Why We Can’t Afford to Remain Complacent
I’ve been thinking a lot about Severance lately—yes, the eerie, brilliant Apple TV+ show where employees literally sever their work and personal lives. It’s a thought experiment wrapped in a dystopian corporate nightmare, but what really haunts me is one particular phrase: “The board has concluded the call.” If you’ve seen the show, you know that this simple statement is a powerful metaphor for authority figures who make decisions in secrecy, completely unaccountable to the people they impact.
The more I reflect, the more I see this dynamic playing out in real life. As a leadership coach, I help people wake up to the unconscious forces shaping their professional and personal lives. But what happens when the forces manipulating us aren’t just personal blind spots—but hidden powers controlling our freedoms on a much larger scale?
Here are five ways I see Severance’s themes playing out in real-time, right here in the U.S., and why we can’t afford to ignore them.
1. Expanding Executive Power: When the Board Doesn’t Need Your Approval Over the last few years, we’ve watched executive authority balloon in ways that many of us never thought possible. Proposals are floating around that would weaken checks and balances, limit First Amendment protections, and expand surveillance—all under the guise of ‘security’ or ‘efficiency.’ If this sounds like something out of a dystopian novel, that’s because it is. Power consolidates in the shadows when people assume someone else is keeping it in check.
2. Project 2025: Centralized Control in Disguise You may not have heard of Project 2025, but it’s a major effort to overhaul government operations in a way that dramatically increases centralized control. It’s being framed as a way to make government more ‘effective,’ but if you read between the lines, it’s about ensuring that decision-making stays in the hands of a few—just like the unseen board in Severance. If we don’t pay attention, we could wake up to a reality where democracy is merely a performance, and the real choices are being made behind closed doors.
3. Transnational Repression: The Long Arm of Hidden Power It’s not just our own government we need to be wary of—authoritarian regimes around the world have been targeting dissidents right here in the U.S., using surveillance, harassment, and intimidation to silence opposition. This means that even in a country that prides itself on freedom, some voices are being stifled, and most of us don’t even notice. If that doesn’t send a chill down your spine, it should.
4. Eroding Worker Rights: You Might Not Have to ‘Sever’ Yourself, But You’re Still Trapped The gig economy, at-will employment, and diminishing worker protections have created a system where many people feel powerless in their own workplaces. No, we’re not literally having our memories wiped when we clock in, but for millions of workers, the ability to push back against unfair conditions is just as limited. If you think corporate America wouldn’t love a real-life severance program, think again.
5. The Vanishing of Digital Privacy: Surveillance is the New Normal We live in an era where personal privacy is practically extinct. Every click, every conversation, every move is tracked—sometimes in ways we consent to, but often in ways we don’t even realize. The absence of strong federal privacy laws has left corporations and governments free to collect, analyze, and monetize our lives. If we don’t start demanding transparency and accountability, we might as well be trapped in Lumon’s fluorescent hallways forever.
So, what do we do?
The most dangerous thing we can do is assume that ‘someone else’ is handling it. Whether we’re talking about corporate power, government overreach, or our own workplaces, complacency is the silent enabler of oppression. The good news? Awareness is the first step. The more we question, the more we demand accountability, and the more we push back against the forces that thrive in secrecy, the harder it becomes for them to operate unchecked.
In Severance, the employees don’t realize they’re being controlled—until they do. And once they start seeing the truth, everything changes. The same applies to us. If we start paying attention, if we refuse to let the board conclude the call without demanding answers, then maybe—just maybe—we can stop this slow slide into the kind of world Severance warns us about.
The question is: Are we paying attention?
About the Author:
Kathleen O’Grady is the CEO of Authentic Leadership Advisors and the creator of the Authentic Intelligence™ Framework. With nearly 20 years of coaching experience, Kathleen specializes in helping executives, entrepreneurs, and leaders make bold impacts. Recognized globally for her transformative coaching methods, Kathleen ranks #1 in USA Today’s Top 10 International Coaches. As a Master Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation, she has guided countless clients through their life-altering breakthroughs.
www.al-advisors.com | (919) 322-8344 | kathleen@al-advisors.com
