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A few years ago, we had a bottleneck within our organization at Super.com, the membership program focused on saving, earning, and credit building. Every new idea depended on our engineers, and our internal requests were piling up faster than we could clear them. We were adding new people to our company every week, but our engineering team was underwater. Every new feature, every minor internal tool, every process tweak depended on our developers. We were hiring as fast as we could, but it felt like shoveling sand against the tide. So we tried something different. We started teaching nontechnical employees (designers, product managers, operations leads, corporate support teams) how to build their own tools and automations. At first it felt radical. Then it felt obvious. Fast forward: we grew to over $200M in annual revenue with only about 200 people. We stopped the hiring frenzy, but the business was growing faster than ever. Along the way, we documented everything in an internal playbook for our team. Soon our LinkedIn inboxes and emails were full of messages from other leaders trying to do the same thing. Turns out the problems we had been solving werent unique. Here are the five lessons that have resonated most with other leaders about empowering nontechnical teams to build their own solutions, and why they matter to any leader. 1. Create Spaces Where Technical and NonTechnical Minds Meet Inside our company we set up two AI guilds: one for technical implementation (e.g., building tools) and one focused on adoption and use cases (e.g., using tools). They met monthly, included people from every department, and shared concrete experiments. A product manager might present how she used an AI tool to understand the codebase without tapping on the shoulder of an engineer. An operations lead might show how he used a simple script to automate dispute management. The takeaway: dont keep AI or automation knowledge locked in engineering. Build crossfunctional forums that normalize sharing wins, questions, and learnings. Those conversations surface use cases youd never see from the top down. 2. Invest in Easy-to-Use Tools You cant empower nonengineers if the only tools they have require a CS degree. We invested in lowcode environments like Superblocks, Zapier, Amplitude, and Glean Agents, and we made tools that are typically only used by developers, such as Cursor (AI IDE) and Coder (Remote Environments), accessible. Our developer operations team took on the challenge of making onboarding as simple as possible. They stripped out every unnecessary step and automated the rest, until getting set up took less than 10 minutes. We learned quickly that if a tool required more than 10 minutes of training, adoption would stall. Most non-technical teammates could follow the instructions on their own, but for anyone who preferred extra help, our IT team sat down with them one-on-one. 3. Set Guardrails That Empower We published a clear internal AI policy that spelled out approved use cases (like automation scripts, bugfix prototypes, and research tools), quality standards (human oversight required for anything customerfacing or that becomes part of routine process), and security guidelines (no sensitive data in prompts without review). Engineers didnt police these policiesthey coached. Any piece of code went through review, whether it came from an engineer or not. That consistency was the point: non-technical team members could submit pull requests, and instead of dismissing them, engineers gave feedback the same way they would with peers. Coaching meant guiding contributors through fixes and best practices, not shutting the door. Guardrails, not gatekeepers, is what makes experimentation sustainable. 4. Celebrate Small Wins Publicly When someone outside engineering built something that moved the needle (like an operations process automation or AI triage of customer reported issues), we made sure everyone heard about it. These wins were shared in weekly business reviews and companywide meetings. That visibility did more than motivate others to try; it changed our culture. During objectives and key results planning wed prompt each team to consider, Could AI help me hit my goals faster? Could I build this myself instead of waiting? Sharing wins turns isolated hacks created by individuals into company-wide capabilities. 5. Rethink the Role of Your Engineers When non-engineers have access to the right tools, software engineers become even more valuable. At our company, 93% of developers use AI tools daily. Engineers still own the hard, highimpact work: major features, architecture, deep debugging. But now they spend less time answering basic questions or making tiny fixes for other teams. The result: your best technical talent gets to focus on ambitious projects, while everyone else can handle the smaller, more routine tasks themselves. In a world where AI and lowcode tools are everywhere, the companies that win wont just have great engineers. Theyll have a culture that empowers everyone to build.
Category:
E-Commerce
While executives spend billions on meditation apps, yoga retreats, and wellness programs, American stress levels continue to skyrocket. A recent study of 90 workplace wellness interventions found most (with one exception detailed below*) had no positive effectand sometimes even made things worse. Our research from last year found that the majority of us tend to stress out more trying to get rid of stress. Talk about a negative spiral! We’re trying harder than ever to eliminate stress, yet workplace anxiety has reached crisis levels, just in time for AI disruption to take people over the edge. Here’s the uncomfortable truth: You’ll never eliminate stress from your career (or your life). But as a stress physiologist, Im here to tell you that’s actually a good thing! My research reveals that our obsession with stress reduction is fundamentally flawed. Instead of fighting stress, the most successful professionals learn to harness it. The only people with zero stress are dead people. Our aim should not be death. Here are five evidence-based strategies to rewire how you can work with stressnot against it. 1. Reframe Your Biology as Your Competitive Edge When your heart pounds before a big presentation, your brain screams “danger.” But that physiological responseincreased heart rate, heightened alertness, elevated energyis identical to excitement. The difference lies in interpretation. A Harvard study found that participants who stated “I am excited” before delivering speeches were rated as significantly more persuasive and confident than those who tried to “stay calm.” The nervous energy remained the same, but performance dramatically improved. Stop telling yourself to calm down. Your stress response is a feature, not a flaw. Start declaring: “This energy is preparing me to excel.” Your stress response isn’t sabotaging youit’s upgrading your operating system. 2. Ask “Is This Actually a Tiger?” Your brain evolved to treat missed emails like charging predators. This served our ancestors well but creates havoc in modern workplaces. When stress hits, pause and ask: “Will this kill me in the next three minutes?” If not, you’re experiencing what I call a “paper tiger”a stressor that feels life-threatening but isn’t. Once you recognize the false alarm, you can redirect that energy productively instead of spiralling into fight-or-flight paralysis. 3. Convert Anxiety into AngerStrategically When facing seemingly insurmountable challenges, excitement might feel impossible. That’s where anger becomes your ally. Studies reveal that anger increases effort toward goals and sparks greater creativity than neutral emotional states. The key is directing anger at the problem, not people. Instead of fuming at difficult colleagues, channel that energy toward solving systemic issues. Transform “This situation is impossible” into “This problem needs fixing, and I’m going to figure out how.” Anger mobilizes action. Point it in the right direction. 4. Think Micro-Goals, Not Mega-Outcomes Stress often stems from feeling overwhelmed by massive objectives. Break intimidating projects into actions so small they’re nearly impossible to fail. When you complete micro-goals, your brain releases dopamine, creating an addictive cycle of progress. When we think we have to leap Everest in a single jump, or relearn our entire job because of AI, our brain naturally defaults to helplessness. But by taking action, even incredibly small moves, we begin to regain agency and feel more in control. This actionable hope ultimately moves us beyond our state of learned helplessness. Ask yourself: “What’s the smallest possible step forward?” Then take it. Winning becomes neurologically addictive (even if the perfect outcome isnt guaranteed). 5. Make It Bigger Than You The most transformative reframe involves expanding your perspective beyond personal gain. When you anchor goals in serving something largeryour team, customers, communitythe fear centers in your brain quiet down. Back to those workplace wellness studies. In the 90 workplace stress interventions, the only thing that consistently improved employee well-being was service to others. When stress serves a purpose beyond yourself, it transforms from burden to fuel. Before your next high-stakes meeting, shift from “How do I not mess this up?” to “How can I serve my audience?” The stress remains, but now it’s powering something meaningful and reminding you that stress is often simply a barometer for how much you care. The Paradox of Peak Performance Olympic athletes don’t break world records during practice. They achieve greatness when pressure peaks. Your biggest professional breakthroughs likely occurred during your most stressful periods, not your calmest. This isn’t about glorifying burnout or toxic work cultures. It’s about recognizing that stress, properly channeled, is the raw material of achievement. The goal isn’t eliminationit’s transformation. Your stress isn’t going anywhere. But your relationship with it can change everything. Stop trying to manage it away. Start using it as the high-octane fuel it was designed to be. The question isn’t whether you’ll face stress today; It’s whether you’ll let it defeat you or springboard you forward.
Category:
E-Commerce
There was a time when leaders followed a linear path. Pick a lane, specialize, climb the ladder, and stay the course for decades. But that norm is unraveling. Global complexity demands leaders who are adaptive, integrative, and, above all, multifaceted. These individuals dont fit neatly into one category; they may be artists and scientists, coaches and corporate strategists, or data analysts and storytellers. And far from being a liability, these dualities are now an asset. To be successful in todays world, leaders need to connect across ideas, industries, and cultures. To be able to do that skillfully, you must play in more than one arena. Its no longer just about what you do during your nine-to-five. Its the sum of your experiences and the unique value you bring to the world. This requires you to embrace your full complexity, not just for personal growth, but also as a competitive edge. The future of leadership belongs to those who can hold nuance, navigate change, and bring their whole selves to the table. Less specializing, more integrating The old story was: Pick a lane and stay in it. Specialization was in favor. But now, as AI handles narrow expertise, whats left for us? The answer lies in focusing on integration and expression. The leaders who thrive now are those who connect dots across disciplines, sectors, and identities. They see what others miss because they live in more than one world. Former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi didnt follow a linear path. She studied physics, chemistry, and math. She also played in a band and excelled at cricket. Then she eventually went on to pursue design thinking and innovation at Yale. Her leadership wasnt just data-driven; it was holistic. She could speak to Wall Street and public health advocates with equal ease. And under her leadership, PepsiCos revenue nearly doubled, rising from $35 billion to over $63 billion. The best leaders integrate diverse skills and experiences to drive innovation and connect more authentically with their teams. This integration not only broadens perspective but also deepens trust, fosters creativity, and empowers teams to operate with greater empathy and cohesion. Navigating change with agility Todays leaders are not only leading through change; they are the change. They embody fluidity, resilience, and the ability to evolve across multiple life chapters. In his book Range, journalist David Epstein writes: Approach your own personal voyage and projects like Michelangelo approached a block of marble, willing to learn and adjust as you go, and even to abandon a previous goal and change directions entirely should the need arise. After a few years of working in finance, Shuo Zhai followed his passion for architecture and pursued his master’s degree at Yale. He worked with Frank Gehry at Gehry Partnersand in parallel, he sings with the Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles Master Chorale, and works as a world-class chamber music pianist. He believes that his multidisciplinary approach enables better problem-solving, and deeper empathy and understanding, ultimately leading to more effective architecture and music. The ability to pivot and grow isnt built in one role: Its built across roles. Leaders who draw from multiple domains are more resilient and curious during transitions. In his own journey, Tony Martignetti transitioned from a finance and strategy executive in the life sciences industry to a leadership development facilitator and experience designer. Along the way, he reconnected with his identity as an artistbringing creativity, storytelling, and visual thinking into his work with leaders. That blend of analytical precision and artistic intuition has allowed him to help others navigate ambiguity, reimagine their narratives, and unlock new dimensions of their leadership. Where have you built resilience in one part of your life that could serve you in another? Why multifaceted leadership matters Jessica Wan, spent nearly two decades as a marketing and strategy executive at organizations such as Apple, San Francisco Opera, Smule, and Magoosh. Eventually, she transitioned into a leadership coach and venture partner. But shes continually applied learnings from her lifelong artistic identity as a musician and singer to leadership challenges. This rare blend of analytical acumen and creative sensibility enables her to help leaders navigate change and transform chaos into clarity. Jessica launched her podcast to spotlight individuals who embody this multidimensional path: a neuroscientist and an Indian classical dancer, an entomologist and a journalist, and a business professor and a Broadway investor. Their message? You dont have to shrink to fit in. When a young person says, I want to be an astronaut and a ballerina, we want to be able to say: Yes, you can. How to embrace being a multifaceted leader Leaders arent just executives. They are also musicians, poets, caregivers, podcast hosts, and community volunteers. And denying those dimensions leads to fragmentation and fatigue. Instead of hiding those parts, successful leaders integrate themand invite them into the room. We need to recognize the value of integrating these roles into our leadership approach. But before we can do so, we must first explore them. Heres a quick exercise to get you started: What is a role outside your professional life that matters deeply to you? What leadership traits have you developed from that role? How could you apply those traits to a current work challenge? This isnt just about driving career success; it is about living a more fulfilling life. Its about giving yourself and others permission to fully live into your potential. We believe this is the future of leadership: bold, complex, curious, and fully alive. For us, bringing our artistic backgrounds into the leadership space has profoundly shaped our work in the business world. The arts invite presence, reflection, and imaginationthree qualities that help leaders break free from rigid thinking and connect with the deeper purpose behind their work. Our invitation: Audit the dimensions of your identity, find the intersections, and show up fullynot just for your team, but for yourself. You dont have to choose between your roles. The world needs all of you.
Category:
E-Commerce
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