There are people alive today (myself included) who were born before computers existed, who watched humans land on the moon, who built careers without email or mobile phones — and who now collaborate with artificial intelligence in real time.

That span of experience isn’t nostalgia. It’s perspective.

The world has always changed, but never at the speed we’re experiencing now. What once unfolded over generations now happens within a decade, or even within a year. Technology accelerates, systems strain, certainty erodes and leadership is asked to adapt faster than the frameworks that once defined it.

The challenge of our time isn’t innovation itself — It’s keeping wisdom in step with progress.

Moonshots were about human aspiration — what became possible when curiosity, courage, and collective effort aligned. Machine intelligence represents a different kind of leap: one that amplifies capability, compresses time, and raises new questions about judgment, ethics, and responsibility.

This moment calls for a different posture of leadership.  It’s not about control or certainty; instead it’s about stewardship.

Those who have lived across eras carry a unique responsibility — not because they have better answers, but because they’ve witnessed what endures when tools change. Values outlast systems. Character matters even more when speed increases. Progress without grounding in purpose and values eventually costs more than it gives.

For leaders guiding through this era of acceleration, a few truths feel essential:

Honor what endures. Trust, dignity, purpose, and character are not disrupted by technology — they’re revealed by it.Stay curious, not defensive. New tools demand learning, not fear. Questions age better than assumptions.Translate across generations. Leadership now requires shared meaning among people who don’t possess the same reference points.Use technology as a tool, not a compass. Capability is not direction. Speed is not clarity.

Every generation inherits the world as it is. But some inherit an added task, which is to serve as a bridge: to carry forward what matters; to make room for what’s emerging; to ensure that as our machines become more intelligent, our leadership becomes more human — not less.

That is the work of cultivation — in any era.

Tempus Maximize!