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2025-09-18 08:00:00| Fast Company

Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston, delivered a TED Talk in 2010 on the power of vulnerability thats since been viewed nearly 70 million times, making her a self-help guru and something of a cultural icon. Since then, 150,000 leaders across the globe have taken her workshops on leading with courage. Her new book, Strong Ground, delves into lessons from these workshops. At the 11th annual Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York on September 17, Brown discussed with senior editor Jon Gluck why we need strong leaders now more than ever. Here are her top three insights on leadership she shared at the event: 1. Were in the middle of a collective AI panic attackand need to take a breath. Brown said that when it comes to AI, most CEOs are like 5-year-olds playing soccer, kicking the ball every which way, going, Okay, what do we want to do? I don’t give a shit, just have a strategy. We might be in the middle of an AI wave, after allbut that doesnt mean companies are being thoughtful or strategic about how they are deploying AI. According to research from MIT, more than 95% of AI investments are not profitable. Companies are failing to align AI investments with business strategy. We need to get the ball, look down the pitch strategically, take a breath, and pass the ball, Brown said. We’re going too fast. . . . We’re scared. [Photo: Eugene Gologursky for Fast Company] 2. Real organizational transformation requires breaking things. Were burned out on buzzwords like transformation because most incremental changes are marketed as transformations. But Brown said actual, meaningful change that can reinvent companies requires breaking shit. The hardest thing about a real transformation is you’re going to need to break some shit. You’re going to need a very serious assessment of what is working in your organization: the systems, the processes, the people, she said. You also need a very real assessment of whats not working, and let it go. And what you have to put on the chopping block with transformation is some of your darlings, Brown said. 3. Want people to listen to you? Be preparedand honest.  Brown said shes been told she has executive presence (a term she called a cover for shitting on introverts and women). But she says what others call a certain presence is really all about preparation.  Before a meeting with executives, Brown will put in hours listening to the investor calls, researching the points she doesnt understand, and watching interviews with the CEO so she can ask incisive questions. I try to be prepared. That may be over-functioning from being the only woman in a lot of rooms in my career, she said. But in addition to doing her homework, she also prioritizes being truthful, even if its unpalatable. I try to not give a shit whether you like me or not. I’m honest. I try to just be very truthful. And I think if people listen to what I say, maybe it’s because they trust that I’m going to tell the truth, she said. And if I can’t, I don’t talk. Watch the whole interview here.


Category: E-Commerce

 

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2025-09-18 06:00:00| Fast Company

Im a LinkedIn ghostwriter, which means I write personal LinkedIn posts for other people in their unique voice. Nobody knows I’m the writer behind the post. Today, CEOs, executives, entrepreneurs, and consultants are also building their online presence and vying for attention, particularly on LinkedIn. Thats where the ghostwriter comes in. According to LinkedIn, 82% of consumers are more likely to trust a company whose CEO and leadership team are active on social media, and 77% are more likely to buy from such a company. Furthermore, 85% of B2B marketers say LinkedIn is the most valuable social platform to be active on. People love to hear from leaders. The Financial Times reported that executives can expect four times more engagement than other LinkedIn users and have even experienced a 39% increase in followers after posting. Leaders have so much knowledge and insight to share, and its clear that their network wants to hear from them. However, many lack the time, writing skills, or consistency required to create and sustain an influential LinkedIn presence.  Enter the LinkedIn ghostwriter: the C-suites new power tool and an essential addition to their communications team. I started out as a typical social media manager for brands. LinkedIn content was always for company pages, usually in the B2B space. Then, in early 2023, I signed my first ghostwriting client, creating posts for executives’ personal LinkedIn profiles. Since then, Ive created hundreds of posts and helped my clients boost their personal brands and influence on the platform. Heres what you need to know if youre considering hiring your own LinkedIn ghostwriter. HOW IT WORKS Ghostwriting isnt about faking a voice or posting for the sake of posting. It requires a thorough understanding of the platform and the ability to adapt to various kinds of voices and personalities. Heres a quick look at my process: Onboarding and research The first port of call is getting to know a new client’s tone of voice, goals for their LinkedIn presence and business, and even their hobbies outside of work. Were all humans, after all! We have a kick-off call and an intake form so I can get to know them better, which helps me create posts that are authentic to the client. From there, I develop the content strategy, which outlines the overarching topics (or content pillars) that well talk about, the formats (video, carousel, imagery) that well use, as well as the success metrics that will be measured each month.  Content creation Next, I create weekly content aligned to the clients goals and strategy. I pull their insights, knowledge, and opinions from various sources, such as interviews, questionnaires, slide decks, webinars, industry news, blogs, personal stories, and our regular catch-ups. These are crafted into engaging, personalized, thought-leadership-style posts and are sent to the client for review. Once any edits are made, I schedule the post to their profile, or they post it themselves, depending on their preference. Continuous refinement This isnt a set-and-forget process. Each month, I review the metrics to see which types of posts and content topics performed best, and why. These insights help inform the strategy moving forward. HOW TO FIND THE BEST LINKEDIN GHOSTWRITER FOR YOU Partnering with a ghostwriter with whom you mesh well is critical. Here are some tips to get you started on your search: Recommendations: A great place to start is by asking your network on LinkedIn for reputable contacts. Once you have a shortlist, make sure to read testimonials and check out their own LinkedIn profiles, too. Set your expectations early: Do you want daily posts? Monthly LinkedIn articles? Perhaps a combination of both? If youre hesitant about handing over the reins to your profile, see if you can do a trial period first.  Understand how they work: How regularly do they have catch-ups? How many rounds of revisions do they include for each post? What is the preferred method of communication for you both? Some clients like to message over WhatsApp when an idea arises, while others prefer a scheduled monthly Zoom call.  Rates: LinkedIn ghostwriters may charge anywhere from $500 to more than $3,000 per month. It depends on their experience level and the scope of the work, such as how many posts are created each month, whether theyre editing video, designing graphics, or engaging in community management (e.g., responding to direct messages and commenting on posts on behalf of the client). Privacy: Clients often expect privacythey dont want the whole world to know they are using a ghostwriter. If required, check if the ghostwriter is happy to sign an NDA. Red flags: LinkedIn ghostwriters are custodians of a clients personal brand and reputation, so professionalism and integrity are of the utmost importance. If a ghostwriter communicates poorly, doesnt deliver what they promised, forges ahead without a written agreement, or hasnt nailed your tone of voice after a couple of months, these are red flags, and it may be time to find another! A LinkedIn ghostwriter is more than just a writer. Theyre a strategic communications partner to their clients. The best ones are undetectable, yet help you increase your reach and influence.


Category: E-Commerce

 

2025-09-18 06:00:00| Fast Company

When I was an engineer at Stripe circa 2017, I pitched a machine learning system that would cut our support headcount in half. I thought I was solving the biggest cost to the company: people. After all, isnt that the point of automation? The head of supports response caught me off guard: Congratulations. Youve automated the easy part. I realized the real problem was the workflow. Agents were toggling between 10 different tools. Institutional knowledge was stuck in silos. Work was being routed manually, without any visibility into patterns or bottlenecks. The biggest cost wasnt people. It was the broken process. Cutting labor costs in the name of AI has often proven to be a losing proposition. Take Klarna, for example: in early 2024, their OpenAIpowered assistant took on the workload of nearly 700 support agents, but that bet didnt stick. By mid2025, the company began rehiring human agents, acknowledging that customers still want empathy, and that AI needs human oversight to deliver quality service. The companies actually moving the ball forward on AI arent fear mongering about its potential or laying off entire teams. Theyre rethinking how work gets done. Theyre investing in programs and structures to accelerate learning and experimentation, helping employees evolve and drive efficiency alongside the technology. Its the combination of humans and AI that unlocks AIs full potentialnot AI-only at all costs, which only serves to sow reticence among the very people we need to move it forward. Heres how they think about using AI to unlock real gains. Design for orchestration When companies view AI through the lens of headcount reduction, they end up chasing automation for its own sake. But automating without connecting systems, roles, and feedback loops just accelerates the mess. Its like building an assembly line where the sections dont fit together. The most effective teams dont treat AI as a stand-alone fix. They treat it as one part of a larger machine: human judgment, internal tools, data flows, and real-time decision loops. The goal isnt fewer people. Its better flow. At Stripe, I once built a model to auto-answer simple support queries. Automation wasnt the most valuable part. The most useful outcome turned out to be refreshing the categorization of support issues and documentation, which had gotten outdated and too broad. For example, we identified that chargeback fee questions should be treated differently from chargeback evidence questions, which had previously been grouped together. This freed people up to develop training, build the right internal tools, and organize product feedback. Build on top of clean documentation  Fear of job loss often drives leaders to chase AI quick wins: Can we automate answers tomorrow? But AI cant answer questions no one has documented properly. Knowledge usually lives in chat threads, outdated docs, or in one persons head. And thats where adoption efforts stall. High-functioning, AI-forward teams treat internal knowledge as a product. They document how decisions are made. They build systems where humans feed lessons back in. And they make it easy for AI (or anyone) to access and apply that context reliably. One company in Latin Americas online food-delivery sector offers a useful example. When AI chat support went sideways, the team first centralized their standard operating procedures and mapped gaps with product managers. According to their product manager, many policies didnt exist or were outdated, with no overarching process to keep documentation fresh after product changes. That unlocked clarity and consistency before any AI was involved, and enabled faster automation once the AI effort got underway. My most frequently given advice for companies to accelerate their AI initiatives is to write things down, keep them up to date, then use AI to surface patterns and speed up decisions. AI isnt magic: Its infrastructure When leaders frame AI as a shortcut to job cuts, they set themselves up for disappointment. The teams seeing real impact take a very different approach: they treat it like plumbing. They connect it to their systems for scheduling, analytics, forecasting, and decision-making, and they generally measure outcomes, not vibes. They also dont overcommit. They test. Adjust. Roll back. The smartest operators dont ask, What can we automate? They ask, Whats breaking right now, and could AI help? One payroll provider with over five million users illustrates the point well. Instead of ripping out their call center, they built a dial to A/B test between an AI voice agent and the classic press 2 for billing interactive voice response. They measured resolution rates, sampled calls, and tested continuously. By plugging AI into existing systems for telephone and quality management, they were able to target specific workflows for automation, such as troubleshooting common reasons for delayed payments. AI isnt going to transform your workforce overnight. The best leaders know how to measure success, build systems around those learnings, and roll out changes rigorously. Done right, AI can help you build a workforce thats more resilient and less dependent on heroics, not by chasing headcount cuts, but by integrating AI thoughtfully into the messy reality of operations. In this way, organizations can bring employees along for the journey, ensuring AI becomes a tool people want to use and ultimately adopt. The conversation we should be having isnt about which jobs vanish, but about how we redesign systems so humans and AI can work together at their best. Thats where real innovation happens and where the gains compound.


Category: E-Commerce

 

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