In this Episode 

What if the biggest blockers to collaboration and innovation... were the leaders themselves?

In this episode of The Leader Lab, Kristin Correa Blanco, Head of People at Harry’s and Flamingo, shares how the Harry’s team turned employee feedback into action. From overloaded meetings to unclear decision-making, they realized: the problem started at the top.

Hear how they responded with vulnerability, rolled out practical frameworks like situational leadership and DRIs, and kickstarted a cultural shift toward ownership, trust, and faster execution.

🔑 Topics covered:

• How to lead change (even when you’re part of the problem)
• Creating high-performing teams with clarity and trust
• Practical frameworks Harry’s used to build momentum

About the guest:

Kristen Correa Blanco, Head of People for Global Harry's and Flamingo. Harry’s is shaking up the consumer goods industry by putting people first and meeting real, unmet consumer needs—and Kristen is at the heart of that mission. She leads the global business unit, overseeing 400 people across the US, Canada, and the UK. With nearly 15 years of experience in fast-paced, high-growth environments, Kristen’s a trusted partner to executive leadership, driving talent and culture strategies that align with business goals and fuel organizational success. Before joining Harry’s, Kristen played a pivotal role as an HR Business Partner at Squarespace, helping shape talent strategies during a time of rapid expansion. She’s also held key roles at Equinox and New York Life Insurance. Kristen’s expertise spans coaching, talent development, change management, and advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

"Usually if you’re feeling that tipping point, someone else is too. Saying out loud that you see something—or don’t feel great—provides relatability. It accelerates change."

— Kristen Correa Blanco, Head of People at Harry’s and Flamingo

Here's a few LifeLabs workshops the Harrys team enjoyed:

Feedback Skills Workshop

Leading Change Workshop

Resources:

Leading Change Playbook - Our Leading Change in Uncertain Times Playbook is a comprehensive resource for guiding your entire team through the change process. It covers the three layers of organizational change

Performance Review Playbook  - This playbook is designed for People Ops Leaders building or revamping their performance review systems. In it, we’ll flag common pitfalls and outline concrete steps to take right away.

Articles:

Deal Out Better Feedback at Work With The Playing Cards Method™

The rise of feedback: Why feedback skills have become urgent

Continuous Feedback: Making Every Conversation Count

The LeaderLab Podcast is back — with a fresh twist. Originally launched over five years ago by a passionate group of Labmates at LifeLabs Learning, this podcast quickly became a go-to resource for bite-sized leadership skills.

Now, we’re relaunching with the same beloved format — short, practical episodes — plus a new layer: candid conversations with senior people leaders. You'll hear from LifeLabs facilitators teaching our signature Tipping Point Skills™, and from real-world changemakers tackling today’s toughest leadership challenges.

Still quick. Still actionable. Now with even deeper insight.

How can you ensure the systems and practices that are scaling alongside your business stay as inclusive and anti-biased as possible? This week, Vanessa is joined by Ashley Schwedt, LifeLabs Learning’s Director of IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-bias), to discuss one of her favorite tools: a DEI checklist for systems that we refer to as the FAIR framework. 

Want to help your organization grow kind? Get in touch with us to find out which learning experiences are right for your team.

How does your company convert information into knowledge that’s accessible org-wide? The LeaderLab invites Brian Dann, certified Knowledge Manager, and Katya Davydova, author and leadership facilitator, to share the 4D Model of Knowledge Management. Brian, Katya, and Vanessa discuss how this tool helps companies organize, socialize, and deepen their knowledge base at scale even during times of rapid growth. 

Want to help your organization grow kind? Get in touch with us to find out which learning experiences are right for your team. 

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Is your company intentionally and accurately prioritizing the needs of the business? The LeaderLab invites Robyn Long, LifeLabs Learning’s Chief of Staff and Business Operations Strategist, to share one of her favorite calibration tools with our listeners: the Business Priority Score (BPS) system. Robyn and Vanessa discuss how this tool helps companies grow sustainably as they scale by clarifying company-wide goals and taking action on the highest-priority projects first.   

Want to help your organization grow kind? Get in touch with us to find out which learning experiences are right for your team. 

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The LeaderLab Podcast is BACK for a brand new season! To kick things off, The LeaderLab invites listeners into an intimate conversation with LifeLabs Learning’s new CEO, Priscila Bala. Vanessa and Priscila’s conversation spans both the personal and organizational as the two discuss the journey of change leadership and the vision we’ve identified to shape the company’s evolution as we enter a phase of intentional hypergrowth: growing kind.

Want to help your organization grow kind? Get in touch with us to find out which learning experiences are right for your team. 

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Our mission at LifeLabs Learning is to help people master life’s most useful skills — and since we spend half of our lives at work, we like to think of the workplace as a practice lab for these skills.

In this season's final episode, LifeLabs Learning Co-CEOs LeeAnn Renninger and Tania Luna share LifeLabs' origin story, and how we’ve navigated the extraordinary changes the last two years presented, all while growing the business, supporting other organizations, and distilling what we’ve learned into our new book: The Leader Lab: CORE Skills to Become a Great Manager, Faster.

Wanna dig deeper? Get your copy of The Leader Lab: CORE Skills to Become a Great Manager, Faster anywhere books are sold.  

SuperInfluencers are wildly impactful. In this special episode of the LeaderLab, we invite our guests back into the lab to share more about the pivotal skills SuperInflueners use to catalyze outcomes in their organizations.

Do you ever feel like your ideas aren't taken seriously? Or that it's hard to feel a sense of progress or accomplishment? Learn how SuperInfluencers use the gap analysis to strategize about what gets done and how to measure if it's been successful.

Wanna dig a bit deeper? Check out the research referenced in this episode:

Dorie Clark, "If strategy is so important, why don't we make time for it?" Harvard Business Review, June 21, 2018

Nathan Wiita and Orla Leonard, "How the Most Successful Teams Bridge the Strategy-Execution Gap", November 23, 2017

Feeling stuck or noticing others getting in their own way? Learn how SuperInfluencers use the transformative Need-Forward skill to create positivity and progress for themselves and others.

Our guest Grace Pfisterer is also a Leadership Coach and works with clients to explore the outcomes they most deeply desire, identify what's getting in the way, and drive intentional action to make those outcomes a reality. She's currently pursuing her coaching certification through Co-Active Training Institute. 

Wanna dig a little deeper? Check out the research referenced in this episode:
Sigal, Barsad C., et al. "Emotional contagion in organizational life." Research in Organizational Behavior 38: (2018) pp.137-151

Chermahini, Soghra Akbari & Hommel, Bernhard. "Creative Mood Swings: Divergent and Convergent Thinking Affect Mood in Opposite Ways" Psychological Research 76 (5): pp 634-40 

We often go into conflicts trying to persuade others to see things our way, which can lead to tension or even resentment. Learn what SuperInfluencers do differently to transform conflicts into fruitful conversations.

Wanna dig a little deeper? Check out the research referenced in this episode.
 
Bowen, Jenny. "Bowen Family Systems Theory and Practice: Illustration and Critique." Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy v20 n2 (1999): 94-103

Jacques, Fred J. "The Role of Self-differentiation in Predicting Emotional Intelligence and Leadership" Int. J. Work Organisation and Emotion, v1 n 4 (2006): 379-398

SuperInfluencers are able to impact the behaviors of others without relying on authority. Learn one often overlooked SuperInfluencer skill in this episode.

Wanna dig a little deeper? Check out the research referenced in this week's episode.  

• Roghanized, M. Mahdi, and Vanessa K. Bohns. "Ask in Person: You're Less Persuasive Than You Think Over Email." Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 69 (2017): 223-226.
• Bohns, Vanessa K. “(Mis)understanding Our Influence Over Others: A Review of the Underestimation-of-Compliance Effect.” Current Directions in Psychological Science 25, no.2 (2016): 119-123.---

When we look at change in the workplace, it can often be challenging to navigate. As a leader, there are ways to guide your team in an empowering and empathetic way. Join us for this special panel-style conversation on Grow Kind Leadership in times of uncertainty.

Want training for your team? Get in touch with us to find out which learning experiences are right for your team.

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Cultivating SuperLeaders is integral to an organization’s success, but how does it happen? Listen to this special episode of The LeaderLab where we invite our SuperLeader guests back into the lab for a deeper dive into this very important topic.

When defensiveness shows up, conversations shut down. Learn the SuperLeader skill that will help you connect instead.

Want to dig a little deeper? Check out the research our guest referenced in the episode:

• Joshua Hart, The Psychology of Defensiveness 
• Victor Florian & Mario Mikulincer, The anxiety-buffering function of close relationships: Evidence that relationship commitment acts as a terror management mechanism

One thing SuperLeaders do differently is celebrating wins - but not the kind of wins you think. Tune into this episode of The LeaderLab powered by LifeLabs Learning to find out what type of wins matter most.

Want to dig a little deeper? Check out the research our guest referenced in the episode:

Teresa Amabile and Small Wins: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=40244

Hedonic Treadmill: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/hedonic-treadmill

Job Crafting: https://hbr.org/2020/03/what-job-crafting-looks-like

Want your team to pick up new behaviors faster and more holistically? Listen to this episode of the LeaderLab powered by LifeLabs Learning to discover one SuperLeader tool that makes all the difference.

Want to dig a little deeper? Check out the research referenced in the episode:

• Rebecca Williamson, "Learning the Rules: Observation and Imitation of a Sorting Strategy by 36-Month-Old Children"
• APA Dictionary of Psychology, "Vicarious Reinforcement"

Did you know that you can drive greater accountability on your team with four simple questions? Check out the first episode in our SuperLeaders series to find out how. 

How can one make SuperLearning a way of life as an individual, team, or organization? In this special episode of The LeaderLab, we invite our previous guests to not only wrap up the conversation on SuperLearning but take us further into this topic than we've gone before. 

Did you know that there's a specific kind of practice that allows you to learn faster and achieve more? Tune into the fourth episode in our SuperLearning series to discover how to use deliberate practice.

Do you use your senses to help you learn something faster? Check out episode #3 in our SuperLearning series on The LeaderLab to find out how.

Do you know how to use questions to supercharge your learning? Tune into episode #2 in our SuperLearning series on the LeaderLab to find out how.

Did you know that there are techniques to help you learn faster and achieve more? Listen to this episode on extraction skills as your first step to becoming a SuperLearner.

In this week’s episode of The LeaderLab, we continue our discussion about how leaders can play an active role in helping their teams and people through periods of growth in the kindest way possible. We invite Annie-Rose London, a Facilitator at LifeLabs Learning, to explain how leaders can harness the power of easy focus to quickly create space for their teams to think, feel, and connect by using the "I could talk abouts" primer.

Want to help your organization grow kind? Get in touch with us to find out which learning experiences are right for your team.

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Happy 2021! Have a listen to hear what's up next in the new year for The LeaderLab powered by LifeLabs Learning!

Feeling like the lines between work and home are blurring? Do you find yourself working extra hours at night or on weekends? Learn about the tool of start and stop rituals on this episode of The LeaderLab powered by LifeLabs Learning.

Did you know that there are three types of breaks you should be taking to maintain your energy? Tune into this episode of the LeaderLab powered by LifeLabs Learning to learn more.

Trying to manage your energy, but fall into the same old burnout boosting habits? Listen to this episode of the LeaderLab powered by LifeLabs Learning to learn how to use the power of If-thens to deliberately make better choices. 

Feeling run down? Looking for a way to maintain or up your energy at work?  Tune in to this episode of the LeaderLab to learn how job crafting will help you keep burnout at bay.

Did you know that you can de-escalate a difficult conversation before it even happens? Learn about the Time Distance Cover technique in this episode.

Have your emotions gotten the best of you during a difficult time? Learn how affect labeling can help you self-regulate and advocate for what you need. 

Want to learn more, head over to LifeLabsLearning.com

Ever at a loss for what to say during a difficult conversation? In this episode, learn the High Five Statements that you can apply to any challenging conversation to move from conflict to connection. Want to learn more? Head to LifeLabs Learning.com.

Do you dread conflict? Do you find yourself getting defensive vs working towards a win-win solution? Listen to this episode of LifeLabs Learning's podcast, The LeaderLab, to learn about the skill of uncovering underlying interests in a challenging conversation.

Want to learn how to activate your internal locus of control? Join us to learn about the Two-hander and add it to your leadership toolkit. Join the conversation on Twitter @LifeLabsLearn or on LinkedIn. Want to learn more? Head to LifeLabsLearning.com!

In this week’s episode of The LeaderLab, we continue our discussion about how leaders can play an active role in helping their teams and people through periods of growth in the kindest way possible. We invite Rachel Glick, Director of Consulting & Team Enablement at LifeLabs Learning, to explain how leaders can take a look beneath the surface of their team’s data to uncover the inputs contributing to performance outcomes using a Data Diiiive (and no, that’s not a typo — find out what the four I’s stand for by listening to the full episode).

Want to help your organization grow kind? Get in touch with us to find out which learning experiences are right for your team.

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Ever wondered how to turn the negative into the positive for yourself and others? Learn the leadership skill of reframing in this episode.

How do we help ourselves and others regain a locus of control and figure out our needs when our minds are spinning?  Learn the leadership skill of defusing in this episode.

Want to create rapport faster? Understand a problem sooner?  

Learn the 3 level playback in this episode and add it to your leadership toolkit.

What's the LeaderLab podcast? Listen and find out!

(And yes, we spelled Forward like that on purpose.)

In this week’s episode of The LeaderLab, we continue our discussion about how leaders can play an active role in helping their teams and people through periods of growth in the kindest way possible. We invite Massella Dukuly, Director of Team Enablement at LifeLabs Learning, to explain why using vision statements is one of the best ways to get people on board with, and even excited about, change.

Want to help your organization grow kind? Get in touch with us to find out which learning experiences are right for your team.

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Now that we’ve learned what it takes to grow kind from a systems level, it’s time to get a little more granular. In this series, we'll discuss how leaders can play an active role in helping their teams and people through periods of growth in the kindest way possible. In this episode of The LeaderLab, we invite Victoria Chen,  Facilitation Lead and Leadership Trainer, to demonstrate how leaders can use reasoning questions to create perspective and promote productive dialogue by understanding the ‘why’ behind somebody’s ‘what’.

Want to help your organization grow kind? Get in touch with us to find out which learning experiences are right for your team.

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We're taking a tiny break to Grow Kind and bring you new and exciting content on August 1st! 

When we look at growth from a systems level, it’s essential that we intentionally consider the people that growth will impact the most. In this special episode of The LeaderLab, we welcome back a few incredible guests from our systems-level Grow Kind series to discuss how the ‘grow kind’ mission came to be at LifeLabs Learning, what we’ve learned about growing kind so far, and what companies can do to grow in a way that benefits the business while still being people-centered, empowering, and energizing. 

Want to help your organization grow kind? Get in touch with us to find out which learning experiences are right for your team.

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As your company grows, how do you maintain its purpose, mission, and values across teams at scale? Joie Lim, LifeLabs Learning’s Impact Lead, joins The LeaderLab this week to talk about how leaders can protect an org’s ethos by reinforcing the behaviors that align with the company’s ideal identity.

Want to help your organization grow kind? Get in touch with us to find out which learning experiences are right for your team.

Change is hard, especially on the brain. In this episode, LifeLabs Learning Facilitaton Manager Brendon Nimphius introduces the CAMPS Check—a science-backed framework that helps leaders anticipate the psychological impact of change. Learn how to use Certainty, Autonomy, Meaning, Progress, and Social Inclusion to listen better, lead more effectively, and reduce resistance. Whether you're navigating a reorg, new process, or cultural shift, this episode will give you simple, actionable tools to lead through change with clarity and care.

CAMPS Resources:

Article: What’s Your CAMPS Score?

Article: CAMPS: The Best Model for Leading Change at Work

Workshop: Effective 1-1s 

Video: CAMPS Video

Leading Change Resources:

Playbook Leading Change In Uncertain Times

Workshop: Leading Change

Article: Decoding the Secrets to Change Resilience

Template: Change Checklist