In May 2026, I had the privilege of attending this year’s International Women’s Forum (IWF) Annual Cornerstone Conference in London. IWF is an invitation only forum with 8400 members globally, but with only 750 women being able to attend the conference, it certainly felt like I had won the lottery ticket.
The gathering of some of the world’s most impressive women leaders and changemakers from around the world focused on ‘Advancing Women’s Leadership Today and Tomorrow’. From the new world order, ensuring safety and social justice, increasing mental health challenges for women, and how AI is disrupting entire industries – the themes were diverse and highly timely.
From the two days of confronting – and at the same time inspiring – discussion, it was clear that the topics that occupied the minds of the women that I connected with were largely the same. There was deep concern on the dramatic roll back of women’s rights globally, as well as deep concern about the global leadership crisis that the world is facing.
Some complex challenges of leadership today
When we break today’s leadership crisis down to a micro level, we know that leaders are facing both existential and real-world threats to their traditional ways of doing business. Leadership compression is taking hold right now, compounded by complex factors such as constant technological disruption, economic instability, and societal upheaval. AI is an increasingly unknowable force, with geopolitical conflicts and global financial crises – as discussed at the forum – also contributing to rising uncertainty.
This rare combination of chaotic and unrelenting events is resulting in extreme leadership fatigue. This is a topic that is near and dear to me, as, over the last three years, I have experienced head-on the most extraordinary time in business in the entire 18 years that I have been running M&C.
My own leadership has been tested almost daily, requiring resilience, agility, and the unique ability to be able to lead a team through unprecedented and changing times with humanity, empathy, and heart. In fact, according to DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2025 (a survey of nearly 11,000 leaders across 50 countries), 71% of people report a huge rise in stress since taking on a leadership role – up from 63% three years earlier. I will write on this another time, but for now the point is that many leaders are stressed, burnt out, and fatigued – and this is trickling down into all areas of a business and its people.
Amongst the chaos – whether we are dealing with change due to AI, societal structural changes, or world disruption – the one thing everyone craves right now is human connection. Whether that be in business, in our personal lives, or in the way we live day-to-day, connection must not be forgotten in the current world disorder. If anything, we need to amplify human connection much more in everything we do – including in the way we build brands.
As part of fostering and nurturing connection, there are three current truths that we need to bring attention to. Firstly, trust must be at the table; especially in business and in the workplace. Secondly, creativity is the new currency. In a world where there is now so much sameness due to AI enabling endless amounts of content, everything feels ‘vanilla’. As creativity becomes under fire and at risk, we will crave uniqueness and a sense of originality more and more. This can be achieved through deeper creativity and creative engagement. And in all of this, humans hold the light – we just must make sure we come back to this truth and don’t overlook people’s humanness.
Three truths about modern leadership in a disrupted world
I explore my three truths about trust, creativity, and human connection in more detail here:
1. Trust will get you to the table.
What do I mean by this? If you are a trusted brand that shows originality, credibility, creativity, and substance with excellent credentials, you will have a seat at the table and be considered for that next business deal or sale.
Now more than ever, when trust is diminishing in our brands and in our leaders, business leaders need to work hard to build trust both at an organisational level as well as with other executive leaders. With so much AI-generated content, and fake information and news, it is increasingly becoming more difficult to know what is real and what isn’t real. What can you trust or not trust. So, brands must work hard to ensure that they are one of the ones that are considered trustworthy and the ‘real deal’.
Luckily, all is not lost. The Edelman Trust Barometer 2026 found that trust in leaders and employers is high in Australia, rising to an impressive 79% this year (up from 68% in 2025). When it comes to trust in leadership, we are definitely on the right track. CEOs in particular are a highly trusted source of information – so let’s capitalise upon this opportunity to continue fostering deeper trust among our teams and organisations.
2. Creativity is the new currency.
Today’s leading brands are the ones who bring diverse perspectives and creative flair to their customers and challenge the status quo. Brands that protect their uniqueness and creative IP will be a guiding light in an AI-saturated world.
At M&C, we have observed certain brands losing their creative flair and overall standards over the last three years. In the process, brand messaging and quality have dropped dramatically. We have been told several times that between Canva, ChatGPT, and sometimes interns, ‘we have it covered’ – but is this really the case?
Recent market research by Forrester suggests not. In reality, many Australian companies are struggling to deliver a quality customer experience (CX), with a 2025 report from Forrester showing that 37% of Australian brands experienced a drop in their CX scores over the past year.
This data reinforces that in the face of so much AI-generated sameness – same copy, same creatives, same infographics – a sea of sameness, brands are not differentiating themselves in the market. So, when you see something that is of quality, has creative flair, features real writing, has some storytelling weaved in – it stands out. If you are to get ahead in this world, don’t lose your creativity. If anything, make sure you harness and protect your uniqueness to truly stand out.
3. Humans hold the light.
Evolve with the times – but not at the cost of human connection. With so much upheaval happening all around us, brands must evolve with the times or fall behind the competition. Risk avoidance won’t get you anywhere; you need to take a leap of faith to keep up. Just make sure you bring your people and customers along for the ride, because human connection is pivotal to success.
AI and new technologies layered into your marketing can help you automate, amplify, and scale – that is true, yes. But you still need to think about who you are selling to, how they want to be sold to, and what their pain points and needs are. You can then ensure that you are delivering original thinking and ideas that address these needs.
In summary, start with human-centred thinking and end with human oversight. Use AI-enabled technologies and solutions in between this if you can, but don’t jump to only AI-led approaches as this will be the death of your brand.
Conclusion
The one thing that worries me going forward is that I am already seeing professionals losing their problem-solving and critical thinking skills, their ability to write, and to create and build. ‘Claude’ will do it for you. And if we lose these skills completely, who will provide the human-led thinking and creativity we need to stand out as differentiated leaders and businesses?
This is why at M&C, we are fiercely protective of our professional skills, our experience, our human-led strategic thinking, human-led marketing plans and strategies, and thought leadership. With us, our clients know that they are getting originality and creativity all the way.
