Welcome to the inaugural issue of The Long View.
In my work across executive coaching and leadership development, the core focus is often on mobilizing teams, building strategy, and driving momentum. But honestly? Some of the best breakthroughs happen outside those spaces, in the book we can't put down, the habits that preserve our clarity, the AI idea that stops us mid-scroll, or a place that stays with us long after we’ve checked out.
As someone who lives at the intersection of people, leadership, and the future of technology, all wrapped in a passion for travel and the hospitality industry, I wanted to create a space to pull these threads together.
Each issue takes about three to five minutes to read: one book, one forward-looking idea, and one place worth the passport stamp. Part leadership wisdom, part tech optimism, and part travel inspiration, curated specifically for lifelong learners.
If a single issue gives you a new perspective or the simple nudge to try one new thing, it’s done its job. Growth is the whole point.
Have a wonderful long weekend.
Warmly,
Managing Director,
A.B Consulting
📚 WHAT I'M READING
I picked this up expecting another AI hype book and got something more useful instead. Doctorow's framing has stuck with me all month: a "centaur" uses technology to do their best work; a "reverse centaur" gets stuck doing the technology's work, at its pace, on its terms. I keep seeing both versions play out with clients right now, some teams using AI to think bigger, others quietly getting run by it. This book gave me language for a pattern I'd been noticing but hadn't quite named.
📖 AN INSPIRING READ
A fresh roundup of the destinations shaping travel in 2026, from Rajasthan's palace hotels to a quieter Venice unfolding away from the Grand Canal crowds. What stayed with me is that real luxury was never about the price tag. It's sense of place, thoughtful service, and an experience rooted in something specific. That's the same throughline I see in our hospitality clients, the ones investing in culture and people, not just amenities, are the ones travellers keep coming back for.
👩🏻💻 AI TOOLS I’M TESTING
Claude Projects
Since much of our work right now is helping clients build real AI literacy, here's one I'd point them to directly. If your team keeps re-explaining the same context to Claude, your voice, your policies, your recurring projects, set up a Claude Project once and let it hold that context for you. Five minutes of setup, and everyone starts from the same place, no prompt-engineering course required. Click here to learn more on Projects from Claude Academy.
🧠 COGNITIVE WELLNESS
A Clear Mind
Leadership runs on judgment, and judgment runs on a mind that isn't constantly fragmented. McKinsey Health Institute's research on workplace mental health names this directly: burnout isn't just exhaustion, it's a measurable drop in the brain's ability to regulate cognitive and emotional processes, the exact things leadership decisions require. Most calendars make this worse by design, back-to-back meetings with zero space between them.
This month's practice: build a five-minute buffer after every meeting, no exceptions, before the next one starts. Stand up, look away from a screen, breathe. It's a small design choice, but it's the difference between arriving at your next decision with a mind that's still yours, or one that's already spent.
✈️ WHERE I GO TO RECHARGE
This is where we share our love for travel and the places that inspire us, work takes us to some beautiful spaces, and we're excited to share more of them here. After a morning at Milan's Gallery of Modern Art, we ducked into LùBar next door, and just sat there for an hour with a coffee and no agenda. If you're waiting for the right moment to build that into your own calendar, consider this your nudge.
