What happens when one of HR's most seasoned leaders gets fed up with broken systems and decides to build new ones? Let’s find out! In this episode, we sit down with Kristy McCann, multi-time founder, CEO, and HR powerhouse, for a wide-ranging, energizing conversation about the real state of the future of work.

We dig into why change management is ultimately just project management (and why most leaders are failing at it), the growing ethics and efficacy crisis around AI adoption in the workplace, what's gone wrong with SHRM as a certifying body, and why consumer power might be the most underutilized lever we have right now. Kristy also shares how she reads pattern recognition as a superpower, and what her next chapter looks like as she works to close the skilling gap she's spent her career fighting.

It's one of those conversations where we left feeling genuinely fired up and we think you will too!

Also in this episode: we introduce Ask the Librarian, our new AI-powered tool built on the Inclusion Geeks resource library. {blush emoji}

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction & Episode Preview

01:14 - Introducing Ask the Librarian, Our New AI-Powered Resource Tool

11:47 - Welcome, Kristy McCann Flynn

12:03 - Kristy's Career Journey, From Scranton to HR Founder

18:02 - Rethinking Change Management for a World in Constant Flux

22:00 - AI in the Workplace, Enhancement or Replacement?

28:33 - AI Ethics, Data Privacy & the No-Guardrails Problem

31:11 - Leadership Gaps, Accountability & Why Ideas Aren't Enough

33:21 - Kristy's Stealth Next Chapter, Education, Skilling & AI Efficacy

35:13 - The SHRM Problem, When Certifying Bodies Lose Their Way

44:49 - Rebuilding Critical Thinking & Trust in Institutions

50:18 - Consumer Power, Boycotts & Collective Action

52:59 - Unionization, General Strikes & Protecting Workers

57:42 - Think Globally, Act Locally

61:14 - AI Displacement, What History Tells Us

64:31 - Closing Thoughts & Where to Find Kristy

Visit us at InclusionGeeks.com to stay up to date on all the ways you can make the workplace work for everyone! Check out Inclusion Geeks Academy and InclusionGeeks.com/podcast for the code to get a free mini course.