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C-suite drama was on full display at the Jumbotron of a recent Coldplay concert—highlighting the uphill battle facing HR of maintaining employee trust in leadership.
At this point, few people haven’t seen the viral video that caught Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot, a married CEO and his chief people officer, in an embrace. It wasn’t just a moment of embarrassment. Apart from the personal reverberations, the $1-billion tech company Astronomer launched a formal investigation, and Byron went on to resign from his post as the head of the company.
The incident spread like wildfire throughout HR circles, with many leaders highlighting how it has put a needed spotlight on pervasive issues facing the function.
“This one isn’t just a headline—it’s a mirror,” Perceptyx Chief People Officer Lisa Sterling wrote on LinkedIn. “A reflection of the exact tension so many HR leaders face every day.”
The ‘catastrophic’ effect of damaged trust in leadership
Sterling wrote that HR professionals are often faced with dichotomies: “Do I do what’s expected, or do I do what’s right? Do I protect power, or protect people?”
While HR isn’t necessarily “broken,” she says, it can at times be “complicit”—when HR professionals stay silent, protect leaders or
