Rewriting All Layers Of The Stack – Leading with agency when everyone is uncomfortable with Meg Bear

Poets & Thinkers

What if the discomfort leaders feel right now, at the beginning of the AI age, isn’t a problem to solve, but the exact place where transformation happens? In this episode of Poets & Thinkers, we explore the future of organizational leadership and human potential with Meg Bear, a seasoned tech executive turned “future inventor” who brings a unique perspective as a fifth-generation Bay Area native and first-generation college graduate. From her advisory work with CEOs and boards to her mission of creating abundant futures that value our shared humanity, Meg offers a compelling vision for navigating unprecedented change.

Meg takes us on a journey through her unconventional life and career path – from engineering leadership at Oracle and president of SAP’s HCM (Human Capital Management) business to her current work helping organizations harness human ingenuity. She reveals why the traditional business leadership playbook – built on certainty and past experience – is not only obsolete but counterproductive in our current moment.

Drawing from her background as a cultural outsider who learned to navigate different worlds, Meg explains how the skills of adaptation and cross-cultural communication that immigrants develop are exactly what all leaders need now.

Throughout our conversation, Meg challenges the narrative that change is simply happening to us, instead advocating for agency in shaping the future we want to live in. She argues that we’re at a unique moment where discomfort is hitting “all layers of the stack” – from the board room and the c-suite to the ICs – and that this discomfort is not only natural but necessary for growth. Her vision for leadership emphasizes curiosity over certainty, collective intelligence over individual expertise, and the courage to embrace vulnerability as a pathway to learning.

In this transformative discussion, we explore:

• Why the space between what you can’t control and what you can impact is bigger than you think
• How traditional business leadership models based on certainty are failing in uncertain times
• Why emotions are data that reveal deeper fears about changing definitions of competence
• The need for psychologically safe spaces where experienced leaders can express confusion
• How untapped human ingenuity could be unlocked through more inclusive value creation in organizations of the future
• Why our “messy bits” are actually our greatest sources of strength and adaptability

This episode is an invitation for leaders to move beyond fear-based reactions to inevitable change, and instead embrace the agency we have to invent futures that serve our shared humanity.

Resources Mentioned

• Reid Hoffman on GenAI as the cognitive industrial revolution: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/gen-ai-a-cognitive-industrial-revolution
• The myth of exponential hypergrowth: https://longform.asmartbear.com/exponential-growth/
• Inventing the future: https://www.megbear.com/post/inventing-the-future
• Meg’s 2025 word of the year: https://www.megbear.com/pos

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Chapters

1. Introduction to Meg Baer (00:00:00)

2. Being an Outsider in Silicon Valley (00:10:51)

3. Navigating Uncertainty in Tech and Beyond (00:15:34)

4. Leadership in Times of Discomfort (00:22:40)

5. Redefining Success Beyond the Playbook (00:29:31)

6. Inventing an Abundant, Human-Centered Future (00:34:40)