MsBadass

New ICIMS data (Sept 2026): 47% of job seekers have worked on their AI skills in the past six months — but employer-provided training is stuck at roughly one in six. Workers are running toward capability. Most employers are strolling.

Here's the reframe I'd give you in coaching: when you weigh two offers, don't stop at "What will they pay me?" Ask the harder question —

"What will I be worth after two years of working here?"

A company that pays slightly more but lets your skills decay can be more expensive to your career than one that keeps you current. One employer is funding your coverage. The other is quietly letting it lapse.

That's the whole idea behind Career Insurance™ — you build it before disruption arrives, not after.

New Let's Talk Career column is live. 👇
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/next-employee-benefit-may-question-marilyn-carroll-ph-d-mba-m-ed-8n48e

Protect. Strengthen. Grow. Thrive.

The Next Employee Benefit May Be a Question LET'S TALK CAREER · A CAREER INSURANCE™ PERSPECTIVE The Next Employee Benefit May Be a Question “Will This Company Keep My Skills Current?” For most of our working lives, we’ve defined a good offer the same way: salary, plus benefits. But your most valuable asset was never your paycheck —...

From Hollywood to Higher Education: Leadership Through Permanent Disruption

In this episode of Two Doctors and a Twist, Dr. Marilyn Carroll and Dr.Jamie Chesler guest is Dr. Jon Crispin who shares lessons from decades of leadership in higher education, accreditation, finance, online learning, and artificial intelligence. Together, we explore what institutions must do to remain relevant, why faculty remain central to learning, and how leaders can guide organizations through permanent disruption without losing sight of the people they serve.

Sometimes the best conversations don’t just answer questions.

They reshape how we think about the future.

👉

From Hollywood to Higher Education: Leadership Through Permanent Disruption - 2 Doctors & a Twist Every once in a while, you sit down for a conversation expecting to learn about someone’s career. Instead, you end up learning about leadership.That was exactly what happened during our latest episode of Two Doctors and a Twist with Dr. Jon Crispi...

Ten years of writing this column, and 2026 is the hardest year I’ve seen.
Not because the news is worse. Because the advice that used to work no longer works. People are doing exactly what they were told to do, and it isn’t landing.
This week’s numbers explain why. Unemployment claims hit their lowest level since 1969 — but that doesn’t mean hiring is strong. It means employers aren’t firing OR hiring. Low-hire, low-fire. Meanwhile Monday.com and Uber announced AI-driven restructurings, and Monday.com’s own founders said the quiet part out loud: this wasn’t about replacing people with AI. It was about recomposing the work.
Here’s the shift workers can’t ignore:
Completion is no longer proof. Proof is proof.
You can take every course available and post every certificate on LinkedIn. But the three questions now deciding interviews are:
→ What have you actually built?
→ How did you use AI to build it — and what did you check?
→ What measurable result did it produce?
Take the courses. Then produce the artifact that shows what the course made you capable of doing.
My full column breaks down all five realities workers need to act on right now — including why early-career workers face the narrowest door in years, and why I believe AI isn’t creating one workforce. It’s creating two.
The opportunity is still there. The difference will be readiness. 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-weeks-ai-workforce-signals-mean-workers-marilyn-mrcge

What This Week's AI & Workforce Signals Mean for Workers What This Week's AI & Workforce Signals Mean for Workers By Dr. Marilyn Carroll, PhD, MBA, MED July 25, 2026 I have written this column nearly every week for about ten years.

Thanks to our LIV Magazine audience. I pulled our stats today Based on 7,377 total views from the four top countries:

Country Views Percentage
United States 4,302 58.3%
Japan 1,415 19.2%
Brazil 955 12.9%
Netherlands 705 9.6%

The United States represents 58.3% of these views, while the three international countries account for a combined 41.7%.

With more than 5,000 subscribers, our audience continues to expand across the globe. Among our four leading countries, the United States accounts for 58.3% of views, followed by Japan at 19.2%, Brazil at 12.9%, and the Netherlands at 9.6%. Nearly 42% of the views represented here come from outside the United States, demonstrating the growing international reach of LIV Magazine. Thank You, Thank You.
Looking forward to July issue. LIVmagazine.org

Valuable Visibility: Why the Future of Work Will Reward Who You Are, Not Just What You Do

This conversation with Charity McDonald reminded me why the future of work cannot be reduced to AI tools, job titles, or credentials alone.

The real shift is deeper.
It is about valuable visibility.�It is about demonstrating what you know.�It is about becoming the solution.�It is about building a life and career where contribution, identity, creativity, community, and compensation can finally meet.
The future of work is not just about tools. It is about identity, visibility, contribution, and becoming the solution.
Charity brought such a powerful perspective to Two Doctors and a Twist — especially for graduates, professionals in transition, and leaders trying to understand what comes next.
The future of work will not only ask, “What can you do?”
It will also ask, “Who are you becoming — and how are you contributing?”
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2540826/episodes/19188489-valuable-visibility-why-the-future-of-work-will-reward-who-you-are-not-just-what-you-do.mp3?download=true

The Three Chairs and the “Almost Ready” Epidemic

Somewhere along the way, we normalized a dangerous standard in education and workforce development:

“Almost ready.”

Students finish the course.Earn the degree.Pass the assessments.

And yet employers still ask:

“Can they actually do the job?”

That question alone tells us something important.

Completion has been mistaken for capability for far too long.

This is where the Three Chairs begin to matter.

🪑 The Professor says:“They learned the material.”

🪑 The Researcher asks:“What evidence proves they can apply it?”

🪑 The Executive asks:“Can they perform on day one?”

For years, these chairs have operated separately.

And the result has been a growing gap between:

education and ex*****on

credentials and capability

preparation and performance

That gap is what I call the “Almost Ready” epidemic.

Because “almost ready” creates:

frustrated employers

overwhelmed managers

underconfident graduates

and systems that struggle to explain what readiness actually means

The future cannot rely on exposure alone.

It has to move toward:✔️ observable capability✔️ explainable assessment✔️ validated skill signals✔️ real-world application

In other words:

The moment students walk out that door is the moment that matters.

Not just what they completed.But what they’ve demonstrated they can do.

That’s the shift the Three Chairs are pushing us toward.

And honestly?

I don’t think “almost ready” is good enough anymore.

Most confusion at work comes from not knowing your seat.

One of the most misunderstood dynamics in a career is this: If you don’t own the company—and you’re not a major shareholder—you don’t get to make the final decisions.

You might lead teams, influence outcomes, and offer brilliant ideas. But at the end of the day, authority belongs to the owner(s). That’s how equity works.

Unless you’re brought in as a consultant—and even then, only under the authority granted—you are operating within someone else’s vision, budget, and risk profile.

Trying to act like the owner without owning anything? That’s a recipe for conflict, confusion, and burnout.

Understand your seat. Own your lane. Then decide: are you here to build with them—or build your own?

Grateful. Humbled. Overjoyed. ✨
Today I had the honor of celebrating the official launch of Spiritual Boot Camp with 35 of my friends and their guests. 💛📖

Thank you all for showing up—not just physically, but in spirit, love, and purpose. Your presence and generosity mean the world to me. Each of you understood the significance of this work—not just as a personal milestone, but as a guide for leadership, personal growth, and organizational transformation.

This book was born out of a season of breaking. Today marks the beginning of building and blessing. And we’re just getting started.

Let’s keep moving forward—together. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FCXQRKQF

Marilyn-ism: Worth the Leap

Some opportunities are so meaningful,
so potentially life-changing,
that they’re worth the leap—uncertainty and all.

Whether you’re 32 or 70, chasing dreams or defying gravity,
remember:
Your moment doesn’t wait for certainty.
It waits for courage.

I love the quote the driver shared with her “The biscuit is worth the risk-it” captures that beautiful Southern wit while offering a powerful message: some opportunities are so meaningful, so potentially life-changing, that they’re worth the leap—uncertainty and Today, we honor Gayle King and the courageous women of Blue Origin who remind us:
Boldness has no age limit.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/seat-beside-me-marilyn-carroll-ph-d-mba-m-ed-mit-sydne The people I serve are standing at a crossroads. They’ve done the work—but now they’re asking: what do I do with everything I know? I help them turn their knowledge, life experience, and skills into something real—so they can stop starting over and start building from who they already are.”

The Seat Beside Me A Story About Presence, Purpose, and the Power of Listening By Dr. Marilyn Carroll | GetCareerDoctor.