Last week, Meta notified roughly 8,000 employees that they were being laid off — about 10% of its entire workforce. The stated reason: funding its AI push. At the same time, around 7,000 more employees were being redirected into newly created AI-focused teams. And quietly buried in the internal memo from Meta's Chief People Officer was a line that should have gotten far more attention than it did: the company is restructuring around "AI-native design principles," flattening m

I've never met a leader who looked forward to a reorg. Not the ones who initiated it. Not the ones who had to implement it. And certainly not the ones who found out about it on a Tuesday afternoon via a calendar invite titled "Important Organizational Update." Over the last eighteen months, reorgs have become a near-constant backdrop for the leaders I work with. The reasons vary — AI-driven restructuring, cost pressure, post-merger integration, strategic pivots, new leadershi

Few leadership moments test your integrity like a layoff. There’s no easy way to tell someone their role is being eliminated. Even when it’s necessary — a restructuring, a funding slowdown, a market shift — it leaves a mark on everyone involved. And while companies often focus on legal compliance, messaging, and PR risk, what really defines a leader in these moments is how they show up. Layoffs aren’t just about who leaves. They’re about who stays.

You’ve seen the headlines. You’ve heard the hallway whispers. And if you’re a senior leader or middle manager, you’ve probably asked...