Big ideas. Bold conversations. Rotman Visiting Experts returns September 30. Join host Brett Hendrie as he chats with the influential thinkers and leaders featured in our acclaimed speakers series. This season, learn how to embrace imperfectionism, master your intuition and lead like a maverick.

Season 4 launches September 30 — follow now so you don't miss an episode.

Every search, like, and click leaves a trace — but what do these digital breadcrumbs really say about you? Author and professor Sandra Matz joined host Brett Hendrie to explore the psychology of data and how businesses use this information to build detailed profiles, predicting everything from your personality to your spending habits. How much do they really know, and what can you do about it?

Three takeaways

1. What you do online says so much more about you than you realize. Even the words you use in social posts can be telling about your personality. If you use lots of self-centred language (I, me, myself), it can actually be a sign of emotional distress. And studies from nearly a decade ago show that by simply analyzing a person's Facebook likes and follows, AI can be better at predicting someone's personality than their closest friends and family.
2. And businesses can use this information to influence their consumer behaviour. Matz worked on one study with a beauty retailer that proves the point. For outgoing extroverts, language on the ads highlighted the fun nights ahead, while for introverts the ads focused on self-care at home, and the campaign was hugely successful. But Matz warns, leaders need to be very cautious about using this type of information; after all trust is easily broken and it's a fine line between giving people exactly what they want and need from a company and manipulation.
3. Finally, when it comes to privacy issues, Matz warns it's not your social posts people should be most concerned with. It's our phones. The apps on our phones often have complete access to our photo galleries, location data, and even message history. Managing your data privacy can be a full-time job, but for folks who want to take a first step, she recommends being way more mindful about the permissions you give to companies when downloading your next app or game.

Is inclusion the secret to high-performing teams? In this episode of Rotman Visiting Experts, Brett Hendrie sits down with Anne Chow, former CEO of AT&T Business and author of Lead Bigger, to explore why true inclusion goes beyond DEI—and why leaders who embrace it outperform those who don’t. From creating psychologically safe workplaces to rethinking flexibility and performance metrics, Chow shares practical insights on how leaders can cultivate cultures where employees — and businesses — thrive.

Three takeaways

• Inclusion has been stuck on the end of the DEI acronym. To Chow, inclusion is more than just representation. It's broadening our perspectives and ensuring the voices of all our stakeholders — from employees to regulators to unions to media to customers — are heard and considered. The world is changing, and the better leader will be one with a diverse perspective.
• Inclusive leadership starts with caring about your employees. Chow reminds bosses that people don't have a work life and a personal life. They have one life, and it happens to consist of both work and personal obligations. "You as a leader, you have the relationship with the person based on the professional dimensions of their life, but it is incumbent upon you to respect the boundaries and the priorities of their personal life," she says. "And what that means for you as the inclusive leader is that you must put in place performance measures, accountability, clarity, as well as benefits and support structures that enable people to live a meaningful life that has professional and personal goals and contributions." And right now, the key for most leaders will be around flexibility.
• A good manager or leader will help employees thrive in their job. Team members will never lack understanding of where they are in their job, how they're doing in relation to their peers. They will know what skills they need to advance and feel their leader has provided them the resources they need to succeed. A great manager will help their people thrive in their careers, never forgetting that their current job is just one small part of the entirety of their work life. "They recognize and seek in you a potential that goes beyond your current job," she says.