277 - Vanguard CHRO on Driving Change in a 20k+ Person Org: Jon Couture (CHRO, Vanguard)

Jon Couture, CHRO at Vanguard, joined The Modern People Leader to share how Vanguard is balancing 50 years of legacy with the next 50 years of change. 

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Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode277

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(04:35) Jon Couture’s Career Story: Air Force Firefighter to CHRO

(08:16) Vanguard Culture: Stability, Performance & Long-Tenure Talent

(10:16) New CEO from Outside: Preserving Culture While Driving Change

(12:38) The Paradox of Theseus: Evolving Vanguard Without Losing Its Soul

(14:52) CHRO–CEO Alignment & Translating Strategy Into People Priorities

(20:00) Enterprise Priorities: Advice, Wealth Management & Democratization

(24:29) AI as a Productivity Engine for Clients and Crew

(26:48) Balancing 50 Years of Legacy With the Next 50 Years of Change

(27:33) Repositioning HR: Enabling How Work Gets Done

(31:48) Strategic Workforce Planning & Task-Level Work Design

(36:24) Agile HR, MVP Thinking & Avoiding Over-Documentation Traps

(39:14) Building Trust in AI Adoption & Change Management

(44:01) Satisfaction = Expectations ÷ Actuals: Managing Change Realistically

(45:50) Leadership Development at Scale: ELDP & Leadership Experience

(50:16) Rethinking Learning: From Content Consumption to Skill Mastery

(53:21) Middle Management: Investing in Effectiveness, Not Flattening

(56:00) The Time Dividend: Productivity as a Path to Better Training

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Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.