Resources

By Chas Doane A 5-minute read for thoughtful leaders. Introduction In high-performance environments, kindness is often misunderstood. It’s not soft, passive, or permissive. True kindness is courageous — it’s the choice to lead with empathy and clarity, even when it’s inconvenient. Kind leadership doesn’t mean avoiding hard truths. It means delivering them in a way that builds trust rather than fear. Over the years, I’ve found that the most respected leaders draw from five sou

In People Operations, our work often begins with human connection — understanding people, building trust, and helping teams grow. Ironically, AI has made me better at that. It’s not just about automation or efficiency. For me, AI has become a quiet partner that helps reduce friction in my work, giving me the space and lift I need to focus on the human parts of leadership — empathy, curiosity, and presence. I’ve heard it described as “launch inertia”  — that little bit of help

As Q4 approaches, many companies begin their review cycles for the year ahead. For some, there’s a unified process rolled out from leadership. For others, employees are encouraged to choose their own structure and reflection style. If you’re in that second group, the freedom can feel empowering — or a little overwhelming. The key is choosing a framework that helps you clearly communicate your impact while giving you space to reflect and plan what’s next. These frameworks don’