Finding Brave Ep 45: The Future of Work and Staying Competitive, with Alexandra Levit

Hello, everybody. Welcome to Finding Brave this week. And I am just so honored to feature my guest, Alexandra Levitt. And thank you for being here. Thank you for taking time, Alexandra, in your crushing book tour book, you know, on the road promoting your amazing book, Humanity Works. Can't thank you enough for being here. So, folks, I want to tell you first, you know how I love to talk about why I choose the guests I choose. I have such a special place in my heart for Alexandra because we were just confirming this. I believe Alexandra was the first person to cover my book breakdown breakthrough 10 years ago in a major outlet, and it was the Wall Street Journal. And there I was in your article about the crushing challenges working women face. So I'm so grateful to you. We never forget that, too. We as authors. When someone does your. Does you solid and chooses to feature you, it remains something you'll never forget, don't you think? Well, I'll never forget it anyway.

I remember that you were in the column, and I'm so grateful that it helped your business.

Thank you. We did.

That's what women have to do. We have to help each other.

That's right. That's right. And today we are talking about the future of work and how to stay competitive. And we are talking. This is going to be geared to existing leaders and aspiring leaders. Right, Alexandra? Yeah.

Yes. So Humanity Works is a book that I've needed for about five years in speaking a lot about the future of work, mainly trends that we have already seen start to percolate up through the world, and also trends that are going to become bigger as we proceed toward 2030. And so for this reason, I think it's important that existing leaders understand the organizational changes that are taking place and the actions they'll need to take to keep their businesses marketable and competitive. But I also think it's really important for people who expect to be leaders in the next 10 to 15 years to be aware of these trends, be aware of where the workforce is going, because in many cases, they're going to inherit traditional organizations. And at that point, things are going to be pretty dire in some of these situations where the trends are on top of them. And so people really need to have the skill set to be able to cope with things like a bursting contract workforce and people's demands for work life, integration and flexibility. And these are going to be things that the real, true transformational leader is going to want to deal with. And therefore.

I can't wait to hear it. What's that?

I cut you off developing the Skills now is really important.

So important so we don't become obsolete, so we understand what we're facing and are prepared for it. Wow. Before we launch in and gosh, it's going to be a challenge for me to cut this off in 30 minutes. I want everyone to hear about your illustrious work and your background. So let me just read a little bit of it. Okay, everyone. Alexandra Levitt. Her goal is to prepare organizations and their employees to be competitive and marketable in the future business world. A former nationally syndicated columnist for the Wall Street Journal and writer for the New York Times, Fast Company in Forbes, Alexandra has authored several books, including the international bestseller they Don't Teach Corporate in College. What fantastic title. And today's book that we're going to be talking about Humanity Works, merging people and technologies for the workforce of the future. Just briefly, Alexandra recently became a partner with the organizational development firm People Results. She consults and writes on leadership development, human resources, technology adoption. Good lord, you're busy. Entrepreneurship, innovation, career and workplace trends on behalf of numerous Fortune 500 companies, including American Express, Deloitte, DeVry University. And it goes on and on and on. And you know, we will, we'll publish more of your amazing bio down below, but let's just hop right in. Tell me first of all, tell us there are some macro trends that you're seeing that we need to be aware of. And I know we're going to talk about is everything going to go robotic? Are people going to be replaced? So can you tell us kind of the five biggest trends that we need.

To be aware of here? What do we need to know? Well, I can definitely start with the automation one. I think that's the biggest question, Kathy, that I get asked is are we all going to be automated away or is there going to be a place for human beings in this world in 15 years? And we had the same concerns as a species during the Industrial revolution when cars were developed. People were really, really freaked out, thought, oh gosh, now there's no one to, to do transportation. So the car is going to take over everything. And that's not what happened. We actually saw that the production of automobiles created more jobs. And I think that is the optimistic take that I have on it. I see the place for humans being twofold as machines come into play and become more and more sophisticated and take over human tasks. There will be some parts of some jobs that are automated, but it's quite going to be a rare situation where it's a complete job and we actually see statistics from McKinsey out very recently that show that it's actually just a few jobs out there where the entire thing will go away. Most jobs are going to experience a transformation. And therefore, what we're recommending in Humanity Works is you take a look at your individual industry and role and see where are you in danger of being automated and how can you upskill or reskill so that you were adding unique human value to that position. And unique human value is in the form of traits that can't be easily automated, like judgment, intuition, problem solving, diplomacy, creativity, and empathy. These are things that until machines develop consciousness, it's going to be very hard for them to have and for them to take over. And there's several professions already where we see machines kind of trying to do certain stuff and they can't because they don't have human. Touch. Nursing is a great example. Law is a great example. You wouldn't want a robot sitting down with a patient who just got a dire diagnosis. You wouldn't want a robot standing in front of a jury, trying to make a persuasive case, looking them in the eyes. There are a lot of jobs like this, and so I think we don't have to worry in that respect. The other thing is, and I mentioned this briefly, that a lot of jobs are going to be created due to robotics and automation, because wherever you have a machine, you also have a human being behind it to design it, build it, deploy it, fix it when it's broken, and figure out what to do with it next. As an example, I'm working with one company right now where they are trying to automate their orientation process or their onboarding process through a chatbot. So essentially, they're going to have a little avatar that guides people through the onboarding process. Well, the creation of this avatar, this chatbot, involves 20 human team members. So those people were all doing different things before, and now they're working on the chatbot. So there's going to be a lot of job categories and jobs created as a result of this revolution.

Can we just look at that for one second, though? So the individuals who designed this and developed it. So it sounds to me like the person who would be doing the orientation isn't fully replaced, because there need to be people that understand those skills and that content to build it into the avatar. But it sounds like everyone's going to need development skills, digital skills, is that right?

Yes. And I've done quite a lot of proprietary research with Devry University's Career Advisory Board in the last two years. Around what we're calling applied technology skills, skills that are necessary to understand how software, how technology can be deployed. In your role, it's not about knowing how to program per se or knowing how to build a database. It's about understanding what technology is available to help you do your job more efficiently. So you don't have to know how to build the software and use the software, but you do have to know that the software exists and can help you. And we call that applied technology skills or digital fluency is another way of putting that, that people talk about. And those skills are essential for every individual in every role. There is no such thing as. Well, I'm not in it. I didn't major in computer science, so I don't really need to know anything about technology. Those days are over. Everyone needs to know how technology can be deployed. Let me ask you this.

So I'm trying to apply it practically even to my world. Would you say this is kind of the. The next phase of, you know, people in my world, and probably you, too? When I'm teaching something, I'm always thinking about, how can I take myself out of this and have it be a passive experience where I'm not needing to be personally there to help you have a breakthrough? Is it the same idea times 10 where we're thinking of how we can scale, where. Excuse me, where we're not physically present?

Is that.

Is that it?

That's a great example of how we would have digital fluency in our roles, that there is software. The fact that we're using Zoom right now to conduct this podcast, it's not.

A live event where I've had to travel somewhere with you.

Right, right, right. Zoom is an example of a technology that. It's called a consumerized technology in the sense that it was developed originally outside the business world and it was used by people, individuals, and then they brought it into the business world. And now each. Even though it didn't necessarily build it or vet it or pay for it, a lot of people are using it. And just knowing that we can use this, knowing that we can do our business more effectively by using it, and that it saves travel time, costs. This is exactly, exactly what I mean by digital transformation.

And I want to tell everybody, I'm 58, so I'm like, hanging on by a thread here. It's like I am relatively savvy, but it doesn't come as easily to me as it does my kids, who are 20 and 20, 21 and 24. But I want to tell everyone this When I first had to do my first audio or my first video, I literally was scared to death. I mean, I'm going to get it wrong. There are so many buttons. There are so many things to press now. I can't live without Zoom. And I think that's probably going to be an emotional arc that many of us will be going through. As you're talking about that, this process that you're talking about. Right. We're going to be right. It's not something we're joyfully skipping towards.

No. And I think that, Kathy, this is the thing that I would caution people. Again, people are like, what are you worried about? Because when I talk about the future of work, I generally sound pretty optimistic. I think there's a lot of opportunities. What I am worried about is agility, because I think that is the number one thing that people are going to need, the willingness to say, you know what? Things are going to change and I'm going to have to adapt. And I think there are certain people who are better at that than others. Just like there are people who are not really cut out to work in the corporate world who don't really like the hierarchical structure and don't like being micromanaged and told what to do. I think there's a lot of people who are going to have trouble managing their own careers, switching direction on a dime, and that's going to be a skill we're all going to have to develop very, very carefully. And the use of technology is an example of that. The technology is going to be changing. When companies ask me, oh, should we train people on applied technology skills? I say, yes, but not just once. It's going to have to happen every single year because the technology is going to be different and it's going to evolve. So that's a tall order for a lot of organizations, but it's one of those things that's just going to have to become second nature and even make it practical.

If I look at the traits I have that make me nimble, it's positive thinking.

It is.

And I work with so many women and men, you know, my career disappeared, and they're flattened by it. You've got to remain positive. You've got to believe in yourself. You've got to have confidence that you will learn this, and it will.

The advantage of it is, is that there are easier ways to learn things than ever before. In the past, if you wanted to learn a new skill set, you had to go back to school, you had to pay tuition, you had to take Time off work and you had to get a degree. Now there are certifications, micro credentials, massive open online courses. There's so much available just from the privacy of your own home or your own desk. There's really nothing that you can't learn on your own now. So you're such a great spokeswoman for.

This because I feel excited after hearing you speak, not scared to death.

It is. I find that there are so many opportunities. This is the best time to be a professional, I think, in the last 100 years. And if you think about how miserable people were, I mean, there's a reason why Dilbert and the office were so popular. It's because the corporate world was miserable and it was a one size fits all. And there were a lot of people who just thought that it sucked. And this is. It's really customizing meaningful work for every individual. And so I think it's actually a really, really exciting, challenging, but fun time.

Oh, I love it. All right, what else do we need to know? Tell us about if you are a leader, what is your culture? You know, what do we have to do this minute so we're not behind if we're a leader or an emerging leader?

If we're a leader, what we need to do right now is be creating a meaningful employee experience. And how we do that is we look at what employees are supposed to be doing from like the recruitment stage to the onboarding stage, to the learning and development through performance evaluation, and make sure that what they're doing is keeping them engaged and activated to do their jobs to the best of their ability. And it means that we look at each individual from the perspective of wanting to customize career that's going to be best for that person. That we don't just say, okay, well, I went from point A to point B in my career, so you're behind me and you're going to do the same thing. It's about really looking at people holistically and saying, okay, well, you've got these life circumstances. Let's figure out how you can add value. And a great example of this, how it's actually not happening very much and needs to be, is the retirement of the boomers. The fact is, is the boomers are carrying massive amounts of knowledge and intellectual capital that they are just going to walk out the door with because most organizations have no process in place for keeping those people in the loop. And that's such a mistake. Why can't we have boomers working part time? Why can't we have special consulting arrangements with them. Why can't they be mentoring and training other people? A lot of boomers want to keep working. They want to keep contributing. They just don't want to work 60 to 80 hours a week, and they want to go live in Florida and call in or zoom in to whatever meeting they have to be part of. So this is. If I'm a leader, I'm thinking about the boomers. I'm thinking about how to customize careers, and I'm thinking about how to create a meaningful experience for everyone that comes through my purview and comes through my organization.

From your mouth to the universe's ears. I mean, wouldn't you say that one? I was just speaking earlier with a client. For those of us who are boomers, we're seeing that there is such age bias in any kind of field where there's digital skills required. We just. We've been put out to pasture. Do you think that. Is it the carp before the horse? Meaning is there an age bias that pushes the, you know, the seasoned, mature person out, or are they actually not doing what they need to do, so therefore, they're no longer relevant in that role? Which one is it, Kathy?

It's a little bit of both. I think there are certain people who've just been doing things certain way so long that it's. It's really difficult to make that transition. And they might also look at it as, look, I'm at the end of my career. I'm not gonna change.

Yeah.

Like, my whole way of doing things. So there is some of that. But I think age bias is a real thing, and I think it's not just related to technology. I think it's in general. And I think the reason for that is the boomers are the first generation to really be working into their 70s and 80s, where the oldest ones are in their 70s now, and they're still trucking along, and they could have 20 years left of life. And that's the first time the business world has seen that to physically seen people who are in their 70s working. And I think that people are just not used to it. And I think there are certain structures in place, as I was saying, that don't support it. There are a lot of consulting firms that have mandatory retirement in, like, their people's 60s, and it's like, that doesn't make sense tomorrow. Yeah, that's crazy dumb. The prime of your life. Like, why would you leave a company then? And that's, like, the best time. So the structures are outdated, and it really needs to happen quickly because the mass of the boomers is coming up in their 60s now. The oldest ones are 73. 70, right, right.

You're gonna love the work. Do you know Chip Conley? I just interviewed him on the Making of a Modern Elder, and he's talking so much about what you're talking. You two would have a blast doing an event together, I think. All right, I've got a question here.

Mm.

We're gonna talk about the CEO of the future, but can you break it down for us? Let's see if I can articulate this. If I am a leader of an organization that's thriving, I would want to know, what would keep me up at night is how am I gonna learn of these technological changes? Is it gonna come at me like a wave that I suddenly have to react to? How am I gonna be informed of what I need to know for my particular business? How does a CEO or a leader understand those trends before they hit us? And, oh, my God, it's here. And I have to do 50 things I'm not prepared to do.

Kathy, that's a great question. And what I tell everybody is I'm kind of an informal futurist myself. I wasn't trained in foresight. I just got into this because people asked me, what do you think the workforce is going to be like in 10 years? And I just started answering. So I have no official training. I train other people or encourage other people to be futurists too. And what futurists do in many cases is they look for patterns. So where are things kind of appearing slowly? And consumerized technology is a great example of that. Dropbox started as a consumer technology that individuals started using in the business world and individual companies. And gradually we saw that the whole world of file sharing became different. It used to be you have to save it on a hard drive or a server, and then you started using the cloud, and that happened just a little bit at a time. So it's those patterns. It's seeing things that are kind of popping up here and there looking for them. So I like to tell people that that's the mindset you need to develop. The other thing leaders want to be doing is tapping their employees because it's hard to be a leader, especially if you're one that's very seasoned. You've got a lot going on. You've got the big picture for you to focus on. This may not be the best use of your time, but there are people on your staff who are really excited about this stuff. And I'LL give you an example. There's a trend that I actually like calling citizen development, where it's using software to develop applications that will solve business problems. In other words, you're an app builder. Now, traditionally, apps have been built by IT people, but now there's software that can allow a person with no programming expertise to build an app. If your CEO is, it's helpful to know we don't have to outsource our apps to IT or to a digital firm and pay a ton of money for them. We can have people doing this in house and we can give them the ability to not only build them, but to update them and deploy them to different departments. So by talking with people who are doing this, you can learn. Okay, well, this is what's happening now. This is how we're benefiting from IT now, and this is how we're going to want to benefit from it in the future. And this is where it's evolving and where it's going. And use those people as the ambassadors for new technologies within your organization and how they can be used.

Is that the way they're going to come? Mostly through applications, Apps? Is that how we're going to start incorporating this change in technology?

Is it that apps are a big part of it now? That's where I mean, I think what I would say is the overarching trend here is human machine hybrid teams. So we're going to just start putting machines in place to work with human. Humans and chatbots are a good example of that. Apps are a good example of that. So where you might have previously had a human conducting focus groups, you might have an app that allows people to get together online and do a focus group. So the app would become part of the team. We have Alexa for business that's just out, and that's essentially a console that can sit in your conference room and can be your team administrator who can run the conference, take the notes, take the notes, order the food notes, pull down the screen. Yes. So that's the bigger trend, is the adoption of these human machine hybrid teams and how, again, how we can deploy the machines so that they're useful and that we don't have overkill with this. I think the danger here is that we get too excited about automation and say we're just going to automate large swaths of our employee population and. And get burned for it. Because there are a lot of jobs, as we were saying, where the human touch is really important and you can't go too far by putting machines in charge. Of things that they really shouldn't be in charge of. There's a phrase I use in humanity Works called human in the loop, and I think it's very descriptive. There's gotta be a human in that loop who's checking the machine to make sure the machine's doing what it's supposed to be doing. And we had a lot of companies put chatbots out onto Twitter to answer customers and talk and engage in dialogue. And those chatbots did not say some very nice things in many cases. And the companies were very sorry that they just let the chatbot run without a human being.

Oh, my Lord. What year are we going to see all this hit in a big way, Alexandra? What are we looking at? 2050?

No, tomorrow. I mean, that's the thing about humanity works, right? I mean, I am talking about, I guess, theoretically, the workforce through 2030, but I don't think anything I'm describing is completely foreign. Like, oh, that isn't. That's science fiction. That's not going to happen. Most of the stuff's already happening, and it's just a matter of it hasn't reached critical mass, which is in your advantage as a leader, because you can start preparing for it and putting little steps into place and pieces into place that can help you be prepared for when it does become mandatory and not.

You mean regulatory or in some way. This was how you have to operate. Oh, my God. So, skills. All right, we're ready. Either as the leader or the employee or the consultant, what skills do we need to develop then? Did we talk about that?

Well, I think we just mentioned it briefly. Kathy and I would say that these are the human centered skills. So things that are going to be difficult to automate, it's difficult for machines to have. We see the rise of something called effective computing, where machines can be taught to simulate and recognize human emotion. But simulate is a key word there. They don't have emotion, they don't have consciousness. So the ability to really react on the fly to a situation and show that you can be in the other person's shoes, that's human. And it's still required in a lot of jobs. Being diplomatic, being able to read a situation and figure out, okay, well, what's going to motivate that other person to do what I need, I think that that's. That's something that's hard to automate. Judgment, intuition, that gut feeling that you have that just is based on previous experiences or just, you know, something that was intangible. And creativity is a skill that Everyone thinks, oh, you're either creative or you aren't. That's not true. There are lots of ways that people can hone their creativity through very specific exercises. And every leader should be encouraging their people to be creative. There's no department, finance included, where you don't need any creativity. And so these are the skills that humans should be honing. We talk a lot about interpersonal skills. And the truth of the matter is just because you're human doesn't mean you have interpersonal skills.

We all know that.

So if you're human, Kathy, I worry so much about the people who are, you know, the humans who don't have good interpersonals. It's like if you don't have the human skills, you're in trouble. Really screwed both ways.

I gotta ask you something that I've never thought of before speaking to you. Anyone who's watched Westworld knows about the idea that can we be programmed actually to have consciousness? I mean, we say it's hard. You use the words. It's difficult, too. But it's not really out of the realm of possibility, is it?

No, it's not. And in fact, there was an article yesterday, I forget, was it in the New York or something like that? It was Stephen Hawking's predictions for the future. And he, of course, is no longer with us, but he was one of the great scientific minds of last century, and he talks about the fact that consciousness in machines is almost inevitable. And why not? Probably agree with that, right?

Programmed. Right. Our brains are programmed from whether it's values or motivation or filter or all of it. Oh, my.

I like to talk about the technological singularity. I did not coin that term. But what that means is there's going to be a point probably within the next 20 years where technology will become so advanced that we can't even sit here, you and I, Kathy, today, and appropriately imagine what society will be like because it will be so different based on that moment. So I think we just have to be prepared. That again, it's the agility. It's back to that point, like, we have to be prepared that things are going to change and that we can't be complacent and just figure, like the way that the corporate world's been for the last 150 years, like that's over. Where we know what to expect.

Oh, I want to learn more. Is it true what I've guessed and what my son and I talk about, that in a span of 10 years now, we are the civilization is making a Leap. I mean, for good or bad, more than any other, or how would I say it, the changes are coming in such a rapid way that it's unlike any other time in any technological growth of the past. Is that true?

Yeah, that's true. The pace of technology is accelerating, it's going to keep accelerating and we're going to see some changes as a result. It's very interesting. Given the other things going on in the world, the political situation, how do.

You see that tied in?

Well, I mean, we've seen it tied in with the recent US Election. It's like, well, how is there even, like just. You don't have to believe whether, you know, Donald Trump did anything or not to realize. Well, the whole point is that machines were capable of interfering in the election, that it could happen, that it was possible. So that is a great example of how technology was actually being used to go in and influence a major political contest and in fact, probably did. So we don't know who was responsible yet, but that's a great example of technology being right there front and center as who knew there was this company in Israel that could actually do that? I don't think a lot of people thought it was possible. And it's showing that that's exactly what they did. And it's an algorithm like any other. And so I think that that's part of it. I think climate change. I'd love us to see, to use technology to combat climate change, but boy, that's some bad news this week. And I don't really know, I don't know the answer to that one, but it would be great to deploy technology for it.

I'm gonna ask you any final words to leaders, employees in a minute. But I do want to ask you. I've talked to some IT people who say I know so much more than the average person does about what could possibly happen with your data, that I'm a phobe phobic when it comes to anything online. I won't, I won't give any of my information. Does all of this futuristic work, futurist work change how you feel about data? About how has it changed you?

Personally, I think I've become less frightened, to be honest, because the way I look at it is if you are out in society today, fortunately or unfortunately, everyone can learn about you. People are so worried about genetic tests like 23andMe and Ancestry.com, like, oh, I don't want to give my DNA. If someone wants your DNA, it's really easy to get it. I Think that just for me, the acceptance that your DNA is going to be recorded. My husband and I, and this might be a little far afield, but my husband and I have already realized somehow that they have our risk factors, the insurance companies do, because normally I'm younger than him and I'm a woman, and that would normally make my insurance premiums lower than his. My insurance premiums are considerably higher. So they know something. They have my medical history somehow. And that's going to become more and more commonplace. And I think it's just one of those things.

Thank you. I'm so glad you said that. I was kind of testing it out because I'm like, look, there it is. I'm not going to live in fear. Yeah. There are cameras everywhere.

Yes. Gosh.

I even saw. What was it, you know, a wonderful series where they were secret agents and they were watching someone through the camera of their computer, you know, and I'm like, okay, I guess that's happening all over the place.

Was that the Black Mirror episode?

Yes, I think so. Yeah.

I love that show.

Yeah. You know, there it is. And we're gonna either live in. In claustrophobic fear or we're gonna just, you know. There it is, right?

That's right. You're either gonna be off the grid. I mean, I guess if you just go and live in the forest, then you're fine. But it's. That's just. It's just something. We have to accept that our data is gonna be out there, our DNA is gonna be out there. And. Yes. Will it be used in nefarious purposes? In some situations, probably. But humans have found themselves in nefarious situations throughout history, and we've been. Okay.

Oh, I love it. Any last words that we need to know before we hang up from this? Anything you can arm us with, leaders or not.

Anything else, take responsibility for your own career. I mean, that would be what. I would say that the days of relying on a manager or CEO to tell you what you should do are behind us. You can do anything you want to do, but. Because there are a lot of choices that can lend to paralysis. So what you really need to be thinking about is, okay, well, if I want to stay in my current industry, what do I need to develop in terms of skills so that I can be marketable as things become more automated and machines participate more and more and get more sophisticated? And if I want to change, well, what am I changing into? What kinds of training do I need for that? Is that a field that is going to be around in 20 years or if that's how long I'm working. And don't expect to have your whole life plotted out anymore. I think that those days are over. Two where you would have one career for 30 years. Everyone is going to have multiple things that they're doing. And a lot of times you're going to be cobbling together a career. I mean, that's what we do, Kathy. Right. You and I, Five, six different revenue streams, six different initiatives.

And get. Yeah.

And more people are going to need to be prepared to do that, which goes back to our central point of agility. That's the biggest thing, is to hone your ability to say, this is uncertain. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm going to be resilient about it and to just, like you said, have a positive attitude because it is a positive time. And never has there been more of an opportunity to contribute.

You know what I'm getting choked up about here? You embody what you're just sharing. You are the finding brave model. It's brave. Sight about yourself. It's brave. Speak. How do you speak? It's brave ask. Brave service, Brave stretch, brave connection. Yes, folks, this is time for bravery. This is not time to sit back. No, this is time for you to take accountability and action and control. And just like other people will say, are you blaming the victim when I'm saying how women can take control and become more accountable? I think the world is asking all of us to do that. All of us.

Yeah, that's right. And with women, women are still going to experience unconscious bias. There's going to be algorithms that help with that a little bit. But there's still. That's the human element, and that's the. I call it the human Achilles heel, that bias that both with women and minority groups that we're going to have to overcome. And you're right. Women sometimes say, oh, there's nothing I can do. I'm a woman. I'm like, well, just like you just said, you can learn to be assertive. You can not let men speak over you. And you have to know that there are things that can be done. I really don't want people going away from the topic of the future worked and saying, oh, well, this is just going to happen to me and I'm just going to wait and probably get flattened. It's like, no, there are absolutely things you can be doing. Reskilling, upskilling, looking at it, identifying trends, talking to people, getting mentors.

You will Be flattened. If you don't embrace the changes here, and if you resist it at every turn and you bloody your head against it, then you'll be flattened. I mean, there we go. But, oh, wow, you've given us such a brave dose. And where can we learn more, Alexandra? Where can we find your book and buy your book and hear you speak? Where should we be looking?

Thanks, Kathy. Well, the book website is humanityworksbook.com and we have an offer on there where if you purchase books, you can actually get free speaking engagements, free consulting. This isn't going to be going on for too, too much longer. So it's a great deal in the sense that normally you would. If you want me to fly somewhere and speak to your company, like that's gonna, there's gonna be a fee associated with that. But this way you get copies of the books and you don't have to pay the fee. And then you can also, of course, find it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, anywhere books are sold. It'll be a lot of hard copy. Related bookstores. So what I'm really looking forward to is people's feedback because this is a book that will probably be updated every couple years due to the content. So if there's something you'd like to hear more about or you'd like to take issue with something, I love to get the emails where it's like, you know, I didn't really agree.

That's a good thing. We don't only want to be agreed with, my gosh, that's boring.

You don't learn that way. And I actually, you know, I'm part of a futurist community where people have been studying foresight for 30, 40 years and they've given me a couple of smackdowns and I'm like, okay, well, you know, that's good. That's how I learn.

Thank you. Thank you for sharing.

Welcome.

Oh, my gosh, I could go on for hours. I'm so grateful that you took the time, Alexandra. It's. To me, it's so enlivening and exciting, little scary, but so it changes a little bit.

Anything worth doing is a little scary.

It's called Finding Brave.

Stretch.

Thank you so much. And everybody, you know, please send us your questions wherever I post this. It's going on YouTube, you know, it's on the Finding Brave website, on Facebook, all of it. Post your questions if you're afraid. Let us know how either Alexandra and I will do our best to address it in some critical way. Let's hear from you. But the time is now.

We're here.

Change is here. Let's embrace it. Thank you. Thanks so much, Alexandra. And we'll see next time.