Last Thursday in IBM’s beautiful new office space in midtown Manhattan, I was the emcee for HR Innovators’ first CHRO Summit of 2025, Human Resources to Drive Business Results.
I met new friends, saw old friends, connected with leaders who I profiled in my books over the years, and met some “Zoom colleagues” IRL for the first time.
I loved moderating and connecting the dots between the various speakers and the issues that are keeping HR leaders up at night. When I reflect back on the day, CHROs, like all great human leaders, do three things exceptionally well: connect people to purpose, to each other, and to themselves.
Here are some of the sessions at the Summit that highlight how CHROs can become great human leaders.
Connect People to Purpose: Make Work Fair
The pendulum has been swinging non-stop over the last few years in the area of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Behavioral economist and bestselling author, Iris Bohnet spoke with Matthew Breitfelder, Global Head of Human Capital Management at Apollo about a different approach. Bohnet asked us: What about if we just make work fair? It’s hard to argue with that!
Breitfelder talked about the importance of delivering on meritocracy and making talent management objective. Employees (especially Gen Z) want to work for organizations who live their values, have purpose, and believe in fairness. Check out Bohnet’s new book, which happens to be called Make Work Fair, to learn more.
Connect People to Each Other: Find the Sweet Spot between Tech and Connect
We kicked off the day with IBM SVP and CHRO Nickle LaMoreaux who talked about how IBM is using AI to improve and enhance leadership. The question she asks leaders at IBM is, What will you do with the time you’ve saved? LaMoreaux expands in the book, More Human: “We knew we were freeing up time, and so we wanted to be thoughtful and ask ourselves, what’s the higher value opportunity here?” LaMoreaux believes that the opportunity is for leaders to create “uniquely human moments that matter and have the biggest impact on our people.”
Connect People to Themselves: Invest in Talent Mobility
Employees want to grow on the job—up, down, and sideways. If we don’t make it easy for employees to find new opportunities within our organizations, they will leave and find a new opportunity elsewhere. That challenge is exactly why Ben Reuveni launched Gloat, an AI-driven talent mobility platform.
At the Summit, Reuveni spoke with Mastercard’s Chief Talent Officer, Lucrecia Borgonovo on how they use an internal talent marketplace to better meet their talent mobility needs. The marketplace, called Unlocked (and powered by Gloat) displays open roles, stretch assignments, mentorship opportunities, and projects across the organization—all in one place. It gives employees visibility into what’s possible and empowers them to take ownership of their careers.
Which is not only good for people, but great for business.
I love that HR Innovators is providing a place for CHROs to come together in person and build community. There’s never been a more exciting (and more challenging) time to be in this field.
I’m thrilled to be on the front lines to help CHROs become Great Human Leaders.
4/2/25
