Boo! It’s that time of year again, when the ghosts and goblins appear and fake bats fly out of nowhere.

A few years ago I attended a Halloween event with my family. It was meant to be scary, with ominous music, eerie decorations, and actors who jumped out and startled people. I got a jolt, and it was great fun. But that night I realized I was far more frightened by the workplace issues I had encountered with clients the week before.

Halloween has become my yearly excuse to name the workplace issues that frighten me most. If you missed them, you can read the ones I wrote about in 2022 and 2025. This year, a new set has crept in and is not so hidden under the cobwebs.

What I’m seeing in 2026:

• Change fatigue. Reorganizations, new systems, and new priorities stacked one on top of another. Employees have stopped resisting change and simply go numb. That seems better than resistance, but it is not!

• Meetings where no one is listening. These can be virtual meetings where cameras are off, email is open, and decisions are being discussed, but there are no conclusions drawn or buy-in obtained.

• New tools with no guardrails. Teams are adopting AI and other tools on their own because corporations are still saying, “No AI.” If organizations don’t opt in and manage AI, there will be long term consequences.

• The quiet exits. Good people have stopped speaking up in meetings. They don’t feel heard and they are exhausted. Many are just waiting for a new job, a new boss, or any miracle to come their way.

• Leaders frozen by uncertainty. A leader waiting for the perfect moment to make a decision causes the whole team to wait too.

Workplace issues don’t just impact the bottom line. They create stress and anxiety that seep into every corner of an organization, like fog rolling across a graveyard.

Peter Drucker is often credited with saying, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” If you recognize any of the above and you aren’t scared out of your Halloween costume, you should be!

The good news is that none of these monsters are invincible. Every one of them can be named, addressed, and fixed, and helping organizations do exactly that is some of my favorite work. If something on this list is haunting your organization, let’s talk.

What workplace issues scare you this year?