Leading the Third Workforce

What happens when the future of work arrives and nothing works the way it should?

The company had everything going for it -years of steady growth, a strong market reputation, and a leadership team known for execution. When the pressure to evolve mounted, they did what everyone said they should do: they went all in on AI.

Every function, every process, every corner of the business was touched by automation and intelligent systems, and like everyone else, they expected the same result: skyrocketing growth. But that's not what happened.

In Leading the Third Workforce, Jeff Lupinacci returns to the world of Richard Curtis from The Talent Advantage to examine what happens when technology outpaces leadership, and when AI is implemented without a clear understanding of how work actually gets done. Told through a story shaped by difficult decisions and their consequences, the book traces a transformation that should have worked, and the hard path to putting it back together.

What unfolds reflects a significant change in how work is designed, how ownership is defined, and the assumptions leaders have about an outdated system. Richard is no longer leading one workforce, and until he understands what that means, no amount of technology will save his company.