In this episode of Transformational Leadership, host Jeff Harnois sits down with Theresa Hilsen, Director of Leadership Enablement & Communications at Sony Interactive Entertainment — the company behind PlayStation.

Theresa has spent her career inside highly matrixed, technical organizations, acting as a trusted partner to senior executives through transformation, culture shifts, leadership development, and organizational change.

From enabling leaders to become “multipliers,” to aligning culture with lived values, to elevating technical teams beyond linear thinking — this episode goes deep into the realities of transformation inside complex environments.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Welcome to Transformational Leadership

00:28 – No fluff: frameworks, stories, results

00:58 – Meet Theresa Hilsen, Director at PlayStation

01:27 – Transformation, technical leaders & failing fast

01:53 – Espoused vs. lived values

02:21 – Leadership enablement in a matrixed business

02:47 – Evolving from HR to embedded business partner

03:12 – Understanding what keeps leaders up at night

03:37 – Changing leadership behavior and culture

04:18 – Working inside highly technical environments

04:51 – The HR seat at the table & shifting the model

05:17 – Becoming a true partner to senior executives

05:45 – Leadership whisperer role explained

06:20 – Translating engineering thinking to people impact

07:00 – Humanizing transformation

07:35 – New leader sessions: structure & purpose

08:29 – What keeps the leader up at night?

09:34 – Giving teams a voice & building agreements

10:30 – Simplicity & alignment accelerate transformation

11:17 – Current state vs desired state

12:11 – Failing fast: are you rewarding it?

12:47 – Culture, reactions, and psychological safety

13:11 – Divergence between what we say and what we do

13:59 – Trust, alignment and accountability

14:46 – The coaching mirror

15:33 – Wins: alignment, pace & transformation success

16:23 – Organizational shifts and technology change

17:00 – Back row to front: pushing and cheering

17:59 – People-first leadership at Sony

18:29 – Working for leaders who believe in people

19:17 – Senior VP Paul Walsh and lived values

19:46 – Up-leveling technical leaders

20:14 – Beyond training: how to stretch teams

20:50 – Liz Wiseman’s multipliers & the rubber band

21:37 – Stretching beyond perceived limits

22:16 – The reality of what’s possible

22:43 – Psychology, energy & startups

23:05 – Leaders who think technically & humanizing it

24:24 – Navy SEAL mindset: seven more reps

25:16 – Career foundation & path to Sony

26:14 – Technical leaders + human perspective

27:02 – Best advice she didn’t take

27:50 – Impact is greater than making the boss look good

28:42 – Prioritizing business needs

29:22 – Connect with Theresa on LinkedIn

29:40 – Closing & invitation to subscribe

30:06 – Like, subscribe, review & share

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In this powerful episode of Transformational Leadership, host Jeff Harnois sits down with Miriam Del Angel, former VP of Human Resources at Ronstad Enterprises and current founder of LML People Consulting. With executive leadership experience at Arthur Andersen, Microsoft, Accenture, Deloitte, EY, PWC, and Grant Thornton, Miriam shares battle-tested strategies for transforming employee engagement in complex, global organizations.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Introduction: Meet Miriam Del Angel

02:15 - The Ronstad Challenge: Monthly to Quarterly Engagement Surveys

04:30 - Creating an Employee-Led Engagement Committee

07:45 - Why Recognition Was the Global Common Theme

10:20 - Formalizing the Initiative with Governance and Accountability

13:40 - Results: Significant Improvement in One Quarter

16:00 - Wellbeing Champions and Communication Gaps

19:15 - The Surprising Discovery: Benefits Already Existed

22:30 - The PWC Southwest Story: Lowest Scores for 3-5 Years

25:45 - Why Traditional Focus Groups Were Failing

28:00 - The Radical Approach: Interviewing Every Employee

31:20 - Three Months, 300+ Conversations

34:40 - Presenting Difficult Feedback to Defensive Leadership

38:15 - First Time Moving Out of the Red Zone

41:00 - The Importance of Leadership Modeling Behavior

44:30 - Working Across Global Cultures: Trust-Based vs Task-Based

47:45 - Miriam's Origin Story: How She Got Into HR

51:20 - Working Remote Before It Was Cool

53:40 - Book: "Latinas in Corporate"

56:30 - Key Takeaways and Final Thoughts

Key Frameworks Discussed:

• Building trust through 1-on-1 engagement vs. traditional focus groups

• Creating diversity in committees by level, geography, and function

• The importance of governance and regular check-ins for transformation initiatives

• Setting expectations with documentation and contingency plans

• Leadership modeling as essential to behavioral change

• About Miriam: Author of "Latinas in Corporate: Overcoming Cultural

• Obstacles While Juggling a Career and Family" and co-author of the

• Latinas Rising Up in HR series. Miriam has dedicated her career to people-first leadership and creating meaningful organizational change.

Resources:

Website: latinasincorporate.com

Book: Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble

LinkedIn: Miriam Del Angel

Perfect for: HR Leaders, Change Management Professionals, Executives, People Managers, Organizational Development Practitioners

#employeeengagement #TransformationalLeadership #HRLeadership #ChangeManagement #OrganizationalCulture #GlobalLeadership #PeopleStrategy #ExecutiveInsights #CultureTransformation #LeadershipDevelopment

Next-generation talent, AI-powered coaching, remote-first cultures that actually work, and an HR leader who refuses to accept “we’ve always done it this way.”

This episode with Christie Hall turns old-school HR on its head and lays down a roadmap for building organizations that move fast, scale smart, and retain people who could work anywhere—but choose to stay.

Key Discussion Points

00:00 – Why HR transformation fails—and how to avoid it

03:21 – The real motivators of Gen Z talent

09:56 – Rotation programs: building depth without burnout

14:33 – When stretch assignments aren’t enough

20:17 – What creates boomerang employees

26:02 – The reality of career mobility done right

31:45 – The remote-work debate: data over dogma

39:58 – The hidden link between performance metrics and trust

45:50 – Automation that supports people instead of replacing them

55:11 – A president who challenges the status quo

1:03:47 – AI coaching: the next frontier

1:13:22 – Culture, awards, and the ROI of loving your people

1:22:09 – From D to A: how leadership really transforms an organization

1:28:30 – Christie’s personal philosophy on leadership

1:34:50 – Final message: start by starting

Leaders who want to evolve, not erode, their workforce will find a playbook here.

Before you go, invest a minute in your own leadership growth:

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🔗 Pass this to a leader who’s ready to challenge “how it’s always been done”

#TransformationalLeadership #FutureOfWork #NextGenTalent #HRInnovation #LeadershipDevelopment #PeopleFirst #AutomationStrategy #WorkplaceCulture #RemoteWork #CareerMobility #TalentDevelopment #HumanCapitalStrategy