While we’re all getting accustomed to operating in an environment in which dramatic changes come on a near-daily basis, that doesn’t mean it’s easy—and it also doesn’t mean we feel particularly confident about how well we’re managing it. In general, it takes finely honed leadership skills to weather today’s storms.I talked to Tom Monahan, CEO of leadership advisory firm Heidrick & Struggles, about how CEOs can thrive while dealing with some of today’s most difficult challenges. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter.We’ll be taking a two-week break from the Forbes CEO newsletter to celebrate America’s 250th birthday and for a summer hiatus. We’ll be back in your inbox on Monday, July 20.Until next time.This is the published version of Forbes’ CEO newsletter, which offers the latest news for today’s and tomorrow’s business leaders and decision makers. Click here to get it delivered to your inbox every week.Economic IndicatorsgettyLast week was difficult, both for consumers and Wall Street. Inflation in May continued to climb, hitting 3.4% in the monthly report the Bureau of Economic Analysis released last week. May’s inflation rate is the highest since October 2023, and it seems pretty entrenched. The personal consumption expenditures index—minus volatile food and fuel prices, and the Fed’s favored inflationary metric—has increased 4.1% from a year ago.Prices are likely to continue to rise for technology, with major manufacturers announcing large hikes last week. Apple’s laptops and iPads are going to be at least $200 more expensive, and Microsoft is raising prices for new Xbox consoles $100 to $150. The reason for the increase: Rapidly growing demand for AI memory chips. Apple CEO Tim Cook said earlier this month that the price hike was “unavoidable.” After the announcement Thursday, Apple’s stock dropped more than 5%, and has been slow to recover—and Forbes senior contributor Peter Cohan writes the company’s outlook depends on whether consumers will pay the higher prices. While Microsoft’s stock quickly recovered from the 6% drop after the price announcement, their long-term outlook in this consumer front may not be rosy: Forbes senior contributor Paul Tassi writes this month has seen the lowest-ever sales for Xbox consoles.The growing cost of AI infrastructure—and the massive demand for memory chips—also weighed on global stock markets last week. Last week began in a slump as investors pondered whether memory chip maker Micron would show sustained demand in its earnings report. When it showed record-breaking earnings, markets rebounded a bit—but then stayed largely flat and overall down from a week prior. The selloff over AI costs and rapid rise and fall after SpaceX’s IPO earlier this month reportedly has led OpenAI to consider delaying its IPO, initially planned for later this year. Notable NewsLast week, the future of energy—and all that will be needed to power AI data centers—took center stage at Honeywell’s second annual Future of Energy Summit at their Washington, D.C. offices. Deputy Commerce Secretary Paul Dabbar told the audience of policymakers and industry leaders that as far as capability is concerned, the United States is far ahead in the global race. Not only does it have the largest economy in the world, it’s been far ahead with data centers. Loudoun County, Virginia has slightly more than a third of all the world’s data centers, he said, and the Washington, D.C. suburban county has kept up with energy demand.“So it’s not theoretical whether the United States can do it,” he said. “It’s already being done, and the question is about scaling it.”U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., spoke about how to get public buy-in for data centers, which he knows well from his state’s public opinion U-turn on fracking to extract natural gas from underground rock formations. It doesn’t work to walk into a town meeting and tell local residents, “You’ve got to do this. It’s good for you,” he said. It takes local buy-in, starting with local lawmakers and communities. It’s imperative to protect the rates local people pay for their power—meaning companies building data centers should be prepared to produce their own power, and maybe even in a large magnitude more than they will need. Companies need to protect natural resources, and control waste and water use. They should show the economic benefit they will make on the community: Jobs building, operating and maintaining the data centers; upgrades to infrastructure by the company in construction; and a boost in local tax revenues.“Listen, I own a farm where I grew up. I don’t really want a big data center in my backyard,” McCormick said. “But if I look at the totality of what that means for the community, I think most people are going to buy in—but it’s going to be up to them.”In Congress, McCormick said he’s working on legislation to streamline the process to get permits for energy and development projects, which he said can take five to six years to take care of. However, McCormick said it’s difficult to predict what might happen with the legislation, and if it can pass this year. Tomorrow’s TrendsRefining Your Leadership Playbook For Today’s Turbulent TimesHeidrick & Struggles CEO Tom Monahan.Heidrick & StrugglesIt’s been an unpredictable time on many fronts—economic, geopolitical and political—and that has made the already-challenging job of CEO even more difficult. Heidrick & Struggles is a leadership advisory firm that works with business leaders in executive recruitment and consulting. I talked to CEO Tom Monahan about how to successfully manage some of the thornier obstacles in front of top decision makers. This conversation has been edited for length, clarity and continuity.CEOs have had to do many things to adapt to the rapid fire changes and uncertainty in today’s world, and by and large, they’ve done a lot of the same things. In your view, what are successful companies doing?Monahan: We see it through a people lens. If you’re doing ‘our mess for less,’ that’s not good. Are people reinventing, or are people destabilizing the org chart? Now that work’s getting done differently, we’re seeing [executives are] reopening the aperture and saying: Let’s put a massive burden on market intimacy. Do we really understand who we serve? Do we really understand the need they are turning to us for, not just the product they buy? Do we really understand what’s adjacent? On the other side, do we actually have the market intimacy to say we understand our client, our customer, the actual need we’re serving? Can AI change that equation? Can I change the economics of that? We see that conversation started.That’s what’s going to differentiate. The leading companies are bringing those conversations: Are we built to do that? Do we have the right skillset? Do we have the right ways of work? AI [allows you to] iterate faster. The cost of experiments goes down. But that does mean your executive team needs to work in different ways. It’s no longer: I prepare a quarterly report and report to you, and then you go work on that for a quarter and report back in a quarter. We’re working as an executive team at the speed at which innovation can happen in this space. Not only do we need different skills, do we need different roles? Do we need different ways of working? Do we work as though we were AI?CEOs and boards in most industries are not prepared to deal with the societal polarization that is pervasive today. How can leaders deal with it?Ask yourself, when do we speak publicly? How we put an algorithm in place to say: This is one we should have a public view on, this is one we don’t need. We’re seeing that executive be in the room a lot more often, [weighing in on] who builds that perspective about where we talk technically, where we don’t; where we have a legislative agenda, where we don’t. It’s not that companies aren’t choosing issues, they're being much more thoughtful and structured. How do we show up in the world in a polarized environment?I can’t think of a company whose employee base is 100% or zero on either side. Everyone’s saying, ‘OK, that’s outside the building.’ Inside the building, you have people who have very different perspectives on the same issue. You have the choice of not taking huge stands, but you have to find unifying themes that galvanize across boundaries, because that isn’t a choice: You have to find things that unite people. It’s a skill that executives have. They have to be able to create shared purpose, conversation across boundaries, the ability to move everyone in the same direction. We have to get really good at saying: Why do we exist? What’s our shared value to the world? And articulate that, because otherwise that divide can be a huge enemy of corporate productivity. What advice would you give to an aspiring or looking-to-move-up executive in today’s climate? Always have the balance of time horizons, now and in the future. It sounds so stupid, but the system to a lot of companies is to produce this year’s outcomes. The second easiest thing is to run a company that only produces next year’s outcomes. The hardest thing is to do both. That the ability to manage multiple time horizons is really good. The caliber and quality of your team as individuals, and the efficacy with which they work together is the way work happens. There’s no one who is in one of these jobs who is Steph Curry. They cannot score 40 points on their own. Executives are playing team sports and being relentlessly focused on: Do I have the right people in the right roles and are they working together the right way? That’s the surest path to great outcomes. It covers your blind spots, it helps you grow, it gets you leverage.You have to be willing to revisit all your assumptions. Start well, stay curious, seek out dissonant information, keep your eyes open, be willing to learn new things, force yourself to learn new things, engage your critics internally and externally because they’re going to teach you stuff.Comings + GoingsBrewing and beverage company Heineken appointed Rafael Oliveira as its next chief executive officer, effective October 1. Oliveira will join the firm from JDE Peet’s where he worked in the same role. He has also worked in leadership for The Kraft Heinz Company.Defense contractor KBR selected Michael LaRouche as president and chief executive officer of its planned mission technology solutions spin-off entity, effective September 24. LaRouche will join the company from Serco North America where he worked in the same role. He has also held senior leadership roles at SAIC and Raytheon.Restaurant chain Domino’s Pizza elevated Joe Jordan as its next chief executive officer, effective October 1. Jordan has spent nearly 15 years with the firm, currently working as chief operating officer and president for Domino’s U.S. He will succeed Russell Weiner, who is retiring after 28 years with Domino’s.Strategies + AdviceAs the world watches the drama on the pitch at the FIFA World Cup, with teams’ improbable plays, victories and losses, it’s important to remember the decades of preparation that led up to this summer’s games. Here are lessons about preparing for success CEOs can take from the World Cup.Productivity isn’t all about getting things done 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. It’s important to shut down sometimes, giving yourself the mental break you need so you can be more productive when you return.QuizWhich fast food restaurant saw its stock rally last week, following viral Reddit posts calling on people to save it?A. ChipotleB. Wendy’sC. Domino’s PizzaD. McDonald’sSee if you got the answer right here.