Jason Dorsey

I like "Corporate Strategist" more than Chameleon, but the key takeaways are the same. Driving outcomes, building management systems, seeing around corners. via Trellis Group, Ellen Weinreb, Steven Rochlin & Jeff Senne. Key Takeaways: - Over the past 20 years, the CSO role has evolved from being non-existent to having a seat at the table in many companies. - Successful CSOs today are masters of resilience and can adapt to whatever the moment demands like chameleons. - One critical step to becoming a successful CSO is being able to hold conflicting ideas at the same time.

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GCC Leaders, Build Your Virtual Board of Advisors If you’re running a GCC today, you’re not just an operator. You’re a strategist, innovator, and talent architect—often simultaneously. But unlike HQ leaders who have a full C-suite for counsel, most GCC Heads operate in isolation. That’s why every GCC leader should build a Virtual Board of Advisors using Generative AI. This isn’t a thought exercise—it’s a practical tool to pressure-test your strategy, de-risk major decisions, and simulate the C-suite you don’t have. Inspired by an MIT Sloan article, I experimented with creating AI personas modeled after the leaders whose voices I’d want in the room. Your 5-Person Virtual Board The key is to blend strategic, operational, talent, innovation, and contrarian mindsets. 1. The Strategist: Draw on Pari Natarajan and Nilesh Thakker from Zinnov for GCC-specific scaling strategy, and blend that with Brad D. Smith (Intuit) or Satya Nadella (Microsoft) for purpose-led, culture-anchored vision. 2. The Operator: Think Jeff Wilke (Amazon) for operational rigor, Gwynne Shotwell (SpaceX) for disciplined execution, and Sheryl Sandberg (Meta) for scalable systems. 3. The Talent Champion: Patty McCord (Netflix) for a high-bar hiring culture, Laszlo Bock (Google) for data-driven people practices, and Leena Nair (CHANEL) for people-first leadership. 4. The Innovator: Jensen Huang (NVIDIA) for AI infrastructure vision, Demis Hassabis (Google DeepMind) for frontier thinking, and Andrew Ng for practical AI adoption at scale. 5. The Challenger: Nassim Taleb for risk and resilience, Andy Grove for navigating inflection points, and Safi Bahcall for nurturing bold “loonshot” ideas. How to Bring Your Board to Life Don’t just list names—brief your AI personas. Step 1. Set the Persona “You are The Operator, a digital advisor modeled on the operational rigor of Jeff Wilke and the disciplined execution of Gwynne Shotwell. You focus on mechanisms, scalability, and non-obvious failure points.” Step 2. Define the Problem “I’m the Head of a 300-person GCC in Bangalore. I’m considering a ‘hub-and-spoke’ model for our new Data Science capability—hub in Bangalore, spokes in Pune and Hyderabad. Here’s my 1-page plan: [paste your brief plan].” Step 3. Ask for the Critique “From your Operator perspective, critique this plan. What are the non-obvious flaws? Where will it break at scale? What three metrics must I demand from my team weekly?” Run the Play Before your next major call—site expansion, vendor transition, or leadership hire—run your plan through this virtual board. You’ll be surprised how a debate between your Patty McCord persona (challenging your talent assumptions) and your Nassim Taleb persona (flagging hidden fragilities) surfaces insights your real meetings miss. You don’t need a bigger team. You need better perspectives. If you could build your own Virtual Board of Advisors, who would be on it—and why?

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"Why aren't there more HR executives on boards?" A question that was discussed at an event I attended recently. It is one I have thought about for a few years, after completing a board certification course and looking around at my cohort and other alumni. Lorri Lowe's recent article states "Almost every major board crisis of the decade has started with people." https://lnkd.in/gqy7RzqY Talent remains as a top challenge in many board studies, according to PwC. https://lnkd.in/g_Nj_sTf Heidrick & Struggles's points out that boards with HR expertise do better. https://lnkd.in/grFcvSJT The absence of HR executives in the boardroom is more than an oversight; it is a strategic risk. It’s time for nominating committees to look beyond the traditional financial and operational profiles and recognize that human capital is the ultimate capital. As board-ready HR leaders, we should continue to articulate our value and champion the future people agenda. Having resilient, high-performing organizations depends on it. Lockington People & Advisory

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At Harvard Business Impact’s 2025 Partners’ Meeting, Prof. Amy C. Edmondson of Harvard Business School, delivered an energizing keynote on psychological safety. In this recap by Michelle Bonterre, Senior Director of Global Marketing & Insights at Harvard Business Impact, explores the key insights from Amy’s keynote and learn how today’s leaders can foster cultures where people feel safe to take risks, voice ideas, and learn from mistakes. 🔗 Read more: https://s.hbr.org/45b4eLM

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What CHROs Must Now Become The CHRO of the future will not be a policy custodian. They will be a Chief Execution Architect—a system strategist with hard levers. They will: Own the behavior-performance-culture triangle Build red-line accountability systems across roles Control access to promotion, pipeline, and prestige Redesign leadership not as status but as behavior-enforced access to impact Anchor HR inside the company’s operational nervous system—not beside it This is how the CHRO becomes co-equal with the CEO, COO and CFO—not just in title, but in function. Go (https://lnkd.in/ePE6xvfu)

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Few board responsibilities are as critical (or as varied) as CEO succession planning—yet there’s no universal blueprint for how best to approach it. Our 2025 Board Culture and Director Behaviors Study shows that boards take very different approaches: some manage succession at the full-board level, others rely on special committees or informal groups, and leadership of these efforts can fall to independent board leaders or committee chairs. In my experience advising clients, I’ve learned there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but rather key ingredients: a thoughtful timeline, rigorous candidate evaluation, and active director engagement. These are what truly set boards up for resilient leadership transitions. How has your board approached CEO succession planning, and what’s worked best for you? If you’d like deeper insights into how boards organize for succession planning, explore our latest article: https://bit.ly/48j3eIW

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Learning, Leading, and Elevating Executive Talent I recently had the privilege of joining SHRM’s #HonestHR Podcast, hosted by the insightful Nicole Belyna, SHRM-SCP. We explored a topic that is deeply close to my heart: executive recruiting and leadership development. During our conversation, I shared my belief that executive recruiting is fundamentally different from other levels of hiring — it’s not only about finding someone with the right experience on paper but about identifying a leader who can shape the organization’s direction, strengthen culture, and inspire people to achieve their best. We also discussed how critical it is for HR to take an active leadership role in the executive search process. While I deeply value the expertise that external executive search partners bring, I emphasized that HR should serve as the primary steward of the relationship between the organization and the search professional. By doing so, HR ensures alignment with strategic goals and maintains the authenticity of the employer brand throughout the process. Another key topic we covered was how HR leaders in small or lean teams can still have a powerful impact in executive recruiting. Even without large resources, HR can assert their influence by staying deeply connected to organizational needs, fostering strong relationships with key stakeholders, and embedding themselves in the process as strategic advisors rather than just facilitators. Finally, we touched on the importance of supporting leaders after they are hired — executive recruiting doesn’t end when the offer is signed. It’s the beginning of a journey to help new leaders integrate successfully and make a lasting impact. I’m grateful to SHRM, the SHRM Digital Production team and Nicole for the opportunity to share these insights and for hosting such a thoughtful discussion. If you’re interested in thinking more strategically about executive recruiting and how HR can lead with impact, I encourage you to listen to this episode. Thank you again to SHRM and Nicole for having me. (and boy, I don't know why I am blinking so much at the beginning of this video... maybe I was overwhelmed with the outstanding facilitation and interview skills of Nicole?) ------ https://lnkd.in/gtWiyuag #ExecutiveRecruiting #LeadershipDevelopment #TalentAcquisition #SHRM #HonestHR #HumanResources #StrategicHR

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Most CEOs can rattle off core financial metrics of their organizations...but ask about the health of their cultures, and there's a lot less data involved in the answer. It’s not because culture isn’t important. It’s because most leaders don’t know how to talk about it, let alone measure it. My colleague, Marshall Bergmann, explores this in more depth in this new article: https://lnkd.in/gzxQqhMZ

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AI won’t rescue a broken culture. Too many organizations are racing to plug AI into work without asking the harder question: What kind of workplace are we automating? That’s the message behind my recent piece in the Austin Business Journal. No matter how advanced the tech, it can’t fix burnout, broken trust, or outdated performance systems. Here’s where it gets exciting: when HR leads, AI becomes a quiet enabler — taking admin off managers’ plates, surfacing insights for personalized development, and creating feedback loops that move at the pace of work. https://lnkd.in/dscidz5J

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Creating space for others is a fundamental part of leadership. As women leaders, we have a responsibility to open doors, elevate voices, and shape environments where more women can rise, contribute, and lead. Here are a few ways I’ve put that into practice with my own team: ➡️ Building meaningful feedback loops: Make sure women are heard in meetings, then follow up to see if their input and ideas are being carried forward. If not, help amplify them. ➡️ Recommending women for stretch projects and speaking opportunities: Visibility creates momentum, and the right opportunity can change someone’s path. ➡️ Creating space intentionally: Whether that means starting an internal community for women or advocating for them when they aren’t in the room, these actions matter. When we lead with purpose and lift others up along the way, we build not only stronger organizations but also a more inclusive future. #Leadership #Mentorship #WomenInTech

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