When Jonathan Satter was the State of Florida’s Secretary of Management, he was responsible for a massive team. It was stepping into this role that taught him a critical skill, one that he thinks every HR leader needs to learn.
“It would have been easy to walk in and start telling people what to change,” he says. “But the times we actually made real progress were when we stepped back and asked how things really worked and why they worked that way before trying to fix anything.”
Satter is now the COO at White Wolf Capital Group, leading all the human capital initiatives across the PE firm’s 12 portfolio companies, collectively totaling 5,000 employees. In an interview, he shares why HR leaders should avoid automatically going into “fix it” mode and how curiosity can surface the solutions that actually work.
What do you believe is the most underappreciated skill or mindset that today’s HR and people leaders need to develop—and how have you personally worked to cultivate it?
If I had to pick one skill that people in HR and leadership do not talk about enough, it would be curiosity. And not just curiosity about the people you work with, but curiosity about the systems and processes around you. Why do we do things this way? Is there actually a good reason, or is it just because we have always done it that way?
A lot of leaders, especially in HR, go straight into fix it mode. Someone brings you a problem, and your brain immediately jumps to policies or processes. You start thinking about what rule applies and what steps to take. But I have learned that it is usually better to slow down and ask more questions first. Not because you do not know what to do, but because you might not fully understand what is really going on yet. The most important stuff usually comes out in the second or third question, not the first one.
I had to learn this in very different environments. When I was Florida’s Secretary of Management, I was responsible for a huge state workforce. It would have been easy to walk in and start telling people what to change. But the times we actually made real progress were when we stepped back and asked how things really worked and why they worked that way before trying to fix anything.
We use that same idea now in the private sector. When we started an AI Committee at my current firm, White Wolf, we did not begin by buying new technology. We started by asking people where they felt stuck. What slows you down? What feels harder than it should be? Why are we doing it this way? Once we understood that, we built a plan around real problems instead of guesses.
It is also incredibly rewarding to watch the light go on for people when they start to see what is possible. You can literally see a pep in their step. Most people actually like new things. They just need an environment where trying something new is safe, where trial and error is accepted and not punished.
At the end of the day, the best leaders are not the ones who always have the answers. They are the ones who are comfortable and secure enough to ask questions.
AI and automation are reshaping how organizations think about talent, productivity and workforce planning. What practical advice would you give HR leaders who are trying to move beyond the hype and drive real adoption within their organizations?
The biggest mistake I see with AI in organizations is that people treat it like it is just a tech project. It is not. It is a people project. The technology part is usually the easy part. The hard part is getting people to actually change how they work.
The smartest way to start is with friction. Do not buy a bunch of tools and then try to find ways to use them. Do it the other way around. Talk to your team. Ask them what slows them down. Ask what feels repetitive or frustrating. The goal is to get people to do higher value work, work that requires human skills like judgment, creativity and critical thinking. People should not spend their days doing tasks that a machine can handle.
Our AI Committee covers all of our portfolio companies, and they are in completely different industries. What slows down a manufacturing team is very different from what slows down a services company. So, one solution for everyone does not work. You have to listen first.
Trust is also a big deal. When people hear the word AI, some of them think it means they are going to lose their job. If that fear is there, it does not matter how good the tool is. They will not use it. Leaders have to make it clear that the goal is to make work better, not to replace people.
And we have to measure the right things. Do not count how many tools you bought. Ask if people are getting faster, less stressed, and producing better results. If we cannot answer those questions, then you are probably just following hype.
When it comes to building and sustaining high-performing teams, what’s one principle or practice you’ve found to be consistently effective—regardless of industry or company size?
No matter how big a company is or what industry it is in, clarity is everything. When people are not sure what their goals are, their performance drops, even if they are really talented. Most team problems are not because you hired the wrong people. They happen because people are not clear on what winning even looks like.
I saw this when I was Secretary of Management. It was a massive organization with tens of thousands of employees. A lot of managers had slid into leadership roles without real management training. Because of that, we had teams with vague missions and unclear priorities. There was incomplete buy in because people were not fully aligned around the end goal. They were not cohesive because they did not clearly understand what the mission actually was.
I see the same pattern across our portfolio companies. The industries are different, but the issue is similar. When goals are clear, roles are defined, and accountability exists, performance improves. When clarity is missing, teams waste time and lose momentum.
It also has to go both ways. We cannot just dictate what needs to be done. We have to build an environment based on radical candor, where people feel safe being honest about what is working and what is not. Candor creates alignment. When people understand the mission and feel comfortable speaking up, teams become more focused and more united.
Looking back on your career, what’s a leadership lesson you learned the hard way that you wish someone had told you earlier—and how does it inform the advice you’d give to rising HR and people leaders today?
Not everyone is going to come with you, and that is okay.
This took me a long time to understand. Early in my career, I felt like a failure if I could not get everyone to agree with every decision. I thought if I explained things better or waited longer, everyone would eventually support it. But that is not how it works.
Some people are not going to buy in. If we wait for them, we end up slowing down everyone who is already ready to move.
I learned this as Secretary. When we are trying to move a huge organization forward, we cannot let the people who resist change decide the speed for everyone else. That does not mean we stop listening or being fair. It just means that at some point we have to decide and move.
I see this all the time now at White Wolf. We are constantly introducing new ideas, new systems and new technology. Every time, there is a moment where we have to choose. Do we wait for total agreement, or do you move forward with the people who are ready? Most of the time, the answer is to move. And sometimes, we might need to help someone find the right new role for their temperament and interest.
There is a difference between consensus and alignment. Consensus means everyone agrees. Alignment means everyone understands the direction and what is expected. We do not need everyone to be excited. You just need them to understand where you are going and what their role is.
Our job as leaders is not to make everyone happy. It is to be clear, be fair and keep things moving forward.
