Paige Lisk
Chief People Officer
Kyruus Health
Episode 355
Opportunity, not aptitude, unlocks talent: A CPO's guide to impact
Current chapter: Covering monthly expenses is the number one concern for employees in 2024
Built By PeopleJanuary 9, 2025 · 13:03
Thesis
“Aptitude is equally dispersed, but opportunity is not; organizations must actively create pathways for individuals from non-traditional backgrounds and underrepresented groups to unlock talent and drive profound societal impact. Modern leadership success hinges on emotional intelligence and influencing skills, which often outweigh technical expertise.”
Show notes
In this episode of the Built by People podcast, top HR leader Paige Lisk shares her unconventional career journey from being an opera singer to a chief people officer. Paige discusses the importance of expanding talent development to include individuals from non-traditional backgrounds, emphasizing how aptitude is often equally dispersed but opportunity is not. She shares insights into strategies for promoting women's advancement and fostering an inclusive work environment. Paige also highlights the critical role of emotional intelligence and soft skills in effective leadership, advocating for a balanced approach between technical skills and emotional quotient (EQ). Sponsored by Predige, the discussion includes practical tips for HR professionals and leaders looking to enhance diversity and inclusion in the workplace. 00:44 Guest Introduction: Paige's Career Journey 01:49 Expanding Talent Development 04:29 Promoting Women's Advancement in Corporate Spaces 06:23 Creating Inclusive Meeting Environments 07:37 The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership 10:07 Balancing Technical and Soft Skills for Effective Leadership 12:06 Parting Advice and Conclusion
What you'll take away
- 1Implement aptitude-based hiring and training programs to access diverse talent from non-traditional backgrounds, significantly boosting individual earnings and community impact.
- 2Actively promote women and people of color by creating visible opportunities and fostering supportive networks (e.g., Women in Technology groups, Chief-like organizations).
- 3Cultivate inclusive meeting environments by establishing working norms that allow for silence and proactively inviting contributions from quieter attendees.
- 4Prioritize the development of emotional intelligence (EQ) and influencing skills among leaders, recognizing them as paramount for navigating complex, remote, and hybrid team dynamics.
- 5Strive for a 60% soft skills to 40% technical skills balance for leadership success, as soft skills are often harder to teach but critical for collaboration and customer engagement.
- 6Embrace change as the only constant in the corporate world and encourage finding passion in mission, skills, or team to sustain engagement.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Paige Lisk suggests that women, especially when few in number in leadership roles, have not always been good at advocating for each other, sometimes becoming territorial, which is an unexpected observation.
In Paige's words
“Aptitude is equally dispersed, but I don't think opportunity is, right?”
This quote encapsulates the core philosophy behind her approach to non-traditional talent acquisition.
“By the time they had been in a tech field for 5 years, they were making $95,000 a year. This is life-changing for that human, their family, and even the community around them.”
It highlights the tangible, transformative impact of creating opportunities for individuals from non-traditional backgrounds.
“The best way to support their advancement is to make sure that they see themselves in roles that they are aspiring to move into, right?”
This provides a direct, actionable strategy for fostering diversity and advancement in corporate spaces.
“If anybody were to ask me today, what are the two skills that you think are the most important in corporate America, all other things being equal, I would tell you EQ, emotional quotient, emotional intelligence, and influencing.”
This strongly emphasizes the critical importance of soft skills as foundational for career success in today's environment.
“To be successful in an organization today, it's 60% soft skills, 40% technical skills.”
This quote offers a clear, quantifiable benchmark for the necessary balance of skills in modern professional roles.
The problems this episode addresses
- •HR teams struggle to find sufficient talent through traditional recruiting channels, especially as baby boomers retire and new skills are needed rapidly.
- •Organizations face challenges in creating and sustaining opportunities for women and people of color to advance into leadership roles.
- •Meetings, particularly in remote or hybrid settings, often lack true inclusivity, leading to some voices being unheard or dominated by more assertive participants.
- •Many leaders, especially post-pandemic, lack the emotional intelligence needed to effectively lead diverse individuals and rally them around common goals in a 'full selves at work' culture.
- •Even technically proficient employees often lack essential soft skills (e.g., collaboration, customer interaction) required for cross-functional success in modern roles.
In this episode
Covering monthly expenses is the number one concern for employees in 2024
Built by People
Dave Zirin started off as an opera singer and then moved into tech
CIO Dave Goldberg on Built by People
How do you expand talent development to include individuals from non-traditional backgrounds
Talent Development: Non-Traditional Backgrounds
What are some of the effective strategies that, um, you use to promote women's advancement
What are some of the effective strategies to support and promote women's
How do you create an inclusive environment in meetings, especially women's voices
How to Create an Inclusive Meeting Environment
How do you balance technical skills and soft skills needed for effective leadership
How to Balance the Soft Skills and EQ
Paige, any parting advice you'd like to share with our audience
Paige On The Built by People Podcast
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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