How can HR leaders learn to sell without selling?

Why should every HR leader think of themselves as a salesperson?

My guest on this episode is Brendan McAdams, B2B Sales Coach & Consultant and author of ‘Sales Craft’

During our conversation Brendan and I discuss the following:

• Why every HR leader is already in sales, whether they call it that or not
• How sales is really the work of helping someone make a better decision that is right for them
• Why status quo is often the strongest competitor to any HR initiative, and what to do about it.
• How surfacing objections out loud ("killing the deal") builds trust and accelerates real buy-in
• Why "if we do this, who loses?" is one of the most useful questions an HR leader can ask

Connecting with Brendan:

Connect with Brendan on LinkedIn

Learn more about Brendan’s company Kiinetics

Download Brendan’s Stakeholder Meeting Prep Worksheet

Episode Sponsor:

Next-Gen HR Accelerator - Learn more about this best-in-class leadership development program for next-gen HR leaders

HR Leader’s Blueprint - 18 pages of real-world advice from 100+ HR thought leaders. Simple, actionable, and proven strategies to advance your career.

Succession Planning Playbook: In this focused 1-page resource, I cut through the noise to give you the vital elements that define what “great” succession planning looks like.

How can organizations use executive assessments to make better decisions?

Why do you need to build your Executive Assessment fluency to have more impact as an HR leader?

My guest on this episode is Mina Morris, Managing Director and Head of Assessments at Accenture

During our conversation Mina and I discuss the following:

• Why executive assessment should start with business strategy, not tools, models, or methodologies.
• How using multiple data sources creates a more complete and accurate view of executive talent.
• Why executive assessment should be the start of the development conversation, not the end.
• How executive assessment helps organizations identify “diamonds in the rough” within their leadership pipeline.
• Why executive assessment without development is just measurement.

Connecting with Mina:

Connect with Mina on LinkedIn

Episode Sponsor:

Next-Gen HR Accelerator - Learn more about this best-in-class leadership development program for next-gen HR leaders

HR Leader’s Blueprint - 18 pages of real-world advice from 100+ HR thought leaders. Simple, actionable, and proven strategies to advance your career.

Succession Planning Playbook: In this focused 1-page resource, I cut through the noise to give you the vital elements that define what “great” succession planning looks like.

How can your culture become a competitive advantage?

Why is engagement not just an HR metric, but a driver of business performance?

My guest on this episode is Bala Sathyanarayanan, EVP and CHRO, Greif Inc.

During our conversation Bala and I discuss the following:

• Why culture is the operating system that determines whether strategy succeeds or fails.
• Why engagement is not just an HR metric, but a leading indicator of customer and business performance.
• How organizations that focus on systems outperform those that focus only on outcomes.
• Why HR’s credibility depends on its ability to create measurable business value.
• Why great organizations are never “great,” they are always chasing it.

Connecting with Bala:

Connect with Bala on LinkedIn

Episode Sponsor:

Next-Gen HR Accelerator - Learn more about this best-in-class leadership development program for next-gen HR leaders

HR Leader’s Blueprint - 18 pages of real-world advice from 100+ HR thought leaders. Simple, actionable, and proven strategies to advance your career.

Succession Planning Playbook: In this focused 1-page resource, I cut through the noise to give you the vital elements that define what “great” succession planning looks like.

How can we reclaim control when it feels like work has hijacked our lives?

Why is managing stress becoming more important than reducing it?

My guest on this episode is Guy Winch, psychologist, TED speaker, and author of the new book “Mind Over Grind: How to Break Free When Work Hijacks Your Life”

During our conversation Guy and I discuss the following:

• Why burnout continues to rise despite increased investment in wellbeing programs.
• How work is increasingly “hijacking” people’s time, attention, and relationships.
• Why high performers are often the most vulnerable to burnout.
• How a simple end-of-day ritual can train your brain to shift from work mode to personal life.
• How more open conversations about stress can prevent burnout before it becomes a crisis.

Connecting with Guy:

Connect with Guy Winch on LinkedIn

Learn more about Guy’s book, “Mind Over Grind: How to Break Free When Work Hijacks Your Life.”

Episode Sponsor:

Next-Gen HR Accelerator - Learn more about this best-in-class leadership development program for next-gen HR leaders

HR Leader’s Blueprint - 18 pages of real-world advice from 100+ HR thought leaders. Simple, actionable, and proven strategies to advance your career.

Succession Planning Playbook: In this focused 1-page resource, I cut through the noise to give you the vital elements that define what “great” succession planning looks like.

How can leaders make work both fun and drive high-performance?

Why do the high performers find joy in intense work?

My guests on this episode are Bree Groff, workplace expert and author of “Today was Fun,” and Mary Kate Stimmler, Practitioner Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford

During our conversation, Bree, Mary Kate, and I discuss the following:

• Why the belief that high performance requires pressure and sacrifice is flawed
• How leaders can design work that creates energy, not burnout
• Why “fun” at work is about experience, not perks
• Why stress undermines creativity and long-term performance
• How small, everyday moments shape culture more than large-scale initiatives

Connecting with Bree and Mary Kate presenters:

Connect with Bree Groff on LinkedIn

Learn more about Bree’s book, “Today Was Fun: A Book About Work (Seriously)

Connect with Mary Kate Stimmler on LinkedIn

Episode Sponsor:

Next-Gen HR Accelerator - Learn more about this best-in-class leadership development program for next-gen HR leaders

HR Leader’s Blueprint - 18 pages of real-world advice from 100+ HR thought leaders. Simple, actionable, and proven strategies to advance your career.

Succession Planning Playbook: In this focused 1-page resource, I cut through the noise to give you the vital elements that define what “great” succession planning looks like.

This is Part 2 of our live at the CHRO Association's annual CHRO Summit in Orlando, Florida.

I was honored to be invited to the CHRO Association's annual CHRO Summit that brought together more than 300 CHROs and senior HR leaders for strategic conversations truly shaping the future of work.

With 25 presenters and panelists on the agenda, I was able to sit down and interview seven of those amazing speakers and bring their insights directly to you across these two episodes (EP 186 & EP 187).

In this episode, Part 2 - we’re going to hear from three more incredible leaders:

• Darrell Ford, Vice Chair of the CHRO Association and Executive Vice President and CHRO at UPS
• Rebecca Hinds, PhD, Head of the Work AI Institute and Thought Leadership at Glean, and author of Your Best Meeting Ever
• Kevin Cox, Former CHRO at General Electric and President of LKC Advisory LLC

Connecting with CHRO Summit presenters:

Connect with Darrell Ford on LinkedIn

Connect with Rebecca Hinds on LinkedIn

Connect with Kevin Cox on LinkedIn

Learn more about CHRO Association

Episode Sponsor:

Next-Gen HR Accelerator - Learn more about this best-in-class leadership development program for next-gen HR leaders

HR Leader’s Blueprint - 18 pages of real-world advice from 100+ HR thought leaders. Simple, actionable, and proven strategies to advance your career.

Succession Planning Playbook: In this focused 1-page resource, I cut through the noise to give you the vital elements that define what “great” succession planning looks like.

This is a very special episode recorded live at the CHRO Association's annual CHRO Summit in Orlando, Florida.

Over two days, more than 300 CHROs and senior HR leaders came together for strategic conversations truly shaping the future of work. With 25 presenters and panelists on the agenda, I was fortunate enough to sit down and interview seven of those amazing speakers and bring their insights directly to you.

The conversations were so good and in-depth that we're making this a two-part series to ensure we do each conversation justice. This is Part 1.

In this episode, you'll hear from:

• Tim Bartl, CEO of the CHRO Association
• Tim Richmond, Chair of the CHRO Association and former EVP and CHRO at AbbVie
• Kristi Hummel, Chief People Officer at Optum
• Ethan Mollick, Innovation Expert, AI Thought Leader, and Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Wharton School of Business

Connecting with CHRO Summit presenters:

Connect with Tim Bartl on LinkedIn

Connect with Tim Richmond on LinkedIn

Connect with Kristi Hummel on LinkedIn

Connect with Ethan Mollick on LinkedIn

Learn more about CHRO Association

Episode Sponsor:

Next-Gen HR Accelerator - Learn more about this best-in-class leadership development program for next-gen HR leaders

HR Leader’s Blueprint - 18 pages of real-world advice from 100+ HR thought leaders. Simple, actionable, and proven strategies to advance your career.

Succession Planning Playbook: In this focused 1-page resource, I cut through the noise to give you the vital elements that define what “great” succession planning looks like.

How can HR Rethink Performance Management?

Why is Performance Management broken and what can HR do about it?

My guests on this episode are Edie Goldberg & Alan Colquitt, co-authors of “Performance Enablement: A New Model for Driving Organizational Performance.”

During our conversation, Edie, Alan, and I discuss the following:

• Why traditional performance management systems were built for a different era of work.
• How performance management became more about compensation than improving performance.
• Why shifting from performance management to performance enablement changes the leadership mindset.
• How continuous coaching and feedback outperform annual reviews and performance ratings.
• Why team-based goals better reflect how work actually gets done in modern organizations.

Connecting with Edie and Alan:

Connect with Edie Goldberg on LinkedIn

Connect with Alan Colquitt on LinkedIn

Learn more about Edie’s firm and Performance Enablement

Learn more about Alan’s firm and Performance Enablement

Episode Sponsor:

Next-Gen HR Accelerator - Learn more about this best-in-class leadership development program for next-gen HR leaders

HR Leader’s Blueprint - 18 pages of real-world advice from 100+ HR thought leaders. Simple, actionable, and proven strategies to advance your career.

Succession Planning Playbook: In this focused 1-page resource, I cut through the noise to give you the vital elements that define what “great” succession planning looks like.

How can HR Operations help transform the function and drive business impact?

Why should HR shift from People First to People Forward strategy?

My guest on this episode is Girish Ganesan, Chief People Officer, S&P Global

During our conversation, Girish and I discuss the following:

• Why HR operations are the foundation of real impact
• Why credibility requires understanding the work beneath the work
• How HR teams can shift from "People First" to "People Forward"
• Why execution is becoming a defining capability for next-generation HR leaders.
• Why adaptive leadership is critical in the age of AI.

Connecting with Girish:

Connect with Girish on LinkedIn

Episode Sponsor:

Next-Gen HR Accelerator - Learn more about this best-in-class leadership development program for next-gen HR leaders

HR Leader’s Blueprint - 18 pages of real-world advice from 100+ HR thought leaders. Simple, actionable, and proven strategies to advance your career.

Succession Planning Playbook: In this focused 1-page resource, I cut through the noise to give you the vital elements that define what “great” succession planning looks like.

How can two simple words, “How so?” unlock a deeper conversation with any leader?

Why is consistency more important than intensity when building new leadership habits?

My guest on this episode is Dave Stachowiak, Host of the Coaching for Leaders podcast.

During our conversation, Dave and I discuss the following:

• Why most "questions" aren't really questions.
• How defining success in advance makes behavior change measurable.
• Why high achievers are especially prone to feeling like they've failed.
• Why pushback when you go more coach is often a green light, not a red one.
• Why the future of leadership is “both/and."

Connecting with Dave:

Connect with Dave on LinkedIn

Learn more about Coaching for Leaders podcast

Listen to JP’s episode on Coaching for Leaders podcast

Episode Sponsor:

Next-Gen HR Accelerator - Learn more about this best-in-class leadership development program for next-gen HR leaders

HR Leader’s Blueprint - 18 pages of real-world advice from 100+ HR thought leaders. Simple, actionable, and proven strategies to advance your career.

Succession Planning Playbook: In this focused 1-page resource, I cut through the noise to give you the vital elements that define what “great” succession planning looks like.

How can we redesign our culture by redesigning our meetings?

Why do well-designed meetings allow for more time for individual and value-added work?

My guest on this episode is Rebecca Hinds, author of “Your Best Meeting Ever” and leading expert on organizational behavior and the future of work.

During our conversation, Rebecca and I discuss the following:

• Deciding what deserves to be a meeting (and what doesn’t) is one of the most important decisions leaders can make.
• How poorly designed meetings become signals of busyness rather than drivers of real work.
• What meetings reveal about your organization's culture
• Why treating meetings like a product changes how leaders think about time, collaboration, and outcomes.
• How high-performing organizations design clear communication norms so meetings are a last resort, not the default.

Connecting with Rebecca:

Connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn

Learn more about Rebecca’s book and AI research.

Episode Sponsor:

Next-Gen HR Accelerator - Learn more about this best-in-class leadership development program for next-gen HR leaders

HR Leader’s Blueprint - 18 pages of real-world advice from 100+ HR thought leaders. Simple, actionable, and proven strategies to advance your career.

Succession Planning Playbook: In this focused 1-page resource, I cut through the noise to give you the vital elements that define what “great” succession planning looks like.