Rethink Resistance: The Neuroscience of Leading Change | Travis Hahler

Rethink Resistance: The Neuroscience of Leading Change | Travis Hahler

Leaders often assume resistance means people do not care, do not understand, or simply do not want to change. In this episode, Sondra Kiss speaks with Travis D Hahler, Senior Director of Global Strategy and Transformation at Salesforce, founder of The Neurological Nomad, and author of the upcoming book Rethink Resistance: Embracing Neuroscience to Lead Transformational Change. Travis shares how neuroscience helps explain why change is so hard for people, even when the strategy is sound and the case for change is clear. Drawing on years of work guiding transformation across more than 100 organizations, he explains what is happening in the brain when people face disrupted habits, perceived threat, and uncertainty, and what leaders can do to support people more effectively through those moments. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE * Why resistance is often a neurological response, not a leadership rejection * How disrupted habits create one of the strongest barriers to change * Why changing behavior can take much longer than leaders expect * How threat responses show up in modern organizations, even when no physical danger exists * Why uncertainty heightens stress and slows adoption * What leaders can do to create stability during times of change * Why frequent communication matters even when there is “nothing new” to say * How transparency builds trust without requiring leaders to share everything * Why leaders should separate ego from change and focus on support, not applause * How to shift from announcing change to actually helping people move through it CONNECT WITH THE GUEST Website: theneurologicalnomad.com [http://theneurologicalnomad.com] RESOURCES MENTIONED * Rethink Resistance: Embracing Neuroscience to Lead Transformational Change * Available in June through Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and the author’s website #ChangeLeadership #NeuroscienceOfChange #OrganizationalChange #Leadership #FutureOfWork #Salesforce

Inside the AI Governance Process | Rob Alger of Kaiser Permanente

AI strategy gets a lot harder when the stakes are high, the organization is large, and the technology keeps moving underneath you. In this conversation, Sondra Kiss sits down with Rob Alger of Kaiser Permanente to explore what responsible AI leadership actually looks like inside a complex healthcare environment. They discuss how leaders can balance speed with safety, why Kaiser does not use AI to make clinical decisions, what “human in the loop” looks like in practice, and why the emerging orchestration layer matters as agents, vendors, and data systems become more interconnected. Rob also shares one of Kaiser’s most successful AI applications so far: ambient listening that helps clinicians reduce documentation burden while improving the quality of patient interaction. This episode is especially useful for leaders thinking about AI governance, operating model design, vendor risk, and how to move beyond pilots into real production value. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN * Why speed versus safety is the wrong oversimplification for AI leadership * Why Kaiser keeps clinical decisions with clinicians * What “human in the loop” means in a real service environment * What the orchestration layer does in an agentic AI environment * Why privilege, auditability, and vendor sprawl matter more than most organizations realize * Why AI adoption stalls when teams try to bolt it onto old processes * What a real AI success story looks like in practice These conversations reflect leaders sharing their own experiences navigating real transformation work. The perspectives expressed are personal and don’t necessarily represent their organizations.

AI Ambition vs Workforce Readiness: Closing the Fluency Gap | Julianne Sobral

Many organizations have big AI ambitions. Far fewer are investing with the same intensity in workforce readiness. In this episode, Sondra Kiss speaks with Julianne Sobral, Chief People Officer at  IQT, a strategic investor that identifies and accelerates cutting-edge technologies for national security.  Julianne is a certified leadership coach and trusted advisor with 20+ years leading people strategy, organizational transformation, and executive development across sectors.  They unpack what “AI fluency” actually means, why fear blocks adoption, and what leaders can do to build trust, confidence, and real workflow change across a workforce with wildly different starting points. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE * A practical definition of AI fluency: using AI effectively, responsibly, and confidently * Why the AI conversation often starts from fear, not facts, and how leaders can reset the narrative * How IQT approaches AI fluency as top-down, bottom-up, and peer-to-peer change * How IQT built AI Learning Days to create space for adoption (not “one more thing” on a crowded plate) * How to segment learning for different starting points: AI novice, AI curious, AI practitioners * The biggest lesson from IQT’s first learning day: adults want hands-on practice * Why middle managers are the unlock for adoption (and why they are getting squeezed) * Why data readiness is the foundation (and why “golden data sets” matter) * Four under-discussed barriers: time, middle management, data, fear * A simple leadership frame: trust, time, and translation CONNECT WITH THE GUEST Julianne Sobral (LinkedIn):https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliannesobral/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliannesobral/]  #AIFluency #WorkforceReadiness #ChangeLeadership #HRLeadership #FutureOfWork #IQT These conversations reflect leaders sharing their own experiences navigating real transformation work. The perspectives expressed are personal and don’t necessarily represent their organizations.