Meaningful change does not happen through systems, processes or technology alone. It happens through people. Those who take the tough decisions, those who inspire confidence, and those who bring people together to drive meaningful change in organizations and societies. I've been studying teams, leadership, and how people work together for about two decades. Over the course of this career, I've had the opportunity to work at some great places and with some exceptionally brilliant people. These interactions, these collaborations have helped me learn a few things with great confidence. One, the work that we do here in higher education, whether through our peer-reviewed research, our policymaking influences, or even our pedagogical innovations, really does make a difference. Two, leadership can be learned. And three, leadership when learned in a classroom, but practiced with hands-on training and with people supporting you along the way can really help to level up your leadership journey. Leadership at its core is just a social process of influence. It's social. It's about connection. It's process. It's dynamic. It's adaptable. And it's about influence. It's about helping people decide to do something they otherwise wouldn't have done. In the age of AI, things are changing. The way we work is changing. The amount of information and data processing we have available to us is at unprecedented levels. There's a classic model in the management and leadership literatures that says strategic advantage can only be created with resources that are valuable, rare, inimitable, and not easily substituted. When you think about the age of AI and whatever comes next, some of the things that we used to cherish and we used to hold as rare and valuable are now becoming commodities. So what's left to me? It's something about the decidedly human elements of leadership. We're not running from reality. We know technology is going to change the world. However, we also know we also believe with some conviction that the real leaders are going to have the ability to inspire to bring people together and to make the tough decisions when the data is incomplete or imperfect. We're studying things like intuition, empathy, courage, kindness, humility, these decidedly human aspects of leadership that we are going to need to survive and even thrive in this newfound world of complexity. Just think about it. We all know leaders. Maybe we are leaders that have to make decisions before the data are complete, before we have 100% confidence. Think about these bold entrepreneurs that forge forward in the face of doubt, whether it's within their teams, in the marketplace, or maybe even a little bit inside themselves. And think about the executives that are making decisions every day with real human consequences. Sure, technology is part of this process. It's an important part of this process, but really it goes beyond so much more than that. The world doesn't need just competent leaders. It needs complete leaders. It needs leaders that can think on their own, use technology to aid in their decisions, and the courage and the conviction to move forward in the face of uncertainty. The world will continue to change. We want to create leaders that are ready to handle whatever comes next. And that's exactly what we're doing within the Now Lab for Leadership.