Last week’s Blue Origin space launch—featuring Katy Perry and an all-female crew—was marketed as a celebration of empowerment. But the public wasn’t buying it. The mission felt hollow, more spectacle than substance. While media attention centered on celebrity, the real story—Amanda Nguyen, a civil rights icon and Nobel Peace Prize nominee—barely got a mention. That’s the problem. When transformation becomes theater, meaning disappears. The same thing happens in business. We put on a show—new values, flashy campaigns, DEI checkboxes—without doing the real, uncomfortable work. Culture doesn’t shift with a press release. It shifts when leaders go inward—with humility, with courage, and with the willingness to change themselves first.
And sometimes, culture shows up in the smallest things. Saying “please” and “thank you” to ChatGPT reportedly costs OpenAI millions in energy costs every year. But that behavior points to something deeper: a desire for dignity, humanity, and respect—even in our interactions with machines. Because culture isn’t intention—it’s behavior. And if your systems don’t reinforce the behavior you say you value, then you’re not leading culture. You’re just talking about it.
In my recent Forbes piece, I argue that peak performance isn’t about more training or tighter KPIs. It’s about mental resilience. When leaders prioritize cognitive clarity and emotional regulation, teams thrive. It’s not a perk. It’s a performance strategy. And in a world that glorifies speed and visibility, the leaders who slow down, go inward, and build resilience will be the ones who drive the results that actually matter.
Want to read the full article? Click Here!