The VP Who Asked to Be Demoted: A Masterclass in Self-Awareness

For today’s essential Heretics 101 feature, former Meta HR leader Cynthia Bazlamit (Baz) Shrauner talks about demoting herself twice for fulfillment over title. She also describes Facebook’s pandemic hiring frenzy that ballooned teams 10x, the subsequent brutal layoffs, and the effect of DEI resource groups on the company.Support our Sponsor:Metaview is the AI platform built for recruiting. Check it out: https://www.metaview.ai/heretics* Our suite of AI agents work across your hiring process to save time, boost decision quality, and elevate the candidate experience.* Learn why team builders at 3,000+ cutting-edge companies like Brex, Deel, and Quora can’t live without Metaview.* It only takes minutes to get up and running.KEEP UP WITH BAZ, NOLAN + KELLI ON LINKEDINBaz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-bazlamit-shrauner-683767/Nolan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolan-church/Kelli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellidragovich/__LINKS:For coaching and advising inquire at https://kellidragovich.com/—TIMESTAMPS:(00:17) Intro(01:06) The First Demotion Story: Getting Demoted at Facebook(05:17) The Second Demotion: Hiring Christine Ellis & Doing It Again(10:00) “Comparison is the Thief of Joy” - The Ego Struggle(11:00) Sponsor: Metaview(12:59) Meta’s Pandemic Hiring Spree: “We Were Sloppy”(15:44) The Layoffs: Three Waves of RIFs, 8,000+ Cuts(19:42) DEI & Resource Groups: From Fun to Corporate Chaos(24:00) Closing This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hrheretics.substack.com