Work doesn’t feel sustainable right now.

Employees are overwhelmed, leaders are exhausted, and organizations are trying to solve burnout by reducing workload - but what if that’s not the real problem?

In this episode, organizational psychologist Leanne Davey introduces the concept of thought load - the cognitive demands, emotional strain, and depleted energy that come from navigating modern work. From endless matrix structures and constant organizational change to meetings that add noise instead of clarity, today’s workplace is quietly draining the mental bandwidth people need to actually perform.

Leanne shares practical ideas for leaders trying to restore focus and effectiveness inside their teams: how to stop chasing productivity, eliminate dead work, redesign meetings, and create space for insight in a world full of noise.

For HR leaders especially, this conversation reframes burnout as a systemic design problem, not a personal failing.

About our guest

Leanne Davey is an organizational psychologist, keynote speaker, and bestselling author focused on helping teams achieve extraordinary results together. Known as “The Teamwork Doctor,” she works with executive teams and organizations around the world to tackle the messy people challenges that get in the way of performance. Her latest book, Thoughtload, explores why modern work is overwhelming people and what leaders can do about it.

Stay connected with foHRsight

To sign up for our monthly newsletter, foHRsight, visit http://www.futurefohrward.com/subscribe

Follow us on LinkedIn: Mark Edgar – www.linkedin.com/in/markedgarhr/

Naomi Titleman Colla – www.linkedin.com/in/naomititlemancolla/

future foHRward – www.linkedin.com/company/future-fohrward/

Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/futurefohrward/

For more information on our private community for forward-thinking HR leaders, including how to join our next Manager-Director HR Leader cohort launching this spring, visit our website at futurefohrward.com/community. We are also currently welcoming new members in our CHRO and VP+ HRBP & Talent cohorts. Don't miss your chance to join the community you've been missing!

Support the show

Most HR leaders are chasing engagement scores.
Very few are diagnosing loneliness.

If performance feels flatter… if initiative is fading… if teams feel more transactional than connected, this episode explains why.

In this conversation, Dr. Tracy Brower joins Naomi Titleman to unpack a truth many leaders feel but struggle to articulate: connection is not a “nice-to-have.” It is a structural driver of performance, initiative, retention, and fulfillment.

They explore:

• The early warning signs of workplace disconnection
• Why proximity still matters in a hybrid world
• How AI may unintentionally weaken team reliance
• Social contagion and why energy spreads faster than strategy
• The difference between dirt roads and superhighways inside your culture
• What a real “connection infrastructure” looks like

This isn’t about forcing friendships or dragging people back to the office.
It’s about being deliberate about the human system inside your organization.

Because when people don’t feel seen or needed, they disengage.

And disengagement is expensive.

About our guest

Dr. Tracy Brower is a PhD sociologist and VP of Workplace Insights at Steelcase. She studies connection, community, fulfillment, and the future of work, and is the author of Critical Connections. Her work bridges research and real-world application, helping organizations understand how human dynamics directly influence performance.

Stay connected with foHRsight

To sign up for our monthly newsletter, foHRsight, visit http://www.futurefohrward.com/subscribe

Follow us on LinkedIn:
Mark Edgar – www.linkedin.com/in/markedgarhr/

Naomi Titleman Colla – www.linkedin.com/in/naomititlemancolla/

future foHRward – www.linkedin.com/company/future-fohrward/

Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/futurefohrward/

For more information on our private community for forward-thinking HR leaders, including how to join our next Manager-Director HR Leader cohort launching this spring, visit our website at futurefohrward.com/community. We are also currently welcoming new members in our CHRO and VP+ HRBP & Talent cohorts. Don't miss your chance to join the community you've been missing!

Support the show

HR leaders are being asked to modernize faster than their organizations are ready for. New AI tools appear weekly, vendors promise transformation, and the pressure to “do something” keeps mounting. At the same time, most HR teams are still running complex, multi-step processes built for a very different era.

In this episode, Josh Bersin helps cut through the noise by reframing what AI transformation actually looks like inside HR. Rather than chasing dozens of tools or fearing job displacement, he argues that the real work ahead is architectural. Deciding what to build versus buy. Determining which processes matter most. And putting human ownership around data, judgment, and governance so AI can scale responsibly.

You’ll hear why onboarding, learning, feedback, and career development are not isolated workflows, but interconnected systems that AI can finally stitch together if HR leads the design. Josh also explains why organizations that get this right will not reduce HR’s importance, but elevate it.

This conversation is for HR leaders who feel both excited and overwhelmed, and who want a clearer mental model for where to start, what to prioritize, and how to partner with IT without losing their seat at the table.

About our guest
Josh Bersin is a global HR industry analyst, researcher, and founder of The Josh Bersin Company. He has spent decades advising CHROs and executive teams on talent, leadership, and workforce transformation, and is a leading voice on how AI is reshaping the HR function in practice, not theory.

Stay connected with foHRsight

To sign up for our monthly newsletter, foHRsight, visit http://www.futurefohrward.com/subscribe

Follow us on LinkedIn:
Mark Edgar – www.linkedin.com/in/markedgarhr/

Naomi Titleman Colla – www.linkedin.com/in/naomititlemancolla/

future foHRward – www.linkedin.com/company/future-fohrward/

Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/futurefohrward/

Support the show