Episode Details
Back to Episodes
305 - HR Alone Can't Create High Performance: Amy Schwartz, Head of Global HR at Wiz
Description
Amy Schwartz, Chief People Officer at Wiz, joined us on The Modern People Leader.
We talked about why HR alone can't create a high-performance culture, why relationships and influence matter more than HR systems, and why "picking up the trash" - a leadership philosophy she picked up working in casinos - has stuck with her ever since.
----
Sponsor Links:
🔗 Learn more about Cloverleaf at cloverleaf.me/mpl
🔗 Learn more about Intuit QuickBooks Payroll at QuickBooks.com/workforce
🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl
MPL Links:
----
(07:02) Amy’s Career Story: From Casinos to Chief People Officer
(10:01) Life in Vegas and Leadership Lessons Outside the Strip
(11:40) What Wiz Does and Joining a Hypergrowth Company
(12:33) Google Acquisition and Joining the Google Cloud Family
(13:42) Why HR Alone Cannot Create High Performance
(16:11) HR Systems Aren’t the Work, Influence Is
(18:01) High Performance Obsession and Getting the Fundamentals Right
(19:53) Why Leadership Shapes Culture More Than HR Programs
(21:00) The Limits of HR Ownership and Building Executive Influence
(22:25) Breaking Out of Traditional HR Thinking
(24:10) The MVP Mindset and Reallocating Time to What Matters
(25:15) Introducing “Pick Up the Trash” Leadership Philosophy
(29:33) What Picking Up the Trash Looks Like at Wiz
(31:45) HRBP Expectations and Operating Principles for Teams
(34:25) Future-Proofing HR: MVP Thinking and Operational Excellence
(37:08) Burnout, Humanity, and Why EQ Still Matters
(41:08) People Ops as Product and Design Thinking for HR Teams
(45:08) Avoiding Rip-and-Replace Change Management
(47:10) Starting Small: Bringing Product Thinking into HR Teams
(49:17) Rapid Fire Questions Begin
(50:05) Career Advice: Pick Up the Trash
(51:30) Team Superpower: The Beacon
(52:42) Performance Questions Every Leader Should Ask
(53:36) Dream Guests, Molly Graham, and Operator Mindsets
----
📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps
💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn
----
Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.