Steven Kowalski

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In today's workplace, practicing the importance of self-awareness starts from the top down. The strength of a successful business relies upon the people who are responsible for its daily operations. But building a power team starts from the top down. Therefore, leaders must set higher standards for themselves first if they expect others to follow in their footsteps to meet the expectations and mission of their business.  Self-awareness will also play a key factor in every leader's journey because if they are unaware of the negative energy they are spreading across their workforce, it may drive top talent away. Here, 15 Fast Company Executive Board members each discuss one seemingly harmless habit an executive may have that could be harming their business, and why it can make such a difference in the team's perspective of who they truly represent.

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Of course you’ll listen for the obvious—data and evidence of value weighed against risk. Here are five additional, nuanced arenas to focus on at key decision points.

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Is your team in a safe space to collaborate and share? Maintaining a successful business in the marketplace not only depends on brand loyalty from customers but also on the creative health of the company's employees. Fostering a company culture that makes staff members feel psychologically safe enough to express their interests and brainstorm with others will also demonstrate how much their contributions to the organization are valued.  To help business leaders create a better work atmosphere, boost team productivity and morale, and spark innovation to move forward together, 18 Fast Company Executive Board members each offer one tip that leadership teams can do to support their employees' creative health at work.

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We all have four superpowers that activate creativity. Here's how leaders can amplify those superpowers for innovative and entrepreneurial ventures.

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Employee buy-in is key to delivering the right message to current and potential customers. In the growing world of misinformation and declining B2C trust, companies must remain vigilant to ensure the messaging their brand is communicating internally and externally is exceeding the core standards they truly represent and continue to live up to.  Keeping employees educated about their role and stake in demonstrating their company's mission and goals through their daily work practices is essential to ensure alignment and engagement across the entire establishment. If your digital and traditional messaging strategies are not consistent with what the company stands for, 17 leaders from Fast Company Executive Board each offer one step to preserve the authenticity of marketing practices and company core values.  

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Here are three common mistakes being made in the workplace that are leading to major leader overwhelm.

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To start co-creating across boundaries, here are some best practices you could adopt with your leadership team.

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In times of economic uncertainty or organizational restructuring, tough decisions like layoffs can be unavoidable. However, how these decisions are executed can have profound implications not only for the individuals directly affected but also for the morale, culture, and long-term success of the company. Any leader who is wrestling with a layoff decision has likely been sitting with that and preparing for months. For everyone else, on the other hand, it will be news — and a shock. This is where empathy, often regarded as a soft skill, emerges as a critical quality for business leaders to embody during such challenging times. It's important to give time for teams to understand, process and heal. To help leaders going through a reduction in workforce, I ask members of Company Culture Group, a community I lead through Fast Company Executive Board, how leaders can organize layoffs with empathy.

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Business leaders teach professionals 18 smart, practical ways to speak up and get ahead. Whether they're just starting out in their industry of choice or have been at it for several years, it's natural for career-minded, ambitious individuals to keep an eye on opportunities that could give them an edge in their professional lives.  But, in order to keep their skin in the game and gain the respect of their leaders and coworkers, it's essential for employees to first build trust in their capabilities if they want like-minded colleagues to buy into the contributions they are trying to make. To help you speak up about your concerns or ideas, 18 Fast Company Executive Board members share their best practices with other workers who wish to present their ideas and become a better advocate for themselves at their current place of business.

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19 factors for employees to keep in mind before they leave their day jobs for entrepreneurship.  If you've always wanted to launch your own business and you're thinking that now is the time, slow down a bit to ensure you're making the right moves that will put you strategically ahead in the long run when it comes to laying out your future company's success and where you see yourself and team years from now.  In today's volatile marketplace, nothing is secure, and when you've been working at a corporation for a long time, you've gotten used to receiving certain perks and a support system that will disappear once you're out on your own. That's why conditioning a new mindset is just as important as getting your financial house in order before you jump ship. Here, 19 experts from Fast Company Executive Board each offer their advice to help leaders who've decided to fly solo anyhow and make a better transition from the corporate world to entrepreneurship without missing a beat.

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There are several big roadblocks—primarily in our mindset—that get in the way when we try to inspire innovative results from our teams and organizations.

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In the new world of work, we need to infuse all of our work—every day—with creative potential.

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Here's how to improve your productivity and decision-making skills in 2024. Leading a successful corporation in the business sector or a nonprofit that is making an incredible impact on the local and greater community it serves sounds impressive and rewarding; however, it takes plenty of tenacity to maintain industry relevance and a different mindset to make smart business decisions. As the marketplace continues to transform itself in the new normal, managers may be feeling overwhelmed and burned out by all of the tasks piled on their plates to keep up with the changing consumer demands in an uncertain economic climate. To prevent them from high-stress levels, feelings of anxiousness, or seconding-guessing themselves when it comes to decision making, 16 experts from Fast Company Executive Board each offer one tip that could help company leaders get the support they need, which will change the course of their organization for the better.

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Balance your core ‘bread and butter’ with diverse revenue options. When a business is faced with economic uncertainty in a competitive environment, it may be tough to gauge whether the right decisions are being made to ensure a stable future for the company and its team. The importance of leaning into what you know and are already successful at may seem like the obvious choice of action, but it's also important to recognize a good opportunity to bring in additional revenue when you see one. This may be the key to helping elevate your core business and continue to keep your brand at the forefront of the industry and top of mind for current and potential customers. Here, 16 experts from Fast Company Executive Board each share one strategy that can help company leaders future-proof their business in an unstable marketplace.