Megan Barbier

Leading Through Change Without Losing Your Mind (or Your People)

Meet Megan Barbier, Chief HR Officer at Xactly Corp.

They say the only constant in life is change—which is great news, because I happen to love it.

Throughout my career in People & Culture, I’ve learned that it’s not enough to simply manage change. Real leadership means getting ahead of it, shaping it, and,when possible,making it enjoyable. From scrappy startups to hyperscaling teams, I’ve had a front-row seat to the chaos (and opportunity) that comes with transformation.

I’ve had the privilege of leading global teams for the past twenty years and have always found  navigating change is a full-contact sport. Whether the team is  scaling quickly, shifting strategy, or evolving how we work, I’ve learned that success hinges on more than operational efficiency. It’s about building trust, communicating clearly, and creating a culture where people feel grounded—even when everything around them is in motion.

In times of transformation or day-to-day operations (spoiler: they often intertwine), I anchor my leadership in three imperatives:

1. It’s OK to Have Fun. Actually, Please Do.

Create fun. Engineer it. Gamify the hard stuff. Celebrate tiny wins. Make people laugh. If you wait for the “perfect moment” to acknowledge success or spark joy, you’ll miss hundreds of chances to make work feel worth it. Fun isn’t frivolous:it’s fuel.

2. Connect the Dots to Meaningful Work

People don’t just want to know what they’re doing—they want to know why. Are their goals tethered to the company’s vision? Can they see how their daily work contributes to something bigger? People leaders have a massive opportunity (and, let’s be honest, responsibility) to infuse that sense of connection into the culture.

Bonus: AI gives us superpowers here. Personalized development plans. Dynamic goal setting. Feedback loops. The tools are here. It’s up to us to wield them.

3. Build Relationships that Transcend Functions

HR can easily get boxed into administrative territory. Don’t let it happen. To truly lead, the People function must operate as a business function—fluent in metrics, aligned to strategy, and deeply woven into the fabric of cross-functional priorities.

Know the numbers. Speak the language. Understand the business. Be the connective tissue that turns silos into systems.

Whether you’re guiding a team through transformation or just trying to make your Monday meetings less daunting, leadership is about more than execution. It’s about bringing people along the journey—even when the ground is shifting beneath them.

And if you can do it with empathy, vision, and the occasional meme? Even better.