181 episodes
The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR The Modern People Leader
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- Business
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5.0 • 48 Ratings
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Listen to interviews with CHROs, Chief People Officers, and other work experts on how they're pioneering the way that we work. They share what's working, what's not, and how they've gotten to where they're at in their careers.
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173 - Throwing the career path away & getting back to the basics in HR: AJ Thomas (People Leader, Board Member, & Award-Winning Author)
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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172 - All-things AI in HR with 2 Chief People Officers: David Hanrahan (Chief People Officer, Flare) & Q Hamirani (Chief People Officer, Paper)
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. 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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📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get key learnings & career advice from Modern People Leaders
💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn
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171 - HR Leaders wanting to work at people-first orgs - ask these questions in your interview: Stacey Nordwall (VP of People Strategy, Pyn)
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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📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get key learnings & career advice from Modern People Leaders
💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn -
170 - The path to profitability & Dena’s value framework for evaluating career moves: Dena Upton (Head of People, Dandy)
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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📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get key learnings & career advice from Modern People Leaders
💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn -
169 - Everything a Spreadsheet WON’T Tell You: Colleen McCreary, 6x CPO (Credit Karma, Zynga, Twilio, & more) turned VC
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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📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get key learnings & career advice from Modern People Leaders
💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn -
168 - It’s hard to move the needle in HR because it’s set up that way: Anessa Fike (Author, 14x Chief People Officer, & Founder of Fike+Co)
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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(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: F**k 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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📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get key learnings & career advice from Modern People Leaders
💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn
Customer Reviews
I love it!!
Ollo I really like this podcast my dad did it!!!
Insightful podcast for anyone in HR
I stumbled upon a MPL podcast episode recently and was impressed at how down to earth and practical the conversations are. The topics and insights are so timely and relevant (even as I listen to episodes from a year ago), and have helped me gain more insights into what it’s like to serve in a high-level people leader role. This helps me to explore whether or not I want to move in that direction in the future, and also to be more strategic in my current work with a deeper understanding of how VPs of people prioritize.
Highly recommend!
The Modern People Leader has quickly become a favorite in my podcast feed! Daniel and Stephen are excellent hosts and the the topics they cover are incredibly timely. Easily one of the most genuine and value-packed podcasts for people leaders. Highly recommend giving it a listen!