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2025-07-24 10:00:00| Fast Company

When Lisa opened the resignation email from one of her top performers, she froze. As a regional sales VP at a fast-growing tech company, she prided herself on building a loyal, high-performing team. Shed recently adopted AI to streamline workflows and free up time for more strategic work. But in the exit interview, the employee shared something she hadnt expected: he felt unseen, disconnected, and undervalued. Some of her managers went even furtherusing AI-generated scripts for everything from difficult feedback to performance check-ins, and even praise.  The messages felt impersonal, disconnected, and inauthentic. Employees took note. Even if productivity increased, effectiveness took a dive. One top performer began to disengage and soon gave notice. For busy leaders, automating conversations with team members can bring a sense of relief. Plug in a prompt. Let the machine guide the 1:1. However, when we offload the emotional labor of leadership, we risk eroding trust and connection, the very foundations that make teams thrive. AI can be a game changer for managers, but only when its used to amplify the human side of leadership. Too often, tools designed to save time end up weakening connection and culture. The opportunity isnt just to use AI. Its to use it well. Leading Effectively with AI  With the proper guardrails, AI can expand a managers capacity, freeing them up to lead with more empathy, presence, and purpose. Think of AI as your backstage partner, not your stand-in.  This risk is especially real for Gen Z professionals, many of whom launched their careers remotely and hadnt, for a time, seen relational leadership modeled in person. Todays managers play a critical role in helping them build the emotional fluency and resilience theyll need to lead. If we let AI handle the hard parts for them, like navigating conflict, building trust, or making tough calls, we miss the chance to develop the very capabilities theyll need when AI inevitably falls short or fails in a crisis. Through our work advising dozens of companies facing these dynamics, Kathryn, as an executive coach and keynote speaker, and Jenny, as an executive adviser and learning & development expert, have identified four strategies to help managers embrace AI in ways to make them more strategic, effective, and human-centered. 1. Know What to Automateand What Needs You As generative AI becomes more embedded in day-to-day workflows, leaders must guide their managers in determining which tasks should be automated and which demand human judgment and emotional intelligence. AI is well-suited for structured, repeatable tasks: generating first drafts of reports, summarizing meeting notes, preparing talking points, or reviewing written communication for tone and clarity. These applications reduce cognitive load and free up time for more meaningful work. But AI falls short in moments that require discernment, empathy, or trust-building. It cannot read between the lines of disengagement, coach a direct report whos questioning their fit on the team, or navigate a high-stakes conversation that touches on identity, like feeling excluded, overlooked, or underestimated. Delegating these responsibilities to a tool, even one that appears well-crafted, risks eroding a teams psychological safety and your leadership credibility. Use AI to clear space, not to take your place. We helped Lisas team draft a simple guide to distinguish what to automate and what to lead directly. What to Automate vs. Where to Show Up Use AI forShow up as a leader when..Summarizing reports or meeting notesDelivering difficult feedback or navigating emotionally charged conversationsReviewing written communication or organizing check-in agendasCoaching someone through a new role, challenge, or career inflection pointPreparing performance review draftsCelebrating wins or recognizing great workAnalyzing team feedback or surfacing key themes from engagement dataDiscussing concerns openly and cocreating solutions with the team  Pro tip: Ask yourself: Am I using AI to enhance my leadership, or to avoid the parts that feel uncomfortable? 2. Show Your Team What Good AI Use Looks Like If you want AI to be used well, your team has to see what well looks like. That starts at the top. Managers take their cues from what leaders say and what they do. When Lisa began introducing AI into her teams workflows, she focused on implementation, but hadnt yet modeled how to use it thoughtfully. Her managers saw the tools being used for speed and scale, but not as an enabler for coaching, collaboration, or deeper thinking.  In a recent coaching session, Lisa reflected that she had unintentionally created a culture of quiet experimentationwithout guidance, feedback, or clarity about what effective AI use looked like. We encouraged her to share her learning process with her direct reports: where she was experimenting, where shed made mistakes, and where she saw potential.  She began demoing use cases with her team, inviting feedback, and normalizing discomfort. That shift, from quiet adoption to visible shared learning, sparked more thoughtful, responsible AI use across her team. Here are three ways you can do the same with your team: Share your learning journey. Be open about where youre experimenting and what youre still figuring out. Frame AI as an enabler. Position it as a way to work smarter and lead with greater focus and presence. Create psychological safety. Encourage your team to try, fail, and learn without fear of judgment. Even with great modeling, boundaries matter. Without clear guardrails, AI can quietly start doing the parts of leadership that should never be outsourced. 3. Draw the Line Between Support and Substitution When expectations are vague, AI can slowly shift from a helpful assistant to a leadership shortcut. Weve seen managers start by using it to draft talking points, only to lean on it later for delivering feedback or handling conflict. The tone may be polished, but the message often lacks the personalization and presence. People notice, and over time, trust erodes. Leaders must help their teams set clear boundaries. AI can help structure a message, but it shouldnt deliver it for you, especially when the moment calls for empathy, vulnerability, or moral courage. Research from MIT Sloan reinforces this distinction: while AI excels at structured, transactional tasks, its significantly less effective in emotionally nuanced situations, such as coaching, conflict resolution, or performance feedback. This is especially important for middle managers, who play a critical role in developing Gen Z professionals. Many early-career employees are still building confidence through live, relational interactions and will take their cues from what is modeled. When managers default to AI prompts, they not only weaken their own impact, but also risk sending the message that presence is optional. A useful rule of thumb: If a conversation could shape how someone feels about their value, performance, or belonging; it needs to be human-led. As AI tools become more capable, drawing the line between support and substitution will become one of the defining responsibilities of modern leadership. 4. Help Managers Use Saved Time Strategically One of AIs biggest benefits is time. But without a clear plan, that reclaimed time is often consumed by low-value meetings, inbox clutter, or busywork. The risk isnt just wasted hours. Its wasted opportunity. Help managers use their freed-up capacity with intention. Encourage them to reinvest it in what matters most: mentoring team members, building culture, thinking strategically, or developing their own leadership skills. These are the high-leverage activities that often fall by the wayside, but make the biggest difference over time.  Ask yourself: Where is your time most valuable, and how are you protecting it?  What high-impact conversations are you putting off, and why? In what ways could you invest this time to grow your team, or yourself? Pro tip: Use time by design, not by default.  When time is freed, leaders have a choice: fill it by default, or use it by design. A Better Way to Lead with AI Lisa began modeling her own learning, setting clearer boundaries, and making space for reflection. She stopped simply asking what her managers were automating, and started asking why. That shift helped her to rebuild trust, reconnect with her team, and lead with focus. Ultimately, the most significant impact of AI wasnt speed. It was presence. AI will continue to shape how we lead, communicate, and make decisions. But leadership has never been just about efficiency. Its about discernment, trust, and showing up fully for the moments that matter. The best leaders wont only ask, How can I use AI? Theyll ask, How is my use of AI impacting the people I lead?  The future of leadership isnt a choice between human or machine. Its humanyou bringing yourself to the job, with AI as your copilot.


Category: E-Commerce

 

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2025-07-24 09:30:00| Fast Company

Sabina Wohlmuths days used to include long, hot walks across the city of Albuquerque, sometimes 2 or 3 miles at a time. Wohlmuth relies on the bus, but when she was short on cash, she walked instead of paying the fare. It was only a dollar for a one-way trip, but still, if youre homeless and youre poor thats a lot of money, Wohlmuth says. Wohlmuth now takes the bus every day, to her job at McDonalds, to the store, and to the sober living facility where she stays. And each of those bus trips costs Wohlmuth zero dollars. Albuquerque made zero-fare transit permanent in November 2023, becoming one of the largest U.S. cities to implement zero-fare transit. About a year and a half later, transit officials and advocates say the zero-fare program is working as intended, by serving the citys lowest-income residents. As some other midsize cities walk back their plans to make transit free, in Albuquerque the program is sticking around. This is a public service, and the people we serve really rely on it, says Leslie Keener, director of the City of Albuquerques transit department. I think its a way to really just open up access and create mobility so that people have the opportunity to have some upward movement. Mobility for survival Nearly 90% of Albuquerques bus riders have household incomes of less than $35,000 per year, and a similar percentage dont have access to a vehicle. Making it easier for the citys lowest-income residents to get around is part of what Christopher Ramirez calls the first purpose of public transit. Transit equity is giving the people that are most in need the resources, and then build out other aspects of public transit, such as routes and frequency, says Ramirez, the cofounder and executive director of Together for Brothers. In 2017, the organization conducted a community health impact assessment that led to a focus on transit equity advocacy. Since 2019, the community organization has led a coalition to push for free transit in Albuquerque. Many bus riders in Albuquerque are experiencing homelessness, and rely on the bus to get to medical appointments, social service providers, work, and to visit friends and family. Charles Battiste says he takes the bus every day. On a Wednesday in February, Battiste was riding the bus west on Central Avenue, the citys main thoroughfare, from a methadone treatment program to a hotel where hed recently secured temporary housing on the other side of town. Q, a 32-year-old who has been unhoused since they were 18, also rode the bus down Central Avenue that day in the opposite direction, to pick up some cough medicine at a hospital. Like Battiste, Q relies on the bus on a daily basis. Transportation comes up frequently as one of the top barriers for our clients and those we serve in accessing healthcare, jobs, housing, all of the things that we know are the structural solutions to homelessness, says Rachel Biggs, chief strategy officer at Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless. We know people in Albuquerque are stretched really thin, even the folks who arent already . . . experiencing homelessness. The numbers of people living in poverty and who need transportation support just continue to grow, and we have a lot of transit-dependent residents. Biggs says her organization previously spent about $50,000 per year purchasing bus passes for clients so they could make appointments, look for housing, and get to work. This created a really cumbersome system that involved clients shuttling from the citys shelter on the far west side of town to Health Care for the Homelesss office early in the morning to pick up a free daily bus pass, then turning around and getting back on the bus to reach their destinations for the day. Monthly passes were less feasible because of the frequency that people experiencing homelessness lost their passes amid encampment sweeps, Biggs says. Especially when youre experiencing homelessness, time is a very valuable resource, she says. So to be able to get around town and not have to go through all the hoop-jumping, so that you can now hop on and hop off, it does increase access to all the services and all the things that someone would need to end their homelessness. For other Albuquerque residents, free public transit serves as a lifeline, a vital mobility option when money is tight or other transportation falls through. One 67-year-old woman found herself on the bus after her car was repossessed due to difficulties making ends meet recently. Its nice to have something thats free, when youve always driven, youve always paid insurance, and you pay for almost everything, she says. Erica Grier, who works as a part-time caregiver and uses a Section 8 voucher to afford housing, uses the bus every day. She estimates that she previously spent at least $20 per month on the bus, money thats now back in her pocket to pay for groceries and other monthly expenses. Its a good service that the city provides, just like how the library is free, she says. Keener says the city has seen ridership shift since the pandemic launched a new era of remote work and Albuquerque launched free transit: fewer commuters, and more people experiencing homelessness who can now more easily use the bus to reach their destinations or who are using it as shelter from the elements. Recovering ridership Ridership has steadily increased since Albuquerque first piloted zero fares in 2022, with overall ridership up 20% in the past three years. City officials credit the zero-fare program with helping ABQ Rides ridership numbers creep back up toward pre-pandemic levels. Like Albuquerque, Kansas City, Missouri, made headlines when it became the first major U.S. city to go fare-free in 2020. But five years later, the Kansas City Council voted to bring back $2 fares in an attempt to stave off major service cuts amid a budget shortfall. But for now, at least, it seems like Albuquerques free fares are sticking around. Fare revenue previously wasnt much of anything, according to Keener, and brought in about $3 million in revenue before the cost of collecting fare was deducted. That represented a drop in the bucket for the transit agencys $67 million annual budget, comprised of about $23 million from the citys transportation infrastructure tax and about $8 million from the county and other regional government entities. The rest of the budget is subsidized from the citys General Fund to the tune of about $30 million each year. The citys recently approved budget for fiscal year 2026 kept this subsidy, and the city stands behind its zero-fares system, Keener says, adding that the agencys focus right now is on expanding routes and increasing service frequency. ABQ Ride served 7 million riders in 2024, which is about 78% of the agencys pre-pandemic ridership numbersbut ABQ Ride is also operating at only 64% of its pre-pandemic service, with reduced frequency on many routes and some headways of up to an hour. ABQ Ride is in the process of implementing a revamped recovery network that aims to bring the agency back toabout 95% of pre-pandemic service, according to Keener, since returning to 100% of service levels wouldnt be financially feasible. The proposed recovery network includes streamlining and restructuring some routes to offset costs of increasing frequency and evening and weekend service. The reconfiguring is expected to increase the number of residents within a half-mile of a route with frequent service. Ramirez views expanding frequency as the next step after making buses free. According to Ramirez, ABQ Ride has long tried to do a lot with a little, with the recovery plan raising questions of whether the agency should focus on having as many routes as possible or improving service in high-passenger areas. We need more frequency in the places that need it most, he says. The bus should be for everybody, he adds. It should be to connect people who need it most to get where they need to go. Its people getting to schools, its people getting to work, its people getting outdoors, its people getting food, its people getting to healthcare. This story was supported with grant funding from the Neal Peirce Foundation. This story was originally published by Next City, a nonprofit news outlet covering solutions for equitable cities. Sign up for Next City’s newsletter for their latest articles and events.


Category: E-Commerce

 

2025-07-24 09:00:00| Fast Company

As my family settles into a whole new city and community, Ive been eagerly exploring a variety of sites and services for discovering new gems and getting to know our area. And while our recent cross-country move is what inspired me to seek out such tools, Ive quickly realized these same resources could be every bit as useful in any scenariowhether youre visiting a new locale or even just looking for fresh inspiration in your existing everyday terrain. Today, I want to introduce you to an especially cool tool I encountered for exploring eating options around youcause really, whats more important than finding fantastic froyo and magnificent meatballs? Prepare your appetite, my friend. Its time for a tasty new treat. Be the first to find all sorts of little-known tech treasures with my free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. One useful new discovery in your inbox every Wednesday! A food-finding supertool If youre anything like me, when you want to find a place to grab some grub, you probably turn to Google Mapsor maybe something like Yelp, or even Reddit. Those are all fine places to find places, but when it comes to cuisine, a site called TasteAtlas is a next-level resource for surfacing spectacular stuff. TasteAtlas calls itself a world food atlas, and thats a pretty accurate description for what the site aims to do: It highlights exceptional local food in a variety of places around the world, with an emphasis on unique dishes specific to different regions. It lets you browse by the type of cuisine youre contemplatingor, more useful yet, by the exact area youre exploring. And it provides you with all sorts of powerful options for narrowing things down and finding exactly what tickles your fancy. TasteAtlas is completely web-based, and itll take you all of two minutes to start using. If you just want to browse around, the sites home page has lots of interesting lists and ideas for getting going. But the most useful parts of the site are its location-specific sections, where youll find endless advice about restaurants and other nearby food establishments in your exact area. And youve got a few fun ways to dig into those details . . . 1 First, you can use the TasteAtlas Map to see and dive deeper into local dishes from different parts of the world. 2 Second, you can use the Destinations tab at the top of the site to hop right to different areas. 3 And third, you can use the Near Me option beneath the search box on the home page to grant the site access to your location and allow it to serve up specific human-curated recommendations for wherever you are. You can also type a location into the search box, if youd rather. However you get there, once youre viewing info for a specific area, youll be facing the finest part of TasteAtlasand thats the sites sprawling suggestions for both local places and local products worth your while to try. TasteAtlas doesnt dive deep into every single city in the world, as youd imagine, but it has an impressive array of places and possibilities to ponder. So even if it isnt in your specific corner of the globe, youll hopefully still find something intriguing to chew overwhether thats a worthwhile option close by or something to order online, or maybe even try the next time you travel. Now, whos hungry?! TasteAtlas is completely web-based and available in any browser, on any device. There are some apps under the same name in the iOS App Store and Google Play Store, but they dont appear to be officially associated with the site, and I wouldnt suggest using em. The site is completely free, with some minimal and not at all obtrusive ads sprinkled in throughout the experience. You dont have to provide any personal info to use the service, and the company behind the site says it doesnt sell, share, or do anything shady with the limited amount of info it does see. Hungry for more tasty tech goodness? Check out my free Cool Tools newsletter for an instant introduction to an incredible audio appand a new off-the-beaten-path gem every Wednesday!


Category: E-Commerce

 

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