When performance slips, many executives look down the organizational chart for someone to blame. Employees are accused of lacking motivation. Teams are criticized for bickering, missing deadlines, or refusing to collaborate.
This information often comes from the same managers who are complaining about their people while ignoring the conditions they created.
Employees certainly have to take responsibility for their performance. But when smart, creative, and previously dependable people begin checking out, leaders should resist the convenient conclusion that they suddenly stopped caring.
Its the manager
Sometimes the problem is the job. More often, it is the manager. Gallups latest findings should get every executives attention. Only 31 percent of U.S. employees and 20 percent of employees globally were engaged in 2025. More importantly, Gallup reports that managers account for at least 70 percent of the variance in engagement among teams. In other words, the quality of the manager largely determines the quality of the employee experience.
If you inspect the management culture closely, you may find that poor performance is a predictable human response to how people are being led.
Here are five toxic management behaviors that drain energy, weaken trust, and eventually drive good people toward the exit.
1. People are treated as objects, not human beings
In toxic cultures, people become head count, labor costs, or resources to be deployed. Their workloads are discussed, but their well-being is not. Their output matters; the human being producing it barely enters the conversation.
This does not mean managers should become therapists or abandon accountability. It means they should notice when someone is drowning, understand what is creating unnecessary strain, and remove barriers that prevent good work.
Gallup now includes respect and organizational concern for well-being among the employee needs it measures. Yet as of May 2026, only 40 percent of U.S. employees said someone at work cared about them as a person.
When people feel disposable, they protect their energy, withhold ideas, and keep one eye on the job market.
2. Employees are forced to compete against one another
Healthy competition can sharpen performance. Internal systems that turn colleagues into rivals usually accomplish something else: They teach people to hoard information, protect their territory, and quietly root against one another.
The problem often begins with performance systems that reward individual numbers while executives preach teamwork. Employees are not confused by this contradiction. They follow the incentive.
Research conducted by Heidi Gardner, distinguished fellow at Harvard Law School, has warned that forced-ranking systems can kill both collaboration and morale because they pressure employees to compete for position, compensation, and status.
If collaboration matters, managers should measure it. Reward people for sharing expertise, helping colleagues succeed, and contributing to outcomes larger than their own scorecard.
3. Managers focus almost entirely on what is wrong
Some managers believe their job is to patrol the workplace looking for mistakes. When something goes well, they say nothing. When something goes wrong, they arrive with a magnifying glass and a lecture.
This is lazy management. People need honest correction, but they also need to know which behaviors they should repeat. Research published in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics found that positive feedback improved subsequent performance, while negative feedback alone showed no performance effect.
The answer is not empty praise. Employees can smell fake appreciation before the manager finishes the sentence. Give specific recognition tied to the persons contribution: what they did, why it mattered, and how it helped the team or customer.
4. Managers steal the spotlight
The team develops the idea, solves the problem, survives the deadline, and delights the client. Then the manager walks into the executive meeting and starts using the word I.
Nothing drains discretionary effort faster.
Credit-taking managers may enjoy the limelight, but they pay for it in lost trust. Employees quickly learn that their manager is using their talent to build a personal brand. The next time that manager needs extra effort, the team will remember who received the applause.
Strong managers redirect the spotlight. They name the people responsible, explain their contributions, and make sure senior leaders know where the value originated. Giving away credit does not make a leader look smaller. It shows that the leader knows how to build a team capable of producing excellent work.
5. Managers go missing when leadership is needed
They hide behind closed doors, fill their calendars with meetings, and become conveniently unavailable when employees need a decision, direction, or help resolving conflict. The disappearance is often driven by insecurity. Avoiding the issue feels safer than exposing what they do not know.
Meanwhile, the team works around the leadership vacuum. Decisions slow down. Resentment grows. Conflicts become personal because the person responsible for addressing them never enters the room.
A manager does not need to hover over employees. But accessibility and an open door matter. Set predictable times for decisions, hold regular one-on-ones, and address tension before it becomes team folklore. When the situation is difficult, move toward it and go through the eye of the storm together with your team.
How to stop promoting toxic bosses
Toxic management is rarely just a bad manager problem. It is a senior leadership problem, because someone hired, promoted, rewarded, or tolerated that manager. The solution starts with changing what qualifies someone to lead.
Organizations still promote people because they deliver strong numbers, understand the operation, or possess valuable technical expertise. Those qualities matter, but they do not prove that someone can be trusted with the performance and well-being of other human beings.
Character has to carry real weight. Warren Buffett famously advised employers to look for integrity, intelligence, and energy, warning that without integrity, the other two qualities can become liabilities.
Research supports the business case behind that advice. A meta-analysis published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that ethical leadership contributes meaningful value in predicting employees attitudes, performance, and workplace behavior. The influence of integrity is not sentimental; it shows up in how people respond and perform.
Executives should therefore assess prospective managers for observable evidence:
Do their actions match their words?
Do they share credit?
Do people feel safe bringing them bad news?
Can they correct someone without stripping away dignity?
Have they helped other people grow, or merely outperformed them?
The behavior senior leaders tolerate from managers eventually becomes the culture employees experience. If your best people are disengaging, stop asking what is wrong with them long enough to examine who is leading them.
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The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
Marcel Schwantes
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Social Security is making some changes in 2027. Although those changes won’t be officially released until October 14, many people are already wondering what the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) benefits will be for the coming year, and if the full retirement agewhich determines the amount of monthly Social Security checkswill remain the same.
Here’s what to know.
Cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) benefit increase in 2027
AARP projects a 3.5% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for 2027, based on current inflation trends, which the organization estimates would add up to an extra $73 a month, on average, for retirees. (The official 2027 increase is expected on October 14, after the release of the Consumer Price Index report.)
Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits for 75 million Americans increased by 2.8% in 2026, and 2.5% in 2025, per the Social Security Administration (SSA). Over the past decade, the cost-of-living adjustment has averaged 3.1%.
Will the ‘full retirement age’ increase in 2027?
Older Americans and retirees can start receiving Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62; however, they are entitled to full benefits only when they reach what is known as “full retirement age.”
If someone starts receiving benefits early, the benefits are reduced by a small percentage for each month before full retirement age. On the other hand, if a person delays taking benefits until after full retirement age, up until age 70, the monthly benefit amount will increase.
The current full retirement age is 67 for people attaining age 62 in 2026, according to SSA’s website. (The age for Medicare eligibility remains at 65.)
“Under current law, it does not go any higher,” Geoffrey Schmidt, a certified public accountant, told Yahoo Finance. “So if you’ve been worried they’ll keep moving the goalposts on you, at least on the retirement age, that increase is over.”
It’s estimated that Social Security will run out of money and become insolvent as early as the fourth quarter of 2032, in about six years, according to a recent report from the Social Security trustees, as Fast Company previously reported.
In business, as in life, its tempting to equate success with doing more: launching new initiatives, exploring new technologies, pursuing new revenue streams, and saying yes to new opportunities. But over time, all that activity can dilute your focus. Its like trying to hit 10 targets at once: When everything becomes a target, it gets harder to aim at what actually sets your company apart.
But the companies that stay competitive arent the ones constantly adding more; theyre the ones that stay committed to the few things that actually workfor them.
As CEO of Jotform, I can attest that its a challenge to continually identify whats working and maintain focus despite all the things you could be doing. But consistency in execution, clarity in direction, and discipline in priorities create momentum that short-term bursts of activity cant sustain. Heres a closer look at how.
Focus on what matters most
People think focus means saying yes to the thing youve got to focus on. But thats not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are, Steve Jobs once famously said. To put it even more simply: Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.
As a leader, I try to practice this approach. Its tempting to explore every idea that comes across your desk: every AI tool, product update, partnership opportunity, business idea, and so on. But developing the discipline to prioritize the initiatives that create value has several advantages.
For starters, saying no simplifies your life. No more time wasted on the paradox of choice. When you identify your priorities and whats proven to work for your unique business, it becomes easier to pass on anything extraneous.
Identifying and clarifying your organizations priorities can boost your bottom line. Research has found that strategic consensus within management improves organizational performance. In other words, when everyones on the same page about goals and the strategies that support those goals, businesses do better.
Consider: What is your organization trying to accomplish? What is your competitive advantage? Which strategies have been shown to support that advantage? What are you choosing not to pursue? How should resources and attention be allocated?
That doesnt mean everyone has to agree. But it does mean that leaders need a shared vision around those answers.
Build systems to support focus
Once you have a clear and shared vision of your priorities, the next step is building systems that help people execute them consistently. Employees should help build those systems, but the initiative has to come from the top.
I founded my company 20 years ago, but Ive been an employee too. I know the frustration of competing priorities: knowing what your team is trying to achieve, but then getting pulled into tedious, time-consuming tasks that have little to do with those goals. Its stressful, it drains your energy, and it steals attention from the kind of meaningful work that leaves you feeling inspired and reenergized. As Harvard Business Review notes, Many organizations lack mechanisms to identify, measure, and manage the demands that initiatives place on the managers and employees who are expected to do the work.
Good systems can make a difference. Clear workflows, defined responsibilities, and automated tools can take some of the friction out of the day-to-day. They make it easier for people to know what needs to happen, who owns it, and how to get it donewithout reinventing the wheel every time. Importantly, they free up employees brainpower for the work that actually creates value.
Mapping out your workflows and building these systems takes time, but I think about them like flywheels: They require energy to get started, but once theyre turning, they build momentum. Processes become more consistent, work gets more efficient, and there are fewer opportunities for costly errors. Over time, those small gains compound.
Stay aligned as priorities change
Finally, every organization needs a system of checks and balances to keep teams on track. Circumstances evolve. Customer expectations shift. Goals change. Leaders can create systems to review priorities and keep an eye on whether teams are progressing in the right direction.
Todays AI-powered tools and platforms can make this easier by streamlining task management and signaling when daily work starts to drift from top priorities. This gives leaders greater oversight, helping them reinforce focus, course-correct faster, and keep teams motivated.
For example, Jotform AI Agents can automatically turn incoming requests into tasks in Jotform Boards, where teams can track ownership, priority, and status. Managers can also see progress, workloads, and resources in one place, giving them a clearer picture of whether day-to-day work is aligned with the priorities that matter most.
Again, priorities naturally change over time. As Harvard Business Review recommends, initiatives should have sunset clauses with a clear end date for funding and employee resources. That forces leaders to revisit projects and workflows and make sure theyre still creating value rather than continuing simply because theyve always existed.
The goal isnt to keep teams doing the same things. Its to make sure theyre always spending their time on what matters most.
Customers are increasingly open to AI playing a bigger role in their relationships with brands, but there is a limit to how much control they are prepared to give it.
Adobes 2026 AI and Digital Trends Consumer Report found that 56% of consumers expect AI to improve their customer experience. Forty-three percent would be willing to try an AI concierge, yet only 19% want agents to become their primary interactions with brands. When asked what would make them trust an AI experience, responders said the most important option was the ability to change to a human at any time.
At first, these findings may appear contradictory. Consumers want the speed, convenience, and relevance AI can provide, but they also want access to a person. I do not see this as a rejection of AI. Nor does it mean that every AI interaction requires a human in the loop.
It tells us that customers want clear boundaries.
They want to understand what an AI system is there to do, how much authority it has, and when they can take back control. Access to a human matters because it provides an accountable experience and credible exit. It reassures people that if the context changes or something simply feels wrong, they are not trapped inside an automated experience.
THE BOUNDARY IS PART OF THE EXPERIENCE
For most customers, the human-AI boundary will be experienced through a series of much simpler questions.
Do I know when I am dealing with AI? Is it helping me or making decisions for me? Can I correct it? Can I change my mind? If the situation becomes more complicated, can I reach someone (a human, not an agent) with the judgment and authority to help?
Companies often try to build trust by explaining how their AI works. Transparency matters, particularly when people may not realize they are interacting with AI. But explanations alone will not create trust. Trust is earned through the experience itself and through the control you give to the end users.
That does not mean human involvement should look the same in every situation. For routine, low-risk interactions, customers may actively prefer AI because it is faster and more convenient. As an interaction becomes more personal or consequential, the appropriate boundary changes.
Consider private banking. Replacing an experienced investment manager with AI will destroy part of the value the customer is paying for. These clients expect personal service, professional judgment, and a relationship built over time. But maintaining that human relationship does not mean continuing to work exactly as before. AI can equip the manager with better information, remove administrative friction, and help them deliver a more responsive service.
The choice is not between preserving the human experience and adopting AI. The opportunity is to decide which aspects of that experience should remain human and where AI can improve those interactions.
Leadership teams should be asking where AI creates genuine value and what kind of human-AI relationships will allow people to experience that value with confidence.
TRUST MUST BE DESIGNED
These boundaries must be designed into the experience from the beginning. I call this trust by design. It means treating the ability to deploy AI safely, ethically, and in ways that protect human interests as a core organizational capability. It should not be compliance work added after building the technology.
Trust by design starts with purpose. Every AI experience should create a clear, felt benefit for the person using it, whether that means saving time, reducing effort, improving an outcome, or lowering risk. If that value is unclear, AI should remain assistive rather than take greater control of the experience.
It also requires leaders to define the boundaries of authority. What has the system been permitted to do? When should it ask for confirmation? When must a person take over? Can users stop the interaction, reverse a decision, or withdraw the authority they previously granted?
The answers will vary by industry, customer, and context. The boundaries needed for a shopping recommendation will be different than those required for a financial decision or healthcare change. The underlying principle, however, remains consistent: As the potential consequences increase, people need greater control and clearer access to human judgment.
This is why governance should not be treated as a brake on innovation. Done well, it becomes a commercial differentiator. It gives customers and employees the confidence to adopt AI more fully because they understand the relationship they are entering into and the protections surrounding it.
The future will not remain entirely human-to-human, but I do not believe it will become AI-to-human all the way through either. It will be an ongoing relationship between people and intelligent agents. The organizations that succeed will design that relationship thoughtfully.
AI may become more capable and confident by the month, but confidence is not authority. Authority is something people and organizations grant. AI can execute an action, but it cannot own the consequences.
That accountability remains human.
Michael Schreibmann is CEO and cofounder of Star.
Real estate list prices are gradually falling around the country, but cities arent experiencing the shift evenly as we slide into fall.
In a new report, Realtor.com found that price trends across the countrys major cities vary, dictated by a mix of local factors, stubbornly high mortgage rates, and the ever-changing dance between supply and demand. Cities that saw home prices soar sky-high during the pandemic homebuying blitz are seeing pricing return to earth a boon for weary buyers but a less welcome sign for sellers expecting to call the shots.
August saw the 10th straight monthly year-over-year decrease in price per square foot, with the measure falling 1.8% nationally compared to last year. During the same time period, median list prices fell year-over-year in three out of four U.S. regions, with prices dropping in the Northeast, the South, and the West. In the Midwest, the median list price stayed stable during the same time period.
Out of the top 50 metro areas in the country, the median list price per square foot dipped in 36 markets, a shift that Realtor described as a sign that it’s game over for unrealistic seller demands. Austin, Tampa, and Memphis experienced the most marked declines in pricing per square foot, sliding 8.1%, 5.6%, and 4.1% respectively. Meanwhile, Providence, Indianapolis, and Chicago all saw gains in the same measure, perking up by 9.3%, 4.4%, and 3.6%.
“One common thread for most marketsincluding Austin, Tampa, San Antonio, Denveris 202022 boomtowns continuing to give back some of their pandemic-era gains, Realtor.com Senior Economist Jake Krimmel said in the report. These are also, by and large, places with much more inventory now than pre-pandemic norms.
A slowly shifting market
In ultra-expensive San Francisco, which experienced a pandemic-era exodus of tech workers, the list price per square foot cost fell by 3.9% in August. Among the top 50 metro areas with the biggest drops in that measure last month, San Franciscos median list price still sits at a daunting $908,700. “It’s not about San Francisco homes losing value, but rather how expensive the available inventory is this year relative to last, Krimmel explained in the report. Small, central, expensive homes are scarcer now, with more affordable inventory in outer suburbs opening up.
San Franciscos median list price is still twice the price of a median home in many major U.S. markets, but is down by 5.2% from the same time last year. In San Diego, which experienced its own 2.7% drop in August, the median list price still hovered around $899,000. Out of the ten metro areas experiencing the biggest price drops per square foot last month, Portland is the next most expensive, with a median list price of $595,000 in August. Portlands pricing per square foot slipped by 2.4% last month.
In 2026s evolving real estate market, the stock of homes for sale is growing. As home supply nears pre-pandemic levels, Realtor.com advises sellers in cooling markets to be strategicnot unrealisticwhen pricing a home for sale.
Back before September 11, 2001, it was commonplace for family members to see their loved ones off at the departure gate, or be there to welcome them when they stepped off the jetway. But after the 9/11 attacks, which occurred 25 years ago this Friday, that changed.
9/11 ushered in a raft of strict new security measures at airports nationwide, including banning most people without a ticket from passing the security checkpoint (there are still rare exceptions, like for people seeing a child off or people with disabilities).
As of this month, however, those restrictions, too, are changing. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has announced a new program called TSA Gateside that will allow PreCheck members who are not flying to see off or greet family and friends at the gate. Heres what you need to know about the program.
What is TSA Gateside?
TSA Gateside is a new program announced by the TSA early this month. It allows PreCheck members to pass through security checkpoints at select airports even without a ticket for air travel.
As an exclusive benefit for our most trusted travelers, the TSA says, this new program makes it easier to return to the gate for welcomes and send-offs, meet friends during a layover, and enjoy dining and shopping along the way, bringing back the moments that once defined air travel.
While the TSA is promoting the program as a way for family and friends to be able to spend more time together at the airport, it is also likely to appeal to businesspeople, as now, via the program, it will be possible to meet a client or colleague on a long layover at the airport to discuss that important project.
Can everyone use TSA Gateside?
Unfortunately, no. TSA Gateside is not a return to the more relaxed security measures pre-9/11. That means that not every non-ticketed passenger can just go to the airport, pass through security, and meet their loved ones at the gate.
TSA Gateside is part of the PreCheck program, and so, in order to use Gateside, youll need to be an approved PreCheck member. The program also isnt a free pass for any PreCheck member to simply enter the secure area of the airport any time they wish.
PreCheck members who are not ticketed passengers will be required to apply for a Gateside pass for a specific day 1 to 3 days in advance. If approved in that instance, the non-ticketed TSA PreCheck member will be able to go to the airport on the day of their pass and use the TSA PreCheck lanes to pass through security.
What airports offer TSA Gateside?
While the TSA has announced the launch of the Gateside program, it is currently available at only 13 airports nationwide. The airports that offer TSA Gateside are:
Arizona
Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA)
Arkansas
Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport (LIT)
California
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
San Diego International Airport (SAN)
Indiana
Indianapolis International Airport (IND)
Kansas
Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (ICT)
Michigan
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW)
Nebraska
Eppley Airfield (OMA)
Nevada
Harry Reid International Airport (LAS)
Ohio
John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH)
Oklahoma
Will Rogers International Airport (OKC)
Texas
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
Utah
Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
The TSA says it will add additional airports to the program in a phased approach.
Does it cost money to use TSA Gateside?
As long as you are already a PreCheck member, TSA Gateside is a free service.
You can learn more about the program on the TSAs website here.
It’s never been more expensive in the U.S. to fill up the tank and take one last summer trip over the Labor Day weekend.
The average price of regular gas was $4.14 a gallon heading into the holiday, nearly a dollar higher than last year and well above the Labor Day weekend record of $3.82 from 2012, according to AAA motor club.
Nicole Collins planned to head from Philadelphia to South Carolina to visit friends, but she said her family has spent most of the summer close to home and not taking their typical weekend trips because driving has gotten so expensive.
Gas is pretty high right now. It doesnt help that we also have a baby, so we also have to pay for that, Collins said outside a gas station in Claymont, Delaware, where regular gas was $4.199 a gallon.
Prices shot up after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in February and have not settled down since. Crude oil traffic through the key Strait of Hormuz has plunged, and Iran has refused to reopen the waterway.
Everything points to the Iran War and the Strait of Hormuz, said Tom Seng, a professor of energy finance at Texas Christian University.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright offered few specifics on when the nations drivers might see relief at the gas pump, acknowledging that prices are higher now than Labor Day 2025.
Yes, theyre higher today, but were doing everything we can to push them down,” Wright said Sunday on ABCs This Week.
The national average for regular gas prices is still well below the record of $5.02 a gallon set in June 2022.
But diesel is a different story: It hit a national average of $5.85 a gallon Friday, a record.
Trucks and other freight delivery systems use a lot of diesel, and that increased transportation cost is being passed on to consumers, whether at the grocery store or through package delivery services.
It doesnt really seem like theres an end to it, Collins said.
Gas prices typically drop as the summer driving season ends and refineries turn to making a cheaper winter blend.
But Seng said there are other factors this year even beyond the volatile situation in the Middle East that make future prices unpredictable. U.S. refineries are working at 98% capacity, many in the unusually harsh Texas heat. If there are problems there or a hurricane knocks some systems offline, prices will struggle to drop.
And it’s not just a Middle East problem. Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries are squeezing diesel supplies. Chinese refiners are seeing declining outputs as well, said Matthew Metzgar, a clinical professor of economics at UNC Charlotte.
Theres just less gasoline coming out of those refineries, Metzgar said.
Wright, the energy secretary, said the Trump administration was taking steps to increase production and that the markets forecast lower prices in the coming months.
If you look at the futures prices, if you wanted to buy today in bulk gasoline for two months out in November, its about $0.35 cheaper than it is today. So the marketplace thinks gasoline prices are going to move meaningfully lower,” he said.
Geopolitically, though, there is little a driver can do to knock down gas prices.
But using price apps can help save a little money, especially on long trips where gas by the interstate could be 10 to 15 cents per gallon more expensive than at stations a short drive down the road, Metzgar said.
Jeffrey Collins, Associated Press
Associated Press videojournalist Mingson Lau and reporter Gary Fields contributed.
Federal investigators examining why an Amazon cargo jet barreled off a runway at Miami International Airport and into vehicles, killing at least five people, are likely to focus on a crucial moment in the landing: whether the plane touched down too late to stop safely.
Video of Sundays landing appears to show the Boeing 767 remaining airborne well down the runway before touching down. Aviation experts said investigators will seek to determine exactly where the plane landed and, if it was beyond the normal touchdown zone, why the pilots did not abandon the landing and circle back for another attempt.
Investigators will also examine the planes speed and braking, weather and wind conditions, the aircrafts mechanical condition and other factors that could have contributed to the deadly overrun. The National Transportation Safety Board has sent a team led by Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy to Miami, where she is expected to give the agencys first briefing on the investigation Monday.
The aircraft overran the runway around 2 p.m. Sunday after arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and plowed across a road used by warehouse workers and other businesses that surround the airport. Five people died, three were critically injured, and two others were hospitalized with less severe injuries, officials said.
The crash, which sent thick black smoke billowing into the sky, trapped the pilot and copilot in the cockpit and some occupants in cars, said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Ray Jadallah. The agency said crews also had to extricate a person who was trapped under a vehicle. It wasnt immediately clear if the pilots were among those killed.
The typical landing zone for a plane is within the first 3,000 feet (914 meters) of a runway, experts said. If the cargo jet was beyond that area, it should have aborted the landing and gone around for another try, aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said.
Mary Schiavo, who is a pilot and former Inspector General of the Transportation Department, said video posted online shows the Amazon plane floating above the runway for an extended period without flaring the nose upward to force the main landing gear onto the ground.
It wasnt raining at the time, but dark storm clouds loomed and strong winds were reported. Schiavo said that if the plane had a tail wind, that could have contributed to it floating further down the runway.
A tail wind would certainly add to your troubles if youve already given up a good chunk of the runway by not touching down and landing right away, Schiavo said.
The Miami airport is not equipped with arresting systems that the FAA says have been installed at more than 120 airports nationwide to safely stop planes that do go past the end of a runway. Those beds of lightweight, crushable material at the end of a runway have been credited by the FAA with helping save at least 497 lives aboard planes that overran runways.
The crash halted flights at the busy travel hub for much of the afternoon. Some 200 emergency personnel responded, finding the plane with heavy flames and smoke from a complex engine compartment fire, the department said. Firefighters used foam from specialized airport firefighting units to extinguish the fire, and crews were still dealing with a fuel leak on the plane hours later.
The Prime Air plane came to rest beside a roadway near two semitrucks, images showed. The aircraft appeared to be resting on its belly and was largely intact despite the fire.
The flight had been operated by 21 Air, a cargo carrier based in North Carolina. The 32-year-old Boeing 767 was originally built to carry passengers and flew for several airlines for more than two decades before being converted to a cargo plane in 2015, according to flight-tracking site Flightradar24.
Schiavo said the NTSB will also closely examine the maintenance history of this plane particularly since it has a history of foreign ownership, including by a Russian company.
More than 160 flights were canceled and nearly 325 delayed by late Sunday, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks flight disruptions. Officials from Orlando International Airport, more than 200 miles (320 km) north of Miami, said some flights were diverted there.
Amazon said in a statement that it would cooperate with any investigation.
Were heartbroken to learn that five people lost their lives in todays incident at Miami International Airport,” the company said. Our deepest sympathies go out to the families, loved ones, and all those affected by this devastating loss.
Last year, a UPS plane crashed after losing its engine while accelerating down the runway at Louisvilles Muhammad Ali International Airport. The crash killed all three pilots and 12 people on the ground. Twenty-three more were injured.
Associated Press
Associated Press writers Tim Reynolds, Rio Yamat, and Wufei Yu contributed.
Widows Bay ran away with eight early Emmys for its debut season Sunday at a ceremony eight days before the main awards show and telecast, while The Pitt had a strong second-year showing with four of its own and Rob Reiner posthumously won an acting Emmy nearly nine months after his killing.
DTF St. Louis won big with six awards in the limited series categories, with co-stars and veteran actors David Harbour and Linda Cardellini both becoming first-time Emmy winners.
Widows Bay, the Apple TV horror comedy with Matthew Rhys as the mayor of a small New England town dealing with a centuries-old curse, won categories including cinematography, sound, music and production design.
Betty Gilpin won best guest actress in a comedy for her role on the show, and read a rapid-fire comic poem as her acceptance speech. It included the lines our business is stupid, but actors are the bomb and lets all lean more toward Sam Shepard and less toward Sam Altman.
The Pitt has strong second-year showing
HBO Maxs day-in-the-life medical series The Pitt the years top nominee with 25 and the reigning best drama winner for its first season had wins Sunday in categories including prosthetic makeup and best guest actor in a drama for 73-year-old first-time nominee Ernest Harden Jr.
Harden, who won for portraying the last days of Louie Cloverfield, the emergency rooms constant presence and constantly struggling alcoholic on The Pitt, wept when his name was called.
I am just on cloud 25, he said backstage at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Im not saying its a complete surprise because The Pitt is such a powerful show to come from, but just to get it in your hands is unreal.
Hardens first speaking role was in the 1975 Robert Redford-Faye Dunaway thriller Three Days of the Condor and he had a three-season role on the sitcom The Jeffersons in the 1970s, but has acted for decades without awards recognition.
Singer-songwriter Andrew Bird and Gavin Brivik won for original music and lyrics for a song they wrote about the character.
It’s not a music-heavy show, Bird said backstage. But they gave us a beautiful moment with a character that we love.
Rebranding the Creative Arts Emmys and adding some star power
The Television Academy hands out well over 100 primetime Emmys, and most of them are being presented this weekend in a pair of ceremonies. They were previously known as the Creative Arts Emmys but have now been rebranded as simply the first two nights of the 78th Emmy Awards.
The weekend’s awards primarily go to behind-the-scenes crew members, but they include the guest-acting awards that tend to go to bigger names. And the shows’ star power got a boost when five categories normally on the main telecast were bumped to the earlier weekend, among them best supporting actor in a limited series, won by Harbour in his third nomination, and best supporting actress in a limited series, won by Linda Cardellini in her fourth nomination in an elite TV career that included roles on Freaks and Geeks and Mad Men.
Thank you to everybody who along the way through the years helped me get to this moment of a real dream come true, Cardellini said from the stage, through tears.
Rob Reiner gets a somber ovation
At a ceremony that otherwise moved at a blazing-fast clip with a breezy mood, a long, thoughtful ovation came when Reiner was announced as best guest actor in a comedy for his work on The Bear. Reiner’s friend and fellow Bear guest star Jamie Lee Curtis was among those in the crowd paying him tribute.
Reiner was killed along with his wife Michele Singer Reiner in December, and their son, who has pleaded not guilty, has been charged with stabbing them to death. His win came about 50 years after winning two Emmy Awards for his acting on All in the Family.
Saturday and Sunday’s ceremonies will be edited together to air Sept. 12 on FXX and stream on Hulu the following day. The primetime Sept. 14 ceremony, also at the Peacock Theater and hosted by Mariska Hargitay, will air live on NBC and stream live on Peacock.
Both Widow’s Bay” and The Pitt can add up to six more Emmys to their totals on that final night.
Pluribus,” another Apple TV Emmy rookie from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan that could challenge The Pitt in the top drama categories, won four trophies Sunday night, including editing, production design, and sound mixing.
Shailene Woodley and a canceled Spider-Noir are also winners
Shailene Woodley won best guest actress in a drama for her role on Paradise.” It was her first Emmy.
Spider-Noir, the Nicolas Cage series which was canceled after one season last week by Amazon Prime Video, won five Emmys including visual effects and stunts.
Hargitay was among this weekends winners, getting two Emmys for the documentary she directed about her mother, Jayne Mansfield, My Mom Jayne, to go with the best actress in a drama Emmy she won in 2006 for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
And Bad Bunny won his first career Emmy Award for his Super Bowl halftime show, which took seven trophies at the first of the weekend’s ceremonies on Saturday.
Andrew Dalton, entertainment writer
Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! Im Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages ofInc.andFast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you cansign up to get it yourselfevery Monday morning.
As college students settle into their fall classes, I thought Id use this weeks Modern CEO to suggest that aspiring business leaders consider majoring in English or literature.
You read that right. I was an English major, and I regularly draw on my humanities education in my role as CEO, albeit of a small media company. My professors helped me appreciate nuance and originality (traits I look for when recruiting talent). During my college years, group discussions about literature taught me that a dozen people could read the same passage and have wildly different interpretations of the materialgood preparation for navigating divergent opinions on a leadership team.
The art of business
Im not the only English major-turned-CEO to commend my studies. Nikhil Deogun, CEO of the Americas at advisory firm Brunswick Group, majored in English and economics. (Economics was mostly to keep my dad happy, he says.) A liberal arts education teaches you how to thinkhow to make an argument, question an assumption, get to the heart of an issue, and explain why it matters, he tells Modern CEO. As a CEO, thats a big part of the job. You have to make sense of complicated things, decide what matters and bring people along with you, he says.
David Risher, chief executive officer and a director of Lyft, has a degree in comparative literature, which he says, is all about asking and discovering what makes great literature work: How the author tapped into universal interests and needs for adventure, for love, for relevanceto create something truly novel. Any successful business does exactly the same.
Alas, students have been turning away from humanities degrees in recent years. A 2023 New Yorker feature titled The End of the English Major chronicled the decline of education in the human past, noting that in the decade prior to the articles publication, college-level study of English and history fell by a third while enrollment in career-oriented fields such as health sciences and engineering soared.
Irrelevance immunity
The rise of AI, however, may breathe new life into cultural studies as employers start to realize that critical thinking and creativity cannot be easily replaced by technology. A liberal arts degree vaccinates you against irrelevance, Risher says. AI will know all the answers. But youll learn to ask the right questions, to think for yourself, and to come to a point of viewskills that will never go out of style.So, if you are a college student wondering whether an English degree may help you get you a job, the answer is yes. It might even land you the top job.
Reader mailbag
Our August 17 newsletter seeking advice on how to motivate teams at fast-growth companies drew this response from Carlos Fausto Miranda, founder and principal, Fausto Commercial Real Estate Services (No. 4,277 on the 2026 Inc. 5000 list of Americas fastest-growing private companies):
People are driven by purpose and meaning. It is critical that everyone on your team, from the lowest to the highest levels, understands how critically important they are to achieving your cause, and how deeply important the cause is.
Best in business
My colleagues at Inc. are once again soliciting nominations for the annual Best in Business awards, which recognize excellence across a number of categories including marketing, customer impact, social good, and innovation. The winning people, projects, and companies will be featured in the Winter issue, which Ive come to value as a compendium of the highlights of the year. (The 2025 edition is chock-full of inspiration.)
Companies see many benefits to being named Best in Business. Heres what Ambience Healthcare, a 2025 honoree across multiple categories, including best AI Implementation, had to say: The Inc. Best in Business Awards provided meaningful external validation. More importantly, it celebrated what our team and our partners at the countrys leading health systems had accomplished together.
Read and watch more: CEOs and the humanities
Steve Jobs on why technology plus the humanities is in Apples DNA
Why this CEO keeps hiring humanities majors
A CEO who studied liberal arts as an undergrad says his MBA was a waste of time
