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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. During December 2024, Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach and his leadership team, including cofounder and executive chairman Aneel Bhusri, arrived at a big decision: the software company would restructure itself to free up operating dollars for investment opportunities tied to artificial intelligence (AI). The move would involve shedding hundreds of jobs, marking the biggest layoff in the companys history. Even though the plan was finalized, Eschenbach says he was not at peace because he had not had a chance to share his thinking in person with Dave Duffield, Workdays other founder and its largest individual shareholder. So, Eschenbach met Duffield at the Jax Truckee Diner near Californias Lake Tahoethe very diner where Duffield and Bhusri decided to start Workday, and offer cloud-based software to human resources and finance departmentsto lay out his rationale. Dave said, Carl, I support you. We brought you in to scale the company and were supporting you 100% in this very difficult decision,'” Eschenbach recalls. The only thing he asked, which was obviously a yes on my part, was that we take care of our employees who were moving on. Humans vs. AI: Finding the balance In early February, Workday announced it was cutting 1,750 employees, or 8.5% of its workforce, with U.S.-based employees receiving a minimum of 12 weeks of pay with additional severance based on tenure. Workday is just one of many tech companies, including Salesforce, Microsoft, and Meta, announcing layoffs this year. Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach [Photo: Workday] But even as Eschenbach restructures his company to make room for more AI investments, he insists AI will not result in mass unemployment. In fact, he says of Workdays layoffs: If you fast-forward one year later, we’ll have the same, if not more people in the company because we’re going to rehire as we invest in [the AI] opportunity. The workforce more broadly will peacefully coexist with the technology, well leverage it, and well become more productive as humans and as employees because of the technology, he says. Its not just a replacement. AI for CEOs I asked Eschenbach what kinds of AI agents or automation tools CEOs should embrace. He says all executives would benefit from agents that help with day-to-day “mundane” tasks (this is a common AI talking point) such as managing calendars or summarizing email messages. But he also noted that Workday is starting to roll out agents that can summarize financial data ahead of earnings calls and monitor transactions to help with audits. Aneel Bhusri [Photo: Workday] Its a perspective echoed by Bhusri, who has served as CEO of Workday at various times over the companys 20-year history. Every CEO should be thinking about how to integrate agents that enhance their ability to think strategically and make informed decisions faster, he says. There are two primary types of agents: task-based and role-based. Task-based agents can create some efficiencies but can become easily siloed. Instead, Id encourage executives to adopt role-based agents that can transform entire workstreams to free them up to focus on more strategic, impactful work. But AI also has the potential to free up leaders to do more of the meaningful, person-to-person work thats become an increasingly important part of the job. In 2018, Michael Porter and Nitin Nohria published research in Harvard Business Review that showed CEOs spend 61% of their time in in-person meetings. And while the study predated the pandemic and the rise of remote and hybrid work, theres no question that face-to-face interactionslike Eschenbachs meeting with Duffield at the Jax Truckee Dinerwill continue to be part of the CEO playbook in the age of AI. How is AI helping you? Are you a CEO using AI to help you manage your time or run your business? Send your best examples to stephaniemehta@mansueto.com. Your responses may form the basis of a future newsletter. Read more: overcoming CEO challenges 4 ways top CEOs are making AI work for them The 4 most common problems for founder-led startups From founder-led to founder-inspired
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E-Commerce
This is for the crafty girls who want to save money, goes the voiceover on a recent TikTok, panning over the cheerful purple-and-gray exterior of Savannahs Starlandia Art Supply and its shelves stocked with art supplies. You need to be going to creative reuse stores, which are like thrift stores, but for crafts. Another TikTok keeps it even simpler, with the text pov: you find out thrift stores for arts & crafts exist, overlaid on a montage of the treasures available at Seattle Recreativepaint brushes, markers, a whole wall of yarn. In fact, there are dozens of these “creative reuse centers” spread out across the country, from Anchorage, Alaska, to Atlanta, Georgia. Some centers have been operating for decades; others have sprung up since the pandemic, amid renewed enthusiasm for crafty hobbies. They sell everything from crayons to stamps to beads to fabric, and their mission is explicitly tied to sustainability. Organizers say theyre getting more and more emails and calls from people interested in establishing their own local spot. And yes, the young people on TikTokwho love craftingare very enthusiastic about the idea. It’s likely that interest will only grow with news that the fabric store Joanna decades-old stalwart for sewers, knitters, and other craftersis closing all its remaining stores. My feeling is every municipality should have one of these, says Barbara Korein of Retake/Remake in Peekskill, New York. [Photo: courtesy of the author] Retake/Remake is a bustling little spot tucked into a converted turn-of-the-century hat factory in northern Westchester Countyand its my local creative reuse center, a regular stop on my Saturday morning rounds and my go-to for everything from old National Geographic maps for Girl Scout projects to cross-stitch materials to slightly patchouli-scented wrapping paper. Retake/Remake accepts donations on the first Tuesday of every month and typically gets around 1,000 pounds of materials, says Korein. Weve converted about 113,000 pounds of waste from the waste stream. The items are affordably priced when they put them out on the shelves, too: I once bought several skeins of hand-dyed yarn, a merino wool and alpaca blend, for $10 each, with an original sticker price of $32; Ive bought needlepoint canvases, which are famously pricy, for as low as $1. [Photo: courtesy of the author] The concept is an elegant solution to a longstanding problem: Generally, traditional thrift stores dont know what to do with half-used art supplies. Its an easy thing to identify and its a hard thing to donate, says Korein. Often, they go straight into the trash and eventually the landfill. But theres demand for that half-empty box of crayonsteachers, for instance, who often spend their own money on classroom supplies. Many creative reuse centers have special programs to serve this group: Austin Creative Reuse, for instance, has a Materials Mobile, which brings a truck full of no-cost supplies straight to educators. Creative small businesses often turn to these stores, for instance, and artists are a core constituency: If you have $20 left for your art supplies, and you go to a traditional art center and buy a $20 tube of yellow paint, then whatever youre painting is going to be yellow, and also its going to be paint, says Jenn Evans of Austin Creative Reuse. But at a creative reuse center, that same $20 might buy a variety of paints and materialsand broaden artistic horizons. It allows the artist to create artwork from their brains and their heart and not just have it limited by the materials that they can afford. [Photo: Austin Creative Reuse] Weve seen all people from all walks of life come in, says Ulisa Blakely, Director of Programs and Development at The Wasteshed in Chicago. But the patterns we typically see are students, teachers, artists whether theyre emerging or established, and also a lot of BIPOC people, which is awesome. [Photo: Austin Creative Reuse] The basic idea has been aroun for decades: The countrys first creative reuse center, San Franciscos SCRAP, was opened in 1976 by Anne Marie Theilen and artist Ruth Asawa. SCRAP grew out of a program by the San Francisco Arts Commission to bring working artists into schools, but money for supplies was scarce. Two years later, New York Citys Materials for the Arts was founded by Angela Fremont, an artist working at the Department of Cultural Affairs; its now a 35,000-square-foot behemoth (though shoppable by appointment only) supported by the City of New York. [Photo: Anthony Sertel Dean/courtesy Materials for The Arts] The idea percolated around the country over the years that followed, often in association with other reuse organizations. But it seems theres been a jump in the past decade, and its accelerating. Each center serves as a catalyst for the next oneKorein, for instance, volunteered at Materials for the Arts for a decade and served on their board. The more centers there are, the more people become aware of this idea, says Evans. And it turns out to be a pretty seductive idea. [Photo: Anthony Sertel Dean/courtesy Materials for The Arts] New technologies are making it possible for word to spread faster, too, and TikTok in particular can translate directly to increased business. Kimberly Maruska, executive director of SCRAP Creative Reuse (which is unrelated to the San Francisco original and has four locations across the country), says that after a popular TikTok featured their Ann Arbor outpost, they saw a huge jump in sales and new customers who cited the Tiktok. Those people are still coming in, says Maruska. They didnt stop. Part of the appeal of creative reuse centers is their sheer practicalitywhy trash perfectly good materials, when teachers and artists are both famously cash-strapped? Theyre handy for businesses with leftover materials, or individuals who want somewhere to take emotionally complicated donationspeople who dont knit, for example, want their beloved great aunts yarn stash to go to somebody wholl appreciate it. [Photo: Anna Droddy/courtesy Materials for The Arts] In general, being creative is getting very expensive, says Evans. Creative reuse centers are a way to try something new without a huge financial commitment, and even seasoned crafters are keen for more affordable options. But theres a broader, less concrete appeal, too. Its an easy way to get involved in grassroots causes, says Blakely. Its an approachable step into a more sustainable life, and thats by design. We attract people to the idea of creative reuse by offering them low-cost art and craft and school supplies, says Evans. But then once they come to us, we want to open a conversation with them about the environmental aspects of what theyre doing and to celebrate the fact that theyre shopping secondhand. In an era of fast fashion and haul videos, creative reuse centers offer a particularly charming glimpse at another path. Creative reuse centers serve as community hubs, too. Centers generally offer programming beyond the materials. The Wasteshed and Austin Creative Reuse have both hosted trash fashion shows, for example, where competitors have to use provided materials in a kind of creative reuse-themed Project Runway. We create communities around us, says Maruska. Were taking in donations from local community members, businesses, were having educational programming, were partnering with other local nonprofits or libraries or schools. Most of these centers are nonprofits; theres little chance of a financial jackpot, and its a mission-driven labor of love that tends to attract passionate people. It really feels good to be part of something that everybody seems to benefit from, says Korein. All those aspects combine to create the quality I personally love best about Retake/Remake, which is that it allows me to imagine art as a practice for its own sake. I dont have to produce anything gallery-worthy; I dont have to justify it as a potential side-hustle. It doesnt even have to be particularly good. It can just be for meart as part of a straightforward human impulse to create.
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E-Commerce
Workplace stress reached an all-time high in 2022, according to a Gallup report. And a 2022 Work and Well-Being Survey from the American Psychological Association found that workers appreciate and seek mental health support in the workplace. Thats why its important for employees to learn and practice techniques that will help them lower their stress during moments when stress levels are high. One way to do this is by creating positive experiences during highly stressful situations, such as recalling times when we were confident, calm, and in control. These serve as emotional anchors that we can trigger at will. In my book, Emotional Intelligence Game Changers: 101 Simple Ways to Win at Work + Life, I share tips on how to increase our confidence. Here are several techniques for bringing ourselves into that state. 1. Identify the state we want to experience Take a moment to think of a time when you were in charge of the situation, relaxed and confident with the way things were working out. Remember the feeling that came to you. Think back to that time and try to replay the feelings and sensations in your body when that was happening. Focus on feelings such as confidence, calm, and joy you experienced. Ask yourself, what details can you remember that will bring you back to that place? 2. Find something that will trigger that state, time, and place Work on finding a physical action that will cause you to automatically think of the situation that brings you into a positive state. This could be a physical gesture, such as tapping yourself on a part of your body. Practice this gesture while bringing yourself into a positive state. And make sure you keep this gesture specific to this purpose, and try to avoid using it for anything else. 3. Check out the anchor in less stressful situations Instead of waiting to use it in a highly stressful situation, test out the anchor in moments when you aren’t feeling stressful. If it works effectively, then it should be able to work when stress is more prevalent. If the anchor isnt working as youd expect or want it to, revisit the anchor technique by intensifying the emotion around the event, and modify your trigger accordingly. 4. Keep practicing and strengthening the anchor Look for situations throughout the day when you can practice using your anchor. Any situation that increases your stress, even in small levels, is an opportunity to use and solidify the effects of the anchor. Youll find that if you practice this technique over time, it will become easier to access when you most need it. Youll no longer need to think of the anchor because it’ll become your natural response in stressful situations. 5. Put your body into it Another way of strengthening the anchor is to align our physical state with the feelings of confidence. When you straighten your body, put out your chest, and pull back your shoulders, you encourage your body to amplify readiness, strength, and confidence. Add this posture to your anchor. 6. Add an inner mantra Repeating a mantra over time can also add strength to the anchor. Personalize it to make it more uniquely yours. You’ll want to use words that are powerful, that deeply resonate with you, and that are true of how you felt during the time when youre experiencing the feelings. 7. Think of situations where the anchor will be helpful The best way to strengthen the anchor is to anticipate situations where you know it can be useful, then practice using it during these times. Any place, time, or circumstance that brings you out of your comfort zones is a great time to practice. As you begin to experience the benefits of using this in various situations, youll find it more and more natural to practice these anchors, and youll also embed it in your habits and memories.
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E-Commerce
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