The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

Lucia Guillory, Chief People Officer at Virta Health, joined us on the show. We discussed how HR teams can adopt a product-driven mindset, the importance of leadership self-awareness, and how Virta Health fosters connection in a fully remote work environment. ----  Submit the craziest request you’ve ever gotten in HR . Buy tickets for MPL Live Boston . ----  (07:24) Lucia’s career journey from psy...

We talked about the growing backlash against DEI initiatives and why companies are scaling back their commitment, the potential hidden agendas behind RTO mandates, and the current frustrations with HR tech. ----  Submit the craziest request you’ve ever gotten in HR . Buy tickets for MPL Live Boston . ----  Timestamps: (08:11) The anti-DEI movement (14:23) Did DEI programs scale too quickly post-20...

Dave Scott, Chief People and Administration Officer at ADT, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We discussed ADT’s evolution from a services to tech company, Dave's journey from Walmart to leading HR at ADT, and how to cut costs in HR without cutting value. ----  Submit the craziest request you’ve ever gotten in HR . Buy tickets for MPL Live Boston . ----  Timestamps: 06:39) Dave’s professional...

Sam Simmons, Chief People and Internal Operations Officer at the LPGA, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about her transition from the San Antonio Spurs to the LPGA, 2025 HR predictions, and the LPGA People Team goals for the year. ----  Buy tickets for MPL Live Boston . ----  Timestamps: (03:21) Sam’s journey to the LPGA (14:47) Challenges and learnings from 2024 (17:42) Leadership...

This is the 2024 MPL Awards Show. Each of us selected a winner for the four different awards: (8:14) Award #1: The CEO Whisperer (18:27) Award #2: The Best Hang (24:19) Award #3: The Data Hero (39:15) Award #4: The Innovator ----  MPL Links: Buy tickets for MPL Live Boston Fill out this survey to help us improve the podcast ----  Episodes referenced: Episode 148 - Hannah Yardley (Chief People Offi...

Brené Brown, professor, author, and podcast host, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We discussed her experience as a leader, the concept of metacognition, and the leadership skill of creating space between stimulus and response. ----  (1:35) Good news stories (3:45) Brené’s story (19:49) Every day is leg day as a leader (25:47) Metacognition (28:25) Creating the space between stimulus and res...

Colin Mincy, Chief People & Culture Officer at Centering Healthcare Institute, joined us on The Modern People Leader . We dove deep into his personal transformation, how his leadership style has evolved, and the tough truths HR professionals face today. Colin shared his journey of progress over perfection, emphasizing small wins, accountability, and momentum to create lasting change—both perso...

Robert H. Johnson Jr., author of Safe, Seen, Heard, and Valued and TEDx speaker, joined us on The Modern People Leader . We explored the power of "little L" leadership and how organizations can harness the potential of unsung heroes within their teams. ----  Timestamps: (09:24) Robert’s origin story and early leadership journey (15:00) The concept of psychological safety and Robert’s book Safe, Se...

This episode was originally released on 1/22/2024. Annie Dean, VP of Team Anywhere at Atlassian, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  She shared Atlassian’s  learnings after 1,000 days of distributed work : their calendar redesign experiment, the impact of in-person gatherings on team connection levels, and the ROI of real estate at Atlassian.

Michelle Kay, VP of Learning & Development at Albertsons Companies, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We discussed the need to rethink our approach to work, whether generational gaps are real or simply a sign of being out of touch, and two major shifts on the horizon for L&D. ----  Grab your ticket for MPL Live Miami on December 10th. ⁠ Buy Tickets Here⁠ . ----  Timestamps: (8:01) Mi...

Brandon Sammut, Chief People Officer at Zapier, and Gianna Driver, Chief People Officer at Lattice, joined us for an emergency pod following last week’s presidential election.  We discussed how the election results might impact the workplace over the coming months, the importance of having a sociopolitical response approach, and why we should all be microdosing on hope. ----  Use code MPL-LIVE-50...

Frank Congui, EVP at Randstad Enterprise, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about the magic of intentional gatherings, leading with generosity, and why we should be doing less chest-pumping in the HR space. ----  Use code MPL-LIVE-50 to get 50% off your ticket for MPL Live Miami on December 10th. ⁠ Buy Tickets Here⁠ . ----  (0:13) Announcement: MPL Live Miami event on December 10th...

Jenna Eichberg, Chief People Officer at AlertMedia, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the state of HR, why CHROs are rethinking their roles, and AlertMedia’s leadership programs. ----  Use code MPL-LIVE-50 to get 50% off your ticket for MPL Live Miami on December 10th. ⁠ Buy Tickets Here⁠ . ----  (0:13) Announcement: MPL Live Miami event on December 10th (5:01) Jenna’s story (...

Tracy Avin, Founder of TroopHR, joined us on The Modern People Leader . We talked about how TroopHR was born, the importance of community in HR, the challenges HR professionals face in today’s business climate, and the need for support networks. ----  Use code MPL-LIVE-50 to get 50% off your ticket for MPL Live Miami on December 10th. Buy Tickets Here . ----  Timestamps: (6:57) Tracy’s journey to...

Ray Martinelli, Chief People Officer at Contentful, joined us on The Modern People Leader . We talked about his career journey, the art & science that goes into compensation, and aligning HR goals with business strategy. ----  Timestamps: (5:05) Ray's career story: From finance to Chief People Officer (7:44) Why Ray joined Contentful and key takeaways (10:32) AI’s impact on content management...

Sandra Schwarzer, Board & Talent Insights leader at Index Ventures, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about Index Ventures’ experience helping founders “scale through chaos”, how much time founders spend on HR-related tasks, their 14-point framework for running executive searches, and how investors evaluate founders’ view on talent. ----  Timestamps: (3:54) Sandra's career stor...

David Hanrahan, Chief People Officer at Flare, and Jessica Zwaan, Author of Built for People & COO at Talentful, joined us live in Austin, Texas.  We talked about how performance management is stuck in the past, the idea of team-based assessments, how to run a data-driven performance calibration, and the evolving role of compensation in driving performance. ----  This episode was brought to yo...

Katie Burke, CPO & Board Member at Paycor, and Gianna Driver, Chief People Officer at Lattice, joined us for our inaugural MPL Live in Austin, Texas. We talked about the current state of HR, generational differences in the workforce, and how AI is impacting organizations.  ----  This episode was brought to you by CandorIQ. Get your free 30 minute comp consultation .  ----  2:58 : Good news sto...

Vanessa Monsequeira, VP of People at Gorilla, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We discussed Vanessa’s path to leadership, how to navigate hyper-growth in organizations, and the importance of mindset and unlearning for today’s people leaders. ----  (0:02) Introduction and good news stories (5:28) Vanessa’s career journey and lessons from hyper-growth (10:21) The role of mindset and resilience...

Jeff Schmitz, Chief People Officer at Zebra Technologies, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about Jeff’s transition from marketing to HR, why Zebra is reinventing their purpose statement and values, and their cultural training programs. ----  Go get your tickets for MPL Live using our 50% off discount code, MPL-LIVE-50. Don't miss out— ⁠⁠get your ⁠⁠ticket⁠⁠ now⁠⁠ !  ----  (0:39)...

Nicole Hughey, the former DEIB leader at SiriusXM, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the evolution of DEIB language, the recent SHRM debate on equity, and the critical importance of heart in driving meaningful change within organizations. ----  Go get your tickets for MPL Live using our 50% off discount code, MPL-LIVE-50. Don't miss out— ⁠⁠get your ⁠⁠ticket⁠⁠ now⁠⁠ !  ----...

Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work®, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We discussed what the data reveals about the best leaders, why DEIB is the key to achieving massive success, and why Gen Z will choose jobs based on leaders rather than companies. ----  Go get your tickets for MPL Live using our 50% off discount code, MPL-LIVE-50. Don't miss out— ⁠get your ⁠⁠ticket⁠⁠ now⁠ !  ---- ...

Polly Barnes, Operating Partner, Talent at EQT Ventures, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the qualities of high-performing founders, the emerging founder profile, and why HR leaders need to have more focus than ever right now. ----  Go get your tickets for MPL Live using our 50% off discount code, MPL-LIVE-50. Don't miss out— get your ⁠⁠ticket⁠⁠ now !  ----  This episode...

Melanie Rosenwasser, Chief People Officer at Dropbox, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We discussed Dropbox’s virtual-first model, how they measure its success, and the three types of in-person gatherings they organize. ----  Go get your tickets for MPL Live using our 50% off discount code, MPL-LIVE-50 . Don't miss out—get your ⁠ticket⁠ now!  ----  This episode was brought to you by Grea...

Brené Brown, professor, author, and podcast host, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We discussed her experience as a leader, the concept of metacognition, and the leadership skill of creating space between stimulus and response. ----  Go get your tickets for MPL Live using our 50% off discount code, MPL-LIVE-50 . Don't miss out—get your ticket now!  ----  This episode was brought to you b...