"Reclaim the Plot is a powerful reminder that leadership under complexity requires humility, trust, and distributed judgment. Kelly Monahan captures, with uncommon clarity, how organizations drift into failure—and how they can find their way back."
—General (Retired) Stanley McChrystal,
Founder & CEO, McChrystal Group
Most leaders don't set out to disengage people or burn teams out. They're moving fast, under pressure, distracted, and following a playbook that
no longer works.
Reclaim the Plot: How Leaders Rewrite the Story When AI Rewrites Work provides the research-backed roadmap for leaders navigating this crisis. Dr. Kelly Monahan reveals how leaders can maintain humanity while meeting demands for growth.
Through behavioral research, personal narrative, and poetry, the book takes readers on a three-act journey from 'The Drift' through 'The Delirium' to 'The Dream.' Readers discover how distrust became organizational default, why leaders chase stock prices over purpose, and how broken systems defeat good people. The book provides practical frameworks for designing work around human needs.
For executives navigating AI transformation, managers crushed by impossible demands, HR and talent leaders, and emerging leaders who suspect there must be a better way, this book offers validation and direction. It provides a path back to leading with courage and care.
“Work has changed. Most leadership playbooks have not. In Reclaim the Plot, Kelly Monahan makes a compelling case for why organizations need to stop performing outdated models of work and start building ones that are more honest, adaptive, and human.”
—Brian Elliott,
CEO, Work Forward
"Many books will tell you how and why business today is broken. But only one, Kelly Monahan's Reclaim the Plot, blends a creative exploration of fictional company Driftwell, with real world data and insights gleaned from Monahan's two decades as a behavioral researcher and corporate executive. This is a must read for those aspiring to lead with human integrity in and through the age of AI."
—Alexandra Levit,
Workforce Futurist and Author of Deep Talent and Make School Work
Pre-Order The Book Today
10+ Book Orders
"Reclaim the Plot is a compelling and refreshingly human look at leadership in an era defined by technological disruption, complexity, and constant uncertainty. By blending research with storytelling, Monahan masterfully captures the quiet, high-stakes decisions leaders face every day—and why rethinking how we work has never been more urgent."
—Dan Schawbel,
Bestselling Author of
Back to Human
"I read
Reclaim The Plot
and kept thinking: I need this book. EVERY leader needs this book. Kelly Monahan shows us, scene by scene, what it costs when we choose speed over humanity and what it takes to find our way back. Honest, deeply human, and urgently needed."
—Lisa Sun,
GRAVITAS CEO and Bestselling Author of
Gravitas: The 8 Strengths That Redefine Confidence
Reclaim the Plot
demonstrates:
How to rebuild organizational trust in an era of surveillance software and AI-enabled micromanagement
Why focusing on stock price and valuation over internal reality leads to moral blindness and organizational failure
How to fix broken systems rather than blaming individuals when performance problems emerge
Practical strategies for using AI to amplify humanity rather than replace it
Why promoting technical excellence without leadership development creates a broken pipeline that sets managers up to fail
“As work continues to evolve, leaders face difficult questions about how to organize teams, sustain productivity, and support employees effectively.
Reclaim the Plot offers a practical and readable framework for thinking through those challenges”v
—Nick Bloom,
William Eberle Professor of Economics, Stanford
“This book deftly weaves together themes from research and lived experience as a leader and advisor to illuminate how well-meaning leaders get badly off track–and what they can do instead. Dr. Monahan illustrates her insights with compelling, resonant storytelling to help make abstract principles crystalize for the reader. Timely and relevant, this is a genuinely exceptional leadership book!”
—Alexis A. Fink,
PhD., Senior Research Scientist, Former VP, People Analytics & Workforce Strategy, Meta
About The Author
Dr. Kelly Monahan is a globally respected leader in the future of work whose career has been dedicated to helping organizations thrive amid technological disruption, shifting talent dynamics, and economic uncertainty. As a former tech research executive, she led Future of Work at Meta and served as Managing Director of Upwork’s Future of Work Research Institute, partnering with senior executives to apply cutting-edge insights to workforce strategy, organizational design, and leadership transformation. Her research has shaped how some of the world’s most influential companies understand distributed work, talent development, and the human experience at work.

Monahan introduces audiences to the human side of workplace evolution as she draws from her firsthand research to reveal current and future trends that are shaping the workplace and provide decision-makers with the information, tools, and resources they need to understand and meet the needs of their employees now and in the future of work. She points to key data that will provide the stimulus for improving people-related decision-making in the workplace, and discusses the role of technology as organizations rework their talent strategy. With a philosophy rooted in an unshakeable belief in human potential, Monahan’s people-first approach to the future of work is intended to help organizations arrive at their own personalized solutions to fostering more purposeful workplace experiences for all.
Prior to joining Big Tech, Monahan served as Principal Director of Global Talent Research at Accenture and was the lead future of work researcher at Deloitte. Earlier roles across human resources, analytics, and media strategy give her a holistic understanding of how people, technology, and business systems must evolve together to shape the future.
Today, as the founder of Beyond the Desk, Monahan brings world-class research and cross-industry insights directly to leaders navigating the next era of work. She equips executives with evidence-based guidance on harnessing AI responsibly, redefining talent needs, and building resilient, human-centered organizations in a rapidly shifting economic landscape. With a background spanning behavioral science, technology, and global workforce strategy, she translates complex trends into clear, actionable strategies that empower leaders to make confident decisions amid uncertainty.
An expert whose daily work is laying the foundation for a future of work that works, Monahan has been recognized and published in both applied and academic journals, including
Harvard Business Review,
MIT Sloan Management Review, and
Journal of Strategic Management. She is the author of the best-selling leadership book
Essential (Wiley, 2025) and the forthcoming book
Reclaim the Plot, has written more than two dozen publications, is a TEDx speaker, and is frequently quoted in the media on talent decision-making and other aspects of the future of work. She has recently appeared on
Bloomberg,
WSJ, CNBC and
Forbes. In her own words, her research is driven by her desire to make our workplaces more meaningful.
“Reclaim the Plot is one of those rare leadership books that’s both useful and genuinely engaging to read. Kelly Monahan blends relatable storytelling with clear, actionable insights that leaders can actually apply, especially in a moment when AI is rewriting the rules of work. As someone who spends her life in the world of storytelling and helping leaders navigate complexity, I found myself thinking, ‘I wish I had this in my hands sooner.’ It’s a smart, human guide for anyone trying to lead with authenticity and heart in complicated times".
—Lindsay Shookus,
7-time Emmy Winning Producer, Leadership Coach, and Speaker
"I've lived the Driftwell story. I know what it costs to chase performance at the expense of people — and I know what it takes to find your way back. In the age of AI, the most dangerous leadership question isn't 'how do we move faster?' — it's 'what are we leaving behind?' Dr. Kelly Monahan puts that question at the center of a story so real it demands your attention. This book won't let you look away. Are you moving fast, or moving right?"
—Jen Fisher,
Bestselling Author of
Hope Is the Strategy
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In The Media
Forbes
AI Is Supposed To Make Work Better. Is It Doing The Opposite?
Find out if AI is really the magical labor-saving tool it’s touted to be—and how to make it work better for you.
Fortune
Rigid work models won’t survive AI. Here’s what will
Artificial intelligence, automation, and digital connectivity are fundamentally reshaping how work is organized. Despite this, corporate workplaces, due to how they’re structured, are struggling to keep up.
FastCompany
5 things the C-suite keeps getting wrong about AI
AI may be transformative, but executives are missing out on these key realities, says this future-of-work expert.
WFTV
Beyond burnout: Why workforces are quietly cracking
For fifty years, we built organizations for throughput: layers of bureaucracy, brittle processes, internal competition, and profit at all costs. Now we're watching people break under systems designed to treat them like parts...
Forbes
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“Kelly has written the book every executive needs right now. Rigorous research, radical honesty, and a story so recognizable it will make you catch your breath. I have always said that leaders set the standards of everything, and this book proves exactly why that standard must start with people. People have always been, and will always be, the most important asset in any business. Profits follow purpose. Results follow relationships. And sustainable success is built with humans at the center. If you care about the people you lead, and you want to build something that lasts, read this book, it's exceptional.”
—Neen James,
Client Experience Expert and Author of
Exceptional Experiences
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Kelly Monahan has partnered with WorthyBooks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, to help leaders rewrite their stories through access to nonprofits, libraries, and underserved communities across the country.
The decisions you make right now will define your organization for the next decade.
The future of work is being rewritten now. Leadership is being redefined in real time. This is not a moment to react. It is a moment to design.
