Send us Fan Mail

If you've ever stayed somewhere too long because the title looked good on paper, this one's for you. Qiara Suggs got told no for a promotion she'd earned twice over — and turned that no into the executive seat she holds today. We pulled the curtain back on what it actually takes to drive your own career when nobody else is going to drive it for you.

About the Guest

Qiara Suggs is the Chief People Officer at TDECU, the largest credit union in Houston and one of the four largest in Texas, where she leads people strategy, corporate real estate, enterprise strategy, and enterprise project management. A fixture in the Houston HR community and a U of H alum, she's the kind of senior HR voice this show was built for.

What You'll Learn

• Why hope is not a strategy — and the one question a mentor asked Qiara that flipped her entire career
• How to tell when your job description is the floor — and when it's quietly becoming the ceiling
• The difference between leaving for the right reason and leaving because you're hurt (and how to tell which one you're in)
• Why every no is a yes somewhere else — but only if you stay in the driver's seat
• What HR actually does behind the scenes — and why "HR is not your friend" is a worse take than the internet thinks
• How to navigate being the only one in the room without letting it define your brand

Timestamps

00:00 — Cold open: why this conversation matters now

01:49 — Qiara's role at TDECU and the case for going "non-traditional"

04:01 — Mentors, and why your village beats your résumé

06:52 — The leader's job: betting on people who haven't yet bet on themselves

09:18 — "I won't do extra work for free" vs. showing your real ceiling 13:36 — Career growth isn't always vertical — and why that's the point

17:49 — Don't get stuck. Get in the driver's seat.

19:10 — The promotion that didn't happen — and what Njsane did next

24:13 — Every "no" is a "yes" somewhere else

26:54 — Total comp, the dollar trap, and the long game

30:36 — Don't quit mad. Make it a business decision.

33:53 — HR as friend, not villain — and what's really happening behind the scenes

41:12 — Being the only one in the room without losing yourself in it

50:02 — When leadership requires courage, not consensus

52:37 — Closing reflections and what's next

Referenced episode: From Hourly to Salary: Promotion or Prank? — Season 1 on Buzzsprout

Your Move

• Subscribe so you don't miss the next one → https://www.buzzsprout.com/2173681
• Get the newsletter in your inbox every other week → [insert Mailchimp signup link]
• Connect with Qiara Suggs on LinkedIn
• Connect with Njsane → linkedin.com/in/njsanecourtney
• Bringing this conversation to your organization or conference? → myfriendinhr@gmail.com

#MyFriendInHR #HRLeadership #CareerGrowth

Support the show

Instagram: myfriendin_hr
Linkedin: Njsane Courtney
Email: myfriendinhr@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail

The talent market feels calmer on the surface, but the real shift is deeper: after the pandemic, people rewrote their relationship with work, and companies were forced to take human capital management seriously. I’m joined by Jim Link, Chief Human Resources Officer at SHRM, to talk about what actually happened to the so-called war for talent and why HR leaders suddenly became essential to keeping business moving when the world got unpredictable.

We dig into the practical side of modern HR strategy: why skills-based hiring beats relying on old job descriptions, how skill mapping strengthens internal mobility, and what “cultural clarity” looks like when budgets are tight but expectations are high. Jim also shares how he thinks about generative AI in HR, especially using AI for augmentation such as job description drafts, analytics support, and coaching prompts for difficult conversations, with a clear reminder to protect employee privacy by sanitizing what you share.

Then we get blunt about retention and succession planning. Waiting until a resignation to offer growth is a costly habit, and most leaders underestimate how far honest career conversations can go without spending a dollar. We also challenge the “spreadsheet theater” version of succession planning and talk about building real bench strength, being transparent about potential, and creating space for grace when high potentials stumble.

If you care about talent management, employee experience, and the future of work, this is the kind of conversation you can use immediately. Subscribe, share it with one colleague, and leave a review with the one leadership habit you think would fix retention fastest.

Register for the SHRM 2026 Talent Conference: https://shop.shrm.org/SHRM-TALENT-2026?_ga=2.11244402.75391506.1775908899-634450247.1775908899&_gl=1*6e2gv8*_ga*NjM0NDUwMjQ3LjE3NzU5MDg4OTk.*_ga_HQNM4FGPDS*czE3NzU5MDg4OTkkbzEkZzEkdDE3NzU5MDg5MzAkajI5JGwwJGgw*_gcl_au*MTAzNzc4ODA0My4xNzc1OTA4ODk5

Support the show

Instagram: myfriendin_hr
Linkedin: Njsane Courtney
Email: myfriendinhr@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail

One person can hit every target and still poison the room and the worst part is that keeping them can look “logical” on a spreadsheet. We dig into the real reasons toxic employees stay employed, from the at-will employment myth to the HR documentation gap that turns obvious bad behavior into a legal gray area. If you have ever stared at a teammate like “Why is Dave still here?”, you are not alone and your manager is probably navigating risks you cannot see.

We walk through three invisible handcuffs that slow everything down: fear of wrongful termination claims, the subjectivity trap (toxic is not a policy violation), and the confidentiality iceberg that hides discipline and coaching from the rest of the team. Then we hit the high performer dilemma head-on. Great results do not cancel out harmful behavior, and tolerating a “rainmaker” can quietly train your culture to accept disrespect as the price of performance.

You will get tactical tools you can use immediately: a simple documentation rule (if you cannot observe it, measure it, or quote it, do not write it), a clear formula that makes behavior defensible (date and time, specific behavior, business impact, witnesses), and a word-for-word script for the hardest conversation in management. We also cover how employees can help without becoming the next problem and why protecting your own mental health and career trajectory matters if leadership will not act.

If you found this helpful, subscribe, share it with a manager or coworker, and leave a five-star rating and a comment so more people can find the show.

Support the show

Instagram: myfriendin_hr
Linkedin: Njsane Courtney
Email: myfriendinhr@gmail.com