Lead Human

Most HR leaders walk into organizations armed with frameworks, programs, and best practices. Mia walked in and just... listened.In this episode, I sat down with Mia, Head of People for TALA in the Philippines and Vietnam — a leader whose career path is anything but traditional. She started in brand management, moved through change management and consulting, got certified as an executive coach, and eventually found her way to one of the most people-forward roles in the Philippine tech space.What makes Mia's perspective rare isn't her credentials. It's her relentless insistence on context — on actually understanding what people's work lives look like before designing anything for them.They go deep on what real organizational transformation requires, why change so often fails at the last mile, and how a forwarded email she wasn't supposed to see became one of the most important leadership lessons of her career. They also talk about the future of work in the Philippines — what AI and automation could mean for human dignity in the workplace, why companies without HR at the table are more vulnerable than they think, and what Filipino organizations need to shift to unlock the leadership potential already sitting inside their teams.This is one of those conversations that will make you rethink how you show up — whether you're in HR, leading a team, or building a company.WHAT WE TALKED ABOUTHow Mia's non-traditional path — from brand management to consulting to executive coaching — shaped the way she thinks about people workThe pandemic moment that changed everything: why her boss kept telling her to get out of her bubble, and why it took years before she truly understood what that meantWhy context is the most underrated superpower in HR — and what it actually looks like to spend your first six months in a role just listeningThe last mile problem in change management — why frameworks and programs fail when they're not translated into the language of the people they're designed forWhy organizational transformation has to start at the top — and the 20/80 rule Mia uses to balance time with senior leaders versus the rest of the organizationThe performance rating wake-up call — how TALA discovered that 75% of their people were rated 4 or 5 out of 5, why that was not good, and what they did about itBuilding a coaching culture at scale — why frequency of coaching wasn't the problem for frontline managers, and how fixing visibility into metrics transformed coaching quality overnightThe forwarded email she wasn't supposed to see — and what the brutal feedback inside it eventually taught her about pushing agendas without understanding contextThe why to what shift — one of the most practical coaching tools in the episode, and why changing just the first word of a question can transform how people think about problemsWhy HR needs a real seat at the table — and the very real business risk of building organizations where people are treated as replaceable boxesThe Good Job Strategy by Zeynep Ton — why creating good jobs is a strategic business choice, not just an HR aspirationBringing dignity back to work — what that phrase actually means, and why AI and automation could be the thing that finally makes it possibleWhat Filipino senior leaders need to shift — why giving people context and bringing them on the journey is the single biggest unlock for leadership potential in this countryThe cascade moment — how one team lead's championship of a new performance policy became an unexpected and moving proof point for human-centered changeBOOKS MENTIONEDThe Good Job Strategy — Zeynep TonWork Rules — Laszlo Bock

In this episode of the Lead Human, Eli shared a conversation with Dr. Mena Ramos Co-Founder & Co-CEO of GUSI.Global Ultrasound Institute (GUSI) is on a mission to revolutionize patient care worldwide — equipping medical professionals with the skills and tools to use Point of Care Ultrasound at the bedside, enabling faster, more informed clinical decisions that save lives. Through an innovative wrap-around learning platform combining AI-enabled technology, virtual mentorship, and tele-ultrasound, GUSI is bridging the gap between cutting-edge healthcare technology and everyday medical practice — one scan at a time.At the helm of that mission is Dr. Mena Ramos — family physician, entrepreneur, philosopher, and musician. As Co-Founder and Co-CEO of GUSI, she is operationalizing AI-enabled POCUS for measurable healthcare outcomes across teams spanning the Philippines, the United States, and Europe.But in this episode of Lead Human, Eli sits down with Mena to explore something beyond the company — the inner work behind the leadership.Mena opens up about what building GUSI taught her about herself — why growing a company strips away the professional mask and demands that you show up as a whole person. They explore the role of self-awareness in making better decisions under pressure, why emotional intelligence remains one of the most undervalued assets in business, how HR became one of the most critical systems in GUSI's growth, and why epistemic humility — the courage to say I don't have all the answers — might be the most important leadership skill of all.In this episode, we get into:Why building a company forces you to show up as a whole person — and why that's actually a good thingHow self-awareness became her most important leadership tool — and what it cost her before she developed itWhy emotional intelligence is still one of the most undervalued assets in any businessHow HR became essential infrastructure at Global Ultrasound Institute — not an afterthoughtWhat epistemic humility looks like in practice — and why leading with "I don't have all the answers" unlocks more than confidence ever couldIf this conversation resonated with you, we hope you stick around — there's a lot more where this came from. And if you know someone who would benefit from hearing this, share it with them.

Welcome to Lead Human — a podcast for Filipino leaders rethinking how people are developed, how organizations grow, and what leadership looks like when humans come first. I'm Eli Harrell, the host of this Podcast and if you're someone building something and trying to get the people part right — this is for you. Follow the show so you don't miss it