Forbes - Be your best 😃

Every Saturday I send you a tight edit of Forbes’ future trends across tech, entrepreneurship, sustainability and more. Enjoy.

Being a better leader

We start 2022 with a mix of emotions: worries around a resurgent virus and also new, refreshing attitudes to work.

Speaking to leaders after the Christmas break, I heard about a promising trend. Over the festival season, all took the time to reset, down tools and recharge properly. After a punishing 12 months of relentless video calls, they listened to their bodies and weary minds and properly switched off.

This takes real leadership from the top. It cascades down throughout companies, creating a better work culture for all. With competition for talent looking set to get even hotter in 2022, those organizations that continue to listen, adapt and be flexible, will endure and succeed in this new normal we find ourselves in.

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5 things we learned

China’s biggest lockdown is marred by food shortages and app glitches. The city of Xi’an’s 13 million people are facing harsh restrictions, following a small surge in cases. With one month till the Beijing Winter Olympics, all eyes will be on the country’s “zero Covid” policies.

France hit Google and Facebook with $238m of fines. Data regulators slammed the two Silicon Valley giants for failing to provide easy ways to disable cookies. They now have 3 months to make it easier to say no to being tracked online.

Trump lost more than $100m at his European golf resorts. The pandemic took its toll on Trump’s fledgling properties across the U.K. and Ireland, despite golf becoming a popular “Covid-safe'' activity. One resort in Aberdeenshire lost $1.8m in 2020, even after taking $600,000 of grant money from the local government.

Avocados, eggs mayonnaise and cheeseburgers topped the takeaway charts in 2021. Data from delivery company Deliveroo revealed our eccentric lockdown food habits. The most ordered dish of the year was the Salmon Poke from Pokèria by NIMA in Florence.

A beer company’s “Wet January” campaign was a big flop. “Most months have 30 days. Some have less. Only one month has 31 days. Wet January” was one of a series of now-deleted tweets from beer brand Blue Ribbon. Read the room.

The good

Alexa is being taken into space. The omnipresent voice assistant will find its way onto the Orion spacecraft from February this year, as part of a trial. You’ll even be able to ask “Alexa, take me to the moon” to get live updates on the spacecraft.

The bad

Ukraine’s Culture Minister says ‘Emily in Paris’ is offensive. The second series of the ‘hit’ drama, features a Ukrainian character with a bad shoplifting habit, leading to an outcry. Emily in Paris isn’t just offensive, it’s offensively bad.

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Do this

Discover 50 years of Francis Bacon's finest work. Exploring the blurred line between human and animal, this new exhibition is poignantly relevant today. 26-28 January, Royal Academy London, from $30.

Watch

Language is creating a climate knowledge gap. Watch how UN climate advisor and entrepreneur, Sophia Kianni is making the climate movement more accessible to non-english speaking countries by translating crucial climate resources into over 100 languages. TED, available to watch worldwide.

Listen

Keep your New Year’s resolutions. Behavioural economist Katy Milkman explains the ‘fresh start effect’⁠—our tendency to see new beginnings and exhibit renewed motivation for our goals; and how to ensure we stick to them. NPR, free to listen worldwide.

Read

The science of nutrition. Covering every conceivable diet from vegan to paleo, leading nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert cuts through the myths, fads, and ever-changing advice to bring us a scientific guide to managing how we eat. DK, from $20.

Taste

10 mocktails for dry January. If you’re cutting back on the booze after a heavy holiday, do it in style with one of these delicious mocktails. All of the fun, none of the hangover.

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