Dear Corporate: Hustle Culture Is Dead. The Future Belongs To Those Who Create It With Soul.

Have you seen the meme that says “face-paced environment” is business speak for “toxic work culture that values manufactured urgency”? I am paraphrasing, but raise your hand if this applies to your work space.

There is value in working quickly. Uh duh.

But the urgency and hustle culture is exhausting our souls.

And do you know what happens when your head is fried, your heart hurts, and your soul feels like it’s being treated like a machine?

Everything moves at a glacial pace and you’re getting the opposite outcome every desires: to be fast-paced.

I bring this up because I have a client who is struggling with the “fast-paced” nature of her job and we laughed at that phrase. Is there ANY company that isn’t fast-paced? Someone call HR and tell them to get rid of that language already because you’re not fooling Millennials and you’re DEFINITELY not fooling Gen Z.

According to an article published in May 2025 by Zurich: “Generation Z accounts for 27 percent of the [global] labor force and is poised to be the largest generation in the workplace by 2035.”

And you know what Gen Z knows better than any of us?

When souls break, systems breaks.

And if you (Corporate America, yeah, I’m looking at you), truly value people as your best asset you’d be wise to investigate if they feel the velocity of work is sustainable.

You’d be wise to check in with the heart-beat of your organization. NOW more than ever.

And while you’re at it, brew a large matcha, get reflective and investigate…was our velocity expectation EVER  sustainable? And is our need to have an edge, go global, and invest in AI making it worst?

Are you asking people to do EVEN more, EVEN faster because now there are robots available to support the velocity?

Are you completely missing the point of what it means to work quickly? What kind of type of people are you burning out and leaving behind if that is your only priority.

The future belongs to those who create it with soul.

I will say that again.

THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO CREATE IT WITH SOUL.

Yes, soul.

Yes, in these dem0cr@tic downfall times.

Yes, this is the time when you BETTER invest in making the soul of the people who work for you feel like they are safe to slow down, breathe, and be thoughtful.

Keep your edge, Corporate. But not at the expense of our humanity.