The Main Thing:

We all have good friends who have always been there for us. Well, at least I hope you do. I have one. The last time he and I lived in the same city was at the beginning of our sophomore year of high school. That's when his family moved to another state. Despite this physical separation, our friendship endured, and we stayed as close as ever.

There were times we drifted apart due to other interests and activities, but we have always stayed in touch over the years, and today we are closer than ever.

On a recent visit, my best friend and I explored old neighborhoods and discussed our memories. I was reminded of my first job, where he also worked. We were busboys in a bustling and popular Italian restaurant and pizzeria.

As we talked and thought about those times and the fun we had as young workers, I also thought about what compelled us to do well. How did we cope? What were the adults and others who worked there teaching us? Did we pick up any bad habits or ideas? Or was it all good?

It was mostly good. Middle-class, hardworking families raised us, and the restaurant's owners were extremely hard workers. Their mindset certainly rubbed off on us.

The characteristics we exhibited at that first 'real' job (as opposed to mowing lawns) were the concepts we now recognize as flow and resiliency. Often treated as distinct and separate, I thought about how they reconcile themselves to each other.

The result is my latest post, which will be part of a series. I'm excited for you to read it and hope you enjoy it here.

Focus on Leadership

Bringing Your True Self to Work: How Authenticity Benefits Everyone

New research led by Kellogg's Professor Cynthia Wang reveals that while authenticity at work improves employee well-being and organizational commitment, Black employees in predominantly white organizations often face uncertainty about expressing their true selves. In the article, How to Encourage Authenticity at Work (KelloggInsight), Wang and her colleagues identified two crucial factors that help Black employees feel more comfortable expressing their social identities: working in an organization with a climate that fosters authenticity and engaging in perspective-taking practices. The research distinguishes authenticity from mere inclusion, emphasizing that employees must feel comfortable expressing themselves beyond simply being present at meetings or events.

Why this Matters -- Creating workplaces where employees can authentically express themselves has significant economic development implications as organizations compete for talent in increasingly diverse labor markets. When companies foster authenticity and perspective-taking, they experience higher levels of organizational involvement and reduced turnover, directly impacting productivity and operational costs.

Take Action -- Economic development professionals can integrate authenticity-building practices into their business support services by creating workshops that teach perspective-taking exercises and authentic leadership skills. Consider developing a regional workplace authenticity assessment tool that helps companies evaluate their current climate and identify specific improvement areas. Work with workforce development agencies to incorporate authenticity training into their services, positioning your region as a leader in creating workplaces where employees can bring their whole selves to work, attracting both businesses and talent to your community.
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Navigating Uncertainty: How Automakers Are Building Resilience for the Road Ahead

The global automotive industry faces unprecedented challenges requiring completely rethinking traditional risk management strategies. In From crisis management to strategic resilience: Lessons from the auto industry (by Dorothee Herring, Manuel Altmeier, and Thomas Poppensieker, McKinsey Insights), the authors say automakers must contend with rapid technological changes like electrification and autonomous driving, persistent supply chain disruptions, shifting consumer preferences, and growing geopolitical tensions affecting trade and access to critical materials. Forward-thinking automotive leaders are responding by embedding resilience into every aspect of their business strategy, from regular scenario planning to rethinking production networks and supply chains.

Why this Matters -- As automakers shift from global supply chains to more regionalized production networks, communities have new opportunities to attract investment by positioning themselves within these emerging resilience strategies. Economic developers who understand how automotive companies are rethinking their risk profiles can better align workforce development programs, infrastructure investments, and business attraction strategies to support industry needs.

Take Action -- Economic development professionals should comprehensively assess their region's positioning within automotive supply chains to identify resilience gaps and opportunities. Develop specialized programs that help local suppliers build their resilience capabilities through technology adoption, workforce training, and operational flexibility. Create regional resilience task forces that bring together industry leaders, academic institutions, and government agencies to monitor emerging risks and coordinate responses. Position your economic development messaging to highlight how your region's assets contribute to automotive companies' resilience strategies, moving beyond traditional cost and logistics advantages.
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Finding Your Flow: The Science Behind Creativity's Sweet Spot

New research from Drexel University reveals that achieving a flow state—that immersive zone where time dissolves and creative energy surges—is deeply connected to mastery and practice rather than mere inspiration. By studying jazz musicians during improvisation, researchers discovered that experienced musicians entered flow states more quickly, showing reduced brain activity in regions associated with executive control. In Flow Isn't Magic—It's Muscle Memory, the author (Kelle Walsh --SuperAge) says that research suggests that once technical proficiency becomes deeply ingrained through consistent practice, performers can transition from conscious control to embodied trust, allowing the true magic of Flow to emerge. This finding aligns with other research showing that regular flow experiences contribute to higher satisfaction, focus, and mental resilience—essential components for peak performance and long-term well-being regardless of age.

Why this Matters -- For economic development professionals leading organizations, understanding Flow states offers powerful insights for enhancing personal leadership effectiveness and team performance. As leaders of complex organizations navigating uncertain economic landscapes, your ability to achieve Flow in strategic thinking and decision-making directly impacts your effectiveness. When you and your team members experience flow regularly, you're operating at peak cognitive capacity—precisely what's needed when crafting economic development strategies, negotiating complex deals, or managing stakeholder relationships.

Take Action -- As an economic development executive, incorporate flow principles into your professional development practices by identifying your highest-value activities and dedicating time for deliberate practice in those areas, whether dealing with structuring, strategic communications, or stakeholder management. Consider introducing these concepts in leadership team meetings, encouraging directors to recognize and optimize for flow states when tackling complex economic development challenges. Finally, model "letting go" behavior by demonstrating trust in your team's expertise once you've ensured they've developed the necessary mastery, creating an organizational culture where both control and creative Flow can coexist productively.

Other Articles of Interest this week:

Technology -- The push to restore semiconductor manufacturing faces a labor crisis − can the US train enough workers in time? By Michael Moats, The Conversation | RouteFifty -- Bringing chip manufacturing back to America is a national security and economic priority, but a shortage of skilled workers threatens to derail the effort.
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AI -- Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, acquires 1 million-square-foot property in Memphis by Kyle Wiggers | Tech Crunch -- xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company, has acquired a 1 million-square-foot property in Southwest Memphis to expand its AI data center footprint, according to a press release from the Memphis Chamber of Commerce. The new land will host infrastructure to complement xAI’s existing Memphis data center.
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Economic Development-- City leaders name housing, public safety and infrastructure as top issues by Dan Zukowski | DeepCitiesDive -- The National League of Cities Congressional City Conference brought together 3,000 city leaders to discuss these issues, with appearances from EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Vice President JD Vance.

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​Green Economy -- Climate skeptics have new favorite graph; it shows the opposite of what they claim. By Zeke Hausfather and Devin Rand- The internet, being less prone to detail and nuance, ran with the figure, with climate skeptics calling it their “new favorite graph” and reposting it everywhere, claiming that it shows the insignificance of recent human warming relative to the Earth’s long temperature history.

Connessione, Si?

Are you seeing the connection? Are you understanding how seemingly unrelated things have a connection?

In our most recent Next Wave Leadership Meeting, we discussed the “power to convene” and how this manifests when community members ask us to manage projects or take on challenges when they have only a slight connection to economic development or community leadership.

The ‘dashed line’ to economic development occurs often. It seems that practically any community issue or challenge can be linked to economic growth. The question is whether we want to tackle this. Is it time to say no? Saying no means saying yes to the program of work you set out to do at the beginning of the year, right?

However, saying no also allows you to convene others to tackle the thorny issue at hand; “No, but let me call (fill in the blank), who could be helpful.”

This led me to this article I found called, How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci (by Brett & Kate McKay). The article provides some excellent ideas on how to think like our favorite Italian inventor and innovator. The article is based on a book of the same name by Michael J. Gelb.

The last of the seven ways is ‘Connessione’ – Seeing Interconnectedness, the ability to combine and connect disparate ideas to form new concepts. The author and article describe how ‘connessione’ can help you be more innovative and creative.

Read the article (and maybe the book) to enhance your skills.

Overheard :

“Unless you’re a tech billionaire, this is going to lead to a worse future for you and the people you care about. Expect AI to be unfair, discriminatory, unsafe, and deployed irresponsibly.”

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—An anonymous researcher to Wired, about a National Institute of Standards and Technology directive that scrubs mentions of “safety” and “fairness” around AI

Rabbit Hole 🐰

“Alright, alright, alright.”

This is a famous movie line made by a renowned actor, although he was starting when he ad-libbed those lines. Who said this? Matthew McConaughey did this in the 1993 cult classic Dazed and Confused.

We know McConaughey for various roles, and I find that people either love him or hate him. Hate might be too strong a word. Perhaps “irritated” is better. For example, I find his series of Lincoln commercials (automobile) highly irritating. However, I think he is a good actor and has enjoyed many of his roles.

In this video, he plays himself conversing and talking to Ryan Holiday about books. Holiday walks him through his bookstore, The Painted Porch, in Bastrop, Texas, and recommends a series of books, which I assume Mr. McConaughey will read. We don’t know and can’t tell from the video whether he paid for them!

It is an interesting video in that we learn about the many books Holiday is fond of and that he only sells books he has read.

Holiday is a prolific writer on stoicism and virtues and a well-regarded speaker. Finally, he invites you to sign up for his reading list. I have signed up for the list, and it is a perfect guide to reading about history, current events, philosophy, and other topics that make you think. I often use it to guide my reading purchases.

Check out the video here, and sign up for his reading list here.​

All Hail to the Queen

The year was 1975, and the FM rock n’ roll radio station I listened to played a song that could only be described as a cross between opera and metal. What was this longer-than-usual tune? None other than Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, which many of us can now sing by heart, as it has been played so often.

What was this operatic story about a young man who confesses to his mother about a murder he has committed? The song was remarkable in several ways. It was six minutes long, which was uncommon. It was disruptive in that it blended rock, hard rock, opera, and a touch of progressive rock. And it came with an appealing and unique music video.
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In the article, Is ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ actually a good song? the author explores all the song's nuances and opines its value.

Here is the original video, which has had nearly 2 billion views on YouTube! Here is the live performance from Live Aid in 1985 before 72,00 people. The video is the full Queen performance and is about 22 minutes long.

I remember Queen in its prime. The late seventies and early eighties were the years when rock music had the most significant impact on me, and Queen was one group that impacted my listening pleasure.

Bison Tails

My bucket list includes a visit to Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone is an American gem on the list of National Parks. It was first designated a National Park by one of my favorite Presidents, Ulysses S. Grant, in 1872. It was the first National Park created in the United States.

The Park is known for many things, including geological wonders like geysers and hot springs and numerous species of animals. These species include black bears, grizzly bears, wolves, elk, and, of course, bison.

The bison population was precipitously low and near extinction but has since bounced back. The recovery was partly due to the introduction of new herds from neighboring states to augment breeding. Recently, it was determined that the two herds had become one due to the interbreeding of the herd animals.

To read more about this new turn of events, go here. To read more about Yellowstone Bison in general, here is a National Park Service site.

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Whenever you’re ready, there are several ways I can help you:

1. Economic Development: If you are looking to supercharge your economic development organization, I can help by strategizing and developing a roadmap to success. Set up a time to talk to me here.

2. Culture Change; Is your organization changing? Would you like to create an asset out of your culture? Do you know how to assess team strengths? Let me help you. I'm a certified culture change practitioner. Set up a time to talk to me here.

3. The Green Economy; The world is changing. Some of it is positive, and some of the change is not. Let me help you develop green economy opportunities for your community. Set up some time to talk about here.​

4. Mentoring Programs: Circles of Seven (C7) is a proven and award-winning model for mentoring. Whether it is for business or your community leadership program, I can develop a mentoring program for you. Let's talk about your situation. Set up a time here. ​

If you have any thoughts or comments regarding any articles in this newsletter please feel free to contact me through email at martin@martinkarlconsulting.com.​

You can review my services and offerings at www.martinkarlconsulting.com​

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