People Strategy Is Business Strategy: The Essentials You Need

Think HR should handle all the “people stuff”? Think again.

In this episode, I’m calling out one of the most common mistakes founders make when trying to scale—treating people strategy like an admin function or annoyance instead of core business strategy. I break down exactly what people systems you need and why this is all a part of your overall business operations strategy, not something else you need to do.

We’ll talk through the key systems every small business needs to grow a high-performing team, how to divide ownership between HR, managers, and leadership, and what happens when you avoid the hard conversations and hope someone else will handle them for you.

If you’ve ever said, “I just need to hire a strong HR person to manage the team,” this episode is for you.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• [1:45] Why outsourcing leadership doesn’t work
• [4:00] The parts of people strategy founders must own
• [7:20] HR’s real role—and where their responsibility ends
• [9:40] The essential systems every growing team needs
• [13:10] The “Owner Map” for hiring, management, and culture
• [16:25] What happens when you pass off uncomfortable conversations
• [18:00] Practical steps to lead your team (with HR as a co-pilot)
• [20:15] Wrap-up: Scaling people is the job

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