How can you build your brand on LinkedIn while being true to who you are? Why should you be transparent about performance expectations with new hires? My guest on this episode is Melanie Naranjo, Chief People Officer at Ethena During our conversation Melanie and I discuss: What it’s like to lead HR at an HR tech company and why Melanie recommends the experience to other HR professionals. How she built her personal brand on LinkedIn to over 60,000+ followers by being authentic and real. Melanie’s...
Jun 24, 2025•42 min•Ep. 146
How can you create a people strategy that aligns to and drives your business strategy? What is a People P&L and why does your organization need one? My guest on this episode is Anita Graham, EVP & CHRO for Labcorp. During our conversation Anita and I discuss: Why taking initiative matters for your career and how early-career professionals can develop this skill. Why you should be intentional with your career choices but remain open to unexpected opportunities. How to build an aligned and...
Jun 17, 2025•45 min•Ep. 145
How can you find your “green zone” and stay grounded during times of stress? Why does leadership quality matter — especially during transformations? My guest on this episode is Dianne Armstrong, President, Armstrong Performance Consulting During our conversation Dianne and I discuss: Why leadership gaps matter and how overlooking poor leadership can cost organizations dearly. Why leadership development can be a significant driver of business transformation. What "green zone leadership" is and ho...
Jun 10, 2025•43 min•Ep. 144
What does it mean to be a business leader with HR expertise? How can you reinforce and shape a people-first culture at scale? My guest on this episode is Tim Hourigan, recently retired Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Home Depot. During our conversation Tim and I discuss: How a curiosity for the “people side” of the business changed the course of Tim’s career Why HR leaders should strive to be “business professionals with HR expertise,” not the other way around How H...
Jun 03, 2025•44 min•Ep. 143
How is AI redefining the way we learn? Why are simulations a powerful tool to close skill gaps? My guest on this episode is John Sangimino, Associate Director, Learning Design Center of Excellence at McKinsey & Company During our conversation John and I discuss: The three essential truths of learning design—and why all learning is experiential The behavioral science behind why people don’t always apply new skills after training Why behavior change is the true measure and outcome of impactful...
May 27, 2025•39 min•Ep. 142
How can HR lead transformations that stick? Why are “soft skills” the new “power skills”? My guest on this episode is Laura Cushing, Chief People Experience Officer, Pacific Life During our conversation Laura and I discuss: Why HR leaders need to be “comfortable, being uncomfortable” and how it can accelerate your career. How HR can play a critical role in defining the “from/to” of organizational transformation and drive business performance. How HR can utilize strategic workforce planning to cr...
May 20, 2025•39 min•Ep. 141
How will digital coaching impact the future of work? How can HR leaders leverage digital coaching to accelerate development? My guest on this episode is Anna Tavis, Department Chair, NYU, Human Capital Management & co-author, The Digital Coaching Revolution During our conversation Anna and I discuss: How the four essential pillars of modern coaching—personalization, democratization, access, and scale have all accelerated through digital technology. Why coaching is evolving from an executive-...
May 13, 2025•43 min•Ep. 140
How can focusing on health and capabilities drive productivity? What can Ted Lasso teach us about the Future of HR? My guest on this episode is Jason LaRue, National Managing Partner, Talent & Culture at KPMG US. During our conversation Jason and I discuss: How embracing the initial learning curve—what Jason calls the "hockey stick" effect—helps leaders succeed in unfamiliar roles. How health and capability drives productivity and how organizations can make this a competitive advantage. How ...
May 06, 2025•44 min•Ep. 139
What does it mean to be a "Next-Gen Disruptor" in HR? Find out in this special episode of "Future of HR" podcast where I'm introducing our new series called "Next-Gen Disruptors!” This series focuses on next-gen HR leaders who are making a difference in their organizations with their innovative approaches to talent and their impressive results. Today, we are fortunate to have three next-gen HR leaders sharing the great work they are doing in talent acquisition and learning & development. Her...
Apr 29, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 138
How can you create a more employee centric culture? Why do companies that invest in employee experience consistently outperform their competitors? My guest on this episode is Stephan Meier, Professor at Columbia Business School & author of 'The Employee Advantage: How Putting Workers First Help Business Thrive'. During our conversation Stephan and I discuss: Why employees care about more than just money when it comes to their jobs—the same way customers care about more than just price. How i...
Apr 22, 2025•42 min•Ep. 137
How can skills power internal mobility and personalized development? When it comes to recoding your culture, why is it important to measure both the “what” and the “how?” My guests on this episode are Lucrecia Borgonovo, Chief Talent and Organizational Effectiveness Officer, Mastercard & Michael Lennartz, Executive Vice President, Total Rewards, Mastercard During our conversation Lucrecia, Michael, and I discuss: The steps Mastercard took to evolve their culture and refresh their "Mastercard...
Apr 15, 2025•50 min•Ep. 136
How can you take a human-first approach to skills-based learning? Why should you have a clear business case before implementing skills-based talent initiatives? My guest on this episode is Christina Norris-Watts, Head of Assessment & People Practices at Johnson & Johnson During our conversation Christina and I discuss: Why Christina says transitioning to a skills-based organization is like eating your brussels sprouts. The strategic approach Johnson & Johnson took to implement skills...
Apr 08, 2025•44 min•Ep. 135
How can you build a fit for purpose company? Why should you get comfortable asking for help? My guest on this episode is Lisa Chang, EVP & Chief People Officer, The Coca-Cola Company During our conversation Lisa and I discuss: How asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but rather sign of strength. Why HR leaders must focus on creating value through talent and organizational capabilities. How Coca-Cola is embracing a “Head, Heart, Hand” strategy to optimize and deploy AI technologies. Why...
Apr 01, 2025•36 min•Ep. 134
How can you help leaders recognize and overcome their blind spots? What is a "signature voice” and why it is important in developing executive presence? My guest on this episode is Muriel Wilkins, CEO Advisor & Executive Coach, Host of HBR podcast - Coaching Real Leaders, Founder Paravis Partners During our conversation Muriel and I discuss: The biggest challenges highly successful executives face including scaling their leadership and becoming victims of their own past success. Why understa...
Mar 25, 2025•45 min•Ep. 133
How can you establish credibility and build trusting relationships in your first 90 days? What separates HR leaders who secure board seats from those who don't? My guest on this episode is Marcia Avedon, 3X CHRO, Board Director, Human Capital Expert, and Executive Coach During our conversation Marcia and I discuss: Why great leaders spot potential in others before they see it in themselves. How the role of the CHRO has evolved from to be seen as strategic business partner and valued board member...
Mar 18, 2025•47 min•Ep. 132
How do you get certain in an uncertain world? Why is seeking out variance in your life the key to personal and professional growth? My guest on this episode is the one and only Dave Ulrich, Professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan and a partner at The RBL Group In our conversation, Dave opens up about his personal journey and shares insights that have guided his influential career as we discuss... How his parents' values shaped his view that work is an opportunity, not a ...
Mar 10, 2025•50 min•Ep. 131
How does the combination of pressure and power impact a leader’s behavior? What can HR leaders do to help their managers to be better bosses? My guest on this episode is Sabina Nawaz, Executive Coach and author, “You're the Boss: Become the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need)” During our conversation Sabina and I discuss: Why pressure, not power alone, makes leaders behave poorly and what leaders can do about it Simple ways to set healthy work limits even when bosses expect too much Why com...
Mar 04, 2025•43 min•Ep. 130
How do we want our leaders, our organizations, and HR to be augmented by AI? Why is generative AI an historic opportunity for HR leaders to shape the future of work and leadership? My guests on this episode are Bob Johansen, Distinguished Fellow at Institute for the Future (IFTF), Gabe Cervantes, Director, Scalable Foresight, IFTF, and Jeremy Kirshbaum, CEO, Handshake, a generative AI consultancy who go deep into their new book, Leaders Make the Future: 10 New Skills to Humanize Leadership with ...
Feb 25, 2025•58 min•Ep. 129
How can you embrace an Agile HR mindset? Why is Agile HR a better approach to delivering value than our traditional methodologies? My guest on this episode is Riina Hellström, Founder, Agile HR Community During our conversation Riina and I discuss: How Agile HR can revolutionizing HR's approach to value delivery How small-scale pilots before full rollouts leads to better HR solutions that actually stick. Why cross-functional teams are the secret sauce for transforming everything from onboarding ...
Feb 19, 2025•46 min•Ep. 128
How do the most effective leadership teams really make decisions? Why do traditional approaches to team effectiveness often fail? My guests on this episode are Wanda Wallace, Managing Partner of Leadership Forum and Darren Overfield, EVP, Coaching & Consulting at Kaiser Leadership Solutions During our conversation Wanda, Darren and I discuss: Why traditional ideas about executive team effectiveness often fail in the real world. The surprising discovery that “cliques” and subgroups in executi...
Feb 11, 2025•37 min•Ep. 127
How can you create a culture that embraces change? Why is it critical to build leaders at levels of your organization? My guest on this episode is Monique Herena, Chief Colleague Experience Officer at American Express. During our conversation Monique and I discuss: Monique's philosophy on taking career leaps and the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone. Why American Express refers to their team members as colleagues and invests in improving the “colleague experience” each and every da...
Feb 04, 2025•39 min•Ep. 126
How can we make work more fair? Why should fairness be embedded in all core HR processes? My guest on this episode is Siri Chilazi, Leading Gender Equality & DEI Researcher, Co-Author of 'Make Work Fair’ During our conversation Siri and I discuss: Why fairness in the workplace creates better outcomes for both the organization and the individual. Why it's more effective to focus on changing behaviors and systems rather than attempting to debias people. Why fairness is a collective responsibil...
Jan 28, 2025•40 min•Ep. 125
What does it mean to be an “Essential Leader” in the future of work? What is a “gray collar” job and why are they the future for many industries? My guest on this episode is Kelly Monahan, Managing Director, Research Institute @ Upwork, Christie Smith, Founder of The Humanity Studio During our conversation Kelly, Christie, and I discuss: Why designing "unicorn jobs" is hurting both candidates and organizations - and what to do instead. The rise of "gray collar" jobs jobs—a blend of white and blu...
Jan 21, 2025•42 min•Ep. 124
How can you build a culture where employees feel valued and heard? Why is acting on feedback critical to building trust and improving business performance? My guest on this episode is Carolyn Roach, Chief Human Resources Officer, XPO During our conversation Carolyn and I discuss: How XPO aligns its HR strategy to support and drive business strategy. Why XPO's approach to listening, actioning, building trust, and recognition creates a culture where employees feel valued and heard. How XPO transla...
Jan 14, 2025•34 min•Ep. 123
How will AI shape the future of hiring from a candidate and company perspective? How can AI to help us assess skills and human potential in the hiring process? My guest on this episode is Lindsey Zuloaga, Chief Data Scientist, HireVue During our conversation Lindsey and I discuss: Why she calls herself a techno-realist and what that means. Why it is a misconception that AI, not humans make the final hiring decisions How evaluating and testing AI tools can prevent falling prey to overhyped, ineff...
Jan 07, 2025•39 min•Ep. 122
The “Best of 2024” episode features sixteen don’t miss moments from HR executives and thought leaders... So, who can you expect to learn from on this episode? Rhonda Morris, CHRO, Chevron Jeffrey Pfeffer, Professor Stanford University and Author of 16 books including the “7 Rules of Power Kerrie Peraino, Chief People Officer at Verily Kevin Wilde, Executive Leadership and Talent Development Expert & Author Kelly Monahan, Managing Director, Research Institute at Upwork Dave Ulrich, Bob Eichin...
Dec 24, 2024•57 min•Ep. 121
Why do HR leaders need to be talent mavens, employee advocates, and company defenders? How can you shift from a cost mindset to a return on investment mindset? My guest on this episode is Jackson Lynch, CHRO at Sunnova and founder of the “Talent Sherpa” newsletter During our conversation Jackson and I discuss: Why you need to meet the business where it is and not where you wish it would be. Why CHROs and CEOs need to be aligned on 'what good looks like' for an effective partnership. The three es...
Dec 17, 2024•36 min•Ep. 120
How can HR advocate and support their front-line leaders? Why is it a smart investment to develop your front-line leaders and team members? My guest on this episode is Monica Rothgery, Friend of the Frontline Leader, Speaker and Author of “Lessons from the Drive-Thru.” During our conversation Monica and I discuss: Monica's unique career journey at Yum Brands, progressing from restaurant manager to training leader to Chief Operating Officer for KFC in Thailand and the U.S. Her mission to help ele...
Dec 10, 2024•35 min•Ep. 119
How can you balance the three roles of being an HR leader? What does it mean to be a servant HR leader? My guest on this episode is Angela Cheng-Cimini, CHRO, Board Director, AAPI Champion, & Keynote Speaker During our conversation Angela and I discuss: How Angela transformed an experience early in her career into a lifelong leadership lesson. Why she believes the best HR leaders are technical experts, business focused and change agents. Her vision for "hyper-personalization" in employee exp...
Dec 03, 2024•34 min•Ep. 118
Are you flourishing at work, or could you be languishing? What creates true wellbeing in the workplace? My guest on this episode is Corey Keyes, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Emory University and Author, “Languishing: How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down.” During our conversation Corey and I discuss: How "languishing" represents a state between depression and flourishing, characterized by feelings of emptiness and emotional numbness The six domains of human excellence and t...
Nov 26, 2024•48 min•Ep. 117
