Forward

Thrilled to share that my book "AfterShock to 2030" has been named a finalist in the 2026 CANREADS Awards!

Coming on the heels of being named to the Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2026, this feels like important recognition for the message of "AfterShock." It's clear that leadership requires radical reinvention for our new era.

Find all the finalists at the link!

https://canreads.ca/2026-canreads-finalists

Microsoft’s decision to move the president of CoreAI Product to Xbox is a logical one, as I note in this game industry article by Dean Takahashi.

This is probably the strongest signal I’ve seen that CEOs need to evolve rapidly in this era, which I also outline in my book, "AfterShock to 2030: A CEO's Guide to Reinvention in the Age of AI, Climate, and Societal Collapse."

https://gamesbeat.com/the-internet-reacts-to-departure-of-phil-spencer-and-sarah-bond-from-xbox/

GamesBeat

The internet reacts to departure of Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond from Xbox It seems like all of gamerdom is commenting on the posts of big changes at Xbox. And now folks are weighing in on new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma.

Leaders, you can’t sit on the sidelines in 2026.

ICYMI, this AfterShock episode with Gil Forer, former senior partner with EY, sets out the urgency of rethinking your leadership approach in our nonlinear, accelerated, volatile, and interconnected ("NAVI") reality.

Watch or listen at the links:

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gYW5meDB

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6p9GIGEKkhA9E4CebzbYTo?si=3cf7b3d8592143a5&nd=1&dlsi=f6f0dc7cee8a4e3f

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-21-davos-week-multiple-futures-and-rethinking/id1831661070?i=1000745666175

Ep. 21: Davos week: Multiple futures, and rethinking leadership with Gil Forer AfterShock: Leadership for the 5th Industrial Revolution with Caroline Stokes · Episode

Introducing nervous system regulation during the age of AI, climate and societal collapse on the Successful Women's Network Sweet but Fearless podcast.

I like the way host Mary Sullivan mentions the default autopilot that we need to consciously adapt from, to this new world we need to navigate.

Many thanks, Mary, for having me on Sweet but Fearless. For those who know me: I’m not sweet, and I’m not fearless! We’re all trying to be as courageous and, if possible, as kind as we can be every day.

https://sweetbutfearless.libsyn.com/respond-with-intention-emotional-intelligence-in-times-of-change-with-caroline-stokes-s10epi-273

Sweet but Fearless Podcast: Respond With Intention: Emotional Intelligence in Times of Change with Caroline Stokes (S10:Epi 273) In this episode Mary Sullivan, co-founder of Sweet but Fearless, talks with Caroline Stokes, leadership strategist, Fifth Industrial Revolution, for a grounded conversation about intentional learning, emotional intelligence, and navigating change at work with clarity. They explore how emotional inte...

Thinkers50’s Radar Class of 2026 was announced today, identifying 30 management thinkers whose ideas are predicted to have an important impact on management thinking and serve as an early alert system for leaders.

Thank you, Thinkers50, for spotlighting the thinking behind "AfterShock to 2030" and the work leaders need to do in our new era, variously described as the permacrisis, the Polycene, BANI, and NAVI.

As Mark Carney underscored last week, this moment requires leadership courage and practical ways to move forward in what I call the AfterShock.

https://thinkers50.com/radar-2026/


https://www.facebook.com/thinkers50.global

Some people call it AI slop. I call it cognitive offloading. You can read more in this article, “Your Fully Written Emails Are Making It Weird”. Many thanks to Sonia Weiser for inviting me to be in her article for Inc. Magazine.

https://www.inc.com/sonia-weiser/your-fully-ai-written-emails-are-making-it-weird/91288279
(paywall).

Your Fully AI-Written Emails Are Making It Weird Asking the new tech to draft routine correspondence is fine, but leaving it all to the bots could damage your company's reputation.

We are aligned. See the latest information on EY’s NAVI work—a world where change is increasingly nonlinear, accelerated, volatile and interconnected.

https://www.ey.com/en_gl/megatrends

Then watch or listen to the latest AfterShock podcast featuring Gil Forer, contractor and former senior partner with EY.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/k8EaRylvkPU
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6p9GIGEKkhA9E4CebzbYTo?si=e9fcd86f79094687
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-21-davos-week-multiple-futures-and-rethinking/id1831661070?i=1000745666175

EY Megatrends EY’s Futures Reimagined framework helps leaders navigate the NAVI era’s megatrends for resilience and growth. Discover how.

There's no denying it: we're living in a fundamentally different era.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called it a new world order. Davos is asking attendees to embrace a "Spirit of Dialogue". In my Davos-week conversation with Gil Forer of EY, he shares what this actually means for leaders operating in a nonlinear, accelerated, volatile, and interconnected (NAVI) world.

The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer confirms what many leaders are now feeling: trust in institutions has collapsed because systems can’t deliver outcomes at the speed or scale required.

Without action, organizations risk extinction.

I’ve laid out a five-step, natural-selection survival plan for leaders and their organizations: how to replace hierarchy with outcome-owning teams; kill processes that don’t deliver; make accountability explicit; treat speed as a strategic asset; and redesign talent as human + machine capability.

Find my full argument at the link. And let me know if you need support navigating this shift.

It’s Time for Leaders to Activate Organizational Survival Mode – caroline stokes AfterShock to 2030, Leadership It’s Time for Leaders to Activate Organizational Survival Mode caroline on 01/20/2026 We need to materially change course right now, because nonlinear realities will not be solved with an old leadership model: hierarchy, slow consensus, and the protection of outdated...

“The Spirit of Dialogue at Davos means we all need to talk. It doesn’t mean we will agree—but there are more chances for agreement if we practice active listening”—Gil Forer.

After we stopped recording the AfterShock podcast, Gil and I went deeper into what “Spirit of Dialogue” actually requires.

In a world of instant AI answers and TikTok advice, he believes the real leadership edge is active listening. Coaches, strategists, and neuroscientists have always agreed on that—but most organizations are not built to do it.

What does active listening really look like? And how do you design it into leadership systems so it actually changes outcomes?

If you sign up for my newsletter this week during Davos, you’ll receive a five-step plan for how organizations can reinvent themselves in the AfterShock era.

Sign up here and you’ll receive it this week:
https://theforward.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=23006cab93df9642a2affde9e&id=5487370cbb

You can also watch or listen to the 30-minute podcast conversation with Gil Forer here:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/k8EaRylvkPU
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6p9GIGEKkhA9E4CebzbYTo?si=e9fcd86f79094687
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-21-davos-week-multiple-futures-and-rethinking/id1831661070?i=1000745666175

In this special episode timed for Davos, I sit down with Gil Forer, a contractor and former senior partner with EY, to explore our new leadership reality and why leaders must act now—deploy, adopt, adapt, and learn publicly—because the gap will widen if they wait.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/k8EaRylvkPU

We discuss why the past five years have supercharged change and introduce “NAVI”, our nonlinear, accelerated, volatile, and interconnected world. We also explore why many traditional leadership tools (strategy, risk, governance, transformation roadmaps) are now not fit for purpose.

We tackle the shift from VUCA to VUCA+/NAVI, why there’s no single future (only “futures”), and what it means to lead toward a superfluid enterprise.

If you’re a CEO, senior leader, board member, or strategist trying to navigate AI, geopolitical instability, climate volatility, and compressed reinvention, this episode will give you language, frameworks, and a clear urgency. You can’t sit on the sidelines in 2026.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6p9GIGEKkhA9E4CebzbYTo?si=3cf7b3d8592143a5

Davos week: Multiple futures, and rethinking leadership with Gil Forer In this special episode timed for the World Economic Forum annual meeting, Caroline Stokes sits down with Gil Forer, a contractor and former senior partner w...

Robotic systems are advancing rapidly. Human nervous systems aren’t.

In this article in We Are The Mighty, Chad Hultz shares research from the Association of the US Army on a new, more consequential era for robotics.

I was invited to explore how leaders must deliberately evolve cognitive, emotional, and decision-making capacity for the Fifth Industrial Revolution.

https://www.wearethemighty.com/military-news/a-new-era-of-robotic-systems-is-here-and-its-not-skynet/

A new era of robotic systems is here, and it’s not Skynet A new report from the Association of the United States Army says we've entered a new era of robots that will always be under human direction.