains. Not only is adopting a new style unfamiliar to you, but it may confuse others if done without warning. Failing to share the context of what and why you're changing, may be seen as erratic and even worse, diminish trust. To ensure alignment, build on your ongoing social contract, explaining your intention and how you'll experiment with broadening your range when leading your team. You might tell them: Over the past year, I've noticed a habit of mine that is getting in the way of achieving the results we all want. I like to jump in and insert myself in the work when I don't see progress. But that's not working for either of us. Going forward, I'm going to try to empower you more, asking questions to invite your ownership and delegating more intentionally. If I seem quieter in meetings, it's not that I'm disengaged, and if I'm asking lots of questions, I'm not trying to test you. I'm just trying to listen and encourage your process and solutions rather than mine. Reinforce how this shift will help everyone: 'Being a more intentional coach will not only help me spend more time on the big issues on my plate but also show you I trust you and want to give you opportunities to show what you can do.' Taking ownership for where your style needs to expand can understandably make you feel exposed. But remember it's courage, humility and your modeling of vulnerability that will strengthen your team's capabilities and increase your followership. Practice, seek feedback, and expect pushback. Once you've clarified your intentions, start experimenting in small, yet visible ways. Ask for feedback on how your new approach is landing, but don't be discouraged if some colleagues aren't happy with it. After all, even if your prior style had its flaws, it was familiar. Changes in how you lead them may feel unwanted until they experience the benefits of adaptation. One of my coaching clients was an SVP of technology, responsible for innovating engineering processes to improve his company's competitive edge. His style was grounded in vision-building and democratic decision-making, motivating the team to imagine the impossible and engage in healthy, inclusive debates about how to get there. While his team felt safe and supported, several recent project failures reduced other stakeholders' confidence in the SVP's operational maturity. He developed a reputation for overpromising and underdelivering, caused by two problems with his leadership approach: his unwillingness to give critical feedback to his team and an aversion to consistent, detailed reporting to his peers on progress. To his credit, he made demonstrable changes in his approach in response to these setbacks. To more objectively assess his team, he asked himself who he would re-hire (or not) if he had to start the team from scratch. Then he defined specific gaps for each and coached them with targeted feedback, acknowledging that his prior avoidance of that limited their potential. And when his team engaged in endless debates, he redirected them toward closure and action. Lastly, he had his team develop a cadence for planning and reporting out to stakeholders based on key metrics of interest. Not everyone on the SVP's team welcomed these style shifts. After all, it meant more work and personal accountability. But he continued to seek feedback as a way of calibrating his approach to avoid over-indexing the other way. And by persisting with experimentation while accepting the pushback as a necessary part of evolving, he offered a model for them to expand their range as leaders too. Commit to developing versatility over mastery. As you experiment with new leadership styles, don't be discouraged if some just never feel right. Stay open to practicing across styles so you have access to more choices when the moment calls for it. And commit to choosing your approach based on purpose rather than personal preference. This not only increases your leadership effectiveness in a given context, but it ensures you're actively growing your adaptability muscle for future needs. In today's ever-changing workplace, being adaptive is a major strategic advantage. A recent study reported more than 60% of corporate learning professionals believe leaders must become more behaviorally adaptable to meet future needs. And these days, companies are even creating C-suite roles specifically designed to foster agility because of its criticality for achieving enterprise-wide alignment. But versatility demands vulnerability and often letting go of your core identity. For example, if you're a leader who has built trusted relationships before setting expectations, you might view the necessity to be authoritative and decisive first, as an affront to your values and 'who you are.' And yet in holding onto what feels authentic, you could miss the opportunity to use a directive style when it's more effective for the moment at hand, such as providing clarity in crisis, or helping new employees know what is expected of them before ramping up to their own level of competence. To develop your adaptability across styles, let go of the need to feel authentic at all times. Versatile leaders often embody all six styles in the span of a day, depending on the purpose of the interaction. Read the room, consider if people need you to be decisive, observant, facilitative, or something else at that time, and show up accordingly, just to see what works. In any leadership role, your style of engaging others plays a significant part in determining success, sometimes even more than the subject matter of the work. And when your style suddenly loses its desired impact, it can be hard to know how to shift it without losing your authenticity or confusing those you lead. By using these strategies, you can make sure you're sustaining followership by optimizing your style for the moment and developing your adaptive range for future shifts.
