Michelle Brooks, Chief People & Culture Officer at Security Compass, joins Rob to unpack what it really means to lead with “compassionate candor.” She shares how feedback norms are shifting for Gen Z, how she built a truly strategic people function without a traditional HR background, and why HR’s identity crisis is holding the industry back. Plus, Michelle gives a front-row look at how her team is driving AI adoption across the business—from launching an internal AI council to treating AI like the biggest change management initiative of the decade.

This episode is packed with spicy takes, real talk about feedback, and a blueprint for how HR and IT can actually partner to move AI from buzzword to business driver.

📌 Key Takeaways

• Why Gen Z wants more feedback, and how to deliver it with “compassionate candor”

• The problem with radical candor and how it’s been quietly rebranded

• Why feedback is often withheld from leaders, and how Michelle invites it in

• The myth that HR needs permission to have a seat at the table

• How Michelle’s background in sales and recruiting helped her avoid HR “learned helplessness”

• Why HR still suffers from an identity crisis

• How Security Compass is treating AI adoption as a company-wide change management initiative

• The structure and purpose of their internal AI council, governance committee, and AI champions program

• The growing alliance between HR and IT

• How to make the business case for leading AI adoption from the people function

🔗 Links

Michelle Brooks on LinkedIn

LHH Recruitment Solutions 

A Beautiful Working World

A Soundbeam Studios Production