Her Resources Podcast

Are people the infrastructure organizations keep ignoring? In Episode 99 of the Her Resources Podcast, Linda Misegadis welcomes Bob Lavigna, an award-winning public-sector workforce leader, researcher, and author whose career has focused on one enduring question: what helps people and organizations perform at their best?

Bob and Linda examine the gap between what leaders say about people and what their systems actually reward. They explore why listening without action can damage employee trust, why value, purpose, well-being, and flexibility shape retention, and how stronger workforce practices can improve public trust, resident satisfaction, and quality of life.

The conversation moves from employee engagement research to the everyday choices leaders make: performance conversations, recognition, internal mobility, skills-first hiring, HR measurement, and AI adoption. Bob challenges organizations to stop treating talent as interchangeable and start recognizing that investment in people is not separate from performance. It is what makes performance possible.

In this episode:

Why employee surveys require an action plan before launch

What public-sector research reveals about workforce quality and community outcomes

How leadership turns purpose into engagement or disengagement

Why HR needs evidence that connects people practices to results

How skills-based hiring expands opportunity and the talent pipeline

Why AI implementation is a change-management and human-capability issue

Listen, follow the show, and send this episode to someone who is ready to build a workplace where people are treated as essential infrastructure.

Guest and research links

Bob Lavigna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bob-lavigna

Engaging Government Employees: Google Books

Building Better Government from Within: UKG and Polco white paper

Research webinar: UKG webinar replay

Contact Bob: boblavigna@gmail.com

Her Resources links

Website: herresourcespodcast.com

Podbean: herresourcespodcast.podbean.com

YouTube: youtube.com/@HerResourcesPodcast

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/her-resources-podcast

Instagram: instagram.com/herresourcespodcast

TikTok: tiktok.com/@her.resources.pod

Apple Podcasts: Her Resources Podcast

All links: linktr.ee/hrpodcast

Guest and sponsorship inquiries: contact@herresourcespodcast.com

Episode timestamps

00:00 | Why are people the infrastructure organizations keep ignoring

03:58 | Meet Bob Lavigna

04:10 | Why employee engagement fundamentals still matter

06:14 | When leaders ask employees but fail to act

08:18 | Are organizations changing behavior or just the language

09:24 | How employee expectations changed after COVID

11:42 | Research linking workforce practices to community outcomes

15:15 | Evidence that better HR strengthens trust and quality of life

17:03 | Why public service and purpose matter

20:10 | What makes employees give more of themselves

22:01 | Well-being as a strategic advantage

24:19 | Flexibility growth and internal career mobility

27:03 | Why engaged employees stop caring

29:11 | Why organizations still treat people as a cost

31:00 | HR must measure outcomes not just activity

36:41 | The evidence behind people investments

39:05 | How one public service interaction changes trust

42:16 | Workforce practices that need to change

47:53 | Skills-first hiring and the paper ceiling

52:49 | AI human capability and change management

58:25 | Bob's legacy is taking care of people

1:00:08 | What Bob still wants to change

1:01:11 | Where to connect with Bob

1:02:05 | Linda's closing reflection

Produced by LJM Productions.

What if the story you keep telling yourself about who you are has become the very thing holding you back?

 

In Episode 98 of the Her Resources Podcast, Linda Misegadis talks with Colin Dingelstad, creator and athlete behind IMPOSSIBLE, a real-time documentary following his pursuit of an extraordinary challenge in mixed martial arts.

 

Colin spent years coaching other people to believe they were capable of more. Then he decided to test that philosophy in his own life. He shares why he chose a physical challenge with no guaranteed ending, what it has required to commit for the long term, and how he has navigated injury, rejection, changing relationships, and the pressure of funding an ambitious project.

 

The heart of this conversation reaches far beyond MMA. Linda and Colin examine how identity can become a cage, why mastery often requires moving more slowly than expected, and what it means to control your effort when the outcome remains uncertain. They also explore fatherhood, the example we create for the people watching us, and why courage may be less about winning than being willing to try.

 

You will hear reflections on:

Breaking free from self-limiting beliefs and inherited expectations

Moving from short bursts of motivation to sustained commitment

Adapting when injury or rejection changes the plan

Choosing aligned partners instead of accepting support at any cost

Letting an ambitious goal reshape your identity

Finding the challenge that feels worth pursuing

 

For anyone considering a career transition, personal reinvention, creative risk, or new chapter, this episode is an invitation to stop asking only, “Can I do this?” and begin asking, “Who might I become if I am willing to try?”

 

What is something you have labeled impossible that you have never actually tested?

 

GUEST LINKS

IMPOSSIBLE documentary: https://www.impossibledocumentary.com/

Colin Dingelstad on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-dingelstad/

 

HER RESOURCES LINKS

Website: https://www.herresourcespodcast.com/

Podbean: https://herresourcespodcast.podbean.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HerResourcesPodcast

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/her-resources-podcast/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herresourcespodcast/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@her.resources.pod

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/her-resources-podcast/id1768680594

All links: https://linktr.ee/hrpodcast

Guest and sponsorship inquiries: contact@herresourcespodcast.com

 

Produced by LJM Productions.

00:00	What if identity is the real limit?
02:55	Meet Colin Dingelstad
04:04	From entrepreneur and coach to IMPOSSIBLE
05:40	Why MMA became the challenge
07:33	How the people closest to Colin responded
09:40	Living the philosophy he had taught others
11:00	When identity becomes a cage
13:43	Physical limits vs. psychological limits
15:52	What it means to challenge a mental limit
18:36	Finding people who believe in an impossible goal
19:25	Why slow is fast in training
21:22	Injury, risk, and adaptation
23:19	Funding the project and choosing aligned partners
26:27	The hidden sacrifice: stepping into a new identity
29:08	Committing without knowing the ending
30:33	Redefining success through consistency
31:01	The rejection behind an ambitious project
36:11	Controlling effort when the outcome is uncertain
38:38	The example Colin wants to create for his son
40:56	How fatherhood changed his definition of courage
46:38	Questioning the rules we inherit
49:15	“I'm possible”: reframing the word impossible
50:15	How to choose the challenge worth pursuing
52:03	When the goal grows with you
53:17	Where to follow the IMPOSSIBLE journey
53:46	The courage to try: Linda's closing reflection

Why do good ideas fail to win support, even when the strategy is sound?

In Episode 97 of the Her Resources Podcast, Linda Misegadis welcomes leadership scholar and author Jay Conger for a practical conversation about the human side of influence and organizational change.

Jay explains why persuasion is not manipulation, selling, or a better PowerPoint. Real persuasion is built through listening, trust, credibility, curiosity, stakeholder engagement, and a willingness to be influenced. Linda and Jay explore the expertise trap, the difference between compliance and commitment, what resistance is trying to tell leaders, and why meaningful change requires engagement at every level of an organization.

They also discuss psychological safety, remote and hybrid leadership, credibility boosters, constructive emotion, and how leaders can create change with people instead of doing change to them.

Jay Conger is the Henry R. Kravis Research Chair in Leadership Studies at Claremont McKenna College and the author of 15 books. His newest book, The Persuasive Leader: Proven Strategies for Moving People and Ideas, is available November 3, 2026.

This conversation is for HR professionals, leaders, change makers, emerging executives, and anyone who has ever watched a strong idea stall because people were never meaningfully brought into the process.

Guest and book links

Jay Conger official website: https://www.jayconger.com/

Jay Conger on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-conger-429a999

Jay Conger at Claremont McKenna College: https://www.cmc.edu/academic/faculty/profile/jay-conger

The Persuasive Leader at Penguin Random House: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/833223/the-persuasive-leader-by-jay-a-conger/

Her Resources links

Website: https://www.herresourcespodcast.com/

Podbean: https://herresourcespodcast.podbean.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HerResourcesPodcast

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/her-resources-podcast/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herresourcespodcast/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@her.resources.pod

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/her-resources-podcast/id1768680594

All links: https://linktr.ee/hrpodcast

Guest and sponsorship inquiries: contact@herresourcespodcast.com

Produced by LJM Productions.

 

00:00	Why good ideas go nowhere
03:02	Meet Jay Conger
03:12	What real persuasion means
05:20	Why persuasion starts with listening
07:58	Intent separates persuasion from manipulation
09:51	Why change efforts miss the human side
10:41	The expertise trap
13:20	Compliance is not agreement
14:32	How to recognize real commitment
17:40	Trust and psychological safety
19:13	Map the territory before you march
21:19	How experts stay curious
27:04	The PowerPoint fallacy
32:25	What resistance is trying to tell leaders
37:05	When consensus becomes avoidance
40:31	Persuasion is a campaign not a presentation
41:07	Three coalitions every change effort needs
48:56	Who decides whether you are credible
57:41	Why logic alone does not move people
59:45	Using emotion without manipulation
63:28	What persuasive leaders understand about people
65:03	Creating change with people not to people
66:27	Connect with Jay Conger

Organizations often tell people to collaborate, break down silos, share information, and think beyond their individual roles. Then those same organizations evaluate, recognize, and promote people primarily for what they accomplish alone.

 

In Episode 96 of the Her Resources Podcast, Linda Misegadis talks with Barry Moline about the gap between saying teamwork matters and building a workplace where collaboration can actually succeed.

 

Barry has spent 29 years as a CEO leading teams across energy, utilities, infrastructure, and public service. He is a leadership and teamwork expert and the author of CONNECT! How to Quickly Collaborate for Success in Business and Life.

 

This conversation explores why teamwork is intentional and how leaders create the conditions for trust. Barry shares lessons from rebuilding a divided organization, rethinking how he hired, and learning that leaders cannot force collaboration; they must help people understand one another.

 

Linda and Barry also discuss hybrid and remote work, the cost of rewarding toxic high performers, adapting to different working styles, and why follow-up questions help teams listen.

 

You’ll hear practical ideas for:

• Building trust and collaboration across teams

• Aligning recognition with shared success

• Balancing individual achievement, team contribution, and customer value

• Hiring for skill, growth mindset, and the ability to work with others

• Coaching high performers without ignoring their impact on culture

• Creating connection before content in meetings

 

Connect with Barry Moline:

Website: https://barrymoline.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-moline/

Workplace icebreakers: https://barrymoline.com/resources

CONNECT! book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B7LNFQH

Leadership Career Accelerator: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-career-accelerator/id1855695140

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4AsoxD5yowhg0uN3ibyUw4

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@barrymoline6530

Newsletter: https://leadershipcareeraccelerator.substack.com/

 

Connect with Her Resources Podcast:

Website: https://www.herresourcespodcast.com/

Podbean: https://herresourcespodcast.podbean.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HerResourcesPodcast

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/her-resources-podcast/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herresourcespodcast/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@her.resources.pod

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/her-resources-podcast/id1768680594

All links: https://linktr.ee/hrpodcast

Guest and sponsorship inquiries: contact@herresourcespodcast.com

 

Share this episode with a leader who is ready to move from talking about teamwork to building it.

 

00:00	Why workplaces reward the individual but need the team
03:05	Meet Barry Moline
03:28	Teamwork is intentional
06:21	Collaboration in hybrid and remote work
12:06	Measuring individual, team, and customer performance
17:15	The origin of CONNECT!
24:17	A leader’s real role in collaboration
26:09	A team vs. a group of high performers
29:59	When people hoard information and credit
35:18	Rewarding the shared finish line
39:27	Hiring for teamwork and growth
45:29	The cost of a toxic high performer
48:09	Helping different working styles contribute
53:13	Human-centered leadership in a fast-moving world
57:09	Why great teams ask follow-up questions
59:21	The most overrated leadership behavior
1:02:03	Why collaboration breaks down
1:03:02	Connection before content
1:08:00	Where to connect with Barry
1:09:02	Final takeaways

 

 

The debate over remote work and return-to-office policies often asks people to choose a side. The research tells a more useful story.

 

In Episode 95 of the Her Resources Podcast, Linda Misegadis sits down with economist and author Emma Harrington to explore what changes when people work together in person, what remote work does especially well, and how leaders can design hybrid work with greater intention.

 

Emma is a professor of economics at the University of Virginia and co-author, with research economist Natalia Emanuel, of In Person: How Working Together Fuels Creativity, Productivity, and Growth. Natalia is not part of this interview, but the episode highlights the research and ideas the two authors developed together. The book is available October 13, 2026.

 

Linda and Emma discuss the proximity effect, neurological synchrony, workplace creativity, informal learning, mentorship, AI, inclusion, promotion barriers, mental health, friendship, and the hidden tradeoffs leaders miss when workplace policy is reduced to a simple location mandate. They also examine why senior women often carry more invisible mentorship work, how remote work can expand access for people with disabilities and geographically constrained workers, and why coordinated in-person time matters more than filling office seats.

 

For HR professionals and leaders navigating the future of work, this episode offers a grounded challenge: stop treating location as the strategy. Start designing work around focus, learning, creativity, trust, connection, and the people the system is meant to support.

 

Guest and Book Links

In Person book site: https://inpersonbook.com/

Penguin Random House book page: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/795672/in-person-by-natalia-emanuel-phd-and-emma-harrington-phd/

Emma on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-harrington-b4ba43147

Emma at UVA: https://economics.virginia.edu/people/emma-harrington

Natalia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliaemanuel

Natalia at the New York Fed: https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/economists/emanuel

 

Connect with Her Resources

Website: https://www.herresourcespodcast.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HerResourcesPodcast

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/her-resources-podcast/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herresourcespodcast/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@her.resources.pod

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/her-resources-podcast/id1768680594

All links: https://linktr.ee/hrpodcast

Guest and sponsorship inquiries: contact@herresourcespodcast.com

 

Produced by LJM Productions.

00:00	Are we debating the wrong question about where we work?
03:18	Meet Emma Harrington and In Person
03:58	Why face-to-face conversations put our brains more in sync
05:28	Remote work benefits and the case for coordinated hybrid work
08:20	Third places, cities, and the hidden engine of innovation
10:42	Productivity quantity versus the quality of work
14:50	AI, remote work, and the growing value of human judgment
16:30	The proximity effect, trust, and what Zoom cannot recreate
21:17	Why in-person teams generate more creative ideas
23:43	Zoom fatigue, walking meetings, and making space for ideas
26:45	From a basketball court to a pickleball court: our shrinking networks
30:11	What Pixar teaches us about designing offices for connection
32:26	Be the barnacle: how informal learning really happens
35:06	Why physical proximity strengthens digital feedback
36:47	Who is responsible for mentorship in hybrid work?
38:20	Senior women, invisible mentorship, and unequal tradeoffs
42:30	How remote work expands access for people facing workplace barriers
45:24	Remote opportunity and the risk of a new glass ceiling
47:28	Flexibility, isolation, friendship, and mental health
51:56	Is flexibility individual when connection is collective?
54:45	Remote work and connection to organizational mission
55:54	How leaders can design purposeful in-person time
01:00:34	Can one social day improve a remote team's productivity?
01:01:36	AI and a more human future of work
01:03:45	Final reflections: design work around how people thrive
01:05:38	Where to find Emma, Natalia, and In Person

Artificial intelligence is moving quickly. The harder question is whether our policies, systems, and judgment are keeping up.

In Episode 94 of the Her Resources Podcast, Linda Misegadis welcomes Brian Chidester, Head of Global Strategy and Innovation for Public Sector at Adobe and host of The Government Huddle Podcast, for a practical conversation about AI governance, public trust, and responsible adoption.

They explore why organizations can launch AI pilots yet struggle to scale them, what effective governance should include, and why data quality is inseparable from AI outcomes. Brian also explains how AI-powered search is changing the way citizens find information, why government risks losing digital authority, and how public policy can support innovation while protecting people.

For HR professionals, people leaders, executives, and public-sector decision makers, this episode offers a grounded way to evaluate AI: invest in people, measure what matters, listen for real friction, and ask whether the technology is creating meaningful value for the people you serve.

In This Episode

The gap between AI pilots and enterprise adoption

AI governance, risk frameworks, and organizational ownership

Trust, transparency, privacy, and AI literacy

Government's role as both regulator and user of AI

Data readiness, workforce investment, and digital authority

The questions leaders should ask before scaling AI

Guest and Show Links

Brian Chidester on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abchidester/

The Government Huddle: https://www.governmenthuddle.com/

Brian's Adobe author page: https://business.adobe.com/blog/authors/brian-chidester-and-megan-lazalier

Her Resources website: https://www.herresourcespodcast.com/

Her Resources on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HerResourcesPodcast

Her Resources on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/her-resources-podcast/

All Her Resources links: https://linktr.ee/hrpodcast

Guest and sponsorship inquiries: contact@herresourcespodcast.com

Produced by LJM Productions.

 

00:00	Who gets to decide how AI is used?
03:26	Meet Brian Chidester
04:54	AI innovation, risk, and the frozen middle
08:10	AI incidents and shadow AI
11:07	Who should own AI governance?
13:37	Data, guardrails, and human judgment
18:07	Turning AI risk frameworks into practice
19:54	The trust gap between companies and government
23:46	Transparency, privacy, and AI literacy
26:47	How policy can protect without stalling innovation
28:31	Digital identity, fraud, and responsible AI
32:45	Government as both regulator and user
34:07	AI search, digital authority, and misinformation
38:42	Modernizing government's data foundation
40:04	Where AI is making government work better
42:31	AI, workforce readiness, and augmentation
46:20	Public-private partnership and public trust
52:50	Five questions leaders should ask about AI
56:11	What we need to get right before systems harden
59:04	Connect with Brian and The Government Huddle
59:28	Final reflections: technology does not decide the future

“We don’t have a people problem. We don’t have a leadership problem. We have a design problem.”

What if another training program cannot fix a workplace system that no longer works for the people inside it?

In Episode 93 of the Her Resources Podcast, Linda Misegadis welcomes Regent Cornell, Vice President of Market Evolution & Strategic Growth at Fierce Conversations. They explore why organizations often respond to friction with more training, communication, and restructuring without examining the design of the work itself.

Linda and Regent discuss the difference between restructuring and redesign, the importance of leadership alignment during change, and the cost of unclear language. They consider how constant interruptions affect the quality of work, how conversations build or weaken trust, and why leaders remain accountable for decisions made with AI.

For HR professionals, people managers, and organizational leaders, this episode is an invitation to ask a better question: If we designed work for today’s world, what would we change?

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Are we fixing the wrong workplace problems?
04:40 Meet Regent Cornell
06:22 Why more training may miss the problem
12:01 Are we changing people to fit broken systems?
16:02 Clear language and shared understanding
18:26 Leadership alignment during organizational change
24:08 Redesign versus restructuring
28:01 AI and the foundation beneath workplace change
34:29 Are we designing work for humans?
43:26 How conversations create culture
48:26 Trust and skepticism during change
52:00 Leadership responsibility when using AI
59:24 Connect with Regent and Fierce Conversations
01:04:18 Final reflections

GUEST LINKS
Regent on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/regent-cornell-496b475
Regent at Fierce: https://fierceinc.com/fierce-facilitators/regent-cornell/
Fierce Conversations: https://fierceinc.com/
Fierce books and resources: https://fierceinc.com/resources/guides/

HER RESOURCES
Website: https://www.herresourcespodcast.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HerResourcesPodcast
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/her-resources-podcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herresourcespodcast/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@her.resources.pod
All links: https://linktr.ee/hrpodcast
Guest and sponsorship inquiries: contact@herresourcespodcast.com

Produced by LJM Productions.

What if optimism is not the belief that everything will be okay, but the belief that what you do next still matters?

 

In Episode 92 of the Her Resources Podcast, Linda Misegadis welcomes Michelle Gielan, positive psychology researcher, bestselling author, and former CBS Morning News anchor, for a practical conversation about resilient optimism in tough times.

 

The episode releases September 22, 2026, the same day Michelle’s new book, Resilient Optimism: The Science of Sustaining a Positive Mindset in Tough Times, is published by Harvard Business Review Press.

 

Michelle explains why optimism is a set of trainable behaviors rather than a feeling or fixed personality trait. She and Linda discuss rational optimism versus toxic positivity, the effect of negative news on the brain, resilience without tolerating unhealthy systems, meaningful progress as a protection against burnout, the identity pressures that make it hard for women to say no, and why rest belongs in a serious performance strategy.

 

They also explore how optimism spreads through teams, why quiet optimists need to speak up, what leaders can do to make rest credible, and a simple daily practice that helps the brain notice progress and possibility.

 

This conversation is for HR professionals, leaders, women navigating demanding careers, and anyone trying to remain hopeful without ignoring reality.

 

Guest Links

Resilient Optimism book site and resources: https://resilientoptimism.com/

Book page, Harvard Business Review Press: https://store.hbr.org/product/resilient-optimism-the-science-of-sustaining-a-positive-mindset-in-tough-times/10858

Michelle Gielan official website: https://michellegielan.com/

Michelle Gielan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellegielan

Michelle Gielan on Substack: https://michellegielan.substack.com/

 

Connect with Her Resources

Website: https://www.herresourcespodcast.com/

Podbean: https://herresourcespodcast.podbean.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HerResourcesPodcast

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/her-resources-podcast/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herresourcespodcast/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@her.resources.pod

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/her-resources-podcast/id1768680594

All Her Resources links: https://linktr.ee/hrpodcast

Guest and sponsorship inquiries: contact@herresourcespodcast.com

00:00	Why optimism is not denial
03:12	Meet Michelle Gielan
04:02	What resilient optimism really means
05:43	Rational optimism vs. toxic positivity
07:14	A NICU crisis and why the next action matters
10:39	Optimism as behavior, not personality
13:21	How negative news changes the brain
16:28	Staying informed without training helplessness
18:29	Resilience vs. tolerating broken systems
19:53	How one person can change the room
21:53	What happens when optimists get quiet
25:10	Busyness, burnout, and meaningful progress
26:54	How to triage commitments
29:07	Three questions that reclaim time
29:47	Why saying no is often about identity
33:08	Rest as career infrastructure
38:12	Positive deviance and workplace culture
41:25	Employee influence vs. leadership accountability
42:49	The power lead: changing how meetings begin
46:40	One habit for behaving like an optimist
50:15	What is on Michelle’s not-to-do list
52:27	Why Michelle is optimistic about AI
53:32	Where to find Michelle and the new book
54:29	Final reflections: what you do next still matters