Humans over the loop is becoming a practical way to lead in an AI‑shaped, rapidly evolving world: if we do not keep people at the center, deployment decisions and cost pressures will quietly start to set the terms for us.

From “in the loop” to “over the loop”

For roughly a decade, “humans in the loop” has been the default phrase for safe AI: a person checks outputs and can stop or correct the model when needed. That framing worked when AI showed up as a single tool in one workflow or team.

The reality in 2024–2026 looks different. Many companies now use AI across multiple functions—customer service, marketing, HR, operations—and are layering in agents that can route tickets, draft content, and update systems without a human explicitly asking. In that setting, “Who signs off on this output?” is no longer enough. The better question becomes, “Who is shaping the system this model lives inside—its purpose, guardrails, and incentives?”

Humans over the loop names that upstream work. Leaders define which decisions must stay human, which can be AI‑assisted, and which can be automated within strict boundaries. They ask for concrete metrics: not just “model accuracy,” but “override rate on sensitive decisions,” “time saved per case,” and “impact on employee and customer satisfaction.” Teams then keep adjusting how AI fits into real work so the technology remains a powerful tool, not the quiet author of decisions.

AI is scaling faster than purpose

In many surveys, a majority of organizations now report using AI in at least one business function, but only a minority say they feel mature in how they govern, measure, and integrate it. On the ground, that looks like dozens of pilots and tools, but fuzzy answers to “What is this here to do for people in this context?”

A humans‑over‑the‑loop mindset forces a shift from “Where can we automate?” to more grounded questions:

• Where are teams chronically overloaded or stuck?

• Where are error rates, cycle times, or burnout scores trending in the wrong direction?

• Where would a 20–30% reduction in administrative time unlock more listening, care, or creativity?

In practice, that might mean setting a target like: “Reduce documentation time for clinicians by 30%, while maintaining or improving patient satisfaction and clinical error rates.” Or: “Use AI routing to cut average response times by 25% without lowering first‑contact resolution.” Purpose becomes something you can instrument and track, not just a statement on a slide.

Aging, work, and what people actually do best

Demographic data points in the same direction. Many countries are seeing a rising share of older adults, increasing pressure on health and care systems, and persistent labor shortages in frontline roles. In health care and manufacturing, for example, burnout and vacancy rates have become board‑level issues, not just HR topics.

If we respond only with cost‑cutting, we risk amplifying the worst of both trends: over‑reliance on automation and under‑investment in human connection and expertise. Humans over the loop invites different design questions and metrics.

Vignette: a manufacturer with an aging workforce

Imagine a mid‑sized manufacturing company where over a third of the skilled technicians are within ten years of retirement. For years, their know‑how has lived in people’s heads and in dog‑eared notebooks.

The leadership team decides to take a humans‑over‑the‑loop approach to AI and knowledge capture. They set three explicit goals:

• Cut machine downtime by 20% over two years.

• Capture at least 70% of critical troubleshooting recipes from senior technicians before they retire.

• Improve injury and incident rates by reducing rushed, last‑minute fixes.

They pair senior technicians with younger colleagues and simple AI tooling on tablets. As the pairs troubleshoot, they talk through their reasoning while the system helps structure and tag steps, symptoms, and root causes. Supervisors review patterns monthly: which fixes worked, which recipes were reused, where the AI suggestions helped, and where they confused. The AI is there to organize and surface options; humans remain the authors and final editors of the playbook.

Over time, they begin to see concrete shifts: fewer repeated breakdowns, shorter time‑to‑repair, and more junior technicians able to handle complex issues with confidence. The metric that lands hardest in the boardroom is not just reduced downtime; it is the visible transfer of knowledge from an aging workforce into a living, human‑curated system.

A more grounded way to use powerful tools

Most teams are not asking for a grand AI strategy. They are trying to solve concrete problems: call hold times, backlogs, error rates, rework, burnout. Humans over the loop offers a simple pattern:

• Let AI surface options, patterns, and suggestions.

• Make sure humans closest to the work help design and tune tools.

• Define explicit “red lines” where a human must review or decide.

• Measure not just efficiency, but experience and quality.

In a customer‑service context, that could mean: “Allow AI to draft responses, require human review for all high‑risk categories, target a 20% drop in average handle time, and track changes in customer satisfaction and complaint escalation rates.” In operations, it might be: “Use AI for forecasting and scheduling, but require human sign‑off when forecasts deviate more than a set percentage from historical norms.”

Try this experiment

If you are leading a function or business unit, here is a concrete experiment:

• List three decisions in your area that must stay human for the next three years.

• List three areas where you would welcome AI support, as long as humans remain clearly over the loop.

• For each, write down one metric you would use to tell if the technology is helping or quietly distorting what matters.

Share that list with your leadership team or peers and see whether you agree. Show that as a human over the loop, you are putting language, structure, and practice around the choices you are already facing.

Find out more about FountainBlue’s Humans Over the Loop micro training modules.

Many of us are assuming that someone more technical, more data‑savvy, more connected, more creative, more confident, more successful, more (insert your own adjective) will step in and step up while the world is taking shape in front of our eyes, with AI leading the way.

But the quieter, unassuming majority - the everyday manager, the dynamic team leader, the quiet individual contributor, the nerdy dude, the edgy creative - has just as much to say about the future as the “likely” leaders. The real question becomes: who is willing to step up and say, “I care what this technology does to my people, my customers, and my community - and I’m going to help shape that.”

You don’t need to become an AI expert or be the loudest or the first in the room to matter. You do need a hopeful mindset, clear goals, and the courage to take small steps: asking better questions, setting simple guardrails, and insisting that human dignity, agency, and resilience stay at the center. That is what it means to lead as a human over the loop.

Hold on to one simple belief: a better future is possible, and what you and your team do next can help bring it about—even when time is short and the tech feels intimidating. As the leader “over the loop,” your job is to keep that vision in view when uncertainty spikes and everyone else is tempted to look away.

Challenge yourself to:

• Define what “better” actually means for your team, customers, and community.

• Ask “What kind of future do we want AI to help us build,” before asking “Which tool should we buy.”

• Keep coming back to purpose when conversations drift into buzzwords and fear.

You don’t need to architect models. Architect meaning instead and the models will follow.

Believe that you and the team have the power to define goals and boundaries for how AI is used. Challenge yourself to:

• Choose one specific area where AI might reduce drudgery or expand access, and naming that as a clear goal.

• Say explicitly, “We will not use AI to do X,” when it undermines trust, fairness, or inclusion.

• Ask for explanations you can understand, and refuse to sign off on “just trust the algorithm.”

These are leadership moves, not technical moves. They signal that technology must bend toward human outcomes, not the other way around, and that it is more about considered, strategic action and shared results than about title and ownership.

Leading ‘over the loop’ doesn’t mean you need a grand transformation plan on day one. It means you’re willing to explore practical, small steps. Challenge yourself to:

• Run a simple “use case audit”: where are people doing repetitive, low‑value work that drains energy, and could AI assist.

• Co‑create a one‑page “AI guardrails” document with your team: when it’s okay to use AI, when it’s not, and how to check yourself.

• Pilot a low‑risk tool in one workflow and hold a retrospective: what helped, what harmed, what should we change.

Don’t wait for a perfect roadmap, but do build pathways for reaching a shared goal one step at a time.

AI initiatives will misfire. Tools will underperform. People will worry about their roles. But staying resilient helps you lead over the loop. Challenge yourself to:

• Treat missteps as learning opportunities, not as proof that “we should never have tried this.”

• Name fears openly (“Yes, this is new and unnerving”) while still pointing to the possibilities.

• Pace shifts and changes while providing support, not just deadlines.

Stay in the conversation when life happens, especially in times of great change.

Choose to be resilient and agile, normalizing short feedback loops, quick adjustments, and ongoing learning. Consider doing the following:

• Schedule regular check‑ins on any AI or automation effort: “What are we seeing, and what do we want to change.”

• Invite voices from the edges - frontline staff, skeptics and naysayers, new hires - to share how AI is actually affecting their work.

• Be willing to revise your own assumptions as you learn, showing that changing your mind is a strength, not a weakness.

Leading humans over the loop is as much about mindset as it is about considered movement and measured impact. Step up, step in, and keep technology aligned with a hopeful, human future by the way you set goals, hold boundaries, and walk beside your team.

In these divisive times, I’m noticing two loud camps around AI.
Some are convinced it will take over the world. Others are sprinting to harness it so they can rule the world.
Whichever camp you’re closer to, one thing is clear: our world is getting more AI‑dense. This piece is about what remains stubbornly, beautifully human in that world.

Meaning‑Making / Purpose → Goals

It starts with meaning‑making.

It will always take a human to connect the dots between a feature, a workflow, a policy - and someone’s lived experience. As a leader, you tell the story of why this matters now, for these people, in this context.

AI might help you with options and trade‑offs, with market opportunity and metrics, with historical patterns and success stories. But it’s a human who stands up and declares a meaning that resonates with other humans - as customers, as partners, as employees, as investors.

When your meaning‑making lands, goals stop being distant targets and start becoming lived commitments addressing specific questions:

• Who are we serving?

• What changes for them if we succeed?

• How will we know it’s actually better, not just busier?

AI can help you forecast, cluster, and optimize. It cannot decide what is worth optimizing for. That’s you.

Value‑Aligned Judgment → Purpose

It takes a human to practice value‑aligned judgment. And in your world - whatever your role, level, or status - that human is you.

Tools can surface patterns and options. They can rank, score, and recommend. But they can’t sit with the hard trade‑offs and still make a call you’re genuinely proud to own.

This is where purpose moves from a poster on the wall to something you practice in real time:

• You say ‘no’ to the elegant solution that quietly erodes trust.

• You slow down the rollout because the impact on one vulnerable group isn’t yet understood.

• You own the decision, even when the model “suggested” a different path.

Purpose, in this sense, is your moral compass and the spine of the system. It’s the throughline that lets people trust that your “yes” and your “no” are anchored in more than convenience, pressure, or short‑term gain.

Bold Aspirations, Clear Pathways, Invited Engagement → Agency

With clear meaning and a values‑based purpose, you can focus on declaring bold aspirations.

Models are great at “more of the same.” They predict the next likely word, the next likely move, the next likely pattern. Humans are the ones who bring the razzle‑dazzle and invite the ‘what if.’ For example, a human might wonder, ‘What if we aimed for something 10x more inclusive, more sustainable, more connected?’

With clear goals, aligned pathways, and invited engagement, you can build agency:

• Bold aspirations: We name futures that are worth the stretch, beyond incremental improvement.

• Clear pathways: We make the next steps visible and doable, so people know how to move toward that future.

• Invited engagement: We ask, we listen, we co‑create—so people feel like participants, not passengers.

Agency shows up when people can say, “I see where we’re going, I know how I can contribute, and my contribution matters.”
No AI system can give that to your team without you first choosing it and designing for it.

Relational Stewardship, Diverse Participation, Learning‑Forward Culture → Resilience

Relational stewardship lays the groundwork for a flywheel - a continuous loop for growth.

Relational stewardship can serve an organization from the outside in or from the inside out.

• From the outside in, it’s about creating an ecosystem of complementary partners to better help, grow, serve, and expand the business. These alliances and partnerships complement offerings, extend impact, and help build shared momentum that benefits all parties.

• From the inside out, it’s about facilitating inclusion, advocating for diversity, and designing an equitable, proactive, and learning‑forward culture that becomes the heart of an organization’s success.

In short, relational stewardship can be designed to build and expand resilience:

• Relational stewardship: You tend to the human fabric—trust, safety, belonging—especially during change.

• Proactive expansion: You work together to complement, innovate, collaborate, and expand, with the needs of the customer in mind.

• Diverse participation: You deliberately include voices with different backgrounds, roles, and perspectives, so the system doesn’t converge on one narrow view of “normal.”

• Learning‑forward culture: You treat mistakes and surprises as raw material for growth, not reasons for shame or blame.

Resilience isn’t about never breaking. It’s about being able to bend, adapt, and come back wiser - together.
In an AI‑dense world, resilience is what lets you keep experimenting without burning your people out or leaving them behind.

Bringing It All Together

If we map it out, the human portfolio looks something like this:

• Meaning‑making / Purpose → Goals

• Value‑aligned judgment → Purpose (lived, not just stated)

• Bold aspirations + clear pathways + invited engagement → Agency

• Relational stewardship + diverse participation + learning‑forward culture → Resilience

That’s the work only humans can do.

Not to out‑compute the machines, but to keep us anchored in goals that matter, purpose we can stand behind, agency we can feel, and resilience we can share.

In the end, that’s what’s uniquely human in an AI‑dense world.

Will you choose to be more human, and more hopeful, while fully participating in the opportunities and challenges in a world of AI?

Shameless plug: Hope <=> Goals * Pathways * Agency * Resilience

This is FountainBlue’s Hope Framework, which I unpack in Elevate Hope: From Mindset to Framework to Economy, scheduled for release on February 14, 2026.

Hope stops being a feeling and becomes a practical multiplier when clear goals, viable pathways, real agency, and shared resilience all reinforce each other.

Artificial intelligence can now generate options, draft strategies, and optimize operations at a speed no leadership team can match, but it still cannot answer three non-delegable questions: What do we believe in, where are we going, and how will we behave while we get there.

Strategic leadership in the age of AI is about using head, heart, and hands to design the system in which humans and intelligent agents operate so those questions are answered on purpose, not by accident.

The ‘Heart’ is the guardrail for how people are treated. The ‘Head’ is the discipline that sets and aligns to a strategic purpose. The ‘Hands’ are the commitment to shape execution so it reflects those values and delivers on that strategy. When all three are aligned, AI amplifies performance instead of amplifying risk.

The ‘Heart’ is not sentiment, it is constraint. It defines what will not be traded away, even under pressure and even when automation makes it tempting. As AI moves into hiring, evaluation, scheduling, and customer interactions, the absence of clear guardrails around dignity, fairness, and psychological safety becomes a structural risk, not a soft issue.​

Leaders responsible for both people and AI make those guardrails explicit. They state where human review is mandatory, where AI cannot be the sole decision maker, and how data about employees and customers will and will not be used. They tie these rules directly to values, not just compliance. Research on transformation and trust shows that organizations that anchor change in visible values sustain engagement and adapt faster than those that reduce it to tools and cost savings.

The ‘Heart’ also shows up in what happens when AI is wrong. Systems will misclassify, overfit, or surface biased patterns. Leaders who are serious about heart take accountability for those errors, make remediation visible, and ensure that people are not treated as collateral damage of experimentation. Without that, every new AI initiative quietly erodes confidence in leadership.

The ‘Head’ is where purpose, direction, and hard tradeoffs live. It is not enough to ask what AI can do; the strategic question is what you want it to do and what you refuse to let it do, given your purpose. As access to advanced tools becomes ubiquitous, advantage shifts from experimentation to disciplined alignment between AI portfolios and clear strategic objectives.

Leaders in the age of AI use the ‘Head’ to define what they will build and how they will build it. They decide which value pools matter, which risks are acceptable, and what success looks like beyond short term efficiency. That may mean saying no to attractive use cases that conflict with the organization’s long term positioning or with the guardrails set by the ‘Heart’.

It may also mean concentrating investment where AI augments human strengths in judgment, creativity, and complex problem solving rather than simply chasing automation for its own sake.​

The ‘Head’ is also about portfolio discipline. Recent research on AI adoption points to a shift away from scattered pilots toward fewer, better governed initiatives with clear ownership, metrics, and exit criteria. Leaders who oversee these transitions demand transparency into how models are trained, how they perform across segments, and how they will be monitored once embedded in operations. Without that discipline, AI becomes an uncontrolled layer that can influence critical decisions in intended and unintended ways, and often without anyone noticing.

The ‘Hands’ are where people, process, and technology are designed so that daily execution reflects the decisions made in the ‘Head’ and the ‘Heart’. In most organizations, this is where the system either holds or breaks.

On the people-side, the ‘Hands’ means selecting and developing leaders who can operate in mixed human and AI teams and who have the resilience and learning agility to adapt as tools and roles change. Research on high-potential candidate identification emphasizes intrinsic qualities such as judgment, collaboration, and eagerness to learn as better predictors of sustained performance than credentials alone. Leaders in the age of AI insist that these criteria shape promotions and key assignments, not just performance conversations.

On the process side, the ‘Hands’ means redesigning workflows so human strengths are preserved and amplified. As a rule of thumb, AI might take on draft generation, pattern recognition, and triage, while humans handle exceptions, value conflicts, and nonstandard opportunities. Processes should include explicit points where humans can challenge or override AI outputs and where learning from those interventions feeds back into both the model and the operating playbook.

On the technology side, the ‘Hands’ are about implementation and discipline. Systems are chosen and configured to respect the values and boundaries already defined, not the other way around. Cross-functional teams test AI in realistic scenarios before scaling up, with legal, risk, HR, and frontline perspectives represented in the room. Leaders in the age-of-AI treat this as core infrastructure, not an optional extra.

When the ‘Head’, the ‘Heart’, and the ‘Hands’ are treated as separate conversations, the seams are exposed. A sharp strategy without values produces speed, but not trust. Lived values without strategic clarity produce intent without impact. Relentless execution without values or strategy just spins in circles.

In the age of AI, strategic leadership means standing over-the-loop and integrating all three. The ‘Heart’ sets non-negotiable guardrails for how people are treated, grounded on core values. The ‘Head’ defines the purpose and boundaries that give AI a framework and direction. The ‘Hands’ ensure that the envisioned structures, roles, people, and systems on the ground actually act, respond, and behave as intended.

AI will continue to take over tasks and increasingly participate in planning and operations. What it will not do is choose your values, articulate your purpose, or own the consequences of your decisions. Those remain human responsibilities. Leaders who understand this and lead with aligned head, heart, and hands will not just survive this transition; they will set the standard for what high performance looks like in an intelligent world.

As you look at your own organization this year, choose one concrete guardrail for the Heart, one strategic boundary for the Head, and one execution change for the Hands- and put all three in place before you green-light your next AI initiative. Use this simple template to make your commitment specific:

Our Heart guardrail: AI will never _____________ without ______________.

Our Head boundary: We will only use AI for _________________________.

Our Hands change: Starting this week, we will _______________________.

If you are willing to share or pressure‑test your ideas, email them to us or schedule a 15‑minute call so we can refine them together.

Pressure-Test your idea

The year 2025 has felt like a gut punch for a lot of smart, capable people. Rolling layoffs, AI reshaping roles overnight, and a steady drumbeat of uncertainty have left more than half of leaders burned out and nearly 70% of executives more stressed than they were a year ago.1

If that’s you, the shock is not “in your head” – it’s a rational human response to more than a million layoffs, constant reorgs, and a sense that the old promises between employers and employees have quietly been rewritten, without consultation, without meaningful communication.

This blog is an invitation to treat that visceral hit not as a verdict on your worth, but as a signal that something important is ending so that something more aligned, more hopeful, and more sustainable can begin.

Through eight practical practices, you can take that punch-in-the-gut moment and turn it into a disciplined “What’s Next” – one where you reclaim agency, redesign your work, and facilitate purpose-driven change.

1. Anchor in Hope and Agency

• Normalize disruption as a systemic reality, and treat Hope as a discipline—a foundation for how you think, work, decide, and build, not a vague, amorphous emotion. Frame your transition as a series of choices you can influence, supported by strategy, partnerships, and technologies as enablers.

2. Connect Past, Present, and Market

• Use concrete metrics and stakeholder impact to communicate what you’ve done for whom specifically, so your real value is visible beyond job titles. Then map that history against current market opportunities and needs, especially where your technical depth plus leadership experience solve cross-functional problems like AI adoption, security, data, and platform shifts.

3. Clarify the New Direction

• Separate “what I no longer want” from “what I want more of,” focusing on the intersection of your passions, strengths, and market demand. Identify 2–3 “next chapter” hypotheses (for example, scale-up CTO, fractional CTO/board advisor, startup coach, impact venture) instead of searching for a single perfect answer.

4. Design Experiments, Not Just Plans

• Translate your hypotheses into low-risk experiments such as advisory projects, pilot consulting, teaching a workshop, leading technical due diligence, or mentoring a founder. Give yourself clear “homework” between steps—specific conversations, draft artifacts, and small commitments—to build evidence and momentum rather than staying in analysis.

5. Attend to Identity, Healing, and Confidence

• Make space for the identity shock of stepping away from a big title, and honor what is ending before over-focusing on “rainmaker” goals and initiatives that build. Use tools that rebuild confidence—strengths storytelling, stakeholder feedback, mock interviews, narrative reframing—so your new story is grounded, not performative.

6. Sharpen Story and Communication

• Craft a concise “What’s Next” narrative that explains the journey from past roles to future value in language non-technical buyers and boards can easily understand. Practice it in mock interviews, LinkedIn updates, and intro emails, highlighting your mix of technical credibility and strategic, cross-functional leadership.

7. Orchestrate Networks and Partnerships

• Re-engage with your ecosystem with intention. Selectively connect with former colleagues, investors, founders, and communities aligned with your next chapter. Look for roles that let you be both “healer” and “rainmaker”—advisory boards, startup/scale-up coaching, or Boomer–Gen X–Gen Z collaborations where you can both give back and help build new ventures.

8. Create a Practical Roadmap

• Build a 90-day roadmap that sequences reflection, exploration, and execution into concrete milestones. Use the Hope → Resilience → Clarity → Agility framework to stay centered, purposeful, and forward-moving as you navigate what’s next.

Sign up for a What's Next Call now!

If any part of this landed for you, let’s make it concrete. In a complimentary 15‑minute What’s Next call, we will pick one of these eight practices and drill down together, then I’ll send you a tailored homework assignment so you can immediately turn insight into action.

Ongoing What’s Next coaching is available at $200 per half hour, typically meeting weekly for at least one month.

Regardless of whether you sign up for What’s Next complimentary or ongoing calls, I hope that reading this blog helps you to reclaim your agency, redesign your work, and facilitate purpose‑driven change in your own life and in the communities you touch.

There was a time when the rules felt clear. You joined a solid company, followed the playbook, worked hard, and could reasonably expect stability in return. Those rules eroded as globalization, technology, and restructuring broke the idea of lifetime employment, and now they are shifting again. The difference today is that even the “new rules” do not stay put for long.

In the coaching section, the focus is on people guardrails: the expectations of your manager, your team, your division, and your partners. In this consulting lens, we zoom out to the system guardrails that shape all of that: shifting markets, accelerating technology, changing corporate goals, and relentless pressure for bottom line results. You may not control these forces, but you can decide how you respond to them, and that is where hope and possibility live.

Why: What Got Us Here Will Not Get Us There

Many of us were taught to keep our heads down, work hard, and deliver what was asked. Effort, loyalty, and reliability will always matter, but in a world where demands conflict, information is incomplete, and decisions shift without warning, they are no longer enough on their own.

In a landscape that keeps changing, the WHY can remain steady. A clear, lived purpose gives leaders and teams something solid to stand on when system guardrails move overnight. It does not remove the pressure, but it does give you a way to ask, “Given who we are and why we exist, how do we respond to this?” That question is the start of a more hopeful and intentional path forward.

What: Evolving Within a Centered Purpose

The ‘WHAT’, meaning what you build, prioritize, measure, and invest in, cannot stay static. Products are retired, services change shape, metrics evolve, and organizational charts are redrawn. Corporate strategies reset, executive focus swings to new risks and opportunities, and markets and customers keep raising the bar.

But as the WHAT evolves, it must remain centered on the WHY, the purpose. When the WHAT shifts feel random and disjointed, reactions become less measured, more random, and more amplified, with compounding effects.

When the WHY remains clear, the WHAT can evolve within that framework instead of fragmenting. You can say, “Given our purpose and these system guardrails, what needs to change, and what must not be compromised?” The trade offs are still real, but they are no longer guesswork in the dark.

How: Hope can feed Resilience, Clarity, Agility

The HOW is where things will fluctuate most, where things get less predictable and less manageable, and often make the least sense from your vantage point. Processes are reworked, tools swapped, ways of working redesigned, and decision rights reshuffled. Increasingly, there is no template from the past that fully explains the present.

Hope is a strategy that can impact the HOW - not shape whether or when or why something happens, but keeping you resilient and aligned when things DO happen.

Hope, grounded in purpose, strengthens resilience because you are more willing to get back up when you believe something better is still possible. That resilience creates clarity as you sort out what really matters from what is just noise. From that clarity comes agility, because you can pivot and experiment without feeling like you are losing yourself or your direction.

In this space, internal and external guardrails work together. The internal guardrail, your purpose, keeps you from slipping into pure compliance or quiet resignation. The system guardrails, including markets, technology shifts, corporate goals, and bottom line realities, define the conditions you have to work within. Those system guardrails are beyond your control, but you can influence how your corner of the organization responds. Hope shows up in concrete moves, such as:

• Making the apparent randomness discussable with your teams instead of pretending it all makes sense.

• Naming what is fixed for now and where there is genuine flexibility.

• Designing small, reversible experiments that test different ways of working within the constraints.

• Feeding clear and honest patterns upward so leaders see the impact of constant shifts.

It’s impossible to anticipate and install a model to predict the future, or to scenario-plan with perfect certainty. But it’s possible to help leaders and teams hold the WHY steady, evolve the WHAT with intention, and survive the turbulence of the HOW, discovering along the way that they still have more influence, creativity, and resilience than they thought.

Connecting to This Month’s Hope Story and Toolkit

If you are wondering what this looks like in real life, this month’s Hope Story shares how one team navigated shifting rules, moving system guardrails, and incomplete information, yet still found a more purposeful and workable way forward.

Use the Hope Toolkit to map your own why, clarify your current system guardrails, and identify a few small, hopeful experiments you can run in your part of the organization. You do not have to fix everything to begin. You only have to start where you are, with the purpose and hope you already have.

You walk into the future, and it smells like a gelato store. Not just any gelato store, but one where every flavor promises hyper-efficiency, unprecedented scale, and a taste of tomorrow. The door swings open automatically—because, let’s face it, AI adoption isn’t optional; it’s the air we breathe. You’re not deciding if you enter; you’re deciding how to dominate this delicious yet complex landscape.

There’s a dazzling array of choices: AI agents capable of churning out endless permutations of data analysis, customer interactions, or supply chain optimizations. But here’s the thing: you can’t just dive headfirst into the whole case of “Generative Glory” or “Automated Nirvana.” This isn’t a free-for-all. This is a deliberate, human-led experience.

First, you must taste. The counter offers small, potent spoonfuls—your Human-In-The-Loop (HITL) moments. These are the moments when a human must evaluate, define, embrace, or repel an experience. You’re sampling, validating, and tweaking. Is this “Predictive Peach” too sweet? Does “Robotic Raspberry” have the right ethical tang? Does “Virtual Vanilla” hit the right strategic notes? Your immediate judgment, your discerning palate, is precisely what refines the flavor. Those who jump directly to the gallon tub without these critical tastings are the ones ending up with a whole lot of mediocre, or worse, unsavory experiences. AI is inevitable, but its quality is not. Your HITL engagement is a prerequisite for excellence.

Second, early birds get the best scoops. The line for truly transformative AI flavors is already forming. Those who step up, sample intelligently, and commit early to understanding and shaping these systems aren’t just getting ahead; they’re defining the menu. They’re securing bespoke blends and tailored experiences while others are still trying to figure out if it’s sorbet or ice cream. Early adoption, guided by human intelligence, unlocks unfair, potentially market-defining advantages.

Third, bragging rights are delicious. Let’s be real. The organizations that master this blend of human and artificial intelligence—whose leaders are confidently navigating the complexities of agentic systems—will own the stories, the breakthroughs, and the competitive edge. Their teams will be happier, their customers better served, and their bottom line sweeter. Mastering AI isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about prestige and palpable success.

But here’s the fourth, and arguably the most crucial, reason why humans will always be indispensable, even as AI saturates every facet of our operations:

Fourth, you are the ultimate connoisseur, the Grand Chef, the visionary who defines the next great flavor. This is the Human-Above-The-Loop (HATL) moment. After you’ve tasted, refined, and understood the possibilities, you’re not just picking scoops; you’re inventing new recipes. You get to set the trends, define the ethical boundaries, and envision entirely new experiences that no algorithm could conceive on its own. You’re setting the menu for tomorrow, guided by intuition, market sense, and a dash of human genius.

AI provides the ingredients, the processing power, and the endless variations. But the ultimate culinary direction, the ethical framework for what flavors we even create, and the strategic vision for the entire gelato store, always resides with us. So step up, sample the flavors, choose your scoops wisely, and then, prepare to invent the future. Because in the age of AI, the most potent ingredient will always be YOU.

In today’s complex business landscape, simply adapting isn’t enough—differentiation is key. To not only survive but truly thrive, organizations must embrace future-forward strategies that navigate uncertainty with purpose and resilience. The most successful organizations are defined by their mastery of three core principles: adaptive leadership, inclusive collaboration, and strategic technology adoption.

Adaptive Leadership

Adaptive leadership means trading control for influence. It’s about a leader’s ability to be open, agile, and a continuous learner, empowering teams to find innovative solutions. This shift from top-down management to a learning culture fosters trust and resilience, enabling organizations to navigate change with greater confidence.

Inclusive Collaboration

True innovation stems from inclusive collaboration. Differentiated companies actively seek out diverse perspectives from within and outside their walls. By championing psychological safety and building bridges between teams, they create a shared sense of ownership that leads to more robust, creative solutions and mutual benefit. This is how organizations not only weather storms but also emerge stronger.

Strategic Technology Adoption

Technology's power lies in its strategic adoption, driven by enlightened leadership. Rather than adopting every new tool, leading companies use technology to amplify human potential, streamline operations, and enhance customer experiences. They meticulously align tech investments with their long-term strategy, ensuring new systems serve a clear purpose and become a catalyst for agility and efficiency.

The Path Forward

Ultimately, these three elements are deeply interconnected. An integrated approach—where courageous leadership, inclusive collaboration, and strategic tech choices converge—differentiates market leaders from the rest. This is how companies move from simply reacting to actively shaping their future in an uncertain world.

What's one small step your organization can take today to foster a more adaptive, inclusive, and technologically strategic culture? The future is not something to be predicted; it's something to be built.

Choose Agency, Despite the Uncertainty

The current pace of business and technology shifts isn't just overwhelming—it's a crucible for leadership. The most impactful leaders don't just react; they seize control by wielding clarity, discipline, and courage as their primary tools. This framework allows you to confidently manage what you can control, strategically defy what you can't, and prepare for the opportunities hidden in what you don't know.

1. Master What You Can Control: The Power of Clarity

The future is here, and it’s powered by Generative AI and automation. The opportunity isn't to simply adopt these tools, but to integrate them with surgical clarity. This is your moment to be an architect, not just a manager. Intentionally integrate these tools to streamline workflows, boost productivity, and liberate your teams to focus on higher-value, strategic work. True leadership in this space means taking decisive control over your internal strategy, from how you train your people to how you design an exceptional customer journey.

2. Release What You Can't Control: The Edge of Discipline

The external world is filled with powerful forces you can't steer—geopolitical fragmentation, tightening markets, and a fierce battle for specialized talent in AI and cybersecurity. Accepting these trends is not enough. Your agency lies in defiant discipline: building a more resilient supply chain, committing to relentless upskilling of your existing teams, and forging adaptable business models that can withstand these currents without being swept away. This isn't about passive oversight; it's about disciplined, proactive resistance.

3. Embrace the Unknown: The Mandate for Courage

The true test of leadership comes in the face of what we don't know—the next major technological breakthrough, the full impact of agentic AI, or the next market disruption. Since you can't make perfect plans, your only option is to build an organization that is inherently flexible and responsive. The key is to embrace scenario planning with courage—not as a tool to predict the future, but as a practice to build agility.

By fostering a dynamic culture and a strong network of strategic partnerships, you can reduce your exposure to unpredictable risks and position your organization to capitalize on opportunities you can't yet foresee.

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The business landscape is changing at a breathtaking pace. We're facing an intricate web of interconnected platforms, rapidly evolving consumer expectations, and geopolitical forces that create unprecedented complexity.

Simply reacting is no longer enough. The key to thriving in this era is to be proactive and strategic, leveraging technology and relationships to execute with speed and precision. This requires courage—the courage to lead with conviction even when the path is unclear.

Below are some thoughts on how to become a more courageous, strategic, and effective leader.

1. Become More Strategic

Strategic thinking isn't an innate talent; it's a skill you can cultivate. In a fast-changing world, this means adopting a learning mindset. Leaders must be excellent listeners, asking the right questions to understand their organization and its broader ecosystem. Dedicate time for reflection and data analysis to move beyond daily tasks, see the bigger picture, and anticipate future trends. This strategic discipline gives you the courage to make bold, informed decisions.

2. Master Relationships and Alliances

Mastering relationships and alliances is a discipline of relational intelligence. Leaders must master the "language" of their key relationships, speaking with their boss in terms of business results, with their direct reports in terms of people results, and with their peers in terms of internal collaboration. This relational intelligence builds trust, breaks down silos, and extends your influence through a network of shared purpose and complementary strengths. This network provides the collective courage to tackle challenges you couldn't face alone.

3. Optimize Technology and Processes

Optimizing technology and processes is a discipline of intentional execution. Leaders must move beyond simply adopting new tools and focus on optimizing their use. This means implementing automation to handle repetitive tasks, freeing up human talent for more strategic work. It also requires building a scalable IT infrastructure—whether through cloud solutions, containerization, or robust monitoring—that can grow with the business. When technology and processes are aligned with a clear strategy, they become powerful partners that facilitate versatility and adaptability. Embracing new technology with a clear purpose requires courage and foresight.

The Interconnectedness of Leadership Elements

While all three elements are critical, their importance may shift depending on your goals. Strategy is always paramount; it sets the tone and goals for everything else. However, the emphasis on alliances and networks might take precedence during specific phases of growth or when solving particular problems. Similarly, technology and processes often come to the forefront when an organization is focusing on scaling operations.

Ultimately, these three elements are deeply interconnected. Effective management and leadership of these functions directly correlate with bottom-line results, ensuring your organization can not only keep up but also surpass the competition.

Ready to take action?

Start by assessing where your organization currently stands. Email us your thoughts on ONE area of opportunity and challenge - strategy, relationships, technology - and we will share useful articles and templates as you step up to lead with Courage.

In this time of profound uncertainty, my thoughts often turn to the idea of agency—the ability to shape outcomes, act with intention, and inspire others to do the same. In a previous post, I reflected on the power of Faith, Hope, and Choices. Today, I’d like to take a closer look at Choices, specifically examining how cultivating clarity, discipline, and courage can help us strengthen our sense of agency and chart a purposeful path forward.

Clarity gives us the perspective to understand both the challenges we face and the opportunities ahead. It sharpens our awareness of where we are, where we want to go, and what it will take to get there. Gaining clarity often requires stepping back to reflect—not just on our immediate circumstances, but also on the broader context: past patterns, future trends, and evolving technological and market dynamics that shape our environment.

Discipline is about directing our time, energy, and focus toward what truly matters. It’s the engine that drives consistent action within our sphere of control. With discipline, we stay grounded in strategy, aligned in execution, and more likely to generate meaningful, measurable progress.

Courage is the bridge between intention and action. It enables us to act even when the path is uncertain, even when the stakes are high, and even when the outcomes are unclear. Courage fuels risk-taking, enables adaptation, and empowers us to lead in ambiguity, not just react to it.

When we develop and embody these three qualities—clarity, discipline, and courage—we unlock a deeper capacity for agency. And in doing so, we position ourselves to lead, to influence, and to thrive.

What do YOU do to claim your agency?

In today’s hyper-connected, customer-driven economy, delighting the customer is one of the most significant differentiators. It increases loyalty, drives revenue, enhances competitive advantage, strengthens the brand, boosts upsell potential—you name it.

More importantly, it creates a multiplier effect over time: compounding emotional connection, expanding lifetime value, reducing churn, building advocacy, and deepening trust.

So the real question isn’t whether to delight the customer, but how to do so well.
And the bonus question: how do we do it strategically?

The answer is: by combining technology, collaboration, and above all, authentic human connection.

Here are a few foundational practices to guide the way:

Leadership - Strategic Oversight

• Map the customer journey with delight and loyalty in mind

• Target and initiate high-impact customer engagements

• Amplify delight through a multiplier effect

• Prioritize relationships and results while growing the ecosystem and leveraging technology

• Agilely update the strategy, the goals, the relationships, and the processes based on market and customer feedback

Management - Internal and External Collaboration

• Align team members to key “moments that matter”

• Leverage trends and data to co-plan products and services

• Anticipate evolving goals and ecosystem needs

• Activate stakeholders as co-creators of value

Execution - Scalable, Relationship-Based Processes and Interactions

• Balance automation with a human touch to scale personalization

• Customize strategies to address evolving customer needs

• Anticipate and respond to preferences and behaviors

Make it an opportunity to co-create resilience, adaptability, and learning in the face of change

Your Turn:

• What types of strategic oversight will you provide to help enhance customer satisfaction?

• How will you and the team build the ecosystem of partners to support your customers' success?

• How will you and the team use technologies and processes to boost results and strengthen relationships?

Let’s build customer delight into your strategy from the inside out.

Sign up for a 15-minute no-obligation call by visiting http://calendly.com/fountainblue/customer.

Sign up for a 15-minute call

Healer or Rainmaker? Why We Need Both

When I started FountainBlue 20 years ago, one of my mentors told me I had to choose: be a Healer or a Rainmaker. In a nutshell, the Healer helps individuals, teams, and organizations achieve clarity and alignment, while the Rainmaker drives growth, expansion, and results.

For years, I resisted choosing because both matter deeply. To me, they’ve always been inseparable.

Now I see it clearly: healing must come first. Without purpose and passion, growth isn’t sustainable. Without strategic clarity and intention, momentum quickly fades.

But healing alone isn’t enough to help companies, teams, or individuals truly stand out. Growth fueled by strategic intention creates lasting momentum. And when we deliver excellence across an ecosystem, we ignite a virtuous cycle—one that elevates everyone it touches.

FountainBlue’s July 2025 blog will explore both sides of that equation.

On the healing side, I share “Measuring Impact from the Top Down”—a framework for translating vision, mission, and values into OKRs, KPIs, and performance metrics that foster a true meritocracy and reduce internal politics.

On the rainmaking side, “The Journey of Customer Delight” explores how thoughtful strategy and coordinated collaboration can scale personalized, relationship-based processes that foster growth in both individuals and businesses.

I hope these reflections inspire your journey toward impact that’s both meaningful and measurable.

What are you doing to create healing and growth in your work?

Sign up for FountainBlue’s monthly newsletters at fountainblue.substack.com

As organizations increasingly adopt AI technologies, the question isn’t whether AI can replace human decision-making, but rather, how humans and AI can work together to make better, faster, and more responsible decisions. Walking the fine line between human intuition and machine intelligence requires purpose, balance, and vision. When thoughtfully integrated, AI can become a powerful partner in shaping a structured, data-informed, and human-centered approach to decision-making.

Step 1: Define the Problem and Clarify the Decision

Begin by understanding the scope and nature of the problem at hand. Clearly articulate the decision that needs to be made, along with its context, constraints, and urgency. This step sets the stage for everything that follows.

Step 2: Establish Ethical and Operational Guardrails

Create a framework of guiding principles—standards of excellence, ethical considerations, values, and long-term goals. These guardrails will help ensure that decisions align with your organization’s mission and stakeholder expectations.

Step 3: Identify Key Variables and Influencing Factors

Determine which internal and external factors will influence the outcome. This includes data inputs, market trends, regulatory considerations, and human dynamics. AI can assist by surfacing patterns and correlations that may not be immediately visible.

Step 4: Analyze with Reason and Integrity

Use AI to process and evaluate the data, but maintain human oversight to ensure the analysis is grounded in reason, ethics, and context. Align the findings with the values defined in Step 2.

Step 5: Collaborate on Defining Success and Measuring Impact

To define success, engage with stakeholders, including team members, customers, and community representatives. Use AI to simulate scenarios and quantify potential outcomes.

Step 6: Use Scenario Planning to Anticipate Outcomes

AI excels at modeling future possibilities. Use it to explore best-case, worst-case, and unexpected-case outcomes. Identify ripple effects, unintended consequences, and long-term implications. Scenario planning helps mitigate risk and improve adaptability.

Step 7: Decide, Execute, and Communicate Transparently

Make the decision, integrating AI insights and human judgment. Communicate the rationale and anticipated impacts to all stakeholders and establish a timeline for rollout and review.

Step 8: Reflect, Refine, and Evolve

Evaluate the decision based on measurable outcomes and alignment with your initial guardrails. Use AI analytics to track results and identify areas for improvement. Reflection and feedback loops help refine future decision-making.

Beyond the Framework: Human Support Still Matters

While AI can provide structure and insight, human experience and leadership remain irreplaceable. To strengthen the decision-making process:

• Offer workshops and training to equip teams with practical tools and frameworks for human-AI collaboration.

• Engage coaching support to address nuanced or evolving challenges beyond what a standard training can cover.

• Bring in consultants for high-stakes or complex decisions that require specialized knowledge.

• Appoint experienced senior staff as mentors or adjunct leaders to guide strategic execution.

Final Thoughts

AI can build a powerful framework for understanding problems and exploring solutions, but human wisdom, empathy, and judgment will ultimately determine success. The most effective decision-making processes harness the best of both worlds: the speed and scale of AI combined with the insight and discernment of humans who have “been there, done that.” Together, they can co-create decisions that are not only intelligent but also ethical, sustainable, and impactful.

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FountainBlue Tools for Supporting the Decision-Making Process

Use FountainBlue’s Guardrails and Guidelines tool to help:

• Shape culture with hope and action, not fear

• Stay aligned with your mission and values

• Execute with excellence alongside others

• Innovate even in turbulent times

• Build momentum through solutions and strong relationships

Use FountainBlue’s Decision-Making tool to add structure and organization to your decision-making process by:

• Clarifying parameters and context around the decision,

• Identifying factors that impact a decision,

• Assigning meaningful weightings for those factors,

• Articulating the rationale for the assigned weightings, and

• Defining metrics for progress and success.

If you complete the form, you may also opt to receive AI-generated articles and book a 15-minute consult for $100 or choose hourly options with fractional C-level advisory access.

Questions? Reach out at info@fountainblue.biz.

With artificial intelligence (AI) becoming increasingly embedded in our systems and decisions, it becomes a question of how humans and machines can work together, enhancing each other’s strengths while compensating for limitations.

The human spirit is at the heart of progress—the spark of curiosity, the drive to ask questions, and the capacity for empathy. Humans initiate and inquire; imagine possibilities, define problems, and constantly seek better ways of doing things.

Whether we are developing a complex product, managing massive datasets, or orchestrating global communications, AI solutions offer capabilities that amplify human efforts, turning ideas into reality much more quickly and efficiently.

Although AI can generate data, construct dashboards, and even predict trends, humans will decide what actions to take, how to respond, and what values to uphold. AI might provide a detailed map more accurately and quickly, but humans leverage their judgment and discernment to choose the destination and route.

Humans must understand the context, purpose, and implications, providing the structure and meaning for AI solutions. It is humans who define what can be automated, considering the ripple effect of the actions taken, why a selected approach is optimal, and whether to delegate functions to an AI-driven tool.

AI tools may appear boundless and tireless, but humans must determine whether to design them, how to fund them, and when to scale them. Behind every powerful AI system lies a network of human decisions, investments, and infrastructure, for it is humans who provide the intellectual and electrical energy required to sustain them.

It’s clear that both AI and humans will continue to evolve, and the boundary between them may blur as they do - AI may appear more “human” in its interactions. Humans may grow more dependent on machine intelligence. The future lies in walking the fine line between the human and the AI with purpose, balance, and vision.

*This blog was generated with prompting to ChatGPT by the human author, grammatical editing by Grammarly, image generation support by Canva, and image generation, editing, and review provided by my daughter, a remarkable human.

Happy 2025!

(I admit I don't have superpowers or spiritual capabilities, but I want to wish you a stellar year that surpasses your expectations!)

May you have the time and health to do what you want with gusto.

May your mind be quiet enough to relish the little things and energized enough to celebrate the bigger things.

May your spirit flow with acceptance and joy while you courageously scratch that itch.

May your sleep be restful, your days be fulfilling, and your dreams inspire you to step into what’s next.

May meaningful conversations with trusted others be your mainstay.

May those around you blossom and support you in return.

Linda Holroyd

Change is the common ground that connects us all. 

Leading through this change is no easy feat, but keeping your people informed and helping them feel empowered will help them feel the sense of agency which will help drive engagement and level up your culture. 

• It starts at Level ONE where there’s a Culture of Clarity.

  • Everyone across the organization must understand:

    • why they’re doing what they’re doing (the vision, values, principles)

    • what the opportunities and challenges ahead are (mission and goals) 

    • how everyone is contributing and supporting the impact (roles and responsibilities) 

    • what success looks like (milestones, targets and outcomes) 

  • As a leader, ensure transparent and proactive communication to build clarity and engagement, the foundation of success.

  • As a manager and staff member, ask the questions to ensure you understand the why, the what, the how about the way things are done. Ensure you are clear on the definition for success.

• At Level TWO, it becomes critical to create a Culture of Inclusivity and Connection.

  • Everyone across the organization must understand that:

    • diversity is the foundation of innovation

    • broad acceptance and inclusiveness lead to broader engagement and agency

    • including a diverse range of others, when managed well, leads to better business results

    • connecting with people with differing perspectives benefits yourself and other stakeholders professionally, socially and culturally

  • As a leader, build and grow a culture based on trust and openness which connects people and welcomes diverse perspectives. 

  • As a manager and staff member, commit to consistently include and work with diverse stakeholders to deliver targeted outcomes.

• At Level THREE, there’s a Culture of Collaboration.

  • Everyone across the organization must understand how:

    • working with diverse teams serves the innovation agenda

    • sharing resources and ideas creates larger opportunities and results

    • connecting across teams, roles and backgrounds energizes a wider swath of stakeholders

    • co-owning collaboration successes benefits individuals, teams, products and organizations 

  • As a leader, provide the training, support and resources so that your teams can create a fail-forward, innovation-focused culture.

  • As a manager and staff member, push through the hurdles to connecting and collaborating and leverage incremental successes as you deliver a wider range of disparate solutions.

• At Level FOUR, there’s sufficient Clarity, Connection and Collaboration to increase the Synergy needed to build and deliver extraordinary results.

  • Everyone across the organization benefits from:

    • Clarity of goals, roles, responsibilities, progress

    • Connections between, within and across people, teams and organization

    • Collaborations which deliver strategic outcomes

    • Synergistic flow states when the three ‘C’ elements come together

  • As a leader, envision, inspire, and communicate the aspirational goals which engage and empower everyone to contribute.

  • As a manager and staff member, break through the barriers which cause confusion, dissension, and in-fighting, for maintaining a flow state requires clarity, connection and collaboration.

Keep the following in mind:

• These thoughts are based on what I’ve seen work for dozens of client companies and over a hundred leaders over the past two decades. Feedback, suggestions and input are always welcome.

• We are all likely at higher levels on better days, and we are not all at the same level on all teams and for all projects on any day.

• We may be at a higher level in certain functions/roles/product lines/teams, etc., and a lower level in other areas. However, the assumption is that if we focus on building the clarity, connection and collaboration elements across an organization/team/function etc., there’s an increased likelihood that all stakeholders benefit. 

• It is the responsibility of everyone at all levels to ask the questions and raise the bar so that we can all be more clear, so we can better connect and collaborate with a broader set of stakeholders and address a wider range of challenges and opportunities. 

The premise is that each level is dependent on successes from the lower levels. For example, it’s hard to be in a flow state if there isn’t collaboration. It’s hard to collaborate if there’s no connection. And it’s hard to feel a connection with the people or the project if there’s no clarity. So if you’ve read to the end of the blog, you’ll get this for the bottom line:

• The secret to leveling up from one stage to another is to provide more CLARITY, add more CONNECTION and facilitate more COLLABORATIONS.

It’s my fervent belief that communicating with Clarity, Connection and Collaboration will help us all better deliver on both the innovation agenda, and on the cultural imperative.

Maya Angelou famously said, "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." This month’s leadership blog is a list of feelings you can instill when you lead and manage well.

1. Safe - mentally and physically

Feeling physically and emotionally safe helps us all to show up as our best selves, in order to perform the tasks in front of us, in order to learn and grow.

2. Like you’re ‘enough’

Feeling like you’re ‘enough’ is a sense that the efforts you just made and can’t change are enough. This doesn’t mean that we can’t learn from our mistakes or that we won’t do better next time, but it does mean that we accept what we can’t change, and learn and grow so that we can do better, be better next time.

3. Included

Feeling welcome and included as part of the team helps us align to others, serve others, while making direct contributions for the good of the team.

4. Accepted and Confident

Feeling fully accepted for who we are, feeling supported and embraced through ups and downs, feeling that others have our back helps everyone to better think, speak and act with more confidence.

5. Committed and Connected 

Feeling committed and connected creates a longer-term commitment to a team and a common purpose. 

6. Curious and Courageous

Feeling connected to a team, and committed to a cause helps us be curious about how we can each make a contribution, and, if we are also feeling safe, welcome and accepted it helps us be more bold and more courageous as we participate.

7. Collaborative and Empowered

Feeling all of the above emboldens us to experiment with being more collaborative, empowering us to reach higher and do more.

Continuing to feel all of the above will help us be more resourceful and more resilient as we work on delivering actionable results, serving a common purpose.

As a leader and manager, you can help others around you remember you in a positive light, with fondness, by contributing to a virtuous cycle where we each feel like a part of something larger than ourselves.