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Trust used to be the benefit of the doubt. Now it is the battle to be won. Recently, I asked a CEO client why she didnt want to speak on a panel her team had been invited to. Her answer? Id rather the company speak for itself. I dont want to make it about me. That hesitation is common. Many leaders assume visibility is self-serving. But today, staying behind the scenes isnt humility. It’s a risk. When nearly 70% of people believe business leaders intentionally mislead the public, credibility and trust, not marketing, has become the new currency. We are leading in an era when silence is interpreted as indifference and visibility is mistaken for vanity. That tension has paralyzed many executives who want to do the right thing but do not want to appear self-promotional. I have spent more than a decade helping CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs turn visibility into a strategy rather than a stunt. The most successful ones have mastered five internal shifts that rebuild trust from the inside out. None of them requires a massive budget. All of them require courage. 1. Step out from behind your business and stand beside it Many leaders still assume that the company should speak for them. That used to work when audiences trusted corporations implicitly. Today, people look for the human behind the logo. According to Edelmans 2025 Trust Barometer, business remains the most trusted institution, yet that trust is now tied directly to individual leaders. Visibility is not about ego. It is about accountability. When you put your name to your mission, it tells employees and customers that you believe enough in the work to represent it personally. Start small. Write one LinkedIn post each week that connects your leadership values to what your team is building. Share a story from the trenches, a tough call you made, a lesson you learned, or even a mistake that clarified your priorities. Authentic leaders do not curate perfection. They clarify purpose. The goal is to stand alongside your company, not in front of it or hiding behind it. 2. Define your ‘Influence ID’ before you define your strategy In every workshop I run, I ask leaders one question: Who are you in addition to being a CEO or founder? That question is often followed by a long pause. Most can rattle off quarterly goals faster than personal convictions. Yet your ability to articulate who you are shapes whether people trust what you sell. I call this your Influence ID. It is the unique mix of values, experiences, and strengths that differentiates you from every other leader in your industry. It is not a tagline. It is a compass. Try this exercise. Write down eight aspects of your brand wheel: skills, stories, causes, or passions that make you who you are. Notice where they overlap. Maybe your financial discipline fuels your advocacy for small business transparency. Maybe your love of coaching kids sports mirrors how you lead teams. Those intersections reveal your authentic narrative. When you know your Influence ID, every decision, from interviews to investor decks, aligns naturally. You stop performing a brand and start embodying one. 3. Turn your visibility into a trust engine The loudest leaders do not necessarily win. The most trusted ones do. The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer found that 61% of people believe both business and government are failing people like them. In that environment, communication has to shift from promotion to education. The leaders earning trust today act less like advertisers and more like teachers. Start by reframing every outward communication with one question: What value does this give my audience? If you are announcing a product, explain the problem it solves. If you are celebrating a milestone, share the lesson that others can apply. Use the three-to-one rule I teach executives: three insights or resources for every one piece of company or product promotion. This ratio forces you to build goodwill before you ever ask for attention. Over time, consistency compounds into credibility. People stop seeing you as a marketer and start seeing you as a mentor. That is the moment visibility becomes trust. 4. Treat thought leadership like a business asset, not a marketing hobby For most organizations, the real decision-makers are not the ones sitting in sales meetings. They are the unseen influencers in legal, finance, or operations who quietly determine whether a deal moves forward. Edelman and LinkedIns 2025 B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report calls them hidden buyers. They read deeply, think critically, and use high-quality thought leadership to decide whom to trust. That means every article, podcast or op-ed you publish is more than content. It is collateral in the trust economy. Audit your digital presence the way you would a financial statement. Ask yourself: Is your expertise visible where those hidden buyers are researching? Do your insights challenge assumptions rather than echo trends? Does your tone invite dialogue instead of demand attention? Pick one platform, such as your newsletter or LinkedIn. Commit to showing up consistently for 90 days. Measure success not by likes but by opportunities: invitations, partnerships, and client inquiries. Those are the new trust metrics. 5. Build a brand that outlasts your business Many founders sell their companies and then realize they sold their voice along with them. I have watched brilliant entrepreneurs exit successfully only to feel an unexpected emptiness. Their entire network, data, and even audience list transferred with the deal. Your business is an asset. You are the equity. Start protecting that equity now. Maintain an email list, personal website, or professional profile that belongs to you, not just your company. Capture the lessons you are learning in real time through a blog, internal newsletter, or short video updates, and keep those archives. When the next chapter comes, you will have a built-in platform ready to launch whatever comes next. Think of it the way Sara Blakely did when she sold a majority stake in Spanx but announced it from her personal Instagram rather than a press release. Her audience followed her, which meant every future venture started with a foundation of trust already built. The modern trust equation You do not need millions of followers to be influential. You need the right 500 people who are in your target audience and believe you stand for something real. You want to create raving fans out of those 500 people. Leadership visibility is not about spotlighting yourself. It is about directing attention toward a mission that matters. The skeptics will always ask, Cant CEOs just lead quietly? They can, but quiet leadership is invisible leadership, and invisible leadership no longer earns trust. So stand beside your business. Define your Influence ID. Teach, not preach. Publish with purpose. Build a reputation sturdy enoughto outlast any logo. In the age of skepticism, the most powerful marketing strategy remaining is the truth spoken by a leader who is willing to show up and stand by it. Adapted from The Strategic Business Influencer: Building a Brand with a Small Budget. Copyright 2025 by Paige Velasquez Budde. Available from Matt Holt, an imprint of BenBella Books, Inc.
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Every organization believes it’s in the productivity business. Every executive thinks faster, longer, more densely packed meetings equal better results. They’re wrong. The meetings that actually workthe ones where breakthroughs happen and teams leave energized rather than depletedoperate on a completely different logic. They’re designed around how human brains actually function, not how we wish they would. By helping organizations transform their cultures through my Move. Think. Rest. (MTR) framework, I’ve watched the same pattern emerge: Companies spend millions on the latest collaboration software and meeting tech, then squander the opportunity by applying the same exhausting, back-to-back scheduling that got them nowhere in the first place. Here’s what needs to change. {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/i-16x9-figure-thinking.jpg","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/i-16x9-figure-thinking_0b545c.jpg","eyebrow":"","headline":"\u003Cem\u003EWonderRigor Newsletter\u003C\/em\u003E","dek":"Want more insights, tools, and invitations from Dr. Natalie Nixon about applying creativity for meaningful business results and the future of work? Subscribe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/urldefense.proofpoint.com\/v2\/url?u=https-3A__figure-2D8-2Dthinking-2Dllc.kit.com_sign-2Dup\u0026amp;d=DwMFaQ\u0026amp;c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM\u0026amp;r=xHenyQfyc6YcuCNMBsOvfYGQILM1d1ruredVZikn4HE\u0026amp;m=F383gnrChFhYKPhcpNHI1hY3o58IHIn_LkB5QJDrs3G5Wfft-DcucUO4UEmGO7GZ\u0026amp;s=JlJm7GyKCJvPW0jyrsfTFtinteKDitN13vfPZiuJnP8\u0026amp;e=\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E for the free WonderRigor newsletter at Figure8Thinking.com","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"Learn More","ctaUrl":"http:\/\/Figure8Thinking.com","theme":{"bg":"#3b3f46","text":"#ffffff","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#6e8ba6","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91470060,"imageMobileId":91470061,"shareable":false,"slug":""}} Rhythm, Not Relentlessness We should stop treating breaks as a tax on productivity and instead understand that breaks are an investment in our productivity. Most conference agendas are built on the assumption that more content equals more value. It’s an assumption that breaks the human brain. Our cognitive architecture doesn’t work in endless marathons. It works in cycles. This is why the best meetings I’ve redesigned follow a simple principle: Build MTR directly into your schedule. Start with Movement by designand I don’t mean “take a walking break.” I mean fundamentally restructuring how your sessions happen. Convert at least one daily brainstorming session into a walking meeting. The research is clear: When bodies move, ideas flow. The Navy figured this out decades ago with standing meetings. They’re more effective and efficient because motion isn’t a distraction from thinking, it’s a catalyst for it. For the Think dimension, protect what I call “suspended time.” Back-to-back sessions aren’t intensive, they’re destructive. Replace that model with 75- to 90-minute deep-dive blocks followed by genuine transition time. Before bringing insights to a large group, let people first reflect individually, then discuss in pairs. This honors how people actually process: We need space to diverge before we can meaningfully converge. And Rest is nonnegotiable, which means we should stop treating breaks like their mechanical pit stops, as if theyre stealing time from productivity. Build in 15-minute microbreaks between sessions: intentional pauses where people actually step away, stretch, move outside, daydream. Research shows that even 10 minutes of genuine rest sustains performance and enhances well-being. Daydreaming helps with generative, divergent thinking. And a midday break that’s longer than the time it takes to eat lunch at your desk isn’t a luxury. It’s the infrastructure that makes everything else work. Redesign Your Agenda Language Words shape experience. When you say break, you signal that time is lost. When you say integration time or reflection pause, you signal that this moment is essential to how you do your best thinking. This matters more than you’d think. Here’s what belongs on your ideal meeting agenda: sessions scheduled during people’s natural peak cognitive times (usually mid-to-late morning), unconference elements where participants help build the agenda in real time, movement infrastructure built into the physical environment, and explicitly named transition time. What doesn’t belong: purely informational sessions that could be prerecorded, expectations that people perform at full capacity from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. straight, and the assumption that measuring success means measuring how much you packed in. The Changes That Actually Move the Needle The highest-impact redesigns don’t require massive budgets. They require a different mindset. Implement meeting-free blocks. Designate specific timeperhaps the first three hours of a multiday conference, or entire afternoonsas true meeting moratoriums. Not break time. Deep work time. People use it for reflection, processing, or the spontaneous conversations that often yield the most valuable insights. This single change transforms an event from overwhelming to generative. Build movement infrastructure. Provide mapped walking routes with estimated times. Create outdoor spaces with seating for breakout sessions. Install standing-meeting areas with whiteboards. When movement is built into the physical environment, it becomes the default rather than something people have to engineer. Create rituals of rest. Start each day with 10 minutes of optional guided stretching or meditation. End each day with a brief reflection session. Designate quiet zones for afternoon restoration. When rest is ritualized, it shifts the entire culture. Measure differently. Stop asking whether you covered all the content. Start asking: What unexpected insights emerged? What new connections formed? How energized do people feel when they leave? This shift in metrics naturally leads to better design choices. The Competitive Advantage of Flourishing Here’s what most leaders miss: The meeting redesign isn’t (just) about being nice to people. It’s about being strategic. When you move from productivity theater to cultivation-centered design, you unlock something more valuable than efficiency. You unlock the kind of thinking that emerges only when people have genuinely processed information, made authentic connections, and restored their cognitive resources. You create conditions where innovation doesn’t come from forcing harder, it comes from creating the rhythmic space where human flourishing and breakthrough thinking naturally intersect. The organizations that understand that meeting are systems, not schedules, will find themselves with teams that are more innovative, more engaged, and, frankly, more loyal. Stop stacking. Start designing. {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/i-16x9-figure-thinking.jpg","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/i-16x9-figure-thinking_0b545c.jpg","eyebrow":"","headline":"\u003Cem\u003EWonderRigor Newsletter\u003C\/em\u003E","dek":"Want more insights, tools, and invitations from Dr. Natalie Nixon about applying creativity for meaningful business results and the future of work? Subscribe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/urldefense.proofpoint.com\/v2\/url?u=https-3A__figure-2D8-2Dthinking-2Dllc.kit.com_sign-2Dup\u0026amp;d=DwMFaQ\u0026amp;c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM\u0026amp;r=xHenyQfyc6YcuCNMBsOvfYGQILM1d1ruredVZikn4HE\u0026amp;m=F383gnrChFhYKPhcpNHI1hY3o58IHIn_LkB5QJDrs3G5Wfft-DcucUO4UEmGO7GZ\u0026amp;s=JlJm7GyKCJvPW0jyrsfTFtinteKDitN13vfPZiuJnP8\u0026amp;e=\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E for the free WonderRigor newsletter at Figure8Thinking.com","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"Learn More","ctaUrl":"http:\/\/Figure8Thinking.com","theme":{"bg":"#3b3f46","text":"#ffffff","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#6e8ba6","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91470060,"imageMobileId":91470061,"shareable":false,"slug":""}}
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A few of the neatest gadgets at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026 werent anywhere near the Las Vegas Convention Center trade show venue. Instead, they were sitting on a table at The Venetian Resort’s food court, at least on Monday when Core Devices founder Eric Migicovsky was holding press meetings. He had a couple of quirky Pebble smartwatches to show off, with lo-fi e-paper screens in round and rectangular forms, and he was wearing an early version of the Pebble Index, a smart ring whose main job is capturing voice notes. (He moved to a booth in the bowels of the Venetian expo when CES officially got underway.) Unlike a lot of exhibitors, Migicovsky isnt promising anything revolutionary, but he also made clear that Cores mission has expanded. Beyond just making smartwatches, he now sees the company as a purveyor of fun but indispensable gadgets. The Pebble Index is just the start. Core Devices is building the gadgets we want, (because) no one else is, he says. Three watches and a smart ring Its now been about nine years since Pebble shut down, selling its assets to Fitbit after the Apple Watch sucked out the oxygen for smartwatch startups. Maybe Pebbles fate was unavoidable, but Migicovsky also regrets overextending into areas he wasnt passionate about, like fitness tracking. (Im not a Whoop guy, he says.) Core Devices is a chance to start fresh. After spending three years as a Y Combinator partner, and then selling his messaging startup Beeper to Automattic (reportedly for $125 million), Migicovsky has no desire to go the usual startup route again. When Google agreed to open-source the original Pebble operating system last year, he put up the R&D money for a new batch of watches, then started taking preorders. With the new Pebble watches, the core appeal is the same as the originals: Geeky watch faces, reliable push button controls, e-paper screens for long battery life, hackability. For Core Devices’ first new watch, the Pebble 2 Duo, the hardware is also similar, as Migicovsky found a supplier with some original Pebble 2 components and repurposed them into 8,000 new watches that shipped late last year. The next batch of Pebbles is more like what the original company mightve built if it survived for longer. The $225 Pebble Time 2 looks like a standard rectangular smartwatch, except it lasts for a month between charges, while the $199 Pebble Round 2 ditches heart rate monitoring for a slim design and two weeks of battery life. Both have larger screens and much narrower bezels than any of Pebbles original watches. As for the $99 Pebble Index 01 ring, Migicovsky says the idea came from struggling to remember things and wanting to record them in way that became muscle memory. Talking into the ring while holding its clickable button records a voice note, which a companion app transcribes into text. A double-click allows for programmable actions such as smart home controls or AI queries (whose answers, for instance, could appear on a Pebble). A Pebble app with similar functionality is coming, but the point of the ring is that you only need one free thumb to use it. Meanwhile, Migicovsky is cutting out all the things he hated about making hardware before. He raises money for the watches through preorders instead of investors, sells them through Cores website instead of dealing with retailers, and doesnt bother with sales forecasting. The resulting sales have been modest25,000 Pebble Time 2 preorders, 7,000 more for the Round, 8,000 for the now-sold-out Pebble 2 Duobut the company has far exceeded its minimums for what Migicovsky considers viable. That means Core Devices can keep making new gadgets. We decided this go-round that well just do the things that are fun, he says. Beyond the watch Among longtime Pebble fans, the Index ring has been contentious, in large part because it’s not designed to last. Its internal battery isn’t rechargeable or replaceable, and after 12 to 15 hours of recording time, it’ll simply stop working. (Migicovsky estimates a two-year lifespan for someone who records 10 to 20 thoughts per day.) Core Devices will offer to recycle the metal, but it’ll throw the electronics away. Migicovsky says the single-use battery was necessary for an attractive design with water resistance, and he likes the idea of never having to take the ring off, even in the shower. But because the original Pebble watches have endured for so longa decade later, thousands of people still use theirsthe Index’s disposable nature feels incongruous even if Migicovsky downplays it. I would say that most devices are made to be thrown away, and thats the secret of the industry that nobody ever talks about, he says. The Index also just indicates that Core Devices is more than a smartwatch company now. While the original goal was to scratch one specific itch, Migicovsky now says he has “lots more” ideas for new products. There will be prerequisites: Whatever Core Devices makes can’t already exist, must have low R&D costs, and should be possible to build with a small team. (The company currently employs five people, all on the software side besides Migicovsky himself.) Its products will have to solve everyday problems, even if they’re niche ones. Still, the company has more things to figure out first. While the Index uses on-device speech-to-text for voice notes, it’s unclear how it’ll cover the cost of using AI to process custom commands, or for its optional Wispr Flow-powered transcriptions. Migicovsky doesn’t love the idea of subscriptions but isn’t sure about alternatives. Employing a team obviously has ongoing costs as well, which means Core Devices will need to expand from its tiny audience, find recurring revenue streams, or keep releasing new things. But even as it expands, Core Devices is keeping its ambitions in check, which at a venue like CES can be pretty refreshing. Were not trying to invent some new computing category,” Migicovsky says. “Were not trying to take over the world.
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