Issue 2871— January 5, 2026
My sister used to send the same holiday message every year. The ditty went like this:
Happy Hanukkah knishes.
Merry Christmas wishes.
Lots of Kwanzaa cheer.
And a Brave New Year.
The new year of 2026 has already started out requiring much bravery. And bravery is best in community.
Times like these call for comfort food. Food that conjures safety, security, family, warmth, culture.
Read MoreAge is not just a number. In many workplaces across the U.S. and the world, age is at the center of discrimination, bullying, promotion denial and career flatlining. But it doesn’t have to be.
Denying ageism is not a solution; it is remarkably prevalent.
Read MoreBy Adriana Nichols
As we step into 2026, organizations across every sector are confronting a reality that can no longer be ignored: talent strategy is leadership strategy. The way leaders attract, develop, and advance talent now determines not only business performance, but also organizational relevance, resilience, and credibility.
For women leaders, this moment represents a powerful inflection point. Long-standing systems are being reexamined, outdated assumptions are being challenged, and leadership pipelines are finally being recognized as incomplete without equity and inclusion at their core.
Read MoreIssue 2870— December 22, 2025
I’m struggling to write this week.
During the season of jingling joy, when people are celebrating holidays—Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and recently Diwali—that feature light as a metaphor for the positive, violence and bad news are coming at us rapid fire. It feels close. Personal. Heavy.
If you’re feeling like me, I’m not here to tell you everything will be okay. I don’t know that it will.
What I do know is this: darkness doesn’t end itself. Someone has to disrupt it.
Read MoreIt’s been a rough and tumble year for sure, and the CEOs, entrepreneurs, founders, innovators, leaders and creators who have pursued their missions and delivered success serve as reminders of what is possible.
Take The Lead shares the best advice and insight over the past year gathered at the Power Up Conference, webinars, personal interviews, podcasts, blogs, and more, to come up with a bountiful treasure chest of helpful strategies, points of view and insights. Take what you need moving into the new year, share with friends and colleagues in order to move forward with audacious power.
Read MoreIssue 2869— December 16, 2025
Steam is coming out of my ears as I read the latest “Women in the Workplace” 2025 report from McKinsey and LeanIn.org.
The study mostly affirms the pervasive and systemic biases that are designed, whether intentional or not, to keep women in their place.
Yet it concludes the problem causing stagnation of women’s trajectory into leadership positions in companies is that while there are still systemic barriers, the main reason is that women have an “ambition gap.”
Do you believe that?
Read MoreYou may not agree always with the lyrics to Sheryl Crow’s 1996 super hit, “A Change Will Do You Good,” but you can try to make the best of change that happens to your career—even ones you do not instigate. Many upheavals happened to millions of women’s jobs, responsibilities and career paths in 2025. And pivoting with purpose may indeed do you good.
Read MoreThe Department of Education recently declassified nursing—plus physical therapy, audiology, physician assistance and more—as careers not deserving of the professional title. What that means is no longer will anyone seeking those degrees qualify for higher amounts on student loans. It also reinforces biased hierarchy.
Women are the hardest hit and are paying for it--literally.
Healthcare is the largest employer in the U.S., with over 22 million workers. In that group, 87% of nurses identify as women, with men accounting for 11% of the registered nurse profession. There are 5.2 million registered nurses in this country and an estimate 2 million new jobs by 2030, the National Library of Medicine reports.
Read MoreIssue 2867— November 25, 2025
When does a risk stop being bold and start being reckless?
That question has followed me through every chapter of my own leadership.
A friend once talked me into rafting down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. So I read about the rapids we’d be navigating; but believe me, reading and doing are two different things.
Read MoreBy Wonder Wendy Farrell
There are moments when history reaches forward and taps you on the shoulder. Not softly, not politely, but with a kind of steady insistence — a reminder. A reminder that progress is not permanent, rights are not guaranteed, and the work of shaping a more just world is ongoing. That’s how I felt sitting in the theater at Arizona State University Gammage a couple of weeks ago, watching the touring production of Suffs, the musical about the women who fought — relentlessly — for the right of women in America to vote.
Read MoreWinding down 2025 is a good time to pick up a book for yourself, friend, family member or colleague that they can enjoy as keen insight into their working life, or an inspiration from historic and current women changing history, and an escape into fictional history of times that shape who we are and how we live. All are works that we benefit from as keepers of truth.
Take The Lead is choosing 11 books (for 11 years of operations) new this year that can be respite for your mind and heart, and also offer tangible steps for change through memoir, historical fiction, essays, deep research, strategic step by step nonfiction and deeply emotional biography. Whether you are an ink on paper reader, audiobook listener or digital reader, all are ready to dig in and learn.
Read MoreIssue 2867— November 25, 2025
When does a risk stop being bold and start being reckless?
That question has followed me through every chapter of my own leadership.
A friend once talked me into rafting down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. So I read about the rapids we’d be navigating; but believe me, reading and doing are two different things.
Read More
