AFN NEWS
Published on
Apr 1, 2026
By
Matt Sitter
The Best Leaders Don’t Grow Alone. Why executive coaching and peer groups matter more as leadership responsibility increases.
Spend enough time around CEOs and senior leaders, and you eventually hear some version of the same sentence: “It can be lonely at the top.” The phrase has been repeated for decades, yet it persists because it reflects a real aspect of leadership. As leaders rise in their organizations, the number of places where they can speak candidly tends to shrink. The stakes of decisions grow, the complexity increases, and the room for unfiltered feedback often disappears. Ironically, the moment when...
Published on
Mar 4, 2026
By
Matt Sitter
The CEO as Emotional Regulator: Leadership as Operational Infrastructure
In daily conversations with CEOs across industries, a consistent pattern keeps emerging. Strategy matters. Capital allocation matters. Talent matters. But in volatile environments, one variable carries disproportionate weight. The Emotional State of the CEO. At Advantage Foundry Network, this theme anchored a recent Hub discussion focused on a core leadership reality: organizations calibrate themselves to the emotional cues of the person at the top. Tone, cadence, reaction speed, and visible...
Published on
Feb 23, 2026
By
Betsy Klein
AFN Announces 2025 Chief of Staff Impact Award Recipient: Kristina Karalic
Each year at AFN, we pause to celebrate the leaders who elevate the Chief of Staff role not just through execution, but through influence, integrity, and impact. We are proud to announce that Kristina Karalic has been named AFN’s 2025 Chief of Staff Impact Award Winner . Over the past year, Kristina has demonstrated what it truly means to embody the complexity and power of this role. From her early days supporting operations to stepping into a broader executive Chief of Staff position, she...
Published on
Feb 23, 2026
By
Betsy Klein
AFN Announces the 2025 CEO Patty Brandmaier Resilience Award Recipient: Brian Ferguson
Each year, AFN presents the CEO Patty Brandmaier Resilience Award to honor a leader who reflects Patty’s legacy: service above self, strength with grace, and a deep commitment to helping others thrive under pressure. We are proud to name Brian Ferguson, Founder of Arena Labs, as the 2025 recipient. This recognition is more than symbolic. It is personal. A Legacy of Service, Carried Forward Patty Brandmaier spent more than 30 years serving in the CIA before dedicating her life to helping...
Published on
Feb 12, 2026
By
Matt Sitter
Generations at Work: Rethinking Talent, Purpose & Connection in a Multigenerational Workforce
How leaders can unlock shared strengths across Boomers to Gen Z and why misunderstanding risks organizational friction. The workforce today spans four living generations — from Boomers in late career to Gen Z entering adulthood — each shaped by vastly different cultural, economic, and technological forces. These differences matter: not because one generation is “better,” but because misunderstanding them creates friction, erodes engagement, and limits organizational performance. At AFN’s...
Published on
Oct 13, 2025
By
Matt Sitter
Data as an Asset: Turning Insight into Advantage
In September’s AFN CEO Hub Meeting, members tackled a topic shaping every industry — “Data as an Asset.” What began as a discussion about analytics quickly became a conversation about strategy, ownership, and the responsibility leaders hold in transforming information into value. Today, data isn’t just an enabler of business; it is the business. It’s a strategic resource to be gathered, protected, leveraged, and monetized. But how leaders think about data varies dramatically. Some approach...
