Hi! I'm Stephanie! I'm passionate about building impactful partnerships, enabling businesses to grow, and making sure the social impact community thrives. With over a decade of consistently generating seven and eight figure annual revenue for companies, I understand what it takes to drive success.

Over the last 15 years working with non-profit, government and for profit businesses, I've developed a unique process for building community and generating revenue through a partnership growth mindset. I've been fortunate to develop programs and partnerships that have touched lives across the globe, from India to the United States and beyond. I've created thousands of ecosystems and opportunities that unite governments, educators, employers, and donors to make tangible change.

I believe that together we can achieve great things and am committed to paving the way for a more inclusive, impactful future.

Stephanie Wilson

This weekend I’m spending time at the ISET National Gathering, and I want to name how meaningful it is to be here.

Being in this space is a reminder that workforce development is not just about programs, funding, or outcomes on paper. It’s about people, place, and self-determination. Indigenous communities have been doing this work for generations, building pathways rooted in culture, community knowledge, and lived experience.

What stands out most is the care and intentionality behind the conversations. 

Listening comes first. 
Relationships come before solutions. 
Progress is measured not just by numbers, but by trust, relevance, and long-term impact.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn, to listen, and to be present in a space led by Indigenous voices and priorities. 

Moments like this quietly reshape how you think about the work and how you show up when you return home.

#ISETNationalGathering #ISETGathering2026 #Indigenous #WorkforceDevelopment #Community

Thanks to Jelly Academy for organizing such a collaborative space and to Digital Moment | Moment numérique for the opportunity.

Cross-Sector Growth Strategist | $100M+ in Government & Partner Funding Secured | Nonprofit • Tech • Education • SaaS | Founder – The Uplift Collective

The last five days have been full.

Full in the sense of listening carefully, asking questions, and sitting in rooms where people are genuinely trying to figure out how we do this work better.

Across different events, sectors, and conversations, the thread has been consistent.

How do we build systems that actually serve people, not just programs?

How do we prepare for the future of work without losing sight of the humans navigating it right now?

How do we move past performative solutions and into ones that are grounded, inclusive, and durable?

There’s also a reality I’m hearing more clearly now than ever.

Funding is tight. Budgets have been cut. Teams that once sent three or four people to conferences are now sending one. Many are attending virtually, not by choice, but by necessity.

I’m genuinely grateful to conferences and organizers who make that possible. Access matters. So does recognizing that for many organizations, showing up at all right now takes intention and sacrifice.

What that’s changed is the weight of being in the room.

More people are carrying insights back to their teams. 

More responsibility to listen well, synthesize, and translate what matters into action. Fewer spectators. More stewards.

The conversations I’ve been part of haven’t been about trends for the sake of trends. They’ve been about tradeoffs. Priorities. What we protect when resources are constrained.

Spending this time with practitioners, funders, educators, Indigenous leaders, and workforce builders has been a reminder of why this work matters to me.

Not because the answers are easy.

But because when conditions are tight, clarity matters even more.

It was so great to reconnect, meet new people and learn from so many amazing individuals! Until next time friends!
Wendy Baker Darian Kovacs ♾️ Allain Lauzon Mary Stack, BA, CPHR Jasmeen Sidhu, Ph.D. Allan Govender Virginia Gluska Ulrike Bahr-Gedalia Eleanor Hawkins Nausheen Ali Fatima Saadeddine, MBA,PMP,CHRP,ESPT  Jade (Jadelyn) Psutka Allison Bear BComm Barbara Wilson,🍁CCDP® Lisa Stephenson-MBA, CRSP Kelly Johnson

It was unfortunate that so many people had travel cancelled so they couldn't attend after all - I see you!

#Cannexus2026 #ISETGathering2026 #Community #NonProfit #EmploymentServices #Indigenous #Learning

We have a beautiful owl that lives in the trees near our driveway. Usually across the way. Easy to admire from a distance.

Last night, I went out to grab wood for the stove before bed and nearly jumped out of my skin. 

He was sitting right on the front porch railing. Completely still. Just watching. Probably hunting. Definitely unbothered by me.

I froze. Slowly backed into the house. Turned off the lights.

Then I stood in the dining room, in the dark, and watched him for a while.
No noise. 

Just this quiet, unexpected moment of sharing space with something wild and calm and entirely unconcerned with my plans for the evening.

It was incredible.

Sometimes the best moments are the ones that do not mean anything more than exactly what they are.

#Wildlife #NotAPhotographer #CountryLife 

Alyx Parks and Stephanie Martin - I thought of both of you immediately after it happened.

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The Uplift Collective

https://www.upliftcollective.ca/the-partnership-blueprint-five-proven-steps-for-forging-successful-partnerships

the-uplift-collective

I grew up in a small town in rural eastern Ontario.

When I finished high school, I had no idea what I wanted to be. I just knew one thing very clearly. I did not like school the way it was structured. Sitting still. Being talked at. Memorizing instead of doing.

So I took a year off after high school to try to find my way.

It felt uncomfortable. Most of my friends knew exactly what they wanted to do. Everyone was heading off to university. I felt behind. A little lost. Like I had missed some memo everyone else received.

After that year, I still did not know what I wanted to be “when I grew up.” But I did know I needed some form of post secondary education. I needed skills. I needed momentum.

I chose college and enrolled in executive administration.

It was hands on. Practical. I learned a lot. I worked three jobs to cover rent and school. I learned how to manage money because I had to. Those years shaped my work ethic and my sense of responsibility in ways I still carry with me.

After graduating, I got a job working for a municipal councillor. What started as a role turned into six formative years. It exposed me to government, policy, community, and how decisions actually get made. That path eventually led me into the nonprofit world, where I found my purpose. That part of the story is for another day.

For a long time, I was embarrassed to say I did not have a university degree.

I was screened out of jobs automatically because it was mandatory. I questioned myself more times than I can count.

Do I regret not going to university?

Yes and no.

No, because I do not think I would have thrived there at that point in my life.

Yes, because there were real opportunities I never got access to because I did not have that piece of paper.

Both things can be true.

I am sharing this because I see so many people feeling pressure to follow a single definition of success. A single path. A single timeline.

Education matters. Credentials matter. But lived experience matters too.

Learning by doing counts. Working your way through school counts. Taking a longer or different route counts.

There is no one right way to build a career.

Chart your own path. Pay attention to what energizes you, not just what looks good on paper. 

Choose the pathway that works for how you learn, how you move, and who you are becoming.

#CareerPath #Employment #FindYourOwnPath #NonProfit #Education

Photo is me from 2008, still trying to figure things out.

Some of the most valuable parts of my work live in the things I no longer consciously think about.

After years of building, reviewing, defending, and negotiating government budgets, so much of what I do has become instinctive. 

You stop noticing the hundreds of small decisions you make because you have internalized how funders think, where flexibility actually lives, and which details quietly matter most.

Recently, I had the chance to sit with that experience and write it all down. 

Not the big frameworks or the obvious rules, but the small things you only learn by doing the work. 

The wording choices that reduce scrutiny. 

The assumptions that do not need to be over engineered. 

The places where people think they are locked in, but are not.

There was something unexpectedly grounding about translating years of lived experience into something clear and usable for a client. 

Not to impress. 
Not to overcomplicate. 
Just to make the work easier and less stressful for the people doing it.

This kind of work reminds me why I enjoy what I do. 

Helping smart teams feel more confident, more capable, and less constrained by rules that often feel heavier than they actually are.

If you have ever felt weighed down by process or rules that seemed immovable, I promise there is often more room to breathe than it appears.

#BudgetDevelopment #ProposalDevelopment #NonProfit #GovernmentFunding

One thing I think everyone should try at least once is learning someone else’s job.

Not the polished version. The real, day to day work. The setup. The decisions no one talks about. The small things that keep everything moving quietly in the background.

When you work in teams, so much of that effort becomes invisible. Systems run. Tools connect. Processes exist. You rarely stop to think about how much experience and judgment it takes to make things feel that seamless.

Until those people are not there.

And you have to do one small piece yourself.

You realize how many choices live inside what once looked simple.

Lately, I am spending an absurd amount of time learning tools.
Not the exciting kind. The tiny, fiddly ones. Payment systems. Tool connections. Settings I did not even know existed.

Learning to do something you have never done before, or something that was always someone else’s role, builds more than skills.

It builds appreciation.

It changes how you show up the next time.

#ProfessionalDevelopment #GrowthMindset #Entrepreneurship

I really hate getting a no.

Not because I expect everything to work out, but because I put a lot into the work. Time. Thought. Energy. And more than that, belief. I care deeply about what I do and about the teams and ideas behind every proposal. That makes the no’s land harder than people realize.

Early on, I took them personally. Every declined submission felt like a judgment, not just of the work, but of the care behind it. And honestly, I still feel that sometimes. Loving the work makes you more exposed, not less.

What changed over time was not the feeling. It was what I did with it.

I started sitting with the no’s longer. Looking for patterns. Paying attention to what funders questioned, what they ignored, and what clarity actually meant in practice. Every no taught me something I could not have learned any other way.

That learning adds up. Today, more than 40 percent of what I work on gets approved. Not because the no’s stopped hurting, but because I stayed curious instead of shutting down.

Lately, there have been a lot of yes’s for clients. And I feel genuinely excited for them every single time. 

I also know the no’s will come again. They always do.

When they do, I will feel them. And then I will learn from them.

Because caring about the work is not a weakness. It is the reason the yes’s mean so much when they arrive.

#GovernmentFunding #BusinessDevelopment #ProposalDevelopment

I’ve learned that authenticity isn’t about having a fixed identity. It’s about staying honest as things shift.

I have spent years being the reliable one. 

The person who could hold a lot, absorb uncertainty, and keep moving anyway.

That works. Until it does not.

Because eventually you realize how much energy it takes to live up to a version of yourself that was built for other people’s expectations.

Letting go of who you think you are supposed to be does not mean losing drive or ambition. It means releasing the pressure to look a certain way while you are building something real.

Authenticity is not a reveal or a brand decision.

It is a daily choice to show up aligned, even when that alignment keeps evolving.

And that choice changes everything.

#BeTrueToYourself #Authenticity #Leadership #NonProfit #StartUp

One of the best parts of a panel on AI and the next generation at the AI Policy Conference yesterday was that it did not try to wrap anything up neatly.
Instead, it named the complexity.

AI is already embedded in education, work, and daily life. Young people are forming relationships with systems that shape how they think, learn, and see themselves. Institutions are trying to respond in real time, often without data, shared frameworks, or room to pause.

At the same time, many of the loudest predictions about jobs and disruption have not fully materialized. Change is happening, but unevenly. Slowly in some places. Abruptly in others.

What emerged was a quieter but more useful set of questions.

How do we equip young people to be creators, not just users?

How do we protect without pretending we can stop what is already here?

How do we build literacy, judgment, and human skills that remain valuable no matter how tools evolve?

There was no single answer, and that felt right.

This is long-term work. It requires humility, collaboration across disciplines, and a willingness to sit with uncertainty without defaulting to fear or hype.

If there was a through-line, it was this: the future will be shaped less by the tools themselves and more by how thoughtfully we choose to integrate them.

Panel participants:
Justin Hendrix, Tech Policy Press
Shingai Manjengwa, Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute
Namir Anani, P.Eng., ICTC-CTIC
Laurent Charlin, Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute
André Côté, The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University 

Thankful to Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute for access to the AI Policy Conference and for putting together such a great event!

#AIPolicy #YouthAndAI #Talent #GovernmentofCanada

Creativity is my word for 2026.

Creativity in how I approach work, rest, and everything in between.

Creative problem solving.
Creative contracting.
Creative time off.
Creative experiences.

Creativity is what lets you ask better questions instead of accepting the default answer. It is how you find options where others see constraints. It is how you design work and life in ways that actually fit.

In 2026, the only box is that there is no box.

More room to experiment.

More permission to rethink how things are done.

More trust in the idea that there is almost always another way.

Here is to a year of curiosity, flexibility, and building something that feels as good as it works.

#Focus #GrowthMindset #HeresTo2026

I never thought I would be an entrepreneur.

In fact, quite the opposite. I was convinced I did not have the “it” that founders and leaders are supposed to have. 

I wanted stability. The person who imagined working for others my whole life and being perfectly content doing that.

And for a long time, that made sense.

What I did not realize then is that entrepreneurship does not always look like taking big risks. Sometimes it looks like taking responsibility. For your values. For your time. For the kind of work you want to put into the world.

I did not wake up one day wanting to start something of my own. I arrived here slowly, through experience, through necessity, and through a growing understanding of what I needed in order to feel grounded and aligned.

Entrepreneurship was not a goal. It was a response.

And maybe that is the part we do not talk about enough. Not everyone sets out to build something. 

Some of us end up here because staying the same stopped being an option.

Did you ever picture yourself doing what you are doing now?

#Entrepreneuship #CareerFocus

Woke up to a weirdly satisfying thing this morning.

I’ve had a watch since July that tracks something called body battery. 

I’ve seen it end the day at five more times than I’d like to admit.

Today I woke up at one hundred. First time ever.

That’s it. That’s the post.

#WeekendVibes #QuietWins #SlowDown

READ THE QUOTE IN THE IMAGE!

Now read it again!

Who. You. TRULY. Are

NOT the version that feels easiest to explain.

NOT the version that keeps everyone comfortable.

NOT the version that fits neatly into a role you learned to play well.

Being yourself is not about being loud or visible all the time.
It is about being honest. With your values. With your limits. With what actually matters to you now, not who you were five years ago.

I have learned that the more energy you spend trying to meet expectations that are not yours, the dimmer everything feels. The work. The relationships. Even the wins.

The moments where things start to open up again usually come from a small shift. 

Saying no when you would normally say yes. Choosing alignment over approval. 

Letting yourself evolve without needing to justify it.

Your light is not something you manufacture.
It is something that shows up naturally when you stop hiding parts of yourself to fit the room.

And the right rooms do not require you to dim it in the first place.

#BeYourself #BeAuthentic #ISeeYou #Leadership #Teamwork #BetterTogether

One thing I keep coming back to in conversations lately is timing.

A lot of organizations are doing the right work. Strong ideas. Capable teams. Real demand. And still, things are not moving the way they expected.

Not because they are doing something wrong.

Because the system itself is in motion.

Calls are delayed or quietly reworked.
Programs get folded into other initiatives.
Priorities shift before anything ever reaches a public intake.

From the outside, it can feel confusing. Like you misread the landscape or missed a signal. In reality, the rules are still being rewritten.

This is where patience becomes strategic.

Not passive patience. Active patience. The kind where you keep preparing, strengthening, and paying attention while resisting the urge to force momentum.

A lot of the work right now is helping teams sit with that uncertainty without spiraling. Adjusting plans without abandoning them. Staying ready without trying to rush a system that is not ready yet.

Sometimes the smartest move is not to push harder, but to hold steady until the timing catches up to the work.

#FundingStrategy #GovernmentFunding #NonprofitLeadership
 #StrategicPlanning #SystemsThinking

Join an upcoming FREE workshops to better prepare for what's coming!  https://lnkd.in/e_KQt4jg

Stop beating yourself up!!!

Don’t think you do that?
Here’s what it actually looks like in real life:
- Replaying a conversation on the drive home.
- Second-guessing a decision you already made with the information you had.
 - Assuming a mistake says something about who you are, not just what happened.
 - Feeling like you should have known better, been faster, clearer, stronger.

Sound familiar?

We’ve been taught that self-criticism equals accountability.
That if we’re hard on ourselves, we’ll improve faster.
That pressure produces excellence.

But more often, it just produces exhaustion.

Beating yourself up usually shows up when expectations are high, outcomes are uncertain, and you’re carrying more responsibility than anyone sees.

It’s a signal.
The problem is that self-criticism rarely makes us better.
It just makes us smaller.

So how do you stop when you catch yourself doing it?

1️⃣  Name what’s actually happening.
 Instead of “I screwed this up,” try “This didn’t go the way I hoped.”
 Facts calm the nervous system. Stories inflame it.

2️⃣ Separate intent from outcome.
You can have good intentions and imperfect results at the same time.
Both can be true. Only one needs fixing.

3️⃣  Ask one forward-looking question.
Not “What’s wrong with me?”
But “What’s the next small adjustment I’d make if this came up again?”
That’s it. No spiral required.

If you’re trying to be a good person and you try to do the right thing, that's all that matters.

Growth doesn’t require punishment.

It requires honesty, rest, and the willingness to keep going.

And if you’re reading this thinking, “This sounds like me” then it probably is.
You’re not alone, and you’re not doing it wrong.
Be a little kinder to yourself today.

#BeKind #PersonalGrowth #FallingNotFailing #SelfImprovement #Leadership #Teamwork

You may not control the events that happen to you
 but you can decide not to be reduced by them.

That choice is one I see leaders, founders, and builders struggle with more than almost anything else.

Because a setback can quietly turn into a story about who you are.
A hard moment can shrink your confidence if you let it.
One decision, one missed opportunity, one tough season can start to feel permanent.

But it isn’t.

You’re allowed to be impacted without being defined.

You can acknowledge what hurt without letting it harden you.

You can learn from something without carrying it as proof that you’re not enough.

Resilience isn’t pretending things didn’t affect you.

It’s choosing not to let them take more than they already have.

If you’re in the middle of something heavy right now, this is your reminder

You’re still standing.
You’re still growing.

And YOU get to decide what this chapter means next.

#NonProfit #Leadership #StartUp #GrowthMindset #Resilience #NonProfitLeadership

I watched a video and could not stop thinking about how early we learn to edit ourselves.

Kids start out loud, curious, unapologetic. They ask strange questions. They take up space. They are fully themselves without checking the room first. And then, slowly, they learn when to quiet down. When to blend in. When to stop standing out.

What stayed with me is how familiar that feels in the professional world.

At some point, many of us learn the same lesson.

Tone it down.

Stick to the playbook.

Do not be the odd one out.

Over time, that sparkle does not disappear. It just gets managed. Contained. Brought out only when it feels safe or appropriate.

And yet, the work that actually moves things forward is almost always shaped by people who think differently. 

The ones who question defaults. 

The ones who see patterns others miss. 

The ones willing to sound a little strange before they sound right.

If you have ever felt yourself shrinking to fit a role, a title, or an industry norm, consider this a reminder. 

That part of you is still there. It has just been waiting for space.

BRING BACK THE SPARKLE!!

Step off the well worn path.

Nothing meaningful has ever been built by people who only followed the herd.

https://lnkd.in/emWvkws2 
His Youtube Channel to give him a follow: https://lnkd.in/ehb-AESd [I couldn't find the above video on the channel]

#BringBackTheSparkle #BeYourself #BeAuthentic

If you have ever hit a word limit halfway through answering a funder’s question, this is for you.

One of the hardest parts of writing proposals is answering every part of a funder’s question while staying inside a tight word or character limit.

Especially when appendices or extra attachments are not allowed.

You cannot skip components. You also cannot explain everything.

So when space is tight, here is a rule that helps.

Every sentence must do more than one job. Ideally three.

A strong sentence should:

 1 describe what you are actually going to do

 2 signal eligibility and alignment to the funder’s priorities

 3 imply milestones, outcomes, or credibility

If a sentence only does one of those things, it is a candidate for removal or compression.

This is how you stay compliant and persuasive without running out of room.

It is not about writing less.

It is about making every sentence work harder.

If you have ever hit a word limit and wondered what to cut, start here.

#ProposalDevelopment #GovernmentFunding #NonProfit #Charity

Growth is what you do with what happens.

That is how better decisions get made over time.

#WednesdayWisdom #GrowthMindset

One thing I wish more people understood about funded projects is how messy they usually are behind the scenes.

From the outside, a successful contribution agreement looks clean.

A defined plan. 
A neat timeline. 

It gives the impression that everything is stable and predictable.

That is almost NEVER the case.

Most funded projects are delivered while markets are shifting. 
Project timelines wobble. 
Plans get pulled forward or pushed back. 
Teams make trade offs in real time, often without the luxury of perfect information.

What funders are really assessing in those moments is not whether risk exists. It is how it is understood and managed.

Strong applications and delivery organizations are not the ones pretending everything is fine. 

They are the ones that show judgment.
An ability to adapt without overreacting. 
A plan that can flex while still holding together.

There is a skill in knowing what to surface and what to hold steady. 
In demonstrating resilience without amplifying uncertainty. 
In showing that the work will continue even when conditions are not ideal.

Funding success is rarely about having a flawless story.
It is about proving you can keep moving when the story changes.

#Resilience #NonProfit #GrowthMindset #StartUp #GovernmentFunding

HR & Change Consultant | I help Executives succeed at organisational change, saving MILLIONs in lost time, money, and talent | Delivered £68M in savings in 2024 | 30+ years of global experience | Ex-Big 4

For consulting and commercial enquiries, contact: hayden@arellahr.com

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Hi, I’m Hayden – I help HR leaders and businesses make HR work smarter through HR operating models, organisation design, change management, and training.

With 30+ years of global experience, I’ve worked with some of the world’s leading organisations, from Big 4 consulting to professional services, retail, and tech, helping them simplify complexity, scale effectively, and build high-performing teams.

Thought Leadership
I’m passionate about HR transformation and regularly contribute to industry panels, leadership forums, and global conferences. My work on change management, and HR effectiveness has been featured at events.

If you’re tackling big HR challenges and need practical, no-nonsense support, let’s connect.

Hayden Swerling

She stood at the edge.
82 years old.
500 feet above the ground.

The instructor asked if she was ready.

"I've been ready for 60 years," she said.

Then she jumped.

At 82, she finally did what she'd wanted to do since she was 22. The thing everyone told her was "for young people."

The thing she told herself she'd do "someday."

Here's what hit me:

She didn't wait for permission.
She didn't wait for the "right time."
She didn't wait for her age to make sense.

She just went.

We build entire careers around "someday."

"I'm too old to start over."
"I'm too senior to change industries."
"I'm too established to take that risk."

Meanwhile, our real goals sit untouched.
Getting smaller each year we ignore them.

That thing you keep postponing?

The business idea that excites you but feels "unrealistic"?
The creative project you abandoned when work got busy?
The career move you researched but never pursued?

It's still there.
Still valid.
Still yours to claim.

Age didn't stop her from jumping off a bridge.

What's stopping you from chasing what matters?

The dreams that felt impossible at 30 might feel essential at 50.
The risks that seemed too big at 40 might feel like regrets at 60.

She proved something at 82 that most of us forget:

Your timeline is yours to write.

What would you do if you stopped waiting for the "right" time?

Follow Hayden Swerling for insights on breaking the rules that limit us.

Weekly insights on designing the life and career you actually want: https://lnkd.in/ef5mbPrX

You're back at your desk.

That familiar knot in your stomach.
The one that whispers you're not ready.
That this year's goals are too big.
That you might fail.

Good.

That fear means you're aiming high enough to matter.

Here's what nobody tells you about legends:
They feel it too.

Every single one.

The difference isn't courage.
It's what they do while scared.

They show up anyway.
They try anyway.
They speak up anyway.
They lead anyway.

You don't lose when you fail.
You lose when fear keeps you from trying.

This year, your legendary moment isn't waiting for the fear to pass.

It's doing it scared.
Trying it scared.
Leading it scared.

Because the only real failure is staying silent when you have something to say.
Staying still when you're meant to move.

2026 isn't about being fearless.
It's about being afraid and showing up anyway.

That's how ordinary people do legendary things.

So here's your question:
What are you going to try this year that scares you?

Follow Hayden Swerling for insights on leadership, teams, and the conversations that actually matter.

📩 Weekly insights: https://lnkd.in/eysBEU_k

Most HR transformations fail because they're designed by consultants who've never run HR. 🎯

I've spent 15 years leading HR operating model redesigns.

Across 30+ organisations.

The pattern is predictable.

Transformation initiatives look brilliant on paper.

They collapse within 18 months. 📉

Not because of poor strategy.

Because of preventable execution mistakes.

Here are the critical errors I see CHROs repeat:

**Mistake 1: Designing the operating model before defining the operating rhythm** ⚙️

• You can't structure your team until you know how work actually flows
• Map your decision rights first
• Structure follows decisions, not the other way around
• Most teams restructure, then realize they've just moved the bottlenecks

**Mistake 2: Underestimating change management by a factor of 10** 🔄

• HR transformations fail at the human level
• Not the technical level
• Your team needs to unlearn years of muscle memory
• Budget 30% of your transformation effort for change management
• Most teams budget 5%
• Then wonder why adoption stalls

**Mistake 3: Building an HR strategy disconnected from business strategy** 🎯

• If your transformation can't articulate its impact on revenue, cost, or risk, it won't survive budget cuts
• Every operating model decision should trace back to a business outcome
• "Better employee experience" isn't enough
• Better experience that drives what business result?

**Mistake 4: Copying someone else's operating model** 📋

• The three-pillar model works brilliantly for some organizations
• It fails spectacularly for others
• Your operating model must reflect your organization's complexity, maturity, and strategic priorities
• There is no universal best practice

**Mistake 5: Treating technology as the transformation** 💻

• A new HRIS doesn't transform HR
• It automates your current process
• Good or bad
• Fix the operating model first
• Then digitize
• The most expensive mistake is automating dysfunction

Here's what actually works: ✅

Start with your most painful process.

Redesign it completely.

Prove the value.

Then scale the approach.

Transformations that try to fix everything simultaneously fix nothing. 🚫

The organizations that get this right don't just redesign HR.

They fundamentally change how the business views HR's strategic contribution. 🚀

If you're planning an HR transformation or struggling with one that's stalled, I'd welcome a conversation. 💬

Sometimes an outside perspective on your operating model challenges makes all the difference.

Follow Hayden Swerling and get in contact if you need advice on your transformation.

Your mind can be your worst enemy.

Especially on a Sunday night.
And I've spent too many nights proving it.

Worrying about things you can't control is like refreshing your inbox at midnight.

Exhausting. Pointless. Gets you nowhere.

So I started asking myself one question:

"Can I actually do something about this right now?"

If yes → take action.
If no → let it go.

Sounds simple. It's not.

But it's the only way to stop your thoughts from running in circles all night.

This week, I'm focusing on what I can actually change.

My effort. My attitude. My next move.

Everything else? That's tomorrow's problem.

What's one thing you're letting go of this week?

P.S. Want more practical strategies for managing your mindset and career growth? 

Follow Hayden Swerling for weekly insights that actually help.

You thought 2022 would break you.

The setbacks. The doubts. The moments you questioned everything.

2023 didn't get easier.
It just taught you resilience you didn't know you had.

Then 2024 hit different.

Your entire perspective shifted.
What you chased before? Suddenly meaningless.
What you ignored before? Suddenly everything.

2025 brought clarity.

Not the kind you read about.
The kind that comes from surviving what almost destroyed you.

You finally know what matters.
Who matters.
Why you're really here.

And 2026?

This is where everything you survived becomes everything you needed.

The pain had purpose.
The struggle had meaning.
The years that tested you were preparing you.

You're not the same person who started this journey.

You're stronger.
Wiser.
Ready.

This is your year to show it.

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What year changed you the most? 
Drop it below.

Some organisations tell the truth early and listen.

Others hide behind silence until it kills them.

I've seen teams that could move mountains fall apart.
Not from the pressure.
Not from the workload.
But because leadership waited too long to say what everyone already knew.

By the time they finally spoke up, trust was gone.
The damage wasn't the bad news itself.
It was the delay.

Truth delayed is trust destroyed.

When you wait to share reality, you think you're protecting people.
Actually, you're teaching them you can't be trusted with it.

When you only listen once things are on fire?
You're not leading through crisis.
You're cleaning up mess you made by ignoring what people tried to tell you.

The best organisations don't wait for the right moment to be honest.
They don't save their ears for when everything breaks.

They build places where truth comes early, often, and without punishment.
Where speaking up gets you heard, not hurt.
Where leaders share reality because they believe their people can handle it.

The question was never whether your team can handle the truth.

It's whether you're brave enough to tell it while there's still time to do something about it.

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That barista who made your coffee this morning?

She just saved someone's life yesterday as a volunteer EMT.

The janitor you walked past without looking up?

He's putting three kids through college on his own.

The intern sitting quietly in your meeting?

She's building a nonprofit that's already helped 500 families.

We spend our whole lives judging people by their LinkedIn titles.

Meanwhile, we're missing the actual humans right in front of us.

I used to do this too.

Then I realized something.

Respect isn't earned by credentials.
It's given because someone exists.

That's it.

No resume required.
No title needed.
No permission slip necessary.

The CEO and the delivery driver both deserve your full attention.

You never know who's carrying weight you can't imagine.
Or building dreams nobody sees yet.

Start today.

Look people in the eye.
Learn their names.
Treat everyone like they matter.

Because they do.

Your character isn't measured by how you treat people who can help you.

It's measured by how you treat people who can't.

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Who's someone "ordinary" who taught you something extraordinary?

You have no idea what's happening behind the scenes.
That colleague who snapped at you in the meeting?

Their parent just got diagnosed with cancer.

The team member who's been "checked out" lately?
They're going through a divorce and fighting for custody.

The person who declined your lunch invite again?
They're barely holding it together and can't risk breaking down in public.

We see 10% of someone's reality.
The polished LinkedIn posts.
The professional demeanor.
The "I'm fine" in the hallway.

We miss the other 90%.

The sleepless nights.
The financial stress.
The relationship falling apart.
The health scare they haven't told anyone about.

Here's what I've learned the hard way:

Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.

That "difficult" person isn't difficult.
They're drowning.

That "lazy" team member isn't lazy.
They're exhausted from life outside these walls.

So before you judge.
Before you complain.
Before you write someone off.

Just be kind.

It costs you nothing.
But it might save someone's day.
Or their week.
Or more than you'll ever know.

Kindness isn't weakness.
It's wisdom.

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The CFO just rolled his eyes at your HR update.

Again.

You saw it.
Pretended you didn't.
Kept talking about engagement scores anyway.

Here's the truth.

You're not being dismissed because they don't value people.

You're being dismissed because you trained them to.

Every time you lead with activity metrics, you teach them HR isn't strategic.

Every time you celebrate "47 training sessions completed", you prove their suspicion.

Every time you talk about programs instead of problems solved, you become background noise.

The patterns keeping you out of the room:

"Our engagement scores improved."
→ They hear: nothing that impacts revenue

"Turnover is down 3%."
→ They hear: not enough to notice

"We launched a new performance framework."
→ They hear: more HR paperwork

We default to these because they're safe.

Easy to measure.
Hard to dispute.
Disconnected from what the business cares about.

The best HR leaders I know never talk about HR.

They talk about:
• How slow hiring is costing the sales team quota
• Why manager quality predicts customer retention
• The revenue impact of role confusion

They translate people problems into business language.

Not HR language.

If executives tune out when you speak, look at what you're leading with.

Are you giving them insights that move the business forward?

Or updates they've learned to ignore?

There's a difference.

And it's costing you the seat at the table.

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You walk into work smiling.

Everyone else looks like their dog just got adopted by their ex.

You're a golden retriever at a funeral. 
And you brought tennis balls.

A number of years ago I strolled into a leadership meeting with my coffee, completely oblivious.

Dead silence.
Zero eye contact.
My CEO looked like someone cancelled his Spotify Premium.

Me: "Morning everyone!"

Turns out we'd just lost our biggest client.

I'm standing there grinning like an idiot while everyone else is mentally updating their LinkedIn bios.

I've been Big Bird on the Death Star more times than I can count.

The weirdo who walks into a dumpster fire and asks if anyone wants s'mores.

Here's the thing about being that person:

Your job isn't always to match the room's energy.

Sometimes it's to absolutely wreck it.

Not with toxic positivity or "good vibes only" nonsense.

But with the audacity to believe panic isn't a business strategy.

When everyone's spiraling, they don't need another person joining the doom scroll.

They need someone who can still see the next move.

You're not naive.
You're the circuit breaker.

Energy spreads both ways.

And sometimes the most valuable thing you bring isn't your expertise.

It's your stubborn refusal to let everyone stay stuck in the darkness.

So if you're Big Bird today?

Own it.

The Empire has enough Darth Vaders.

What it needs is someone ridiculous enough to still believe we're going to win.

♻️ Repost if you've been the only optimist while everyone else planned their escape route.

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The water boy stood frozen.

Geelong just won the Grand Final.
And captain Joel Selwood was walking straight toward him.

What happened next changed his life.

Selwood didn't just acknowledge him. 
He pulled him into the celebration. 
Made him part of the moment. 
Gave him a memory that'll last forever.

This wasn't about football.

It was about seeing someone. 
Really seeing them.

That water boy was a massive Cats fan. 
He'd probably dreamed of this moment his entire life. 
And Selwood made it real.

Here's what most leaders miss:

You don't need a grand gesture to change someone's life. 
You just need to notice them. Include them. 
Make them feel like they matter.

Because they do.

The people watching you right now? 
They're waiting to see if you'll lift them up or walk past them.

Who can you bring into your celebration today?

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They want you to be the therapist.
And the enforcer.
The champion of culture.
And the cost-cutter.

You're supposed to care deeply about people.
Then lay them off with compassion.

This is the impossible job.

I've defended grieving employees in boardrooms full of spreadsheets.
I've watched brilliant people quit because we made them feel like numbers.

And I've had enough of the false choice.

You don't have to pick between people and profit.
Between heart and results.

You need all 5.

The 5 H's of Modern HR:

🧠 HEAD - Strategy and business insight
❤️ HEART - Empathy and inclusion  
🤝 HANDS - Execution that works
👂 HEAR - Real listening
⚖️ HOLD - Accountability and integrity

Most HR pros are doing pieces of this.
Just reactively.
Putting out fires. 🔥

When you use all 5 together?

You stop betraying one side to serve the other.

Your people aren't your biggest cost.
They're your most dangerous competitive advantage. ⚡

Which H are you neglecting?

—

Follow Hayden Swerling for HR that's both human and strategic.

You're choosing AI tools the same way you chose your HRIS.
Based on features, not fit.
Here's what actually matters:

The tool that works for comp modelling won't work for rewriting a redundancy letter.

The one that drafts your strategy deck won't handle your ER case review.

Most People Leaders I talk to are using ChatGPT for everything.

That's like using Excel for your entire People function.

Here's the stack that actually works:

ChatGPT when you need speed and structure.
Use it for org design options, manager toolkits, turning messy input into exec-ready narratives.

It's your thinking partner, not your writer.

Gemini when your world lives in Google Workspace.
Pull themes from engagement surveys, turn HR data into slides, analyse workforce planning at pace.

Best for synthesis, not strategy.

Claude when human consequences matter.
Policy reviews, sensitive comms, complex change impacts, ER cases.

It handles nuance. The others don't.

The mistake isn't picking the wrong tool.

It's using one tool for everything and wondering why your output feels generic.

Match the tool to the problem.
Not the problem to your favourite tool.

Want help building your AI stack for People work?

I've spent the last year testing these tools on real HR challenges.

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You're teaching managers how to have better conversations.
But you haven't given them anything worth talking about.

Every year, companies invest millions in manager training.
Coaching skills. Active listening. Feedback frameworks.

Then managers return to their desks and sit in 1:1s with nothing meaningful to discuss.

Because you gave them the skills but not the infrastructure:

• No clear career paths to coach people toward
• No meaningful goals beyond "do more with less"
• No succession plans that feel real
• No role clarity when everything changes every six months
• No authority to make decisions that matter

So the conversation becomes:
"How are you doing?"
"Fine."
"Anything I can help with?"
"Nope."

And both people leave feeling like they wasted 30 minutes.

Here's the truth.

Manager training isn't the problem.
Your organizational design is.

You can't coach people toward growth if there's nowhere to grow.
You can't have career conversations without career architecture.
You can't develop talent without knowing what talent you need.

Great coaching requires something to coach toward.

Direction. Clarity. Opportunity.

The best HR functions I've seen don't just train managers.

They build the systems that make good management possible:
Clear role frameworks.
Transparent progression paths.
Goals that connect to something bigger than quarterly targets.

If you want better managers, stop buying more training.

Start building better infrastructure.

What's one system your managers need that training can't fix?

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