Brian Baker
Chief People Officer
Teneo
Episode 63
Unlock Growth: Leaders Need a Lifeguard Mindset to Master AI & Culture
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleSeptember 2, 2025 · 12:24
Thesis
“Organizations that prioritize the deliberate growth of their culture and people will inevitably achieve business growth, requiring leaders to adopt a versatile 'lifeguard mindset' and strategically integrate human and machine capabilities.”
Show notes
Brian Baker spent years advising CEOs and boards at IBM, Walmart, and Accenture before taking the CPO seat at Teneo, the global CEO and board advisory firm. His framework for leadership — what he calls the lifeguard mindset — is shaped by all of it: watchfulness, care, and the discipline to intervene at the right moment rather than the most convenient one. A lifeguard who jumps in too early creates dependence. One who waits too long creates crisis. The judgment required to do neither is exactly what great people leadership demands.
Brian brings that judgment to a conversation that stretches well beyond traditional HR territory. He's rethinking inclusion in the age of AI — arguing that inclusion can no longer mean just demographic representation but must extend to the relationship between humans and machines in the workplace. He's also pushing back on the notion that networks just happen: at Teneo, intentional network-building is a strategic investment in the range of thought and access that makes leaders more effective.
His core belief is that growing people and culture isn't a parallel track to business growth — it is the growth strategy. And in a firm that advises the most senior leaders in the world, he has an unusually clear view of what that actually looks like in practice.
- The lifeguard mindset in leadership — watchfulness, care, and the timing of intervention as a leadership philosophy
- Redefining inclusion for the AI era — why diversity frameworks must evolve to address human-machine collaboration
- Building intentional networks — why strategic relationship-building is a leadership skill, not a social nicety
- Culture and people development as growth strategy — not a side initiative, but the engine of organizational performance
- Disruptor vs. diplomat — knowing which mode to operate in, and how to develop fluency in both
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What you'll take away
- 1Cultivate a 'lifeguard mindset' in leadership to empathetically observe, coach, and decisively intervene, adapting to constant global and personal disruptions.
- 2Reimagine inclusion to extend beyond humans, integrating AI and digital tools seamlessly into culture and workflows for enhanced productivity and outcomes.
- 3Actively build and nurture a purposeful network with other HR leaders and disruptors to stay ahead of industry trends and foster continuous learning.
- 4Make a quantifiable commitment to growing your culture and developing people at all levels, as this is a proven driver of business success.
- 5Develop the strategic versatility to be both a disruptor and a diplomat, knowing when to challenge existing norms and when to build organizational consensus.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Brian suggests that many past inclusion programs were 'over-programmed and under-outcomes,' challenging the effectiveness of traditional DEI approaches.
- •He expresses a 'wild optimist' perspective on AI, viewing it as a tool that can make us 'more productive and probably more human,' which counters common anxieties about AI's impact.
- •While acknowledging the 'assault that DE&I has taken,' he remains steadfast in its criticality, demonstrating a resilient and nuanced view on the ongoing challenges to diversity initiatives.
In Brian's words
“I think about the role of a modern leader, a lot like what it was like to be a lifeguard and how you spot people who are engaging in maybe a behavior that could pose a risk, how you keep a watch over people in a way that is humane and human, but not necessarily intervening, if you will.”
This quote introduces the central metaphor for modern leadership, highlighting the need for vigilance and nuanced engagement.
“First off, I have to say I am a wild optimist around how AI is going to help us be more productive and probably more human if we're open to that.”
This quote provides Brian's overarching positive view on AI's potential, challenging common negative perceptions.
“The organizations that are going to win are going to be organizations who are really good at knowing what work can and should be uniquely human, what work can and should be uniquely machine, and knowing about where those two things should mix and intersect with each other and making sure that the culture and the skills of the organization exist so that that can be possible.”
This defines a critical capability for future organizational success in an AI-integrated workforce.
“If you grow your culture and you grow your people, you'll grow your business.”
This is a concise and powerful statement of his core belief about the relationship between people, culture, and business outcomes.
“balance and know when to be a disruptor and when to be a diplomat. And I think knowing those two things and having both skills, seeing when there's an opportunity to disrupt something, whether it be because of technology or your business or your clients or are demanding it is huge. But also, the skill of diplomacy, building coalitions inside the organization, galvanizing, and I think uniting energy to go win together as a team, being able to do both those things and knowing when is a piece of advice I would have as a skill to build and something that is highly valuable inside the organization.”
This offers actionable advice for HR leaders on navigating their role with strategic flexibility.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Ineffective inclusion programs that are 'over-programmed and under-outcomes' (4:49) lead to frustration and missed opportunities.
- •Leaders struggle to master the 'lifeguard mindset'—balancing observation, coaching, and intervention—amid constant change and global destabilization (1:32, 2:49).
- •Organizations face the challenge of seamlessly integrating human talent with agentic AI, robots, and automation, requiring new cultural and skill frameworks (6:00).
- •Ensuring employee engagement by making teams feel challenged, supported, and connected to meaningful work is a continuous organizational design challenge (8:15).
- •HR leaders need to remain relevant and effective advisors to the business, requiring a balance of disruptive innovation and diplomatic coalition-building (11:16).
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
How can leaders cultivate a lifeguard mindset to drive resilience and progress
How to Lead With a Lifeguard Mindset
What does true inclusion look like when we expand beyond people to include AI and digital tools
What Does True Inclusion Look Like for AI and Digital Tools?
How can HR leaders intentionally build networks that spark collective change in the world
How to Build a Disruptive Network
If you grow culture and you grow your people, you'll grow your business
Teneo's culture and growth
Brian, what parting advice would you like to share with our community
Brian Kotlikoff on His Last Words
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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