The Courage To Lead With Values In An Age Of Uncertainty: Insights From Workhuman Live 2025

Forbes

16-05-2025

Eric Mosley takes the stage at Workhuman Live 2025 to share how Human Intelligence is transforming ... More the workplace.
I came into Workhuman Live 2025 with a question I was eager to explore: In a moment defined by acute disruption and technological acceleration, what does it take to lead with clarity and conviction, meeting the needs of both the business and people in it?
Our speakers and attendees were posing the same question. Across every stage and side chat, I saw a thread running through the conversation: the importance of values, and how staying aligned to those values can drive forward both employee wellbeing and business performance.
The theme of the week soon became clear: In times of uncertainty, values are cultural anchors. And the moral courage to stand by them is a leadership differentiator. As Kelly Jones, EVP and Chief People Officer at Cisco, put it in our Wednesday panel: 'Leadership without moral courage is weak tea.'
As Kelly explained, oftentimes, when you're in times of disruption, employees want to know where you stand. 'This is the moral courage part,' she explained. 'Your culture comes to life through what you do, not what you say. And so you know, these moments of being able to communicate often and inclusively about who you are and where you stand on these things are very important.'
But to act with courage, leaders need more than just instinct or good intentions. They also need visibility into the unbiased truth of their organizations: how people work, where culture thrives or breaks down, and where values are lived or lost.
Moral courage doesn't mean having all the answers. It does mean being willing to seek out the truth. And this points to the other major threads of the conference: Having curiosity and seeking answers even when it's hard. In other words, finding and building on better data.
Adam Grant reminded us of this in his keynote, urging attendees to seek out the truth about their own leadership and organizations. Finding a source of truth is important, he noted, even if it is uncomfortable or leaders feel uncertain.
As Trevor Noah also observed in his keynote, 'Fear is an interesting emotion in that it lives in uncertainty. It breathes in uncertainty. And so there are a lot of leaders who are unsure, but I don't think a leader needs to be sure. What a good leader needs to be is communicative.'
Culture, Clarity, and Alignment
Moral courage and values may be the north star, but to lead with them consistently, you also have to see clearly how they are being practiced across your organization: where your culture is thriving, where it's under strain, and how people are actually experiencing work.
Kerry Dryburgh, Chief Human Resource Officer of bp, offered a powerful example of this during our CHRO panel, reflecting on the company's decision to exit Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. It was a decision made quickly, but with a deep conviction rooted in bp's values. As Kerry explained, it wasn't just a political or financial choice. It was a people one. A recognition that you can't hold a values statement in one hand and do something misaligned with the other. That kind of clarity – knowing what matters, and acting on it – demands both insight and courage.
But even with strong values, alignment doesn't happen by accident. It takes intentional leadership at every level of the organization. 'I think the first thing you have to think about is what's right in what context,' Kerry said. 'And it doesn't always mean that everything has to be the same… building authentic leaders, because at the end of the day, any moment for an employee is very largely impacted by the teams they work with and the leaders they work for.'
It means making sure your people understand where the company is going, and how their work connects to that journey. 'Individuals tend to be more energized and motivated when they can see a direct line of sight between the company goals and what they're actually focused on,' Kerry said. 'So you've got a line of sight to outcomes and are rewarding accordingly.'
But when that clarity is present, and when people feel seen, informed, and connected to the mission, it transforms the experience of work and business results.
Human Intelligence as a Tool for Courageous Leadership
This idea – that you don't need certainty to lead, but you do need clarity – is where many of our discussions this week converged. And, of course, getting to the truth starts with the right data.
Whether feedback, answers, or people data, as Kelly Jones from Cisco said: 'Your data has got to be good or this will not work.' She reminded us during her session that no AI platform, however sophisticated, can create meaningful results without first starting with high-quality data.
That's where Human Intelligence comes in. It's where values, data, and action converge, and where leaders can ensure they have the clarity to lead with both conviction and confidence.
Recognition data as a source is uniquely powerful in this way because it is voluntary and specific, reflecting how work actually happens in an organization. It captures the informal networks, hidden contributions, and behaviors that don't always show up in traditional systems. That makes it a vital tool for aligning people with values, surfacing influence, and understanding the lived experience of culture in real time.
Recognition itself functions first as a values-alignment tool, revealing who is modeling your organization's principles, where momentum is building, and where attention is needed. It shows not just what is rewarded, but what is remembered. And when used intentionally, it helps reinforce purpose and direction at every level of the business.
Combined with AI, recognition also becomes a values measurement tool. Too often, leaders rely on lagging indicators or incomplete survey data to assess culture, skills, and engagement. But Human Intelligence offers real-time insight into what's working, what's shifting, and where leaders need to lean in. That kind of visibility supports better decisions, grounded not in assumptions, but in patterns of actual behavior.
And critically, Human Intelligence is a performance engine. When leaders are working from clean, behavior-based data instead of fragmented, transactional metrics, they can invest in what's creating value, course-correct where needed, and scale what's working. As I shared in my keynote, we are surrounded by behavioral data in the workplace, but most of it is locked inside messy systems. Unlocking that data and making it visible, usable, and human-centered gives leaders a foundation not just for culture and performance but also for confidence and more ethical decision-making. And in a world where values and performance are increasingly intertwined, that source of truth is essential.
Moral Courage Is Not a Solo Sport: Community as Infrastructure
Of course, even the strongest values can falter in isolation. Courage is easier to summon when you're not the only one carrying it.
That's why I was especially proud to help launch the WSJ Chief People Officer Council at Workhuman Live 2025, a new peer forum created by The WSJ Leadership Institute in partnership with Workhuman.
At a time when people leaders are being asked to lead through transformation, uphold culture, drive performance, and navigate intense social scrutiny all at once, this kind of space is crucial.
The Council reflects the growing reality that CPOs and CHROs have become co-authors of the business agenda. And this council will be a space for bold ideas, real influence, and shared experience in leading through the complexity of our time.
Trevor Noah issued a challenge to our audience on Wednesday to 'Be curious, so that fear is not the emotion you're experiencing.' The CPO Council is designed for just that sort of curiosity. It will be a place where questions are welcome, doubt is respected, and progress is built through collective curiosity.
What It Takes to See – and Lead – Clearly
If I emerged from this week with one insight, it is that in times of noise, the real competitive advantage is clarity.
Clarity of purpose. Clarity of culture. Clarity of data. Clarity about what your organization stands for, and how that shows up in action. And moral clarity, which cuts across every aspect of people leadership and every topic on our agenda – from business performance to AI transformation, to DEI.
As Valeisha Butterfield said during our panel: 'We determined that [DEI] was good for business, not just because it was a popular thing to do, and then holding the line and saying, 'This is good for my company. This is good for my industry. We're seeing gains. We're seeing bottom-line returns. So we're going to have courage in this moment, because we know, not only that it's the right thing to do, but it's actually good for our business.'
That kind of courage may emerge as a defining trait of leadership in the AI era. The future of people leadership will belong to those brave enough to act in alignment with their values – with clarity, connection, and at scale.
When data makes values visible, and community makes them actionable, leaders are equipped not only to respond, but to lead with courage.
You can learn more about the CPO Council at https://cpocouncil.wsj.com/