Leaders and managers have a lot to contend with right now. AI is reshaping roles, teams are spread across locations and, for the first time, we’ve got five generations working side by side. So how can modern-day leaders keep people connected, motivated and performing when the world won’t stop changing?

That hot topic fuelled an in-depth discussion in our latest free Business Builders masterclass with Vodafone Business, The Art of Leading Well: Building Connected, Innovative Teams in 2026 (watch the full masterclass on-demand here).

David Koch led a panel of leading workplace experts including:

• Rebecca Moulynox, general manager of Great Place to Work ANZ, the global authority on workplace culture.

• Matthew Ball, general manager of small and medium business at Vodafone Business.

• Lauren Karan, founder of Karan & Co, a leading recruiter in construction and infrastructure and host of the Building Doors podcast.

Together, they unpacked the modern leadership playbook, sharing insights and even trade secrets on what’s expected of a leader in 2026, and how to get the best out of your team in this tech-centric world we live in.

Here are five of the top lessons we can all learn from:

1. You can be both a good leader and business owner

A viewer asked: “Being a small business with limited resources, how do you balance being a good leader verses being a good business owner?”

As a small business owner herself, Lauren Karan shared that it comes down to identifying what’s the best use of your time and your team’s time.

“One of my personal goals is to look at what tasks I can automate, so that we’re focusing more on our people-centric stuff,” Lauren said.

“For me, it’s all about what’s at the heart and soul of our business, and that is people. [It’s about] what doesn’t have us interacting daily with people? [If we] can automate that, the more time we can spend doing the stuff that generates revenue.

“Once you start to figure out as a business owner where your sweet spot is in what you’re spending time on, you make more money and you enjoy it and your team enjoys it. And I think the systems part comes into place as well.”

2. Curiosity can, and must, be learned

The modern leaders who successfully steer their teams through the choppy waters of change are those who stay curious and “ask the right questions”, said Vodafone’s Matthew Ball.

To this, a viewer asked a simple but powerful question: “How do you teach curiosity?”

For organisational coach Lauren, curiosity is a muscle that should be trained daily. And her tip for leaders wanting to build the skill? “Ask three open-ended questions a day.” Whether it’s to a colleague or a new client. Psychologists use these tools all the time, asking questions like “Tell me more?” or “How did that make you feel?”

Kochie had some advice on curiosity and building connections too, after 21 years of interviewing people on Sunrise.

“If I couldn’t figure out somebody, who they were, I would always ask them about their siblings,” he said. “Everyone has a story.”

3. Set a standard and be consistent

“How can you manage leaders who say they embrace and welcome change, but in the day to day, do not, and struggle with letting go of the old processes?” asked another viewer.

Drawing from more than two decades of leadership experience in people and culture, Rebecca Moulynox explained that effective leaders must model the behaviours they want in their teams.

“We always say when we talk to organisations, the key to a great culture is your leaders,” Rebecca said. “Leaders create an experience for employees. That experience creates their beliefs about the company and that forms your culture, which then forms your performance of your organisation.

“If the leader’s not changing, then you have to think about the impact that’s having.”

For example, if you want your leaders to let everyone work from home, and they’re not allowing that, you must hold them accountable.

“We tell organisations, set a standard for your leaders and be consistent in holding them to that standard,” she said.

4. Create magnets, not mandates

In Rebecca’s view, many leaders haven’t been specifically trained in how to manage hybrid work. “The really great organisations have actually put effort in and recognised that it’s a skill set in its own right,” she said.

When asked what businesses with the highest levels of engagement are doing right, it comes down to intention and transparency.

“It is about understanding what’s important for the organisation, understanding what’s important for you, your team, and then being really clear and concise and articulate about how you want people to perform, what you want them to do, what the expectations are, and then finding ways to bring the team together to build that culture that everyone says is missing because we’re not seeing each other every day,” she said.

The best workplaces aren’t dragging people back into the office, they’re “giving them a reason” to come in – whether that be collaboration days, celebrations or opportunities for mentoring and professional development.

“Great organisations use magnets, not mandates,” she said. “You can’t just say, ‘Hey everyone, come in on Thursday.’ Nothing works that way, right? So be intentional about what you’re doing, think about what your organisation needs, if they do need to be in the office, and that’s okay, but talk to them about it.”

In fact, Great Place To Work ANZ’s research shows employees who choose their in-office days are more engaged than those forced in – even when they’re in the office the same amount. Why? Because people want to feel part of the decision.

5.  Put people at the heart of AI

As someone who’s in the business of connection, Matthew Ball stressed that the human using AI is more important than the tech itself.

“If you’re looking at AI being the solution, you’re approaching it wrong,” Matthew said. “If you look at it as an enabler then it becomes a force multiplier.”

Bringing people into the conversation about how technology can help improve their day-to-day productivity and collaboration makes a difference.

“Get them involved in the design of it and share it with everyone so that they’re really clear on it,” Matthew explained. “Regardless of what external change and technology and bits and pieces are there. ‘This is where we’re going and we’re locked on that’. So how can technology enable that? What new resources outside of our capability do we need?”

According to Ball, the leaders who win with AI will be the ones who use it to remove the boring stuff, solve problems faster, upskill their people and free up more time for human-centred work.

Karan agreed: “The more we automate the tasks that take us away from people, the more time we can spend on the heart and soul of our business.”

For more lessons from our expert panel, watch The Art of Leading Well masterclass in full here.

This article is brought to you by Business Builders in partnership with Vodafone Business.