Liezl Tolentino
Chief People Officer
PT Solutions Physical Therapy
Episode 32
Beyond Support: HR's Strategic Power Demands Self-Care for Profound Impact
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleOctober 8, 2025 · 20:04
Thesis
“HR's true power lies in being a central, strategic driver of transformation and value creation, requiring leaders to prioritize self-care and authentic leadership to make a profound human impact.”
Show notes
Summary
In this episode of the Built by People Podcast, Liezl Tolentino shares her extensive career journey in HR, emphasizing the importance of coaching, self-care, and the impact of leadership during challenging times. She discusses her sabbatical, defining moments in her career, and the challenges she faced as an HR leader, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Liezl also highlights the significance of building confidence, minimizing self-doubt, and leaving a positive legacy in the workplace.
Takeaways
- HR can be a key driver in transformation and value creation.
- Taking a sabbatical can provide clarity and energy for future endeavors.
- Healthy selfishness is crucial for personal and professional well-being.
- Building trust with employees is essential during crises.
- Self-acceptance helps minimize self-doubt and negative self-talk.
- Practicing gratitude can rewire your brain for positivity.
- Leaders should focus on their strengths to build confidence.
- The legacy of an HR leader should be about positive impact.
- HR leaders have the privilege to make a significant impact on humanity.
Chapters
00:00 Liezl's Career Journey
03:41 The Power of Coaching
06:11 The Importance of Taking a Sabbatical
07:57 Defining Moments in HR Leadership
11:17 Overcoming Challenges as an HR Leader
15:51 Building Confidence and Minimizing Self-Doubt
15:57 Legacy and Impact as an HR Leader
17:39 Parting Advice for HR Leaders
What you'll take away
- 1**Strategic Acumen for HR Leaders:** Strengthen business leadership skills (e.g., through business school) to position HR as a strategic driver of transformation and value, not just a support function.
- 2**Organizational Savvy and Self-Perception:** Understand organizational power dynamics, how you are perceived ('your buzz'), and how evaluation criteria ('scorecard') shift with different leaders to navigate and grow effectively.
- 3**Prioritize Self-Care as a Necessity:** HR leaders, like everyone, must put on their own oxygen mask first; intentional self-care routines (meditation, gratitude, 'healthy selfishness') are crucial for sustained energy and impact, especially during crises.
- 4**Lead Authentically, Embrace Strengths:** Cultivate self-acceptance and embrace your unique leadership style, even if certain traits (like directness or challenging the status quo) face criticism, as these can be your greatest strengths.
- 5**Build Trust Through Action in Crisis:** During unprecedented challenges, foster trust with employees through non-negotiable safety measures, transparent and consistent communication, and robust wellbeing support.
What most organizations get wrong
- •"Healthy selfishness" is presented as a crucial concept, pushing back against the common HR narrative of always putting others first, emphasizing personal well-being as a prerequisite for professional effectiveness.
- •Her approach to self-doubt involves acknowledging criticisms (e.g., "too direct, too honest") but reframing them as strengths, suggesting that perceived negative traits can be powerful leadership assets rather than flaws to be corrected.
In Liezl's words
“all of them have had kind of a similar theme where HR was central, not just kind of as a support function, but a key driver in transformation and value creation. And long-term success.”
This quote encapsulates her core belief in the strategic importance and transformative power of the HR function.
“Knowing and understanding how you're perceived, it's called knowing what your buzz is, I think is really important. It's a concept that not a lot of people think about, but when you read about it in the book, it's the one takeaway people feel very energized by.”
Highlights an often overlooked but crucial aspect of career growth and organizational savvy – self-awareness of one's professional reputation.
“How do you ask somebody to walk into a senior living community with a resident that you know has tested positive for COVID and ask them to still show up with empathy, care, and compassion and courage?”
This vividly illustrates the profound ethical and practical challenge HR leaders faced in inspiring a frontline workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“when you believe in yourself, it won't bother you that other people don't.”
A concise and powerful mantra that underscores the importance of internal confidence over external validation for leaders.
“I just truly believe that the biggest flex in life isn't about your titles or your accolades. It really is about how many people you positively impact along the way.”
Defines her impactful legacy, emphasizing human connection and positive influence as the ultimate measure of success for leaders.
“we're in the business of humanity, and there's no greater privilege or opportunity, uh, to make an impact.”
This serves as an inspiring call to action for HR professionals, reaffirming the profound and human-centric mission of their role.
The problems this episode addresses
- •**Rapid Growth & Culture Scaling:** Companies experiencing 20-30% annual growth struggle to scale culture and build sustainable people processes, potentially losing their 'Top Workplace' status.
- •**Leadership Burnout & Stress in Crisis:** HR leaders face extreme burnout and exhaustion when managing critical workforces (e.g., healthcare frontline) during global crises, leading to self-doubt and potential career impact.
- •**Navigating Self-Doubt & Unfair Criticism:** Leaders, particularly women of color, grapple with self-doubt and character criticism when making tough, transformative decisions, hindering their confidence and effectiveness.
- •**Employee Financial Strain:** Employees are concerned about monthly expenses, leading to financial stress that impacts overall well-being and engagement.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
You started your career at Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Tell us about your career journey
Top HR Executives on Their Career Journey
Tell me about the book you decided to write
Bookmark: Knowing Your Power
You took a year off after working during the pandemic
Tom Clancy on Taking a Year Off
Lizelle was leading Enlivent during COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 Pandemic: An HR Challenge
I wanna talk about challenges that you've experienced as HR leader in your career
Challenges faced by HR and Talent Leaders
What are some daily things you do to reaffirm confidence and minimize self-doubt
Five Ways to Boost Your Self-confidence
What do you hope to leave as an HR leader and why
What's a legacy you hope to leave as an HR leader?
Lizelle, what parting advice would you like to provide to our community right now
Lizelle On The Need to Take Care of Yourself
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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