Lucia Guillory
Chief People Officer
Virta Health
Episode 167
HR's Growth Paradox: Why Releasing Control Fuels Success in Dynamic Orgs
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleMay 30, 2025 · 11:05
Thesis
“In dynamic, rapidly growing organizations, HR leaders must prioritize operational excellence and foster authentic connections through transparency, gratitude, and ritualized experiences, while embracing adaptability and releasing the illusion of control to achieve sustained success.”
Show notes
Navigating Remote Work Challenges with Lucia Guillory at Virta HealthIn this episode of the Built by People Podcast, the host welcomes Lucia, the Chief People Officer at Virta Health. Lucia shares her unconventional career journey from academia to analytics, and eventually to her current HR leadership role.
She discusses the significant challenges her team faced transitioning to remote work during the pandemic, including workforce reductions, and emphasizes the importance of transparency in overcoming these hurdles. Lucia introduces a three-part framework focused on connection, gratitude, and operational excellence, which has been instrumental in maintaining team cohesion.
She shares personal growth stories, strategies for overcoming self-doubt, and actionable steps for fostering collaboration in a distributed team.
The episode concludes with Lucia’s advice on releasing the illusion of control to become more adaptable and effective in leadership.00:00 Welcome and Introduction00:41 Lucia's Career Journey01:07 Challenges of Transitioning to Remote Work02:42 Framework for Team Connection03:56 Personal Growth and Leadership05:52 Addressing Self-Doubt as a Leader07:12 Creating Connections in a Distributed Team09:43 Parting Advice for Leaders10:56 Conclusion and Farewell
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What you'll take away
- 1Implement extreme transparency during major organizational shifts (like RIFs or remote transitions) to maintain trust and cohesion, gathering employee data to inform decisions.
- 2Develop a remote connection framework centered on purpose-driven IRL events, gratitude-based experiences, and recurring rituals to foster belonging and combat isolation.
- 3Prioritize operational excellence in HR during hyper-growth phases, as it builds influence and trust, and has a greater impact on engagement than purely bespoke strategic projects.
- 4View self-doubt as a component of self-awareness, aiming to manage it within a reasonable range to motivate reflection or action, rather than attempting to eliminate it entirely.
- 5Leaders should release the illusion of control to become more adaptable and effective in navigating inevitable organizational challenges with empathy.
What most organizations get wrong
- •She challenges the conventional view that strategic HR work is always bespoke and that the business always knows what it needs, advocating for operational excellence as a more impactful starting point.
- •Suggests that operational excellence can drive employee engagement more effectively than traditional, 'long-form, more strategic seeming projects'.
- •Presents self-doubt as a potentially beneficial aspect of self-awareness, rather than a weakness to be eradicated, advising leaders to manage it constructively.
In Lucia's words
“Well, so like many companies, Virta transitioned to being fully remote in the context of the pandemic. So we had both this change to the way that we worked, and then we also had a reduction in force around the same time. So a lot of big shocks to the system all happening at once.”
Highlights the complex, multi-faceted challenges faced by organizations during rapid and simultaneous transformations.
“So Talking about the riff, exactly why it happened from a quantitative perspective, from how that was gonna influence our business moving forward. And then also talking about the decision to become fully remote for the long term and taking into account how the business and the various teams felt about that. So we had a number of live conversations, we even gathered data, and then we said, you know, this is what people actually want.”
Emphasizes the critical role of extreme transparency and data-driven communication during sensitive organizational changes to maintain trust.
“And then third, we found that that shift to operational excellence has had a bigger impact on engagement than these more long-form, more strategic seeming projects have over their their lifetime.”
Provides a counter-intuitive insight that fundamental operational improvements can significantly boost employee engagement more than grander, 'strategic' initiatives.
“Well, I would say self-doubt is part of self-awareness, so I recognize the benefit of it and I have been most focused on trying to dial it down within myself to being in a reasonable range... as opposed to necessarily trying to get rid of it altogether?”
Offers a nuanced perspective on managing self-doubt, reframing it as a valuable aspect of self-awareness rather than a flaw to be eliminated.
“One that I really love is called Hub Week, and it is one week a quarter where Vertons all over the US can decide to come together in their local communities and create something for that community. And typically a lot of these experiences are around food and health because that is the ethos of our organization.”
Illustrates a creative and effective program for fostering community and purpose-driven connection in a distributed, remote workforce.
“And so, you know, my thought would be if you can, if you can release that presumption of control, you can become more adaptable and more effective at dealing with the inevitable waves that you're going to be experiencing.”
Encourages leaders to embrace adaptability and resilience by letting go of the need for absolute control in dynamic environments.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Maintaining team cohesion and culture during simultaneous, significant organizational shocks like transitions to remote work and reductions in force.
- •The challenge of making HR's work impactful and 'strategic' in hyper-growth environments where business needs are fluid and not always clearly defined.
- •Leaders struggling with self-doubt and the tendency to catastrophize, needing strategies to manage these feelings constructively rather than suppress them.
- •Fostering connections and collaboration within highly distributed teams, especially when the organization comprises diverse professional entities (e.g., medical providers and technical staff).
- •Leaders who feel compelled to maintain an illusion of control, which can hinder their adaptability and effectiveness in navigating complex, unpredictable business environments.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
Virta transitioned to being fully remote in the context of the pandemic
Virta Health's transition to fully Remote Work
We want to drive connection, not only amongst individuals, but also connection to purpose
What is the Connectivity Framework at Work?
Lucia says personal growth can lead to improved leadership skills
Three Step Processes for Personal Growth
Usha, how do you address self-doubt or unlearned habits
How to Deal With Self-Doubt
Virta helps create connections and collaboration within a distributed team
Creating Connections and Collaboration within a Remote Team
Dave: Lucia, what parting advice would you share with our community
Lucia On Leaping the Illusion of Control
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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