In this inspiring episode of The ASHHRA Podcast, hosts Bo Brabo and Luke Carignan welcome Michael Sloan, CHRO at CommonSpirit Health and author of Unlocking Talent: The Hidden Strengths That Build Extraordinary Teams and Cultures. With oversight of 11 hospitals, 16 clinics, and 8,000 employees, Michael brings a bold and fresh perspective to healthcare HR leadership.

From his beginnings as a prosecutor and labor attorney to leading human resources in one of the largest nonprofit health systems in the country, Michael shares his unconventional journey—and how it shaped his people-first philosophy.

What You’ll Learn:

• The “IT Factor” in Talent
  Discover why subject-matter expertise isn’t enough—and how intangibles like curiosity, resilience, and humility are what truly build high-performing teams.
• Lessons from the Courtroom
  Michael explains how his litigation background taught him to read people, build trust, and resolve conflict—essential skills for today’s HR leaders.
• Redefining Leadership Accountability
  Why great leaders don’t “meet halfway”—they take 100% responsibility for the relationships they build and the teams they develop.
• How to Spot Hidden Talent
  Learn how to go beyond resumes and credentials to identify and cultivate talent in overlooked employees.
• Building Culture Through Action
  Michael unpacks the relationship between culture and strategy, explaining how leaders must create space for growth, mistakes, and meaningful contributions.
• Insights from the Book
  Unlocking Talent isn’t just another leadership book—it’s a call to recognize and elevate the unseen strengths within your organization.

Favorite Quotes:

🗣️ “People may not come to the table with everything fully developed, but it’s your job as a leader to help bring it out.”

🗣️ “If you want the best team, look beyond credentials—look for tenacity, curiosity, and people who make others better.”

🗣️ “In HR, it’s all about the human side. Relationships move the needle in healthcare.”

Perfect For:

• Healthcare HR leaders
• Hospital executives
• Talent acquisition professionals
• Leadership coaches
• Anyone striving to build extraordinary teams

🎧 Tune in now and start seeing the hidden strengths in your own team. Michael’s wisdom will challenge how you hire, lead, and think about people—whether you're in healthcare or not.

🔗 Don’t forget to check out Unlocking Talent on Amazon or wherever you buy books.

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In this powerful and candid conversation, hosts Bo Brabo and Luke Carignan sit down with Billy Parsons, Chief Human Resources Officer at EyeCare Partners and a U.S. Navy veteran, to explore the real work of leading people—and the defining career moments that shape HR excellence.

From Submarines to C-Suite: Billy’s Unconventional Journey
Billy’s career path defies convention. From life in the Navy's tight quarters to HR leadership roles across healthcare, tech, and retail, he’s earned his stripes the hard way. In this episode, he opens up about the lessons he learned as an HR department of one, the power of mentorship, and why starting from the ground up gave him a PhD in leadership—without ever stepping foot in a classroom.

💡 Leadership Gold You’ll Hear:

• “Professional maturity” and why the ability to receive feedback without ego is critical to career growth.
• How to develop honest, feedback-rich cultures where both leaders and employees actually grow.
• A raw story about being “ripped to shreds” by a state inspector—and how it became Billy’s most pivotal career moment.
• Why empathy, courage, and transparency are non-negotiable in healthcare HR.
• The true value of building policy with flexibility and heart—especially when human lives are involved.

🔥 Favorite Quote:

“Sometimes really getting your rear kicked can do a lot for your career.” – Billy Parsons

Why This Episode Matters for You:
Whether you’re a one-person HR team, a tenured leader, or navigating the politics of a complex health system, Billy’s journey will hit home. His grounded, no-fluff advice reminds us that great HR isn’t about perfection—it’s about resilience, humility, and choosing growth every single time.

Thank you for listening!

Bo & Luke

From our sponsors...

Unlock Pharmacy Plan Potential!

Your employees expect top-tier medical benefits, like comprehensive care access. But how can you balance these expectations against rising costs, across your full benefits portfolio? Did you know that hospital employees fill 25% more prescriptions each year than other industries? How can you tell if all those prescriptions were needed, or if you could have had significant cost savings by filling at your own hospital pharmacies?

Contact RxBenefits today to learn more: https://rxbene.fit/3ZaurZN

Simplify screening, credentialing & compliance with oneBADGEhealthcare from ISB Global. Built for healthcare HR leaders. Learn more & get started here: https://isbglobalservices.com/onebadgeunitedstates/ashhra/

Support the show

🎙️ New Episode: Leading from Your Best Self with Kapri Ames

In this powerful episode of The ASHHRA Podcast, hosts Luke Carignan and Bo Brabo sit down with Kapri Ames, Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer at Indiana University Health, to explore what it truly means to lead with self-awareness, energy, and intention.

With over two decades in healthcare—and 17 years in leadership—Kapri brings more than experience to the table. She brings heart, humility, and a bold message: you can’t lead others well until you know how to lead yourself.

🔑 Episode Highlights:

💡 Know Your Magic
Kapri challenges leaders to discover their “magic”—the unique strengths that allow them to lead with passion and clarity. From Enneagram to DISC to StrengthsFinder, she shares how self-awareness creates more effective, empathetic, and aligned leadership.

💡 Modeling Work-Life Integration
Forget work-life balance. Kapri models integration—giving her team permission to take meetings outside in the sun, adjust their schedules, and care for themselves so they can care for others. Because if leaders aren’t well, their teams won’t be either.

💡 Build Strength-Aligned Teams
Kapri is unapologetic about not managing to weaknesses. Instead, she’s built a high-performing team based on complementary strengths, open collaboration, and radical psychological safety—where people don’t compete, they multiply one another’s impact.

💡 Culture That Wins Awards
This isn’t just theory. Kapri’s leadership has helped IU Health earn its third Magnet Designation with Distinction—an elite recognition for nursing excellence, collaboration, and patient outcomes.

💡 Live for Today. Lead for Tomorrow.
Kapri leads in the moment but plans with intention. She surrounds herself with visionaries who see the road ahead—while she ensures the team is delivering excellence today. As she says: “Don’t borrow trouble from tomorrow. Sufficient is the day.”

🧭 Leadership Lessons You’ll Take Away:

• Why real leadership starts with self-care and personal wellness
• How to create psychological safety by owning your strengths (and weaknesses)
• What happens when leaders give permission to unplug, recharge, and re-engage
• How to build teams that want to stay—and love coming to work

📣 Kapri’s Call to Action:
“Reflect on your own journey. Be your best self. And then look around—who can you lift up the way someone once did for you?”

🎧 Listen now to unlock a blueprint for values-driven, people-first leadership that fuels culture, performance, and joy.

The ASHHRA Podcast Team

This episode is sponsored by RxBenefits... Unlock Pharmacy Plan Potential!

Your employees expect top-tier medical benefits, like comprehensive care access. But how can you balance these expectations against rising costs, across your full benefits portfolio? Did you know that hospital employees fill 25% more prescriptions each year than other industries? How can you tell if all those prescriptions were needed, or if you could have had significant cost savings by filling at your own hospital pharmacies?

Contact RxBenefits today to learn more: https://rxbene.fit/3ZaurZN

Support the show