From business-first leadership to disciplined execution, Pat Glorioso reflects on building credibility, shaping enterprise decisions, and staying deeply connected to the business.
Michelle Yelaska: Pat, thank you again for joining us. You’ve moved across financial services, nonprofit leadership, and real estate, which is a unique path for a CHRO. What experiences most shaped how you lead today?
Pat Glorioso: I actually think the combination is what shaped me. I did not start out in HR, I started in Merrill Lynch’s cash management account group. We were scaling quickly, and we had a problem: some people were great reps but struggled as trainers. That disconnect was driving turnover and performance issues.
In a meeting, I explained what I was seeing and our department head challenged me: “Put your money where your mouth is.” I had six weeks to build an on-the-job training program. So I did. We created practical training in the flow of work, and I built a model that paired new hires with the right trainers. It worked. The program scaled, we built a training room, and I got a team.
That early experience influenced how I think about HR. It is not abstract. It is about performance outcomes, talent decisions, and building systems that help people succeed.
But one of the most formative chapters of my career was my time in the nonprofit sector with Just One Break, an organization focused on helping people with disabilities find meaningful employment. We worked closely with corporate partners to place talent, and success depended less on credentials and more on understanding people, how they communicate, and what environments allow them to thrive.
That experience fundamentally shaped how I think about talent. It taught me that performance is often unlocked through self-awareness, context, and the right support, not just technical skill. When you see capable people underestimated because they do not “fit” a traditional mold, it changes how you approach development and leadership decisions for the rest of your career.
Michelle Yelaska: At this point, you’ve had a long tenure at The Rockefeller Group. Was there an inflection point where your role as CHRO fundamentally changed from functional leader to strategic partner?
Pat Glorioso: Around 2014, we started restructuring the organization and assessing the senior leadership team. We had to answer real questions: What roles are serving us? Where are we going? What leadership do we need to win?
That work became a real metamorphosis. Understanding the business first was a huge advantage. In financial services, you learn to move fast, to use facts, and to operate in high-stakes environments. That business grounding helped me when I helped lead that organizational restructuring.
In 2015, HR became more elevated and began reporting to the CEO. With that came more direct impact in decision-making, and a stronger mandate to connect people strategy to business direction.
Sam Kuiper: As HR became more embedded in decision-making, credibility with the CEO became critical. One of the most common questions we get from HR leaders is: how do you gain credibility with a CEO and senior leadership team, especially in industries where HR has not always had a seat at the table?
Pat Glorioso: You earn trust by being honest about your opinions, and backing them up with facts. You cannot be vague. You cannot be indecisive. And you cannot be overly full of yourself.
A big part of credibility is helping leaders make good decisions, and having the conviction to stand behind your recommendations.
For example, during a transition we were thinking about leadership and talent moves, including bringing a highly talented woman into development leadership. We made the case, brought facts to the table, had conviction, and it worked. She is now our Head of Development, and it has been a strong outcome for the organization.
If you help make a few high-quality decisions, and you can show your logic, you become valued in a different way.
Michelle Yelaska: Strategic influence only works if the fundamentals are strong. How did you think about balancing process discipline with strategic impact?
Pat Glorioso: Process discipline is non-negotiable. If something is broken, you will not have time for strategic work.
In a smaller organization like ours, I can be very hands-on. I can review performance reviews, track roles 6 to 12 months in advance through budget and workforce planning cycles, and maintain strong documentation around decisions.
That operational foundation is what enables strategic work like succession planning, development, and culture.
Sam Kuiper: Staying close to the business requires the right support behind you. Let’s talk about how you’ve built your HR team. What does it look like in practice to be “on the pulse” of the organization?
Pat Glorioso: The most important thing for a CHRO is: do not leave it to your team to understand the organization. You have to be part of it. People need to know who you are, want to speak to you, and trust your judgment.
For me, that means staying close to leaders’ goals, knowing what roles are coming, who is ready, and who is not. It also means understanding the business drivers, including incentives.
I head our long-term incentive committee. When you allocate these long-term incentives, you have to understand which projects are successful, why they are successful, and who contributed most. Then you can connect that back to talent decisions and performance. It becomes a puzzle that fits together.
Sam Kuiper: Let’s talk about how you have grown your HR team. What makes an HR function strong in this next era?
Pat Glorioso: Diversify your HR team’s skills. Do not pigeonhole people. Benefits and comp can work together on programs. Talent acquisition can work with programs and events on onboarding experiences and employee communications.
We rewrote our handbook and it took almost a year. But it is not a legalistic binder, it is a welcoming handbook. We had a non-traditional HR profile involved, plus TA and an HR projects coordinator. The result was excellent. My successor said it was one of the best handbooks he has seen.
I also invest in my team’s development, including sending them to external learning opportunities, sometimes in groups. It is a bonding experience and they bring ideas back. When you take an active interest in your HR team’s growth, you get happier HR people, and better service to the business.
And I have a rule: not too fast. Look at it again. In HR, what you publish is visible to everyone. It has to be right.
Michelle Yelaska: If you were advising a first-time CHRO today, what would you tell them to prioritize in the first year?
Pat Glorioso: Three things.
First: get your processes right and look for efficiency. If you can free up time for your HR team, you create capacity for strategic work.
Second: listen and learn. Meet leaders across divisions. Look for common themes. Ask what matters to them in the next 12 to 18 months, and what HR can do to help them succeed.
Third: learn the business by seeing it. Tour projects and understand what is critical. The more you understand the work, the more effective you will be when outcomes happen and you are tying contributions back to talent, recognition, and future roles.
Sam Kuiper: Pat, what final message would you leave for HR leaders who want to operate as true business partners?
Pat Glorioso: Be confident and collaborative. Have opinions and back them with facts. Build credibility through good decisions. Know the business deeply, including incentives and performance drivers. Keep processes tight so you can be strategic. And stay close to the organization, because trust is built through relationships and consistency.
That is what turns HR from a cost center into a value driver.