Leadership is a thrill ride, but don't miss the lessons

When you lead with love as a leader, it's not about overlooking problems or even expressing affection, but is about bringing empathy, purpose, empowerment, psychological safety and recognition to your team and organization, writes former CEO and serial entrepreneur Runa Bouius. Love-based leadership, Bouius notes, has been proven to increase creativity, employee loyalty, trust, well-being and engagement.

Put it into practice: Leaders who adopt a love-based style will need to set boundaries and balance compassion with tough decisions, Bouius notes. Also, leaders must be flexible in their approach since not everyone responds the same, but a focus on empathy and growth for team members can create a positive workplace overall.

Riding the roller coasters at Pennsylvania's Hershey Park, Fred Ende, the director of curriculum and instructional services for Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., learned numerous leadership lessons among the twists and turns, including taking the highs with the lows and deliberately slowing down so you can see what's going on (learning this one on a coaster going 75 miles per hour). "If we are so busy that we can't give our work the time it needs to truly develop, then we will likely end up going too fast to be confident in our results," Ende writes.

Put it into practice: A ride on a hybrid roller coaster that used both old and new tracks taught Ende that leaders could adapt new strategies to long-standing practices to improve them. "Our practice as leaders, just like the design of roller coasters, can change for the better without throwing away what works and what we've enjoyed in the past."

Attract top AI talent to your company by establishing an AI department, upskilling current team members, partnering with area colleges and universities, and using "anchor hires," those highly experienced in the field who can attract others who want to work with them, writes Sreedhar Narayanan, the managing director, Americas at Qualitest. "An anchor hire can assist in shaping the strategic direction of the company as they often have an extensive professional network," Narayana notes.

Put it into practice: Teaching AI skills to your current workforce can have several good side-effects, including alleviating employees' worries about their skills becoming obsolete and saving on the cost of recruiting and hiring new employees, Narayanan writes. Your company will also gain a reputation for employee development, which can attract top AI talent.

Making it a habit to get in a 20-40 minute nap between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. in a regular place (perhaps with a little coffee beforehand that will kick in after the siesta) can improve cognitive functioning and creativity, say experts. "There's this space between wake and deep sleep where these interesting ideas are bopping around, and we can maneuver inside there," says Sara Mednick, a sleep researcher at the University of California, Irvine.

Alexandrena Parker has taken the overall winner title in the professional category of the 1839 Awards, named for the year that photography became widely available to the public, with a photo of unsupervised children playing jump rope in the Australian outback. The contest also drew some controversy after the photographer who initially won the AI photo category's People's Vote Award was disqualified after admitting they took the photo themselves.

When I was a kid, I loved roller coasters. I was lucky enough to be raised near the Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park. If you don't know, that's home to The Great American Scream Machine, a classic wooden roller coaster built in 1973. It takes you 105 feet in the air before plunging you a high speed around some massive twists and turns. We'd get off and immediately get back in line.

I thought back to that roller coaster while reading Fred Ende's piece on what leadership lessons he gleaned from such rides. The one that resonated with me was about slowing down to really pay attention to our work. Sometimes, it feels like we're on a "scream machine" at work, moving with dizzying speed to accomplish all of our goals. As Ende notes, we should not be wearing our "busyness as a badge of honor."

"If we are so busy that we can't give our work the time it needs to truly develop, then we will likely end up going too fast to be confident in our results. Speed can't take the place of effectiveness in our work."

Where are some places you can (and, frankly, need to) slow down? How much more effective could you be as a leader if you weren't so proud of your  "busyness"?

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