Jay Steven Levin

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The right financial advisor can help leaders of a growing business make smarter decisions and stay resilient in the face of change. As a business evolves, there often comes a point when leaders need expert guidance to manage complex finances, plan for growth, and protect what they’ve built. While a professional's qualifications are important, there are many other factors to weigh when choosing a professional in the finance world that you can trust. It's crucial to find someone whose approach, ethics, and understanding of your business truly align—and when you do, it can have a positive impact on your company's long-term success. To help you make this important decision, Fast Company Executive Board members share 13 key questions to think about before inviting a financial advisor into your inner circle.

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Your brand's reputation doesn't have to waver just because the market does. In an unpredictable market, your brand’s reputation can feel simultaneously more fragile and more important than ever. A single misstep, a poorly handled crisis, or a lack of clear communication can erode trust faster than it’s built. To help you avoid a PR crisis, 20 Fast Company Executive Board members share their best practices for managing brand reputation. Follow their advice to strengthen and protect your brand, no matter the external circumstances.

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From setting expectations to fostering collaboration, department leaders need solid strategies to negotiate freelance contracts that drive mutual success. Freelancers and contractors have become essential contributors to today’s flexible workforce. But managing those relationships requires a different playbook than hiring full-time staff. Department leaders must strike the right balance of collaboration, structure, and adaptability to build high-performing partnerships. To help, 13 Fast Company Executive Board members each share their best advice for negotiating freelance and contract-based work arrangements. Here's how they recommend handling your department's contractor agreements for mutual success.

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When it comes to social media engagement, what matters most is creating the kind of connection people want to respond to. As social media platforms evolve, brands aren’t just posting to be seen; they also want to connect more meaningfully with their audiences. Engagement now hinges less on polish and more on presence, personality, and participation. Rather than pushing one-sided content, the most effective strategies invite people in, spark conversation, and create space for genuine interaction. To that end, 17 Fast Company Executive Board members share creative ways to drive social media engagement and why these approaches are so effective.

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Balancing global strategy with local nuance isn’t easy, but it’s essential for leading across cultures effectively. For managers overseeing teams across multiple countries, striking the right balance between global consistency and local autonomy can determine whether your team feels aligned or alienated. It requires clarity on what must remain uniform—brand values, strategy, success metrics—as well as the flexibility to adapt delivery, communication, and leadership styles to local norms. Leaders who master this balance can minimize friction while creating environments where innovation, trust, and performance thrive across borders. To that end, 17 members of Fast Company Executive Board share their top strategies for navigating this complex but critical dynamic.

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When your CEO shares your mission, you can focus on growth knowing the company is in good hands. Hiring the right CEO means finding someone who’s not just capable but deeply aligned with what your company stands for. You’re handing over the reins to someone who needs to lead, and lead like you would—with full conviction in the company’s mission and the clarity to drive it forward. It’s a high-stakes decision that can either strengthen or unravel your foundation. To help you make the right call, nine Fast Company Executive Board members share how they’ve identified and retained CEOs who are mission-driven, reliable, and ready to take the reins. Below, they offer practical ways for finding a leader who can build on your vision while giving you the freedom to focus on what’s next.

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If you're looking to build a successful loyalty program, these practical tips can help you make it worth your customers’ while—and yours. For businesses, loyalty programs are a great way to encourage repeat purchases and strengthen customer relationships. Yet, launching a successful one takes more than offering discounts or points. The best programs are designed with the customer in mind—what they value, how they interact with your brand and what makes them feel genuinely appreciated. To help, 15 members of Fast Company Executive Board discuss what it takes to build a loyalty program that drives not only sales, but genuine customer engagement.

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Here are 10 key strategies for brand rebuilding that will elevate the company's credibility and regain consumer trust. Going through a difficult experience like bankruptcy can damage a company's public profile initially, but acknowledging its shortcomings and creating a transparent action plan to turn the situation around also provides the business a unique opportunity to reinvent itself during the downtime. Forward-thinking leaders spend time reassessing their product offerings, customer service strategies, and market positioning to better align with current consumer expectations.  Taking a proactive approach to get back into the public's good graces ensures past and prospective stakeholders that the company is not only recovering from a bad season of missteps, productively, but it's also evolving for future success. Below, 10 Fast Company Executive Board members each share an action step company leaders can take to restore confidence among former stakeholders and supporters after their recovery and reflection period.

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Apply these strategies to balance risks and stability and fortify your team's resilience. Leaders are often tested to their limits in today's rapidly evolving work environment and uncertain economic conditions. However, when challenges do arise, those are the moments when resilient leadership is the most important to inspire teams and ensure organizational survival and confidence. This will positively impact the company's long-term success. Below, 18 leading experts from Fast Company Executive Board weigh in on how to best cultivate resilience in leaders and the teams they manage, no matter what the marketplace looks like today or tomorrow.

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13 tips to elevate your brand reputation with clarity and confidence.  Whether you are a new business owner in the industry or you've been at it for years, managing public relations can often feel like a balancing act—especially when your company is either unveiling a new product or handling a crisis. When hiring a professional PR team is not in the current budget, there are still several strategies you can implement to ensure your messaging remains effective and your brand’s reputation stays intact.  Here, 13 leading experts from Fast Company Executive Board each explore one best practice that can be immediately applied to elevate your brand's PR efforts.

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17 lessons on a mind shift in strategy and the future of innovation The implementation of artificial intelligence is here to stay. For most companies, it is redefining their leadership approach to engaging in business and uncovering innovative solutions to assist customers with their pain points like never before. However, business leaders still agree that human insight alongside AI usage is still a key factor in maintaining the proper balance of ethical practices in handling data analysis and compliance updates. Below, 17 leading experts from Fast Company Executive Board each share how the rapid advancement of AI has reshaped their company's business model and what other leaders can learn from it.

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Here's how to keep customers engaged and curious about your brand. In a saturated market, at times it will be difficult to separate from your competitors who are vying for your target audience’s attention. That's where the design team steps in to highlight the benefits your brand is offering to solve industry challenges more innovatively. Below, six leaders from Fast Company Executive Board each offer their tips to help creatives and their companies develop or participate in business ecosystems that can add value to their products and/or services and reduce competition.

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When it comes to things going wrong in the workplace, don't just "round up the usual suspects."

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 Are you getting a return on your high-tech investment? Here's how to determine the best digital solutions that will benefit your clients and stakeholders. To get ahead in today's marketplace, business teams must comprehend the benefits or pitfalls of specific technology in their search to solve client and staff pain points. Keeping up with the latest software gadgets can also cost a fortune. That is why it's best for companies to investigate their options before investing in a package that doesn't serve their clients or employees at all. Below, 14 experts from Fast Company Executive Board share their time and expertise to explain their approach to managing the cost and ROI of integrating emerging technologies they may choose to invest in.

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Apply these steps to keep your business thriving in a volatile economy. Amid astronomical inflation rates that continue to soar, some company heads may have to rethink their operational strategies for making good on the product quality and delivery services their clients and customers have grown to expect. If you’re a brand that's feeling the pressure of being able to meet the current supply demands, here are eight leading experts from Fast Company Executive Board to offer their best practices on how to manage inflation-driven cost increases in materials, labor, and energy while keeping the lights on and employees on board.

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Here's how digital tools are helping leading business experts collab smarter. As technological innovations continue to evolve in today's digital landscape, the ability that companies now have to compete in the marketplace is more democratic. A brand's product design and image can make or break a consumer's decision.  There are a variety of tools currently available that are built to streamline the workflows of creative marketing teams and bridge communication gaps to make collaborative projects seamless. Below, six experts from Fast Company Executive Board weigh in on the role technology plays in enhancing a creative team's productivity.

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Here is how to keep your organization and its employees safe from hackers. As the digital landscape continues to expand in the marketplace, having a company strategy to prevent costly cybersecurity threats is now a necessity—not a "nice to have." Getting your employees on board and up to speed starts by setting the best example from the top down to encourage your entire team to take the cybersecurity risk management procedures much more seriously. Here, 14 Fast Company Executive Board members provide their top solutions for setting their teams up for success and remaining updated about the latest phishing attacks and how to steer clear. With consistent training and the right mindset, your team will thank you in the long run for helping them stay well-prepared for what's to come.

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When used correctly, consider AI technology as a minor contributor to your daily workflow, not a major threat to your current role. Marketing is all about the creative process of the human mind, but after so many years of coming up with brand campaigns, it's not surprising that new ideas can sometimes grow stale. That's where the evolution of AI tools comes in.  Whether companies are using artificial intelligence to gauge a potential customer base or to spark an attention-grabbing subject line in the latest email newsletter, most teams realize the benefits of utilizing AI responsibly to personalize their brand communications and increase their daily productivity with the help of automation. To demonstrate how AI tools have improved their quality of work life and technological mindset, 14 members from Fast Company Executive Board each offer one specific way marketers can treat AI as a "tool in the shed" to support their creative outlet process, not take it away.

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It's your delivery that truly counts. Implement these tips if you want prospective customers to take action regarding your brand. Whether you are marketing a product to build on the momentum of your latest campaign, or delivering a well-thought-out pitch to a venture capitalist for additional funding, storytelling is an essential part of the process that will elevate your company's growth potential and credibility in the marketplace. Below, 19 Fast Company Executive Board members each offer their best tip for developing a storyline that will make a strong impact and get people excited about your business enough to take a significant call to action that will reflect on quarterly growth.

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Here's how to elevate your personal brand of social influence in today's digital economy. When American YouTuber and actor Lucas Cruikshank was the first person to reach $1 million subscribers on his Fred channel in the early-to-mid 2000s, it gave potential social entrepreneurs—before anyone truly knew what that title meant—a glimpse of how far engaging content creation could take them. Fast forward to today's competitive marketplace, where everyone is always feeling the pressure to be "on" social media platforms and pair that with an uncertain economy—it takes much more than one's ability to hype up their target base about a product or service. Being comfortable networking with like-minded individuals or brands who are willing to ally will help each stakeholder grow further and faster.  In an ever-changing digital space, the best path for social entrepreneurs to make the most impact in their industries—promoting their cause through aligned partnerships—may not be written in stone, however, nine experts from Fast Company Executive Board each share strategies on what is currently working for some of the leading influencers in today's social economy.

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The right talent acquisition strategies can help ensure your company’s long-term success. Every successful company needs a strong talent acquisition strategy. Whether you're focused on building a robust pipeline, streamlining your onboarding process, or leveraging analytics to predict future needs, the right approach can drive sustainable growth and keep your organization competitive.  Below, Fast Company Executive Board members share how their talent acquisition strategies are shaping the future of their organizations. Here's what they've found to work well and how you can apply these insights to your own talent acquisition efforts.

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Here's why sharing your expertise as an adjunct professor with the next generation of leaders can be rewarding but challenging. Taking on an adjunct professor role offers leaders a special opportunity to share hard-earned insights with the next generation. This role can be incredibly rewarding, as it allows you to shape future leaders while leaving a lasting professional legacy. However, translating industry experience into an academic setting comes with its own set of challenges, particularly in adapting to different learning styles and expectations.  Below, Fast Company Executive Board members share their thoughts on the benefits and hurdles of stepping into this educational role.

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Online platforms like LinkedIn provide opportunities for career professionals to gain a foothold while transitioning to new industries. Many professional skills translate well from one industry to another. For job seekers who are looking to change industries, it's important to be specific about how their professional experiences will help them be successful in their new chosen field. One way to do this is to leverage online platforms to showcase your expertise and transferrable skills. To help, 20 members of Fast Company Executive Board share strategies for translating existing skills into new career paths to stand out to potential employers. Follow their advice to build your professional network, showcase past projects, and provide thoughtful commentary on relevant topics to establish yourself in a new industry.

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6 cybersecurity business solutions to protect every stakeholder's sensitive information. With the uptick in cyberattacks, business leaders must remain proactive to ensure that the data of every stakeholder engaged with their brand is tightly secured at all times. In the new normal, breaches are inevitable, so company leaders must plan accordingly for the worst. Essential software communication platforms like Office 365 or Google Workspace are typically where global hackers strike first.  Any lapse in judgment or naivety about how best to protect a company's bread and butter puts the organization at risk. It may also destroy the confidence level, trust, and brand loyalty that clients once had. To protect a company's most valuable asset, six Fast Company Executive Board members each offer one practical tip to secure their employee messaging environment.

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Although ChatGPT is helpful, overreliance on AI tools in the workplace can stifle professional growth. ChatGPT and other generative AI (GenAI) tools have become integral aspects of many business operations, from sales and marketing to corporate communications. While GenAI offers efficiency and valuable insights, leaning too heavily on this technology can ultimately stifle creativity and innovation.  Leaders and teams that use these tools need to strike a balance between technology and human ingenuity. To help, 20 Fast Company Executive Board members discuss how organizations can avoid overreliance on ChatGPT and similar AI tools. Here's how to find a middle ground and encourage efficiency with a healthy dose of critical thinking and original ideas.

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Creativity is the backbone of new ideas and ways of thinking. Here's how to prioritize and encourage creative health in your organization. Creating a culture that nurtures your employees' creativity can help your organization become more dynamic and adaptable, as well as improve overall job satisfaction. Conversely, a workplace that lacks a focus on creative health may struggle with innovation, problem-solving, and employee engagement. Below, Fast Company Executive Board members share 20 ways leaders can cultivate and support a creative environment. With these strategies, you can encourage creative thinking and encourage a more innovative workplace.