Evan Nierman

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When external pressures force internal change, how you respond can either protect or reshape your brand, operations, and client relationships. Every business encounters moments when industry shifts demand a fast, thoughtful response. Whether it’s a regulatory change, market disruption, or evolving client expectations, adapting effectively is rarely straightforward. If you’ve faced this kind of pressure, you know how complex it can be to make operational changes while maintaining trust and continuity. To that end, Fast Company Executive Board members discuss real-world challenges companies have faced and how they’ve adjusted without compromising their brand or service quality.

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The faster your organization adopts AI, the more important it becomes to understand—and proactively manage—the cybersecurity risks that come with it. AI is moving quickly from experimentation to core business operations, but that speed brings a new layer of security concerns. From data exposure to adversarial attacks, the risks tied to AI are evolving just as fast as the technologies themselves. If you're leading AI initiatives, it's critical to understand where the vulnerabilities lie and how they could impact your business. To help, Fast Company Executive Board members outline the key cybersecurity risks that come with rapid AI adoption, along with practical steps you can take to reduce exposure.

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Here's how brands can combine PR with marketing, social media, and other communication techniques to stand out in the crowd.

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Learn how to leverage your unique strengths and community connections to unlock personal and professional growth. Leaders often succeed by building on their unique strengths and tapping into the power of their communities. Whether through strategic collaborations, mentoring others, or applying specialized skills in new ways, leveraging these resources can accelerate personal growth and professional advancement. However, identifying the best ways to harness your talents and network effectively can feel overwhelming without the right guidance. To help, Fast Company Executive Board members offer practical strategies for using your unique skill sets and community connections to create meaningful growth opportunities.

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A winning advertisement campaign is inclusive, trustworthy, and transparent. Although AI can streamline the content creation and design process for today's creative marketing teams, most would agree that a balance of augmented tools alongside human navigation is the best practice.  But as AI continues to evolve, creatives must pay strict attention to the potential legal and ethical ramifications of misleading ad campaigns they present to the public. To help brand leaders and their teams remain on the right track, seven experts from the Fast Company Executive Board each weigh in on essential factors to consider when creating brand advertisements throughout the year. 

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Plan better in 2025 with these gift-giving suggestions that your staff can appreciate beyond any seasonal occasion. Whether your company is thriving in its industry or going through tough times, it makes a big difference to the success of your establishment when the right team is on board. Putting your trust in reliable talent who will always have your back is essential to helping a business grow and remain relevant. However, even the most loyal talent may doubt their commitment to the organization if they are not getting a return on their investment. Although the holiday season is the perfect time of year to celebrate your staff's dedication and achievements, it's more meaningful to communicate with your staff members authentically and regularly about the huge impact they have on your company's ability to operate. It's the thoughtfulness behind gift-giving that truly stands out. As the new year begins, 16 experts from Fast Company Executive Board each share one idea that will help elevate team morale and purpose beyond the holidays.

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Organizations should be proactive now to ensure they’re prepared to communicate effectively in the event of an environmental disaster.

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Here are the go-to resources of leaders who are rising above their competition. For leaders, staying ahead of the competition in your industry requires more than just hard work. It calls for the right resources that provide timely insights, foster continuous learning, and help you adapt to industry shifts. Are you looking for a new go-to resource? If so, Fast Company Executive Board members share their favorites below. Whether it’s a trusted publication, an analytics tool, or a community network, it can make the difference between keeping pace and setting the pace in today's market.

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Everyone's vying for visibility and influence, but it's important to remember that authenticity still holds significant value, and AI cannot capture what you have to bring to the table.

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Here's how to introduce Innovation and team creativity alongside company standards. Oftentimes, in the business world, employees may be afraid to get creative or express themselves freely because they are certain their ideas will get shot down, especially if it's outside of traditional regulations. However, in the digital landscape that continues to evolve, company leaders must keep an open mind about potential ideas that may sound risky but could be exactly what is needed for the company to thrive in the long run at a rapid rate. Below, 11 members from Fast Company Executive Board each discuss one way employers can balance innovation with regulation to avoid stifling team creativity while ensuring safety and ethical standards.

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These seven strategies can help you overcome challenging circumstances in interviews and tense discussions.

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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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For American companies conducting business overseas, cultural sensitivity is essential.

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These strategies can help you forge good relationships with the press and encourage positive PR for your business. Media coverage and strong press relationships are often essential for elevating your company's public-facing profile. But how do you effectively engage with the press and create a business relationship that benefits both parties? Below, Fast Company Executive Board members offer their best tips for leaders who want to connect with journalists and secure valuable media exposure. Read on for their recommendations on navigating press relations and securing positive media coverage.

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It takes team effort and accountability to cross the finish line together. Setting quarterly goals is necessary to get your company over the finish line year after year, but what's the point of setting goals if you lose track of those objectives? Developing a strategy and check-in process that holds everyone accountable is essential to keep your team on the same page and ensure they have the resources they need to perform their specific responsibilities. To help managers and their employees forge a better path for moving the business ahead, 14 Fast Company Executive Board members each offer a strategy that has helped them obtain the results they were looking for and why it can work for your team as well. 

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AI results will be only as good as the human direction that is provided to both AI generative and language models.

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Banning AI is a short-term fix that is neither sustainable nor logical. It is a brave new world and there is no going back.

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AI’s ability to automate rote tasks can streamline many day-to-day business processes. The results can be lucrative and time saving, according to recent studies.

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11 considerations to keep in mind as leaders reimagine their company's automotive strategies and mission to improve workflow processes and operations. As a business owner or leader, what are your biggest concerns about the future of AI and its impact on your industry? With the evolution of automation and machine learning tools becoming more and more powerful, many company professionals have voiced their opinions over the past several years—some in favor and some opposed.  There is also a fear of being left behind before it's too late. Below, 11 thought leaders from Fast Company Executive Board point out several factors that every leader should consider. They also weigh in on maintaining a better balance between the use of formulaic AI data and the human touch to monitor and inform the right decision-making process to enhance an organization's brand awareness through its consistent, authentic messaging.

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The evolution of AI is bringing about many challenges, so it is important to have a crisis management plan should a problem arise for you, your employees, or your brand.

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Consider these areas you may have overlooked. Your business, like many other companies, may be struggling to get ahead in an uncertain economy, but there is hope. You don't have to stay stuck. Pivoting from a negative mindset about what's to come in the future for your business is the first step. Now, you must put a practical plan into place that will help you strengthen your trust with loyal customers and promote brand re-engagement at the same time.  Here, 17 Fast Company Executive Board members propose their best practices to help turn the situation around in no time, even during a slow economy.

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No organization or individual is immune to cancel culture and understanding its impact is the first step to planning for a potential attack.

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It's crucial for businesses to monitor and manage their online reputation, as unfavorable reviews can have detrimental effects.

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Implement these tips to attract new clients and customers to your business.  In a competitive, fast-paced, uncertain economy with evolving digital marketing strategies, sometimes it takes time to accurately gauge the pulse of your industry network and social subscribers. If your content isn't refreshing and well-researched, then you could potentially lose readers or viewers who are looking for content leaders who can solve their problems and answer their most challenging questions on a regular basis in a more efficient manner.  To help other business leaders and teams promote brand awareness through content successfully, Fast Company Executive Board members sound off on 19 highly recommended best practices.

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If you're thinking about creating a content resource to serve clients and customers better, consider the following points before you move forward. Whether you are building a new brand or trying to elevate the image of a mainstay product or service that has been around for years, publishing a regular newsletter can be a great way to keep clients and customers informed and excited about what your business is working on next. However, running a high-quality newsletter alongside the daily operations of a well-oiled corporation or small business is not as easy as it sounds. Before you decide to take on any additional responsibilities or add more to your team’s plate, 20 members from Fast Company Executive Board are here to offer their take on what it means to make this type of commitment to potential audience members and the staff they’ll be expecting to lean on.

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The time you invest in media relations and media outreach will produce lasting relationships that can potentially make or break your business in times of crisis.

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It's easy to help your company do its part to create a more sustainable planet. It doesn't have to break the bank. Global environmental change, and the sustainability of our Earth, continue to be a rising topic of conversation in our personal and professional lives. If business owners, in particular, are looking for affordable ways to save the planet, they can start by assessing their company's carbon footprint beyond their walls and implementing small steps to improve their efficiency to make a better impact in their own community, first, and eventually worldwide. Below, 13 Fast Company Executive Board members share one easy, economical suggestion for business leaders who want to invest more of their time and resources into a "green-first" philosophy so they can cut waste as a company at-large.

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In a world where social media and “fake news” often distort the truth and skew facts, it’s more important than ever to tell your own stories and make sure the information you share is accurate.

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Tune out the industry naysayers and lean into solving your target market's pain points. When you're a brand disruptor who aims to provide innovative solutions in an established "business as usual" marketplace, your company and its leadership are bound to ruffle some feathers. To overcome any negativity, continue to stay above the fray and let the data speak for itself. By proactively educating the underserved market of consumers and staying truthful about your business intentions, you'll mobilize a community of ambassadors in no time, who are willing to support your organization's potential and share their personal testimonials.  As you begin to strengthen your client base, remember to put their needs first. But it's also imperative to build bridges by keeping your competitors even closer. At the end of the day, feedback, whether good or bad, fuels inspiration and innovation. This puts your company in a much better position to address concerns, defend its own progress, and defeat the status quo mentality of other colleagues in the field. Below, 16 Fast Company Executive Board members share tips to maintain your clients' confidence in your new establishment and develop loyal partnerships that will last a lifetime.

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Knowing what qualities will serve your business best is important to understand before you select a public relations agency to help with crisis preparation planning.

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Deciding where you want to work is a monumental decision, so weigh your options carefully and remember that not all benefits are tangible.

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Sometimes, the simplest daily habits can have the most significant impact on your overall productivity and mindset. Happy and healthy employees can help enhance a team's overall productivity. The more productive and collaborative your team is, the more successful your business will be. As a leader, part of your role is to model good habits to increase productivity, whether it's by making time for self-care routines or by creating the perfect organizational system that works for your team. Below, 15 Fast Company Executive Board members shared the unique habits they believe can help both the personal and professional productivity of leaders and their teams.

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Whether cancel culture on social media is meant to hold people responsible for their actions or punish someone for a perceived wrong, the results can be unexpected.

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Communication in today’s hybrid and remote workplaces requires more thought and attention than the traditional in-person office. Employers can no longer assume that workers are getting the message or will “catch on.”

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Creating a crisis plan before you need one gives you time to select the right people for the right jobs and figure out the best plan of action. It also gives you time to practice your emergency response so when a real emergency occurs, you are ready to hit the ground running.

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Difficult questions can be jarring, but a professional media coach can teach you interview techniques that will help you retain control of the narrative and tell your story on your terms.

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14 points to consider when you're reviewing a job candidate's resume. As the nature of how and why people work continues to evolve, hiring managers will benefit from learning to understand the whole person, before jumping to conclusions about a significant employment gap on the applicant's resume. Instead of flagging previous time lost on the job as a deficit, focus on the potential new hire's passion, aptitude and eagerness to tackle new career challenges ahead and how the personal time off may be a sign of maturity to thrive at the current job opportunity and contribute to the mission of your organization in the long term. Below, Fast Company Executive Board members provide 14 additional ways to approach this conversation during the interview process and help you make the best decision to find the right fit for your department's needs.

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Allowing every challenge to serve its purpose will strengthen your company's reputation in the long term. Whether it's the impact of a prolonged global health crisis or a mismatched partnership that was all wrong from the beginning, operating an organization on a daily basis, supporting your team, and meeting client expectations, through the good times and the bad, does not come without obstacles. What sometimes seems like a series of unforeseen challenges to test your tenacity, build stronger community relations, and demonstrate credibility on the core values your company represents can actually strengthen your company.  Below, 16 Fast Company Executive Board members reflect on how their companies have been able to rise up and revamp a sticky business situation into something good.

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13 questions to ask before you sign up with a public relations firm. If your startup business is growing by leaps and bounds and you're ready to enhance your brand name and services beyond social media, then consider partnering with a public relations agency that can build on your company's current success. Before you sign an agreement, however, you'll want to make sure that the firm can produce the results you are looking for and is able to put your latest achievements in front of the appropriate decision-makers that will bring you to that next crucial level in your specific industry. To give you further guidance on how to find the right PR agency that is fit for your business, below 13 Fast Company Executive Board members explain questions to ask that are just as important to consider during the selection process.

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Organizations with leaders who exhibit emotional intelligence will go far because their employees have an added layer of confidence.

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If there is negativity attached to your brand, you need to address it quickly and take control of the narrative.

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If you're outsourcing your content creation efforts, it's important to ensure your brand "voice" is consistent. Successful businesses have clear, powerful messaging that lets customers know their values and what they stand for as a brand. The messaging these companies use doesn’t differ on each social media platform, either: It stays consistent, whether you read about the brand on Instagram, LinkedIn or other sites. Sometimes, when companies outsource their consumer-facing content, the messaging and voice don’t appear consistent. To ensure this doesn’t happen to your business, 15 Fast Company Executive Board members shared their tips for maintaining a consistent tone of voice, regardless of the channel. 

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The business world demands constant innovation, but when is the right time to unveil your "latest and greatest" ideas? Company innovation is an important part of a company’s growth. Without innovation, sales may become stagnant and customers may lose interest in seeing the same products or services offered after a long period of time. To ensure your business seems relevant and continues to excite your customers, adding new products or services becomes imperative. But when is the right time to introduce a new product? When should you launch that new marketing campaign? Here, 15 experts from Fast Company Executive Board shared their best advice for gauging whether now is the right time.

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Making simple but effective changes to your customer experience can make a huge difference in how your brand is perceived. When it comes to customer service, it's often the little things that make the most difference. Simple actions like using the customer's first name more often or delivering a personalized order confirmation are easy enough to automate and execute, but they can have a big and lasting impact on how a customer feels about your brand. There are plenty of opportunities to pick the "low-hanging fruit" and start improving your customer experience right away, without breaking the bank or expending tons of resources. To help you do this, 15 members of Fast Company Executive Board shared some easy ways they’ve boosted their customer experience and why it was so effective.

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It’s easy for managers to develop false ideas about the type of company culture they have fostered.

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Good communication skills are an essential key to success for any professional, but especially so for leaders. The art of communication is an essential skill for all leaders. They must learn to communicate effectively with various people, whether they're offering feedback to team members, sharing information with stakeholders, or pitching their organization's services to potential clients or the public at large. To get a message across effectively, leaders must be able to adapt as necessary to each situation. Of course, building this skill comes more easily to some people than it does to others, but it should be actively nurtured by anyone in a leadership position. Fortunately, there are several ways a leader can refine and improve their communication skills. Below, 16 members of Fast Company Executive Board share their best strategies for doing so.

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Do you have a crisis plan in place and does it cover a wide range of circumstances and scenarios?

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A conversation with an underperforming employee is a delicate situation that must be handled with care. As a leader, it's important to be able to have tough but necessary conversations with employees. When an employee isn't performing to their full potential, leaders must guide them the best they can and work with them to find the root of the problem. It's certainly a challenge to have these conversations, which can be uncomfortable and awkward for both parties. And if they're not executed properly, your conversation could hurt your relationship with the employee, causing further damage to their morale and performance. To help you have constructive conversations with employees who need some coaching, 16 members of Fast Company Executive Board have shared one thing a leader should never say or do when meeting with an underperforming employee.

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The instant nature of social media can be a double-edged sword.

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Gut instinct, research, a reliance on core values, and a few leaps of faith will serve you well.

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Gauging engagement can be difficult when you’re meeting remotely, so it’s even more important to keep an eye out for telling signs of distraction. When the COVID-19 pandemic turned our homes into offices and classrooms, it also ushered in the era of video meetings. While the ability to meet remotely via Zoom and other applications enabled businesses and schools to function in difficult times, it hasn't always been an easy adjustment. When you're meeting with colleagues, clients, or students via a video call, it comes with unique challenges—including effectively "reading the room." When you're leading a video meeting, it’s can be hard to get a sense of how engaged participants are. You can't see everyone at once, and you can't hear the signals of straying attention, such as shuffling feet, creaking furniture, and sighs. Participants are often more reluctant to speak during remote meetings, and it's easier for them to quietly multitask. And presenters can't control the distractions that might pop up in participants' individual meeting spaces. Because of all this, it's important for those who frequently lead video meetings or presentations to be aware of the ways in which participants might be signaling their engagement (or lack of engagement). To help, nine members of Fast Company Executive Board share some audience cues to watch for in your upcoming video meetings.

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Business owners who resist remote options without valid reasons are likely to face employee pushback.

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Customer retention may be cheaper than new lead generation, but you need the right strategies to successfully earn repeat business. One of the first lessons business owners learn is that it’s cheaper to retain an existing customer than to engage a new one. However, that doesn’t mean it’s easy—and failing to retain current clientele can lead to detrimental consequences for an organization. Fortunately, there are several simple strategies that businesses can use to help retain and engage their existing customers. Not sure where to begin? Start with these 13 tried-and-true tricks shared by the members of Fast Company Executive Board.

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Success in the modern business world depends on developing an authentic, genuine brand that makes customers feel understood and appreciated. Today there are so many established and new businesses—together offering a staggering array of products and services and easy to access online—that a company can no longer simply lean on their service offerings as their main point of attraction. Consumers want to support brands that they see as authentic and that share and practice their values. That’s why business leaders need to focus on creating a brand that encourages genuine connections and loyalty. Developing a brand is both a creative venture and a journey of discovery. Below, 15 members of Fast Company Executive Board share their top secrets to help you build an authentic brand that truly connects with your customers and audience.

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Anticipating challenges rather than just reacting to them puts you a step ahead in overcoming them. With every problem—whether it’s personal or professional—you’re given a choice to respond either proactively or reactively. A proactive approach allows you to get in front of the issue before it escalates, while a reactive approach is usually focused on cleaning up the aftermath. It's easier for business leaders and their teams to overcome challenges when there's a plan in place even before they appear. To help you develop a proactive mindset and business culture, 16 members of Fast Company Executive Board share their experience and the strategies that work for them.

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Growth is a primary goal for almost every business, but if you don't have the right strategy for scaling up, it may hurt your business in the long run. Scaling up is an exciting period for business leaders. It's easy to get swept up in the possibilities presented by rapid growth opportunities, but it's essential to manage that growth with the right strategies. Otherwise, you may scale too quickly and struggle to keep up. The members of Fast Company Executive Board know firsthand what it takes to sustainably and properly grow a business. Below, 10 of them share some common mistakes entrepreneurs may make when trying to scale up and how to course-correct.