The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

Molly Graham, Host of WorkLife Podcast & Co-Founder of Glue Club and The Guild, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 
We talked about career emergence, why fear is slowing down AI adoption at work, and why the future of HR will depend on leaders who can create clarity, curiosity, accountability, and better management habits for both people and AI agents.
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Sponsor Links:
🔗 Learn more about Beqom at beqom.com/mpl
🔗 Explore the 2026 ​Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report
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MPL Links:
🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build.
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(05:25) Molly’s Origin Story: Google, Facebook, Quip and Career Emergence
(09:30) What Molly Does Today: Helping People Feel Less Alone and More Confident at Work
(11:30) Turning Down the Big COO Job That Would Have Made Her Miserable
(19:00) Why Fear Is Dominating the Future of Work Conversation
(23:49) The Macro Narrative That AI Is Coming for Everyone’s Job
(24:32) Why AI-Branded Layoffs Are Damaging the Trust Conversation
(25:24) Why the Future Belongs to People Who Approach AI With Curiosity
(27:15) Building a Clear Leadership Narrative Around AI
(31:28) Creating a Culture of Sharing and Experimentation
(32:04) What Facebook Got Right About Blameless Failure
(34:36) Why Culture Is Built Through What Leaders Do, Not What They Say
(35:20) Why the “Super IC” Conversation Misses the Real Point
(36:20) Why Everyone Just Became a Manager
(37:05) Managing Agents Requires the Same Skills as Managing Humans
(40:06) Why Token Consumption Can Become the New Productivity Theater
(41:05) Why No Company Has AI Fully Figured Out
(43:39) Lazy Interns: Why AI Slop Is Turning Smart People Into Bad Employees
(48:00) Why AI Work Still Requires Human Accountability
(49:05) Molly’s Rule: If You Send It, You Own It
(50:49) False Productivity and Why the End Result Matters Most
(52:04) Career Advice: Learn the Business
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💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn
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Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

Kate Connor, Chief Operating Officer at Moxie Communications Group, joined us on The Modern People Leader.
We talked about how Moxie is adopting AI safely, why leaders should automate low-judgment work first, and how to embed AI into the culture without replacing human creativity, judgment, and relationships. 
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Sponsor Links:
🔗 Learn more about SixFifty
🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl
🔗 Learn more about Beqom at beqom.com/mpl
MPL Links:
🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build.
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(19:14) Why AI Strategy Is Different in a People-Powered Agency
(20:06) Automating Admin and Low-Judgment Work First
(20:51) Using AI to Create More Time for Client Relationships and Storytelling
(21:24) Bringing the Team Into the AI Roadmap Through Workshops
(24:06) Why Moxie’s AI Approach Starts With Safety
(24:35) Building an AI Use Policy With Cybersecurity and CTO Advisors
(25:41) Why AI Belongs on the Strategic Roadmap
(26:08) Being Transparent With the Team About AI Intentions
(26:31) Positioning AI as an Extension of the Team
(28:00) Running Team Workshops to Identify What Should Be Automated
(29:05) Building Proprietary Tools for Problems Off-the-Shelf Platforms Cannot Solve
(30:38) Messaging AI as an Expander, Not a Replacement
(32:31) GEO Optimization and the Future of PR
(34:07) Monthly AI Hackathons and Learning From the Team
(34:43) Why AI Cannot Stay With the Leadership Team
(35:22) When to Build Custom AI Tools Instead of Buying Off-the-Shelf
(39:08) Culture as the Feeling and Energy People Associate With a Company
(39:43) Building People Programs Around Real Business Needs
(44:19) Why Moxie Has Strong Retention
(48:43) Listening to the Team to Build Better Retention Programs
(51:03) Career Advice: Understand What AI Means for Your Job
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📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps
💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn
---- 
Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

Davida Lindsay-Bell, Chief People Officer at Hanna Andersson, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 
We talked about why AI transformation needs to start with people, how Hanna Andersson operationalized psychological safety, and why trust, learning, and intelligent failure are the foundation for lasting change.
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Sponsor Links:
🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl
🔗 Learn more about Beqom at beqom.com/mpl
🔗 Explore the 2026 ​Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report
MPL Links:
🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build.
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(18:58) Why AI Transformations Are Struggling Right Now
(20:10) Why Organizations Need to Start With the Why Before AI
(21:14) Building AI With Trust, Experimentation and Learning Out Loud
(21:53) Why Cultural Readiness Must Come Before Technical Readiness
(22:30) Making Psychological Safety a Priority 35 Days Into the Role
(23:03) What Davida Noticed During Her Listening Tour
(24:23) Infusing Psychological Safety Into Values and Leadership Expectations
(25:17) Shifting From a Nice Organization to a Kind Organization
(28:16) Inclusion, Learner, Contributor and Challenger Safety
(29:07) Making Culture Measurable Through Calibration Rubrics
(30:23) Creating Clarity With Bain’s RAPID Decision-Making Framework
(33:00) Why the CEO Relationship and Air Cover Matter First
(35:00) Davida’s LORA Framework: Listen, Absorb, Respond, Act
(38:41) Why Strategy and Culture Are Not Separate Tracks
(39:26) Cultivate Excellence as Hanna Andersson’s Strategic People Pillar
(42:25) Amy Edmondson’s The Right Kind of Wrong and the Permission to Fail
(45:05) Preventable Failures vs. Intelligent Failures
(47:05) Hanna Andersson’s Three-Pronged AI Journey
(49:20) How Psychological Safety Supports AI Adoption
(52:08) Hanna Andersson’s AI Philosophy: Augmenting Human Judgment to Unleash Creativity
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Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

Laura Fuentes, CHRO at Hilton, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 
We talked about Hilton’s hospitality mindset, why great leaders should operate like great hosts, and how Hilton scales culture, listening, recognition, and purpose across more than 500,000 team members.
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Sponsor Links:
🔗 Learn more about Beqom at beqom.com/mpl
🔗 Explore the 2026 ​Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report
🔗 Learn more about SixFifty
MPL Links:
🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build.
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(17:18) Behind the Scenes of the Hospitality Mindset Report
(19:21) Reintroducing a More Optimistic Narrative About Work
(22:05) Hilton’s Four Culture Pillars: Inclusion, Wellness, Growth and Purpose
(22:34) Culture Is the Accumulation of Small Moments
(24:54) Leaders Should Think Like Chief Host Officers
(25:41) Moving From AI Anxiety to AI Agency
(27:56) Why Nuance Does Not Scale Easily Across Global Teams
(33:29) Why Leadership Is Energy Management, Not Just Time Management
(39:28) Scaling the Systems and the Soul of the Company
(41:49) The One Conversation That Sparked Hilton’s Crisis Concierge Program
(45:10) Why Hilton’s General Managers Are the Global Leaders the World Needs Now
(48:39) The Soul of Hilton: Purposeful, Hospitable, Gritty and Competitive
(50:35) Giving Away One Million Room Nights to Medical Professionals
(51:12) Helping Furloughed Team Members Find New Jobs During the Pandemic
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📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps
💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn
---- 
Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

Jessie Zwaan, author of Purpose and Work and Built for People, joined us on The Modern People Leader.
We talked about why the old purpose-at-work narrative is breaking, how people relate to work through jobs, careers, and callings, and why HR leaders need to rethink how they build meaning into work.
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Sponsor Links:
🔗 Learn more about Beqom at beqom.com/mpl
🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl
MPL Links:
🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build.
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(08:05) Why Jessie Wrote Purpose and Work
(10:00) The Question That Sparked the Book: What Job Does Your Job Do for You?
(15:05) The Three Research Pillars Behind the Book
(16:38) Why People Are Questioning Work More Than Ever
(18:31) The Rise of Mission Statements, Values Walls and “Changing the World” Messaging
(20:07) How AI, Layoffs and Recession Broke the Purpose Narrative
(22:47) The Three Job Orientations: Job, Career and Calling
(23:43) Why Purpose Alignment Does Not Automatically Mean Higher Performance
(24:51) Why Seeing Work as “Just a Job” Can Still Drive High Performance
(26:22) Matching Workplace Programs to Employee Purpose Profiles
(27:22) How Writing Purpose of Work Changed Jessie as a Person and Leader
(34:11) What Holds HR Leaders Back From Changing the Purpose Narrative?
(35:08) The Employee Who Thought She Was Broken Because Purpose Did Not Motivate Her
(36:03) How False Purpose Narratives Can Silence and Hurt People
---- 
📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps
💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn
---- 
Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.