Writing
Essays on artificial intelligence, leadership, and resilience. Written to be read once, slowly, by senior leaders who prefer signal to frequency. One essay a month arrives in the newsletter; the full archive lives here.
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Why Crisis Leaders Must Be Vulnerable
The Marble Statue Myth There’s an old myth that in the worst hour, the best leader is the one who feels nothing: jaw set, voice clipped, eyes dry, the marble statue in the storm. Real life contradicts that myth every single time. The leaders people choose to follow in a crisis are not the coldest;…
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How to Build Rapport Fast in a Crisis Situation
When the room is hot with fear, your most powerful tool is not a perfect plan or a heroic speech. It’s rapport, the felt sense that “you see me, you hear me, and I can trust you enough to move with you.” In The Crisis Leader, I argue that rapid rapport is the gateway to…
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The Leader Who Had No Title: Influence from the Ground Up
Crises have a way of reordering the world’s assumptions. Systems that look strong on paper bend under pressure; ten-step plans collapse under the weight of reality; job titles lose their magic. And yet, in the middle of all that, something remarkable happens: people with no formal authority start moving others to action. The logistics clerk…
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Storytelling in a Crisis: How to Inspire Through Vision
Sirens don’t move people. Stories do. When uncertainty spikes and information fragments, a clear, human story becomes the operating system of a response. It explains reality without euphemism. It gives meaning to sacrifice. It turns scattered effort into coordinated momentum. In The Crisis Leader, I argue that the leaders who win the first 72 hours…
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Talk Straight, Listen First: The Role of Honest Communication
In a crisis, information is oxygen. When people can’t breathe, they can’t think; when they can’t think, they can’t act. That is why the most decisive advantage a leader can create in the first hours and days of disruption is an honest, rhythmic flow of communication: clear words going out, real listening coming back. It…
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Building Trust in the First 24 Hours of a Crisis
Trust is the speed at which people will follow you into the unknown. When a crisis arrives, clocks stop being polite suggestions and begin to dictate survival. In those first frantic hours, every action, every word, every pause radiates meaning. People don’t just want instructions; they want to know who is worthy of following. That…
-
Why Crisis Leaders Must Be Vulnerable
The Marble Statue Myth There’s an old myth that in the worst hour, the best leader is the one who feels nothing: jaw set, voice clipped, eyes dry, the marble statue in the storm. Real life contradicts that myth every single time. The leaders people choose to follow in a crisis are not the coldest;…
-
How to Build Rapport Fast in a Crisis Situation
When the room is hot with fear, your most powerful tool is not a perfect plan or a heroic speech. It’s rapport, the felt sense that “you see me, you hear me, and I can trust you enough to move with you.” In The Crisis Leader, I argue that rapid rapport is the gateway to…
-
The Leader Who Had No Title: Influence from the Ground Up
Crises have a way of reordering the world’s assumptions. Systems that look strong on paper bend under pressure; ten-step plans collapse under the weight of reality; job titles lose their magic. And yet, in the middle of all that, something remarkable happens: people with no formal authority start moving others to action. The logistics clerk…
-
Storytelling in a Crisis: How to Inspire Through Vision
Sirens don’t move people. Stories do. When uncertainty spikes and information fragments, a clear, human story becomes the operating system of a response. It explains reality without euphemism. It gives meaning to sacrifice. It turns scattered effort into coordinated momentum. In The Crisis Leader, I argue that the leaders who win the first 72 hours…
-
Talk Straight, Listen First: The Role of Honest Communication
In a crisis, information is oxygen. When people can’t breathe, they can’t think; when they can’t think, they can’t act. That is why the most decisive advantage a leader can create in the first hours and days of disruption is an honest, rhythmic flow of communication: clear words going out, real listening coming back. It…
-
Building Trust in the First 24 Hours of a Crisis
Trust is the speed at which people will follow you into the unknown. When a crisis arrives, clocks stop being polite suggestions and begin to dictate survival. In those first frantic hours, every action, every word, every pause radiates meaning. People don’t just want instructions; they want to know who is worthy of following. That…
-
Why Crisis Leaders Must Be Vulnerable
The Marble Statue Myth There’s an old myth that in the worst hour, the best leader is the one who feels nothing: jaw set, voice clipped, eyes dry, the marble statue in the storm. Real life contradicts that myth every single time. The leaders people choose to follow in a crisis are not the coldest;…
-
How to Build Rapport Fast in a Crisis Situation
When the room is hot with fear, your most powerful tool is not a perfect plan or a heroic speech. It’s rapport, the felt sense that “you see me, you hear me, and I can trust you enough to move with you.” In The Crisis Leader, I argue that rapid rapport is the gateway to…
-
The Leader Who Had No Title: Influence from the Ground Up
Crises have a way of reordering the world’s assumptions. Systems that look strong on paper bend under pressure; ten-step plans collapse under the weight of reality; job titles lose their magic. And yet, in the middle of all that, something remarkable happens: people with no formal authority start moving others to action. The logistics clerk…
-
Storytelling in a Crisis: How to Inspire Through Vision
Sirens don’t move people. Stories do. When uncertainty spikes and information fragments, a clear, human story becomes the operating system of a response. It explains reality without euphemism. It gives meaning to sacrifice. It turns scattered effort into coordinated momentum. In The Crisis Leader, I argue that the leaders who win the first 72 hours…
-
Talk Straight, Listen First: The Role of Honest Communication
In a crisis, information is oxygen. When people can’t breathe, they can’t think; when they can’t think, they can’t act. That is why the most decisive advantage a leader can create in the first hours and days of disruption is an honest, rhythmic flow of communication: clear words going out, real listening coming back. It…
-
Building Trust in the First 24 Hours of a Crisis
Trust is the speed at which people will follow you into the unknown. When a crisis arrives, clocks stop being polite suggestions and begin to dictate survival. In those first frantic hours, every action, every word, every pause radiates meaning. People don’t just want instructions; they want to know who is worthy of following. That…
-
Why Crisis Leaders Must Be Vulnerable
The Marble Statue Myth There’s an old myth that in the worst hour, the best leader is the one who feels nothing: jaw set, voice clipped, eyes dry, the marble statue in the storm. Real life contradicts that myth every single time. The leaders people choose to follow in a crisis are not the coldest;…
-
How to Build Rapport Fast in a Crisis Situation
When the room is hot with fear, your most powerful tool is not a perfect plan or a heroic speech. It’s rapport, the felt sense that “you see me, you hear me, and I can trust you enough to move with you.” In The Crisis Leader, I argue that rapid rapport is the gateway to…
-
The Leader Who Had No Title: Influence from the Ground Up
Crises have a way of reordering the world’s assumptions. Systems that look strong on paper bend under pressure; ten-step plans collapse under the weight of reality; job titles lose their magic. And yet, in the middle of all that, something remarkable happens: people with no formal authority start moving others to action. The logistics clerk…
-
Storytelling in a Crisis: How to Inspire Through Vision
Sirens don’t move people. Stories do. When uncertainty spikes and information fragments, a clear, human story becomes the operating system of a response. It explains reality without euphemism. It gives meaning to sacrifice. It turns scattered effort into coordinated momentum. In The Crisis Leader, I argue that the leaders who win the first 72 hours…
-
Talk Straight, Listen First: The Role of Honest Communication
In a crisis, information is oxygen. When people can’t breathe, they can’t think; when they can’t think, they can’t act. That is why the most decisive advantage a leader can create in the first hours and days of disruption is an honest, rhythmic flow of communication: clear words going out, real listening coming back. It…
-
Building Trust in the First 24 Hours of a Crisis
Trust is the speed at which people will follow you into the unknown. When a crisis arrives, clocks stop being polite suggestions and begin to dictate survival. In those first frantic hours, every action, every word, every pause radiates meaning. People don’t just want instructions; they want to know who is worthy of following. That…
-
Why Crisis Leaders Must Be Vulnerable
The Marble Statue Myth There’s an old myth that in the worst hour, the best leader is the one who feels nothing: jaw set, voice clipped, eyes dry, the marble statue in the storm. Real life contradicts that myth every single time. The leaders people choose to follow in a crisis are not the coldest;…
-
How to Build Rapport Fast in a Crisis Situation
When the room is hot with fear, your most powerful tool is not a perfect plan or a heroic speech. It’s rapport, the felt sense that “you see me, you hear me, and I can trust you enough to move with you.” In The Crisis Leader, I argue that rapid rapport is the gateway to…
-
The Leader Who Had No Title: Influence from the Ground Up
Crises have a way of reordering the world’s assumptions. Systems that look strong on paper bend under pressure; ten-step plans collapse under the weight of reality; job titles lose their magic. And yet, in the middle of all that, something remarkable happens: people with no formal authority start moving others to action. The logistics clerk…
-
Storytelling in a Crisis: How to Inspire Through Vision
Sirens don’t move people. Stories do. When uncertainty spikes and information fragments, a clear, human story becomes the operating system of a response. It explains reality without euphemism. It gives meaning to sacrifice. It turns scattered effort into coordinated momentum. In The Crisis Leader, I argue that the leaders who win the first 72 hours…
-
Talk Straight, Listen First: The Role of Honest Communication
In a crisis, information is oxygen. When people can’t breathe, they can’t think; when they can’t think, they can’t act. That is why the most decisive advantage a leader can create in the first hours and days of disruption is an honest, rhythmic flow of communication: clear words going out, real listening coming back. It…
-
Building Trust in the First 24 Hours of a Crisis
Trust is the speed at which people will follow you into the unknown. When a crisis arrives, clocks stop being polite suggestions and begin to dictate survival. In those first frantic hours, every action, every word, every pause radiates meaning. People don’t just want instructions; they want to know who is worthy of following. That…
Gísli Rafn Ólafsson
Leadership for the age of disruption. Essays, books, and keynotes on artificial intelligence, leadership, and resilience. Written and delivered from Reykjavik, read, presented, and heard internationally.
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