We are living in the Year of the Fire Horse. And if you know anything about Chinese astrology, you know that the Fire Horse is not a gentle, meandering kind of energy. It is fast, fierce, unpredictable, and transformative. It burns down what isn’t working to make room for what’s next.
And that feels about right for where we are as a culture, as leaders, and as human beings right now. Today, I share the neurological impact significant change triggers in humans and give actionable steps to build resilience to withstand the change that is going to continue and lead and live with more purpose and intentionality through whatever is thrown your way.
To access the episode transcript, please scroll down below.
Listen in for…
- How systems are breaking, and the world is changing, and people are struggling to keep up.
- Why reinvention is not a crisis; it’s a choice.
- Three things you can do right now to build resilience for what is next.
“If you’re clinging to a way of working, a title, a strategy, a version of yourself, or a version of your company that’s no longer serving you, the Fire Horse year is asking you to release it. Not recklessly, but thoughtfully, with intention.” — Maria Ross
References:
- Jonni and Maria Go There: Fire Horse Season: Reinventing at Full Gallop: https://bit.ly/4zUnrzP
- Your Employees Aren’t Resisting Change. Their Brains Are: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mariaross/2026/07/31/your-employees-arent-resisting-change-their-brains-are/
- Rita Wilson on Reinventing Yourself at Any Age | IMO Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kqMI38b15M&t
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FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Maria Ross 00:04
Welcome to the Empathy Edge podcast, the show that proves why cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive. I’m your host Maria Ross. I’m a speaker, author, mom, facilitator, and empathy advocate, and here you’ll meet trailblazing leaders and executives, authors, and experts who embrace empathy to achieve radical success. We discuss all facets of empathy, from trends and research to the future of work, to how to heal societal divisions and collaborate more effectively. Our goal is to redefine success and prove that empathy isn’t just good for society, it’s great for business. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the Empathy Edge. I’m Maria Ross, and if you’ve been feeling like this year has put you through the ringer, you are not imagining it. And today, I want to talk about why and, more importantly, what we can all do about it. So as some of you may know, we are living in the year of the Fire Horse, and if you know anything about Chinese astrology, you know that the Fire Horse is not a gentle, meandering kind of energy. It is fast, fierce, unpredictable, and transformative. It burns down what isn’t working to make room for what’s next. And honestly, that feels about right for where we are as a culture, as leaders, and as human beings right now. I recently recorded an episode of my other podcast, Johnny and Maria Go There, with my co-host and dear friend, CEO of 11:11 Solutions, Jani Wrestler. We dug deep into this idea of reinvention, especially in what we’re calling life’s third act, and why so many people, including us as women, are fundamentally rethinking who they are, what they want, and what they’re willing to put up with anymore. And I’ll link to that episode in the show notes when it airs, but today, I want to bring that conversation into a leadership context because I think it’s deeply relevant for all of you. So first off, the systems are breaking and that’s not an accident. The horse is at full gallop, running through barns and fences as it goes. So let’s just name it. The world is changing faster than our brains were wired to absorb. I actually wrote about this recently for Forbes, and I’ll link to that article in the show notes because it goes deep on the neuroscience of what we’re experiencing. But here are the highlights that are relevant to what we’re talking about today. The NeuroLeadership Institute found that organizational change accelerated by 183% between 2020 and 2024. Four years, 183%. And Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace Report shows employee engagement has dropped to 20%, its lowest level since 2020. Now the sobering truth is that most organizations are treating the human fallout as a side effect to be managed, rather than a reality to be understood. So the bottom line is your team is not resisting change because they’re difficult. Their brains are doing exactly what brains do when the ground shifts underneath them, and as leaders, we have to stop pathologizing—pathologizing? What’s the word? Pathologizing—a completely normal physiological response. So go read the Forbes piece for that full picture, but today I want to zoom out even further. Here’s the thing your neuroscience textbook will back up: any change, big or small, good or bad, triggers a threat response in the human brain. Cortisol spikes, the prefrontal cortex goes offline—that’s our capacity to think and reason and prioritize and all the things, right?—and our capacity for clear thinking and sound decision-making drops. It’s biology, not weakness. And when people don’t have language for what they’re experiencing, they interpret it as personal failure, which compounds everything. So, you as a leader, if your team seems disengaged, resistant, or stuck right now, they’re probably not being difficult. Their brains are doing exactly what brains do, as I said, when the ground shifts. And here’s the parallel I keep coming back to: it’s not just our organizations that are in reinvention mode, it’s us as people, as leaders, as humans navigating a world that looks almost nothing like it did 5 years ago. So the second thing I want to talk about is reinvention is not a crisis, it’s a choice. And in our Johnny and Maria Go There episode, we talked about life’s third act and how so many people post-pandemic, post-whatever personal reckoning they’ve been going through lately are asking themselves hard questions: Who am I?
Maria Ross 05:04
What do I actually want? What am I willing to keep tolerating? And I think leaders need to be asking those same questions about themselves, their teams, and their organizations—not from a place of panic, but from a place of agency. The Fire Horse energy is not asking us to blow everything up for the sake of it; it’s asking us to be honest about what’s no longer serving us and courageous enough to let it go. I recently made a change in my own life that felt scary and overdue at the same time, and I’ll share it with you. I’ve been putting up with something, in this case, perimenopause. Yes, workplaces are talking about this now, so stop squirming, that I and many other women my age sadly keep being told is quote, unquote just part of getting older, just something to manage. It’s just normal, get more sleep, exercise more. And even if you are getting more sleep, and you are exercising more, now, I personally, I don’t know a lot of other people cycling and CrossFitting four times a week, and who actually get 8 hours of sleep a night. That’s me, and I’m still going through it. So, I, like many others I know, finally said, No, I’m not settling for this. Hold my beer, right? I asked my friends, I researched, I found a naturopath who specializes in what I was dealing with, and it changed my life, genuinely, that’s not hyperbole, within weeks. And the lesson I keep coming back to in all of this is do not settle for gaslighting, whether it comes from your doctor, your boss, your colleague, or the voice in your own head that says this is just how it is. Get a second opinion. Find the expert. Use your resources. Trust your gut. You are allowed to expect better, and you’re allowed to advocate for it. Get that Fire Horse energy going. That goes for how you run your teams, how you structure your work, and how you lead your life. So third, let’s talk about shifting identity without losing yourself. Now, one of the hardest parts of reinvention, whether it’s personal or organizational, is the identity piece. Who are you if you’re not the job title you’ve held for 15 years? Who are you if the company you built looks completely different than it did before? Who are we as a company or a team on the other side of the AI revolution and all this seismic change? It starts with surrounding yourself with the right people. Always, it comes back to people, right? Sorry not sorry, AI. Actress, producer, musician Rita Wilson talked about this beautifully on the IMO podcast with Michelle Obama and her brother Craig Robinson. She talked about reinvention and the friendships that anchor you through it, the people who knew you before, who also know where you came from. Those relationships are not just nice to have; they’re stabilizing forces when everything else is in flux. Now, a caveat to that is if you have people in your life from back when that are draining your energy or holding you back, that’s an entirely different ball of wax. That is a relationship that you may have to let go of in order to evolve and change. But for the most part, it helps for us to be surrounded when we go through transition by a supportive community, and maybe that means you have to find a new community. And at work, that community translates to culture, to psychological safety, to having a team where people feel seen and known and trusted enough to say, I’m struggling with this change. I need help. As a leader, especially as a leader, your job during times of reinvention is not to pretend everything is fine because you know deep down you don’t feel fine. Your job is to be the steady presence that names what is actually happening and creates space for people to process it together. Okay, so given all this, okay, after all that reflection and pontificating, I want to get practical. Here are three things you can do right now as a leader and as a human being to build resilience for what’s next. One, name it out loud. You don’t need a psychology degree.
Maria Ross 09:24
You just need to say in a team meeting, in a one-on-one, in a company all-hands, What many of us are feeling right now is a completely normal human response to rapid, overwhelming change. That’s it. That simple act of naming does the neurological work. Research shows that when we name an emotion, we begin to regulate it. Naming is needed; it’s leadership. Two, let go of the identity that no longer fits. Now, this one is harder, but if you’re clinging to a way of working, a title, a strategy, a version of yourself, or a version of your company that’s no longer serving you, the Fire Horse year is asking you to release it. Not recklessly, but thoughtfully, with intention. Ask yourself, What am I holding onto out of habit or fear, rather than genuine conviction? That’s where the reinvention begins. And three, build your reinvention team. I spoke about community. You cannot do this alone. Find your people, whether that’s a coach, a trusted colleague, a naturopath, a best friend, a mastermind group, or a podcast co-host who will go there with you, surround yourself with people who support your evolution and also know where you came from. Reinvention doesn’t mean starting from scratch. It means building forward from everything you already are. So, here’s my final thought for you. The Fire Horse doesn’t wait for permission. It does not wait for the perfect moment, or the calmer news cycle, or the steadier economy. It moves. It transforms. It makes things new. And I think that is the invitation that this year has been for all of us. Not to necessarily blow up what is good, but to stop tolerating what’s not, to stop waiting for some external force to give us permission to change, to lead in our organizations and our lives with the kind of bold, purposeful, human-centered intention that actually makes things better. So, what are you ready to reinvent in your life, in your work, in your world? What are you finally ready to let go of? I would love to hear from you on this. Thanks for listening. And until next time, please remember that cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive. Take care, be kind, and share this episode today with someone who needs it. See you next time. For more on how to achieve radical success through empathy, visit theempathyedge.com. There, you can listen to past episodes, access show notes and free resources, book me for a keynote or workshop, and sign up for our email list to get new episodes, insights, news, and events. Please follow me on Instagram @redslicemaria. Never forget, empathy is your superpower. Use it to make your work and the world a better place.
