Cheryl Baptiste
Writing, speaking, and advisory work on leadership, work, and the personal journey around both.
Saying the quiet part out loud.
For the record
In the room,
on the record.
On set at The Leadership Voice.
The Essays
Honest writing
about work, and the
journey around it.
Two strands, one voice. New essays land on Substack first.
Scroll sideways
The Journey01MessyWhen I left my last employer, it was messy. Really messy. And I've been sitting with something about that mess ever since.July 23, 2026The Journey02The WallIn January 2022 I started a business in about an hour. Not because I had a plan. Because I got laid off in mid December, the whole corporate office, part of a merger that was really a sale.July 9, 2026Work & Leadership03HR Has Become a Bad Word. And We Did That to Ourselves.Say you're in HR at a social event and watch what happens. There's a pause. A slight wince. Maybe a joke about watching what they say around you now. HR has become a punchline, a warning, a four letter word dressed up in two letters.June 22, 2026Work & Leadership04We Don't Hate Our Jobs. We Hate What Our Jobs Have Become.I was on a call recently with an HR leader I deeply respect. She stepped down from a CHRO role to take a director position. Not because she failed. Somewhere in that conversation, she said it plainly.June 15, 2026
We don't hate our jobs. We hate what our jobs have become.
About
Someone saw something in me before I saw it in myself.
I've spent my career trying to be that person for others. Grassroots, nontraditional, no formal HR training, and everything else learned the real way.
Early in my career I decided my integrity was not for sale. That decision has cost me a few times. It would be made again every time.
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