Boards are making decisions about AI, transformation, succession, culture and growth. But how often does the person with the deepest understanding of the workforce have a seat at the table?

In this episode of foHRsight, Naomi is joined by former CHROs Suzan Morno-Wade and Harriet Harty to explore why HR leaders remain significantly underrepresented on corporate boards, and why that gap matters more as organizations navigate increasingly complex workforce decisions. 

The conversation challenges some persistent assumptions about what CHROs bring to the boardroom. Strong HR leaders aren't simply experts in people programs. They understand organizational performance, leadership capability, succession, culture and enterprise risk. They know how to influence without owning the decision, ask discerning questions and connect talent decisions back to business strategy. 

And as AI reshapes work, that perspective becomes even more important. Technology decisions are also workforce decisions. Suzan and Harriet make the case for HR leaders to position those conversations in the language of strategy, risk, opportunity, financial analysis and measurable business outcomes. 

For CHROs who see board service in their future, there's also a practical message: don't wait until you leave the operating role to start preparing. Building board experience, relationships and a board-ready profile takes time. 

About Our guests

Suzan Morno-Wade is a former CHRO of Xerox whose career has spanned finance, human resources and enterprise leadership. Today, she advises organizations, serves on boards and supports greater representation in the C-suite and boardroom. 

Harriet Harty has held multiple executive HR roles, most recently serving as Chief Administrative Officer at ADT. She now works across advisory, board and executive coaching roles, bringing extensive experience in business transformation, talent and leadership. 

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Your organization probably has more good ideas than you realize.

The challenge is what happens next.

Employees learn quickly whether an unconventional suggestion is genuinely welcome, whether failure will be treated as information or incompetence, and whether leadership is open to an outcome it did not already choose. When those answers are unclear, people protect themselves. They offer safer ideas, wait for direction or stop speaking up entirely.

In this episode, Naomi Titleman Colla speaks with Fiona Stevenson about the human dynamics that cause innovation to stall. They explore why fear of taking action can be stronger than the fear of doing nothing, how leaders unintentionally become more rigid when the stakes are high, and why psychological safety must be built into the work rather than treated as a separate culture exercise.
Fiona also shares a practical process for moving from a clearly defined problem to human insight, inspiration, ideas, iteration and implementation. For HR leaders, the conversation offers a clear challenge: examine whether your performance measures, reward systems and everyday leadership behaviours actually support the experimentation your organization says it wants.

Guest Resources

• Website: fionastevenson.com
• Open State (with co-founder Alyssa Kerbel): openstate.ca — bringing nervous system regulation, music, and movement into the creative process
• Kindness at Work: kindnessatwork.com — inaugural Workplace Kindness Awards ceremony in New York City during Kindness Week (November); nominations now open
• LinkedIn: Connect with Fiona Stevenson

About Our Guest

Fiona Stevenson is CEO and founding partner of the Idea Suite, where she helps organizations turn human insight into commercially viable ideas. With a background in psychology, more than a decade at Procter & Gamble and experience leading hundreds of innovation projects around the world, she brings a deeply human and practical perspective to how ideas move through organizations.

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If you are looking for more foHRsight, sign up for our monthly foHRsight newsletter. It’s free and includes access to our quarterly white paper. This quarter’s white paper is about Rethinking Entry-Level work in the Age of AI, produced with Dr. Miranda Rodak from Indiana University’s Kelley school of business - an important topic for HR, Leadership and parents, students and society as a whole! https://www.futurefohrward.com/subscribe

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When pressure becomes constant, resilience can start to look a lot like suffering in silence.

Employees are told to adapt, stay positive and keep moving, while the conditions driving burnout often remain untouched. For HR leaders, the challenge is not simply helping people manage stress. It is creating workplaces where people can stay clear, connected and capable even when the demands are high.

In this episode, Naomi Titleman Colla speaks with Jay Abbasi about why resilience is not built by asking people to push harder. They explore how safety, focus and meaningful connection shape performance, why people struggle to access their best thinking when they feel threatened, and what emotionally intelligent leadership looks like in practice.

The conversation also offers a practical challenge for leaders: notice what is driving your own behaviour before attempting to understand someone else’s. From regulating before reacting to sharing vulnerability without becoming the victim of the situation, this episode offers grounded ways to lead more effectively under pressure.

About Our Guest

Jay Abbasi is a global keynote and TEDx speaker, coach and former Tesla leader who helps professionals perform under pressure without burning out. After leading national training programs for more than 1,000 Tesla employees, he has coached leaders at organizations including Google, Amazon, TikTok and Wells Fargo.

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If you are looking for more foHRsight, sign up for our monthly foHRsight newsletter. It’s free and includes access to our quarterly white paper. This quarter’s white paper is about Rethinking Entry-Level work in the Age of AI, produced with Dr. Miranda Rodak from Indiana University’s Kelley school of business - an important topic for HR, Leadership and parents, students and society as a whole! https://www.futurefohrward.com/subscribe

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Most organizations aren't struggling with AI because of the technology. They're struggling because people don't change as quickly as the tools do.

As leaders race to implement AI, many are relying on change management approaches that were designed for a slower, more predictable world. But when change is constant, communication plans and training sessions aren't enough. Real transformation happens when leaders understand how people actually adopt new ways of working.

In this episode, Naomi sits down with organizational change expert and author Paul Gibbons to explore why traditional change management needs an update for the age of AI. Together, they unpack why leadership modelling matters more than ever, how HR can navigate the "double bind" of transforming itself while helping the rest of the organization evolve, and why behavioural science—not technology—is the missing ingredient in successful AI adoption.

Whether you're leading an AI initiative, supporting organizational change, or simply trying to help your people adapt to a rapidly changing workplace, this conversation offers a thoughtful, practical perspective on leading transformation with both confidence and humanity.

About Paul Gibbons

Paul Gibbons is a consultant, speaker, and author focused on change, culture, and AI adoption. He is the creator of the Adaptive Adoption Framework and has authored nine books, including Adopting AI, written for leaders who need a practical strategy. He was ranked among the top five culture change thinkers globally by Global Gurus.

Find Paul:

• Website: Paul Gibbons Advisory
• Slack community: Think Bigger Think Better

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If you are looking for more foHRsight, sign up for our monthly foHRsight newsletter. It’s free and includes access to our quarterly white paper. This quarter’s white paper is about Rethinking Entry-Level work in the Age of AI, produced with Dr. Miranda Rodak from Indiana University’s Kelley school of business - an important topic for HR, Leadership and parents, students and society as a whole! https://www.futurefohrward.com/subscribe

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Every generation of HR leaders faces a transformation that changes how the profession works.

Today, it's AI.

The pressure to move quickly can make it feel like everything is changing overnight. But beneath the new technology, the core of great HR remains remarkably consistent: earning trust, exercising sound judgment, navigating difficult conversations, and helping leaders make better decisions.

In this conversation, retired CHRO Karen Trenton reflects on a career that spanned enormous shifts in technology, leadership and organizational change. She shares what she's most proud of, the career decisions she would make differently, why community matters more than ever, and why emotional intelligence—not technical expertise—is still what separates exceptional HR leaders.

If you've been wondering what skills will matter most in the next decade of HR, this episode offers a thoughtful perspective from someone who's led through decades of transformation.

About Our Guest

Karen Trenton is a retired Chief Human Resources Officer with executive leadership experience across Coca-Cola and Sherritt International. Having led HR through periods of rapid organizational growth, global expansion and technological change, she brings a grounded perspective on leadership, judgment and the enduring human side of HR.

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If you are looking for more foHRsight, sign up for our monthly foHRsight newsletter. It’s free and includes access to our quarterly white paper. This quarter’s white paper is about Rethinking Entry-Level work in the Age of AI, produced with Dr. Miranda Rodak from Indiana University’s Kelley school of business - an important topic for HR, Leadership and parents, students and society as a whole! https://www.futurefohrward.com/subscribe

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Most teams don't have a collaboration problem because they lack talented people.

They have a collaboration problem because they've never really talked about how they work together.

We invest in Slack, Teams, Miro, Notion and countless other tools designed to make collaboration easier. But more tools haven't necessarily made teams better at collaborating. In some cases, they've simply created the illusion that collaboration is happening.

In this episode of foHRsight, Naomi sits down with Alison Coward to explore why great teamwork rarely happens by accident and what it means to intentionally design the way people work together.

They discuss why talented people don't automatically create high-performing teams, why workshops so often fail to create lasting change, and why small, consistent shifts in how teams communicate, align and make decisions can be far more powerful than sweeping culture initiatives.

For HR leaders, there's an important challenge here: stop treating collaboration as something that should happen naturally. Start creating the conditions for it.

About Our guest

Alison Coward is a team culture strategist, workshop facilitator, trainer, and keynote speaker based in London. As founder of Bracket, she partners with ambitious, forward-thinking companies to help them build high-performing team cultures. Her book, Workshop Culture, lays out a practical framework for taking the energy and effectiveness of great workshops and embedding them into how teams work every day.

Connect with Alison

• Website & newsletter: bracketcreative.co.uk | bracketcreative.co.uk/newsletter
• LinkedIn: Alison Coward
• Book: Workshop Culture — available wherever books are sold

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If you are looking for more foHRsight, sign up for our monthly foHRsight newsletter. It’s free and includes access to our quarterly white paper. This quarter’s white paper is about Rethinking Entry-Level work in the Age of AI, produced with Dr. Miranda Rodak from Indiana University’s Kelley school of business - an important topic for HR, Leadership and parents, students and society as a whole! https://www.futurefohrward.com/subscribe

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We spend so much time helping people perform that we often forget to help them recover.

Today's employees are balancing demanding workloads alongside constant notifications, endless comparison, economic uncertainty and personal pressures that don't disappear when the workday begins. By the time someone reaches a breaking point, the signs have often been there for much longer.

In this episode, Mark Edgar sits down with life and wellness coach Ashish Singh to explore what it really means to build resilience before it's needed. Together, they unpack why calm isn't something we discover after everything settles down, but something we cultivate in the middle of everyday life.

Ashish shares the deeply personal experience that led him from corporate life into coaching after a serious injury forced him to confront anxiety, uncertainty and his own internal dialogue. That journey became the foundation for his work helping others reconnect with what he calls "the steadiness within."

Throughout the conversation, they explore why we can only truly control our thoughts and our actions, how social media has amplified stress through constant comparison, why mindfulness doesn't have to mean lengthy meditation sessions, and what practical tools can help people reset throughout an ordinary workday.

For HR leaders, this conversation offers an important shift in perspective. Rather than waiting until employees are overwhelmed, organizations have an opportunity to normalize simple wellbeing practices that support people every day. Creating healthier workplaces isn't only about responding well during difficult moments. It's about making steadiness part of how work happens in the first place.

Resources

• Website: thecalmmind.co
• Instagram: singashish3
• LinkedIn: Available (handle mentioned in conversation)

About Our Guest

Ashish Singh is a life and wellness coach, author and founder of The Calm Mind. Drawing from his own experience navigating anxiety, injury and major life transitions, he helps individuals and organizations develop practical tools for building emotional resilience, mindfulness and lasting inner steadiness.

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If you are looking for more foHRsight, sign up for our monthly foHRsight newsletter. It’s free and includes access to our quarterly white paper. This quarter’s white paper is about Rethinking Entry-Level work in the Age of AI, produced with Dr. Miranda Rodak from Indiana University’s Kelley school of business - an important topic for HR, Leadership and parents, students and society as a whole! https://www.futurefohrward.com/subscribe

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We often think resilience is something we discover in the hardest moments. But what if it's actually something we build long before we need it?

As work becomes more complex, change accelerates, and cognitive demands continue to rise, many leaders find themselves relying on the same habits that helped them succeed in the past—only to realize they no longer have the capacity they once did. The challenge isn't a lack of capability. It's that resilience is too often treated as an individual trait instead of something we can intentionally strengthen.

In this episode of foHRsight, Naomi Titleman Colla sits down with leadership psychologist and executive coach Dr. Marie-Hélène (MH) Pelletier to explore why resilience isn't about pushing harder or simply "bouncing back." Instead, it's a strategic practice that can be developed by individuals, teams, and organizations alike.

Together, they discuss why high performers often underestimate the demands they're carrying, how cognitive patterns quietly erode decision-making, why resilience should be treated as leadership infrastructure rather than a wellness initiative, and the practical habits leaders can build today to protect their performance before they reach their breaking point.

Whether you're leading an HR function, supporting organizational change, or simply feeling the weight of today's pace of work, this conversation offers a practical and refreshingly human approach to sustaining performance without sacrificing wellbeing.

About Our Guest

Dr. Marie-Hélène (MH) Pelletier is a leadership psychologist, executive coach, keynote speaker, and author of The Resilience Plan: A Strategic Approach to Optimizing Your Work Performance and Mental Health. With more than 20 years of experience working with leaders across industries, she helps organizations build resilience as a strategic capability that strengthens decision-making, leadership, and long-term performance.

Connect with MH:

• Website & book: theresilienceplan.com
• LinkedIn: search Dr. Marie-Hélène Pelletier
• Link for free resources: https://drmarie-helene.com/free-resources-sign-up/

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If you are looking for more foHRsight, sign up for our monthly foHRsight newsletter. It’s free and includes access to our quarterly white paper. This quarter’s white paper is about Rethinking Entry-Level work in the Age of AI, produced with Dr. Miranda Rodak from Indiana University’s Kelley school of business - an important topic for HR, Leadership and parents, students and society as a whole! https://www.futurefohrward.com/subscribe

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For many leaders, retirement isn't about leaving work. It's about leaving behind an identity.

After decades of building careers, leading teams, and carrying enormous responsibility, the biggest question isn't "What's next?" It's "Who am I without the title?"

In this episode of foHRsight, Naomi Titleman Colla sits down with Zabeen Hirji, former Chief Human Resources Officer at RBC, to explore what she calls the Purposeful Third Act—a new way of thinking about life after executive leadership.

Together, they unpack the emotional transition that comes with stepping away from a long career, why purpose is something we rediscover rather than reinvent, and how organizations are missing an opportunity to better engage experienced leaders. They also discuss the growing importance of intergenerational workplaces, lifelong learning, and why judgment, wisdom, and human connection will become even more valuable in the age of AI.

Whether retirement feels years away or is already on the horizon, this conversation is a thoughtful reminder that your greatest contribution may not be behind you—it may simply take a different shape.

About Our Guest

Zabeen Hirji is a founder, retirement disruptor, executive advisor, and board director. She served as CHRO at Royal Bank of Canada and is now the driving force behind the Purposeful Third Act movement, which helps senior leaders navigate life and work after corporate careers with intention and impact.

• 🔗 LinkedIn: Zabeen Hirji (follow + subscribe to her newsletter)
• 🌐 Website: zabeenhirji.com (resources, role models, and P3A tools)

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If you are looking for more foHRsight, sign up for our monthly foHRsight newsletter. It’s free and includes access to our quarterly white paper. This quarter’s white paper is about Rethinking Entry-Level work in the Age of AI, produced with Dr. Miranda Rodak from Indiana University’s Kelley school of business - an important topic for HR, Leadership and parents, students and society as a whole! https://www.futurefohrward.com/subscribe

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Learning and development has spent decades creating courses, launching platforms, and chasing the next technology trend. But what if the problem isn't the technology at all?

As AI reshapes how people access information, many traditional assumptions about workplace learning are being challenged. Employees no longer need to sit through generic training to find answers. They expect learning to be personalized, contextual, and available exactly when they need it.

In this episode, Lori Niles-Hofmann joins Naomi Titleman Colla to explore why L&D is facing an existential moment, what organizations are getting wrong about skills development, and how AI could fundamentally change the way learning happens at work. Together, they discuss the shift from course creation to intelligent learning ecosystems, why skills management should be treated with the same precision as a supply chain, and how HR leaders can move from order-taking to strategic enablement.

If you're responsible for developing people in an environment where business priorities, technology, and skills requirements are changing faster than ever, this conversation offers a practical and thought-provoking look at what comes next.

Resources & References Mentioned

• 📘 The Eight Levers of EdTech Transformation by Lori Niles-Hofmann
• 🌐 8Levers: 8levers.com (note: the "8" is the number, not a "B"!)
• 🇨🇦 Valence — AI coaching platform, featuring Nadia
• 🇨🇦 Disco.co — community learning platform (also used by foHRsight+)
• 📊 Red Thread Research — State of EdTech presentation by Dani Johnson (Learning Technologies, London)
• 🔬 LearnLM / DeepMind research on human + AI learning outcomes

About Our Guest

Lori Niles-Hofmann is an EdTech strategist, consultant, and author of The Eight Levers of EdTech Transformation. With a career spanning global LMS implementations, instructional design, and organizational learning strategy, Lori brings a rare combination of technical fluency and business acumen to the L&D space. She is the founder of 8Levers and a frequent speaker and writer on the intersection of AI, skills, and workplace learning.

Connect with Lori

• LinkedIn: search Lori Niles-Hofmann
• Website: 8levers.com

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If you are looking for more foHRsight, sign up for our monthly foHRsight newsletter. It’s free and includes access to our quarterly white paper. This quarter’s white paper is about Rethinking Entry-Level work in the Age of AI, produced with Dr. Miranda Rodak from Indiana University’s Kelley school of business - an important topic for HR, Leadership and parents, students and society as a whole! https://www.futurefohrward.com/subscribe

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