Feb. 14, 2025

216 - Your CEO pushing for RTO? Ask these 5 Q’s: Brian Elliott (CEO, Work Forward)

Brian Elliott, a leading expert on flexible work, joined us on the show.

We talked about whether or not remote work is actually dead (looked at the actual data), the questions to ask when your CEO pushes for a RTO, and why a return to office won’t fix bad management.

---- 

🔗 Sign up for our upcoming webinar with ChartHop

🔗 Get Atlassian’s free guide to AI-powered knowledge management

🔗 Buy tickets for MPL Live Boston

🔗 Sign up for Brian's newsletter: Work Forward

---- 

(07:36) How Brian became a leading voice on the future of work

(13:39) The origins of Slack’s Future Forum and key findings

(14:56) The media vs. reality: Is remote work really dead?

(17:14) CEOs pushing RTO: Data-driven decision or gut feeling?

(19:02) The role of real estate, stealth layoffs, and productivity concerns

(23:27) The trust factor: Why some leaders struggle with hybrid models

(26:35) Politics and workplace decisions: The hidden forces at play

(28:34) The shift from central business districts to neighborhood economies

(30:37) The future of work isn’t fully remote or in-office—it’s flexible

(34:12) How HR leaders can push back on RTO mandates

(38:19) The contradiction: CEOs demanding AI innovation while enforcing RTO

(41:50) Performance management in a hybrid world: Why tracking outcomes matters

(47:33) How leading companies successfully implement flexible work policies

(49:30) The impact of return-to-office policies on women in the workforce

(54:23) What cities will look like in a remote-first future

(57:57) Five years from now: What will the workplace look like?

(01:01:43) The economic realities of remote work and city tax structures

---- 

📬 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), and many more.

Popular Episodes

July 13, 2022

69 - Melissa Werneck (Global Chief People Officer, Kraft Heinz) on "T…

Melissa Werneck, Global Chief People Officer at Kraft Heinz, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the work Kraft Heinz is doing to help support and develop their managers, why it was important for the move f...

Listen to the Episode
June 26, 2023

117 - Vimeo CPO on intentional culture building (Crystal Boysen, Chie…

Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Vimeo) joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about intentional culture building, how to bring your core values to life on your people team, and why Vimeos People Team operates ...

Listen to the Episode
May 22, 2023

112 - Inclusive Processes & “Sneaky DEIB”: GoDaddy’s VP of Diversity,…

Kristy Lilas (Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging) joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how to identify the processes at your company that aren’t inclusive or equitable and sneaky ways you ...

Listen to the Episode
Feb. 14, 2022

56 - Liz Fosslien (Co-Author of No Hard Feelings & Big Feelings) on c…

Liz Fosslien, the co-author of No Hard Feelings and Big Feelings, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about her journey to becoming a best-selling author, the 7 Big Feelings that we've all been experiencing the p...

Listen to the Episode
July 17, 2023

120 - Creating talent abundance for 40k employees at Goldman Sachs: D…

David Landman (Global Head of Talent Development, Goldman Sachs) joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the retentive power of internal mobility, how they shifted from a mindset of talent scarcity to talent ab...

Listen to the Episode
June 6, 2023

114 - Q Hamirani (Chief People Officer, Paper) on building Airbnb's '…

Q Hamirani (Chief People Officer, Paper) joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the Live and Work Anywhere Program from his time at Airbnb, how he navigates moments of uncertainty, and how he’s approaching his...

Listen to the Episode
Feb. 13, 2023

94 - Josh Bersin (HR Analyst) on the 7 secrets of the world's most en…

Josh Bersin, HR Analyst at The Josh Bersin Company, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the most impactful events he’s seen in HR over the decades, the network of teams operating model, the highest predicto...

Listen to the Episode
Jan. 31, 2022

54 - Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, HubSpot) on removing opinions…

Katie Burke, Chief People Officer at HubSpot, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about HubSpot’s award-winning culture, how they conducted 4 panels to make future of work decisions, and how they’re giving employ...

Listen to the Episode
Feb. 27, 2023

98 - Brandon Sammut (Chief People Officer, Zapier) on internal mobili…

Brandon Sammut, Chief People Officer at Zapier, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about Zapier’s secondment program, how they build awareness of different talent pathways, and how to build bridges with your CEO...

Listen to the Episode
Feb. 16, 2023

95 - Christine Song (Chief People Officer, Knix) on discussing the ha…

Christine Song, Chief People Officer at Knix, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about her experience in HR across eight different industries, her first three months as Knix’s new Chief People Officer, and the i...

Listen to the Episode
Aug. 28, 2023

127 - How Zillow made massive gains in DEI by embracing the future of…

Roz Francuz Harris, VP of Talent Acquisition at Zillow, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about Zillow’s ‘CloudHQ’, the massive impact that CloudHQ has had on DEIB metrics, and why Talent leaders should embrace...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 6, 2023

134 - How CHROs can align themselves closer to revenue: Jessica Zwaan…

Jessica Zwaan (Author, Built for People) and Ryan Bonnici (CMO, Gympass), joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why HR should be considered a revenue generating function, how to align yourself closer to reven...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 9, 2023

135 - Rivian CPO on scaling culture from 9 to 15,000 employees & chan…

Helen Russell, Chief People Officer at Rivian, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about scaling the culture as they’ve grown to 15k employees in the last few years, how Rivian is changing the face of what it …

Listen to the Episode
Nov. 6, 2023

139 - Pat Wadors (Chief People Officer, UKG): Creating a Personal Sco…

Pat Wadors, Chief People Officer at UKG, joined us on The Modern People Leader. She shared the story of coining the term “DIBs”, what’s on her personal scorecard and “Goldilocks Spreadsheet”, and why it’s important to be an “...

Listen to the Episode
Jan. 22, 2024

149 - 1,000 Days of Distributed at Atlassian (Annie Dean, VP of Team …

Annie Dean, VP of Team Anywhere at Atlassian, joined us on The Modern People Leader. She shared Atlassian’s learnings after 1,000 days of distributed work : their calendar redesign experiment, the impact of in-person gatherin...

Listen to the Episode
Feb. 26, 2024

160 - Dave Ulrich: The ROI of HR is "Return on Intangibles"

Dave Ulrich, Author & Professor, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about HR’s role adding value to customers and investors, why the ROI of HR is the “Return on Intangibles”, and the four questions every HR lead...

Listen to the Episode
March 15, 2024

165 - Zapier's CEO & Chief People Officer: Pre-vetting their match, Z…

Zapier’s Wade Foster (Co-Founder & CEO) and Brandon Sammut (Chief People Officer) joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how they pre-vetted their match in the interview process, why they did a company-wide AI...

Listen to the Episode
March 22, 2024

167 - Testing team performance reviews & insights from survey sent to…

David Hanrahan, Chief People Officer at Flare, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how he’s testing team performance reviews at Flare, the learnings from a survey that he sent out to 61 first-time CPOs, and...

Listen to the Episode
Aug. 6, 2024

193 - Brené Brown: Every day is leg day as a leader

Brené Brown, professor, author, and podcast host, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We discussed her experience as a leader, the concept of metacognition, and the leadership skill of creating space between stimulus and r...

Listen to the Episode
Aug. 13, 2024

194 - Melanie Rosenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox): How Dropbo…

Melanie Rosenwasser, Chief People Officer at Dropbox, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We discussed Dropbox’s virtual-first model, how they measure its success, and the three types of in-person gatherings they organize....

Listen to the Episode