AJ Thomas, Global People Leader, Board Member, & Award-Winning Children’s Book Author, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

She shared a framework for getting back to the basics in HR, why we need to “throw away the career path”, and the 1 lesson every adult would take away from AJ’s children’s book about teams.

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Go check out Pyn’s list of 50 over 50 Women in Tech.

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(2:08) Good news stories

(7:02) AJ’s story

(14:00 What pulled AJ into the HR world

(18:03) AJ is a “Chaos Pilot”

(22:12) Everyone is actually an HR leader 

(26:40) A framework for getting back to the basics: Philosophy, Process, & Practice

(31:30) “Unrecruiting” at X

(37:45) AJ says we need to throw away the career path

(44:54) The Four immutable laws of the spirit

(50:00) AJ wrote a book for kids about teams

(51:08) The 1 lesson every adult would take away from AJ’s children’s book about teams

(53:30) Rapid fire questions

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Q Hamirani (Chief People Officer, Paper) and David Hanrahan (Chief People Officer, Flare) joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about HR’s role in driving your company’s AI strategy, the best use cases for AI in HR, and why you need a solid data strategy first.

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This episode was brought to you by Deloitte. ai-institute-generative-ai-and-the-future-of-work.pdf%0A?utm_campaign=ModernPeopleLeader%0A&utm_medium=Podcast%0A&utm_source=SpotifyApple%0A&utm_content=FreeReport">Download their FREE Generative AI and the Future of Work report. 

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(1:17) Good news stories

(8:12) How the SXSW AIHR event came to fruition

(16:22) You need a data strategy before you can have a real AI strategy

(23:37) Whose responsibility is it to drive AI in the company

(25:51) How HR leaders can identify where to invest in AI efforts 

(31:33) We’re still very much in the innovation cycle of AI in HR

(36:00) Using AI for Talent Development

(38:56) There’s a lot of noise in the AI HR space right now

(40:06) The best use cases for AI in HR that came out of the workshop

(43:00) The one thing all people leaders need to hear about Generative AI in the workplace

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Stacey Nordwall, VP of People Strategy at Pyn, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about the burnout cycle in HR and where it stems from, her advice for all of the exhausted people leaders out there, and the questions you should ask during the interview process to vet out whether it’s a people-first org or not.

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get access to their Employee Journey Designer here.

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(1:28) Good news stories

(5:45) Stacey’s career journey and what led her to Pyn

(11:39) How she explains what Pyn does

(12:20) Why we should be jealous that she gets to work there

(14:13) The burnout cycle in HR and where it stems from

(17:35) On the narrative that HR leaders don’t have business acumen

(27:18) Stacey’s thankful for the new thought leaders in HR stepping into the space 

(28:45) Her advice to all of the exhausted people leaders out there 

(34:30) Red flags in the interview process while looking for a People Leader role

(40:00) Ask to meet with a board member and a junior employee to get the full picture of what it's like to work at the organization

(42:15) The one question you should ask during the interview process for a People Leader role 

(44:18) What’s up with fractional HR

(50:00) Rapid fire questions

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Dena Upton, Head of People at Dandy, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about the value framework that she uses to evaluate big career moves, building out the employee value proposition at Dandy, and how their path to profitability is providing employees with more career equity.

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get access to their Employee Journey Designer here.

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(1:02) Good news stories

(5:52) What’s changed since she joined MPL the first time in March 2021

(8:30) Dena’s personal value framework that she uses when considering a new role

(14:08) People decisions can topple an organization (16:17) What Dandy does

(18:25) Why we should be jealous that Dena gets to work at Dandy

(22:10) Building the employment brand muscle at Dandy

(28:15) Skills meritocracy 

(31:40) Building out the employee value proposition

(34:48) Being open about why your company might not be a good fit for people

(37:30) How they’re connecting corporate and manufacturing employees with one another

(40:32) Dena is always looking for more feedback from employees

(44:15) Their path to profitability 

(47:47) Career equity at Dandy

(50:37) “Learning big” with your employees

(54:00) Rapid fire questions

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Colleen McCreary, a 6x Chief People Officer turned VC, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about how her superpower as a VC is being able to look beyond just the spreadsheet, the lesson she learned early on about profitability giving you freedom, and why the VC world should be bringing in more people from HR.

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get access to their Employee Journey Designer here.

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(1:42) Good news stories

(9:52) Colleen’s story and how she ended up in the VC world

(22:14) People from her Microsoft days that went on to do big things

(25:28) What she does at Ribbit Capital and why we should be jealous she gets to work there

(28:49) All of the things the spreadsheet WON’T tell you

(33:14) Learning to think like an investor

(36:37) The steps to bringing in a new deal is very similar to recruiting

(41:30) Colleen’s view on the state of HR

(46:38) The lesson she learned early on about profitability giving you freedom

(49:14) What would be keeping her up as a CPO right now

(54:25) Rapid Fire Questions

(55:44) Why the VC world should be taking more people from HR

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Anessa Fike, Author & “Queen of Fractional HR”, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about what’s contributed to her success as a fractional people leader, why it’s hard to move the needle in HR, and why we need to stop going through motions in HR.

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If you’re an HR leader that’s trying to uplevel your managers’ 1x1 meetings, check out Leapsome’s FREE Meeting’s Module.

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(1:33) Good news stories

(8:54) Anessa’s story

(17:44) The more open you are to the universe, the more opportunities you will see

(19:47) What’s contributed to her success as a fractional people leader

(23:00) The state of the union for HR 

(25:50) It’s hard to move the needle in HR because it’s set up that way

(29:06) The Revolution of Work: Fuck the patriarchy and the workplace it built

(31:41) Stop going through the motions as an HR leader

(38:40) Why CEOs are more prone to listening to a fractional executive over their people leader

(40:55) You’re allowed to be way bolder as a fractional HR leader

(44:20) The real reason she thinks there’s a disconnect between CPOs and CEOs

(50:27) We need to step away from fear based leadership

(52:40) Where to get her new book

(53:47) Rapid fire questions

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David Hanrahan, Chief People Officer at Flare, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about how he’s testing team performance reviews at Flare, the learnings from a survey that he sent out to 61 first-time CPOs, and why you should seek out mentorship from executives outside of HR.

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get access to their Employee Journey Designer here.

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(1:45) Good news stories

(5:30) What David’s been up to since we had him on in 2021

(11:02) What Flare does

(13:11) Why we should be jealous that David gets to work at Flare

(16:11) Rebuilding culture after a great period of change

(22:16) The emergence of AI & how constant change is the new reality

(25:20) Advice for People Leaders out there that are going through layoffs

(29:50) Sharing the plan coming out of layoffs

(31:30) Team performance reviews

(37:03) The actionable feedback that’s come out of team performance reviews

(43:00) Learnings from the survey that David sent out to first-time Chief People Officers

(47:30) Seeking mentorship from leaders outside of the HR world

(48:50) Rapid fire questions

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Lindsey Nehls, Co-Founder at Elevate Leadership, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about the importance of having a common management language, the 70:20:10 rule for learning, changing behaviors in your company, and the “no drama feedback model”.  

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Learn more about the “No-Drama Feedback Model”: https://www.elevateleadership.com/modernpeopleleader

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get access to their Employee Journey Designer here.

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(1:08) Good news stories

(5:51) Lindsey’s “full life story”

(13:30) How she looks at manager effectiveness

(14:50) The 3 traits of an effective manager

(17:22) On whether it’s harder to be a manager today

(18:42) What’s holding managers back from being effective

(20:17) The difference between good and bad manager training

(25:18) Building a business case for manager training

(30:44) Bringing people together to learn

(33:51) Having a common management language

(38:00) Training on skills that are specific to your company

(39:14) The 70:20:10 model

(42:30) Changing behaviors in your company

(48:30) The no-drama feedback model

(54:08) Rapid fire questions

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Zapier’s Wade Foster (Co-Founder & CEO) and Brandon Sammut (Chief People Officer) joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about how they pre-vetted their match in the interview process, why they did a company-wide AI hackathon, and how Zapier’s people team is building with AI.

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If you’re an HR leader that’s trying to uplevel your managers’ 1x1 meetings, check out Leapsome’s FREE Meeting’s Module:

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(1:23) Good news stories

(7:29) How Zapier found their dream Chief People Officer

(12:14) How this CPO pre-vetted the match with his CEO before accepting the offer

(15:49) Zapier CEO put all the cards on the table for their Chief People Officer before he took the job

(25:04) They swapped their 360 feedback in the interview process

(30:33) How they shaped the prioritization of the people team

(34:40) Zapier did a company-wide AI hackathon

(41:41) What Zapier's People Team is building with AI

(44:52) Rapid Fire Questions

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Jennifer Henderson, Founder & CEO at Tilt, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about her disappointing experiences in corporate America that led her to building Tilt, the history of leave, the #1 way to create gender parity in the workforce, and what it looks like to successfully help people navigate these big life moments.

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Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl.

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(0:50) Good news stories

(6:33) Jen’s disappointing experience in corporate America led her to building Tilt

(12:00) What Tilt does

(15:14) The history of leave

(18:06) Why leave is here to stay

(26:09) How AI is impacting the leave management space

(32:42) The #1 way to create gender parity in the workforce

(34:25) What a successful leave looks like

(39:17) How Tilt is drinking their own champagne

(41:08) Rapid fire questions

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