When did we stop talking to each other? Five years ago, two co-workers in a tense moment might have grabbed coffee to hash it out. Today, they grab their phones and email HR. @SHRM 's Chief Knowledge Officer, Dr. Alex Alonso, coined it: meepathy. Demanding empathy from everyone around you while extending none back. This is how direct communication dies. If the pattern stops with you, which shift do you start with?

Next Tuesday, Orlando. I've spent the last few weeks here talking with you about skills, growth, and what it takes to lead through change. Next week, that conversation moves off the screen and into the room. #SHRM26 is in Orlando, June 16 to 19. Four days with the people who actually do this work, asking the hard questions and trading what's working. If you're coming, I want to hear what you're wrestling with. Find me. Say hello. Let's make it count.

Most managers don't fail because they're incapable. They fail because they were handed responsibility for people without ever being taught that the job is now about people. We promote for execution. We reward individual performance. We elevate the person who gets results. Then we ask that same person to build trust, develop others, and retain talent—as if those are instinctive next steps. They aren't. The job changed the day you became a manager. The mindset has to follow. What's the hardest shift to make? Tell me.

You won't feel ready. Do it anyway. Comfort can mean you've quietly stopped growing. When someone asks how to build a career, I ask three things: → What energizes you? → Which can you build a living around? → What scares you a little? That last one matters most. Pick one thing you've been avoiding. Take one step toward it before Friday. → Follow me on LinkedIn for more daily insights: linkedin.com/in/johnnyctaylo…

Who trained managers for a workplace with six generations in it? A 15-year-old and a 65-year-old can show up to work at the same company today. For years the path has looked the same: do great work, get promoted into management. Few of those promotions came with real training. Who taught you how to manage people?

Culture is shaped by what leaders reinforce. Tolerance is never neutral.

The return-to-office debate keeps getting framed as a battle over location. I think that misses the larger issue. Many people are struggling with isolation in ways that weren't as visible before. Where do you land on this?

Your best employee decided to quit months ago. You're just finding out now. SHRM research points to 5 reasons why. Watch the full video.

Culture is not a perk. It is what happens when nobody is watching and something goes wrong. Most leaders do not actually know what theirs is. Watch the full video.

Future-ready is not a title. It's a behavior. Most people are waiting to be told what to learn, when to learn it, and how it fits their role. That window has already closed. The people pulling ahead right now have one thing in common: They do not wait. They learn before they are asked. They admit what they don't know without hesitation. They share what they are figuring out while they are still figuring it out. Comfort becomes a constraint faster than most people realize. The habits that keep you relevant are built before you need them. Not after. #Leadership #FutureOfWork #SHRM

I called an Uber home from Baltimore, and by the end of the ride, I was the one driving it. True story. My driver, an older woman, had lost her job. She'd applied 100 times over 2 years and heard nothing back. Then her phone rang. It was a live job interview, playing through the car speakers, while we were on the highway. Then she asked me a question I'll never forget. What happened in that car is happening in workforces across the country. Workers 50 and older now make up 34% of the U.S. workforce, projected to hit 40% in the coming years (Pew Research). The hiring game has changed. Most older workers haven't been trained for it. You'll want to hear how this one ended. Watch the full story 📷

Leadership requires discipline long before results are visible.

When you lead with kindness, you build stronger, more committed teams.

A resignation email lands in your inbox today. Did you see it coming? Trust does not announce itself when it breaks. It shows up in your data. Four signals I watch for: 1️⃣ Turnover is rising. 2️⃣ Productivity is slipping. 3️⃣ Engagement has drifted. 4️⃣ Your managers are leaving. SHRM's 2026 State of the Workplace research: 51% of workers who feel their needs are not being met say they will leave within the year. Trust is a leadership input. You invest in it, or you watch it erode. Watch the full breakdown 👇 #Leadership #SHRM #FutureOfWork

Where attention goes, teams follow. Leadership focus often determines whether people see obstacles or opportunities.

Workplace toxicity isn't coming from where most leaders look. Not the boss, or the policy. It's the colleague two desks over. 212M acts of incivility daily. $2.3B gone every day. The fix isn't a new policy. It's the oldest rule we know: Treat people the way you want to be treated. #Civility #Leadership

The way we identify, promote, and develop talent? It's been disrupted. At #SHRMTalent26, my friend @Pulsipher_WGU made a point I want all leaders to hear: most schools build talent and hope employers want it. WGU flipped the model; they went to employers first. That's the foundation of our new @SHRM x #WGU Education-to-Employment partnership. A degree tells you someone completed a program, and skills validation tells you they're ready on day one. #SkillsBasedHiring

As a leader, accountability is the price of credibility. Pay it willingly.

At The AI HI Project event a couple of weeks ago, every leader in the room had the same question: Who owns the AI transition? Honest answer: You do. AI won't take your job. Someone proficient in #AI will.