Pascale Meyran

What a Harvard Business Review Session on the Everest Simulation Reminded Me About Leadership I attended a powerful session with Amy Edmondson and Mike Roberto on their famous "Mount Everest Leadership Simulation" from Harvard Business Impact Education. The insights aligned with the CHRO and change-leader challenges that leaders have expressed to me. Here are my biggest takeaways: Leadership teams carry two truths at the same time: Goal alignment (we all want to reach the summit) and goal conflict (different incentives, risks, and stakes). Ignoring either one creates blind spots. Expertise diversity only works if you actually pool it. High-skill, cross-functional teams fail when they don’t integrate their knowledge. In transformation work, especially AI adoption, leaders often “know” a lot individually but decide poorly collectively. Information asymmetry quietly kills performance. Different people see different parts of the mountain. When leaders assume they all have the same picture, bad decisions become inevitable. Rushing to decide is not leadership—it’s panic. Making a call without input may feel efficient, but it’s almost always the wrong move when stakes are high. Speed without sense-making just accelerates failure. Cultural friction > linguistic friction. It’s not the language you speak; it’s the culture you work in that determines whether information flows or gets trapped. In a world where AI, restructuring, and transformation amplify complexity, this Everest lesson still stands: Your team can only climb as high as the quality of the conversations they’re willing to have. If you’re leading change, building agile HR capabilities, or trying to scale AI adoption, your “summit success” depends on how well you surface hidden information, integrate expertise, and navigate goal conflict. If you want to use the Everest model inside your own leadership programs, click on this link. https://lnkd.in/dc3S66SY Also, I am happy to share how I will integrate it into my work with CHROs, change leaders, and students. Thanks #LeadershipDevelopment #TeamDynamics #OrganizationalCulture #ChangeLeadership

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This year’s Davos crystallized several imperatives for people leaders. Of all the three, the first one - leadership readiness - is key. You need strong leaders and engagement/adoption experts to formulate the change plan for the inevitable workplace transformation. And please don't let the tail wag the dog by asking ChatGBT to produce an engagement and adoption plan.....for itself! There are plenty of expert humans with real world experiences that can help! 1. Leadership readiness precedes technology adoption. Organizations won’t capture AI value through infrastructure investment alone. Leaders must personally demonstrate AI’s utility, create psychological safety for experimentation and help employees see technology as a capability enhancement rather than a job threat. 2. Social cohesion is strategic risk management. Disrupted workforces threaten social stability. HR’s role extends beyond talent management to helping organizations navigate broader societal implications of technological change. 3. Skills development requires new approaches. The Cornell University research showed interactive, hands-on AI simulations dramatically outperform passive learning. Cisco reports 91% of employees learn AI through experimentation. https://lnkd.in/etnkE2Ng

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Building an "ask-first" Feedback Culture: Organizations often struggle to create a culture of feedback. A simple step to get there: Start #asking for feedback! 1️⃣ Enable your teams on how to ask: Be specific, clarify impact 2️⃣ Role-model as leader: Start asking for concrete feedback from th etop 3️⃣ Recognize & reinforce asking: Reflect how & where it worked 4️⃣ Integrate asking: Make it a routine & habit in Meetings etc. 🎯 Check out our papilio Talent Solutions services to build your feedback culture here: https://lnkd.in/enUaHhqT https://lnkd.in/eccdAtQM

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Most strategies do not fail in execution first. They fail earlier in the politics, avoidance, weak governance, blurred decision rights, and lack of institutional honesty that exist before the first draft is written. My latest newsletter explores a hard truth for boards, CEOs, Chief Strategy Officers, and Chief Governance Officers:https://lnkd.in/dhGmzpE8

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December reveals what January hides: executive burnout degrades judgment, slows decisions, and disconnects your leadership pipeline. Global Chair Cagri Alkaya explains why this is a governance issue and what high-performing boards do differently. Read 'Silent Night, Stressed Executive: Why Burnt-Out Leaders Cost You More Than Money This Holiday Season' ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dHMxhFJY #BoardGovernance #ExecutiveLeadership #CorporateGovernance #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveBurnout

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