How to become the leader people want to work for in challenging times
This article was originally published in Fast Company.When we began the year, top of mind for managers was keeping their best people and handling the burnt-out quiet quitters. Today, as inflation rages and hiring plans are shelved, it is tempting to believe that the talent crisis has passed. Maybe managers don’t have to worry so much about the disconnect and isolation. Perhaps employees will be more inclined to stay put in uncertain times.
Though the Great Resignation is probably over, it would be a mistake to think the challenge has passed. You need all hands on deck to focus on priorities during a recession. That means you must reignite the fire for quiet quitters. It’s important to stay focused on people during a recession because there is still a potential to become stretched and depleted. How can you re-inspire hearts and minds and still give people a sense of balance and flexibility?Since the pandemic, many good changes have come to the workplace, not the least of them greater attention to the people side of business. The secret during a downturn is to remember that driving an agenda doesn’t mean losing that connection with your people.Most of us think of ourselves as people leaders, but what we intend and how others see us is often different. What we’ve learned about leaders in challenging times has been assessed through data analysis. We know leaders who help others feel purposeful and resilient have qualities that are hard to come by and, therefore, highly valued.
Stay calm, carry on
We have been assessing leaders around the globe for 10 years, and we know that when leaders are calm in a crisis, people are more likely to share their concerns and get issues resolved. The qualities of composure and restraint are essential to building trust. Composure is the ability to manage through a difficult period with calm and resolve. Restraint is managing your emotions and creating a safe space for conversation. These are two critical aspects of constructing a psychologically safe environment where people love working and are free to speak up and be themselves.People rally around leaders who approach situations calmly and objectively. Their teams know it’s okay to speak up, admit mistakes, and raise issues. If you struggle to remain calm, it can be helpful to delay a response, walk away, and give yourself time to think. If you set the intention to create a calmer place where people can thrive, employees will notice the change. During volatile times, remember to control your emotions.
Share more about yourself
Many of us are inclined to focus on others at the expense of sharing our authentic selves, but connection is a two-way conversation. When people don’t know us, they don’t trust us. This is what is meant by authenticity. In challenging times, such as a recession, you might be tempted to hold back and not share your concerns. The impact might be that people don’t feel they can trust you because they aren’t hearing the truth.
Leaders can demonstrate authenticity by sharing what is happening at the right time while also reassuring others that there is a plan. When you can be real with people, you are more likely to hear thanks. They want to be treated as peers in the workplace.Storytelling can also be helpful during difficult times. Stories connect you with others and help them see you as human. People crave that kind of connection and appreciate learning from others. Showing authenticity in the workplace can increase engagement by 140%.Balance humility and confidenceGreat leaders balance confidence and humility, flexing both in challenging times. Humility is understanding you don’t have all the answers. People typically notice when a leader expresses genuine curiosity about their experiences and points of view. Asking questions and listening closely enables you to learn more, act more quickly, and address issues promptly.
Confidence is the ability to guide a team to make better decisions, especially when the choices during difficult times are less than ideal. It isn’t hubris or superior knowledge but rather a thoughtful, step-by-step approach to clarifying priorities, considering the data, and taking action.Difficult times can incapacitate teams when they aren’t sure what to do. The plan forward must be altered, and too much is unknown. Great leaders help their teams consider the options and scenarios and remain flexible as conditions change.Be receptive to feedbackTo develop these qualities and evolve your leadership style, ask for feedback from people who see you in action every day to understand your shortcomings. We all have good intentions, but often our intentions don’t translate to inform how others see us. After meetings, try asking, “How am I doing?”
Hearing people out is the next step: Consider what the feedback they’ve shared might be true, however painful. After you consider the feedback, simple shifts can make a big difference in how people experience you.As we round the corner to 2023, remember you’ve learned a lot in leading through challenging times. Although a downturn might test that learning, draw on the lessons and stay open to feedback. We can only control how we respond as leaders, and when we respond in ways we want to be led, we help create people-centric companies.
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From top-down to judgment all around: The AI imperative for organizations
Each business revolution has reshaped not only how businesses operate, but how they organize themselves and empower their people. From the industrial age to the information era, and now into the age of artificial intelligence, technology has always brought with it a reconfiguration of authority, capability, and judgment.
In the 19th century, industrialization centralized work and knowledge. The factory system required hierarchical structures where strategy, information, and decision-making were concentrated at the top. Managers at the apex made tradeoffs for the greater good of the enterprise because they were the only ones with access to the full picture.
Then came the information economy. With it came the distribution of information and a need for more agile, team-based structures. Cross-functional collaboration and customer proximity became competitive necessities. Organizations flattened, experimented with matrix models, and pushed decision-making closer to where problems were being solved. What had once been the purview of a select few, judgment, strategic tradeoffs, and insight became expected competencies for managers and team leads across the enterprise.
Now, AI is changing the game again. But this time, it’s not just about access to data. It’s about access to intelligence.
Generative AI democratizes access not only to information, but to intelligent output. That shifts the burden for humans from producing insights to evaluating them. Judgment, which was long the domain of a few executives, must now become a baseline competency for the many across the organization.
But here’s the paradox: while AI extends our capacity for intelligence, discernment, the human ability to weigh context, values, and consequence, is still best left in the hands of human leaders. As organizations begin to automate early-career work, they may inadvertently erase the very pathways and opportunities by which judgment was built.
Why judgment matters more than ever
Deloitte’s 2023 Human Capital Trends survey found that 85% of leaders believe independent decision-making is more important than ever, but only 26% say they’re ready to support it. That shortfall threatens to neutralize the very productivity gains AI promises.
If employees can’t question, challenge, or contextualize AI’s output, then intelligent tools become dangerous shortcuts. The organization stalls, not from a lack of answers, but from a lack of sense-making.
What organizations must do
To stay competitive, organizations must shift from simply adopting AI to designing AI-aware ways of working:
- Build new learning paths for judgment development. As AI replaces easily systematized tasks, companies must replace lost learning experiences with mentorship, simulations, and intentional development planning.
- Design workflows that require human input. Treat AI as a co-pilot, not an autopilot. Embed review checkpoints and tradeoff discussions. Just as innovation processes have stage gates, so should AI analyses.
- Make judgment measurable. Assess and develop decision-making under ambiguity from entry-level roles onward. Research shows the best learning strategy for this is high-fidelity simulations.
- Start earlier. Leadership development must begin far earlier in career paths, because judgment, not just knowledge, is the new differentiator.
What’s emerging is not just a flatter hierarchy, but a more distributed sense of judgment responsibility. To thrive, organizations must prepare their people not to outthink AI, but to out-judge it.
BTS acquires Nexo to strengthen its position in Brazil and Latin America
P R E S S R E L E A S E
Stockholm, May 5, 2025
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – BTS Group AB (publ), a leading global consultancy specializing in strategy execution, change, and people development, has agreed to acquire Nexo Pesquisa e Consultoria Ltda., Nexo, a boutique consulting firm headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil.
Nexo has been growing continuously since it was founded in 2017. With revenues of approximately 12 million Brazilian Reales (approx. 2.1 million USD) in 2024, and a highly capable team of 21 members, Nexo has built a strong reputation for delivering transformative projects in strategy, innovation, leadership, and culture.
Nexo collaborates with a great portfolio of clients across sectors such as financial services, consumer goods, and technology, assisting both local and global companies in navigating uncertainty, unlocking creativity, and activating strategy through people. Their work encompasses culture transformation, leadership development, employer value proposition, innovation culture, and vision alignment – supported by proprietary methodologies and frameworks.
BTS currently operates in Brazil servicing both local and multinational clients with a team of 13 employees. By acquiring Nexo, BTS not only increases the Group’s footprint in Brazil but also adds significant capabilities in culture and transformation services. Nexo’s client base has limited overlap with BTS, creating strong growth potential and synergy opportunities.
“Nexo is known for helping leaders and organizations tackle some of the most complex, human-centered challenges with creativity, empathy, and strategic clarity and the Nexo team is loved by their clients,” says Philios Andreou, Deputy CEO of BTS Group and President of the Other Markets Unit. “Their products and services complement and elevate our existing offerings, especially in culture transformation, and we are thrilled to welcome the Nexo team to BTS.”
“We’re excited to join BTS. We’ve long admired BTS’s approach and unique portfolio to support large organizations and leaders in connecting strategy with culture across the organization,” says Andreas Auerbach, co founder of Nexo. “Becoming part of BTS, allows us to scale our impact and bring more value to our clients while staying true to our values and culture,” adds Mariana Lage Andrade, co-founder of Nexo.
Upon completion of the transaction, Nexo’s business and organization will merge with BTS Brazil. Nexo’s founders will assume senior management roles in the joint operation.
The acquisition includes a limited initial cash consideration. Additional purchase price considerations will be paid between 2026 and 2028, provided Nexo meets specific performance targets. A limited portion of any such additional purchase price considerations will be paid in newly issued BTS shares. The transaction is effective immediately.
BTS’s acquisition strategy continues to focus on broadening our service portfolio, expanding our geographic reach, and enhancing our capabilities to support future organic growth in a fragmented market.
For more information, please contact:
Philios Andreou
Deputy CEO
BTS Group AB
philios.andreou@bts.com
Michael Wallin
Head of investor relations
BTS Group AB
michael.wallin@bts.com
+46-8-587 070 02
+46-708-78 80 19
High-performing teaming
Work today is too complex for individuals to succeed in isolation. Almost every critical decision, innovation, or transformation depends on teams working effectively together. Leaders rely on their teams to deliver results. Teams, in turn, rely on their leaders to create the conditions where performance is possible. This exchange, what leaders need from their teams, and what teams need from their leaders, sits at the heart of what we call teaming.
When teaming is strong, leaders get what they need from their teams [creativity, resilience, execution] and teams get what they need from leaders [direction, support, and the conditions to thrive]. It’s how strategy becomes action, how uncertainty becomes opportunity, and how businesses stay competitive in a fast-changing world.