Hi Reader! Daria’s here. Last week, I was recording a new episode of Built by People Leaders with Elena Krutova — and about 15 minutes in, she said something that made me stop and ask her to repeat it. She was talking about the hardest kind of leadership work. And it’s not scaling a team. Not building something from scratch. It’s the other kind of work: walking into an organization that’s struggling, where the processes exist but aren’t working, where people are in place, but their motivation...

Hi Reader! Less than 1% of CEOs see HR as a key partner in unlocking the value of generative AI. That's not speculation. That's from Gartner Leadership Vision for 2025. And I really think it might be the most expensive blind spot in business right now. Because here's what I've been seeing on the ground. Over the past few months, I've been sitting down with HR and people leaders across industries to ask one question: what actually happens when HR takes a seat at the AI transformation table?...

Hi Reader! A few months back, I sat across from a talented CTO who looked exhausted. For anyone around her, she had a stunning career — a senior leadership role, a great salary, and respect from her team. But when I asked what she wanted next, she went quiet. "I don't know," she finally said. "A bigger role at a more established company? A risky startup? Maybe something completely different, like an NGO?" She had options. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that she didn't know which...