The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving · FirmsConsulting.com & StrategyTraining.com

629: Ashley Herd, Former Head of HR North America at McKinsey, on What Effective Managers Actually Do

·57 min·3 clips

“Tight jeans leadership” is what Ashley calls micromanagement, and “oversized sweatpants” is the opposite mistake.

Kris Safarova introduces Ashley Herd, noting her background as former Head of HR North America at McKinsey, national keynote speaker, top 10 business podcast host, and LinkedIn Top Voice. The conversation focuses on the real work of managers. Herd keeps coming back to timely feedback. People often hold criticism until a performance review, and by then ordinary guidance has turned into a surprise. The same issue shows up when managers say they will follow up and then do not. On the receiving end, silence can feel like more than forgetfulness. Herd uses that gap to show why leaders need habits, not just good intentions. She describes a three-step framework that applies in several places. It can help with hiring new team members. It can also help in accountability conversations. It even shapes how leaders handle taking time off. Herd says time off works best when leaders model it clearly and communicate what their teams need to know. Otherwise the team can feel unprepared or scrambled. The episode also takes up the idea that managers affect employee health in a serious way. That leads into a discussion of practical changes leaders could make over the next 30 to 60 days. The host keeps the discussion moving from definition to implication. Herd keeps answering with examples that connect strategy to everyday behavior. The result is a direct, usable conversation about trust, decision-making, communication, and implementation. It is aimed at people who want to become more effective managers rather than merely sound like one.

As heard by us

Good management comes down to timely feedback, clear follow-through, and plainspoken accountability.

Ashley Heard treats management as a set of habits, not a theory exercise: give feedback when it matters, do what you said you would, and keep one simple framework in play across hiring, accountability, and time off.

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Why you'd press play

You want a manager playbook with a three-step framework that feels usable on Monday morning.

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