In this episode of HR Heretics, Nolan Church and Kelli Dragovich talk to Cynthia "Baz" Shrauner, former Meta HR executive and current Head of People at Electric Capital. Baz discusses her unconventional career move of voluntarily demoting herself twice to focus on work she genuinely enjoyed rather than traditional leadership roles. She candidly explores the tension between ego and fulfillment, Meta's hiring excesses during COVID and subsequent layoffs, and the complexities of DEI initiatives in corporate environments, offering rare insider perspective on Silicon Valley's operational realities.

*Email us your questions or topics for Kelli & Nolan: hrheretics@turpentine.co

For coaching and advising inquire at

https://kellidragovich.com/

HR Heretics is a podcast from Turpentine.

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KEEP UP WITH BAZ, NOLAN + KELLI ON LINKEDIN

Baz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-bazlamit-shrauner-683767/

Nolan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolan-church/

Kelli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellidragovich/

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LINKS:

Electric Capital:

https://www.electriccapital.com/

Link to Baz’s LinkedIn post about getting demoted in Facebook:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cynthia-bazlamit-shrauner-683767_7-years-into-my-time-at-facebook-i-was-demoted-activity-7321208807441731587-8SYh?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAWcjXgBb3Jw6dX16PD9lRJSsxfgqVAqZLw

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Intro

(01:59) The Demotion Story Begins

(04:00) The Emotional Reality

(06:00) Finding the Right Replacement

(07:59) Learning What You Love vs. Loathe

(10:58) Sponsors: Planful | Metaview

(13:58) Demoting Yourself Again: The Christine Ellis Story

(19:03) What Makes Great Leaders

(22:21) The Reality Check: Not Everyone Can Do This

(27:59) Self-Awareness and Ego Management

(35:24) Meta's COVID Hiring Spree

(42:08) The Layoffs: What Really Happened

(51:37) DEI Programs: From Helpful to Distracting

(57:41) Wrap

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

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