I recently went one-on-one with Matthew Lusk. Matthew has served in senior HR leadership roles for Enviri, L3Harris Technologies, and CSX, and in HR leadership roles for Georgia Pacific and Shaw Industries.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Matthew: I fell into HR by chance, but it didn’t take long to realize I’d found my calling. What started simply as a much-needed job ultimately turned into a passion for building world-class talent development programs and driving HR transformation in Fortune 500 companies. I’ve worked at all levels of the organization—from the shop floor to the boardroom—leading change, facing resistance, and navigating the inevitable quarter-to-quarter unpredictability of corporate life. Through it all, I’ve learned that self-confidence, adaptability, and a deep understanding of people and organizational culture are real keys to success.
Adam: What do you believe are the important issues HR, talent management, and learning and development professionals should be aware of? What should they understand about them?
Matthew: First and foremost, HR must move beyond traditional administrative functions and operate as a strategic driver of organizational effectiveness. Too often, HR is seen as an operational necessity rather than a force for directly shaping culture and business outcomes. It is imperative that we align every HR program or process with the broader business strategy, ensuring that human capital directly supports organizational goals.
Secondly, we must redefine how organizations view talent—not as a cost, but as the most valuable asset an organization possesses. That means taking a data-driven approach to workforce planning, talent development, and succession management ensuring that we are identifying, cultivating, and deploying top-tier talent in ways that maximize business impact. Investing in talent pipelines and future capability-building is not a nice-to-have; it is a business imperative.
Adam: In your experience, what are the keys to building a winning culture? How can HR, talent management, and learning and development leaders shape the culture of their organizations?
Matthew: Ultimately, shaping culture is not a one-time initiative. Building a winning culture requires deliberate alignment between organizational values, leadership behaviors, and employee experience. It has to be authentic. Culture cannot be a set of aspirational statements; it must be lived, reinforced, and measured across every aspect of the business.
The keys to building a winning culture are:
- Clear Leadership Commitment: Senior leaders must embody the organization’s vision and values with consistency. Their behaviors set the tone and drive the real culture.
- Talent Development as a Core Strategy: Organizations must actively invest in talent pipelines, career growth, and skill-building initiatives, ensuring employees success.
- Data-Driven Decisions: Culture should evolve based on employee feedback, business strategy, performance metrics, external market trends, etc.
HR can influence cultural transformation by:
- Championing Organizational Values: HR professionals must not only understand the company’s vision and culture but actively communicate and advocate for them, ensuring they are consistently reinforced at every level.
- Aligning Frontline Managers: Culture starts with leadership. HR must partner with frontline managers, ensuring they embody the organization’s guiding philosophy and effectively translate values into day-to-day interactions.
- Fostering Leadership Accountability: It’s crucial that senior leaders are personally invested in the culture, ensuring that decisions, behaviors, and strategies reflect the organization’s core values.
- Strategically Shaping Policies & Programs: HR must design and implement policies, programs, and processes that directly reinforce cultural priorities.
- Utilizing Data for Continuous Improvement: Measuring the effectiveness of cultural initiatives through engagement surveys, feedback loops, and talent analytics ensures that HR has the right approach.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Matthew: This is truly my passion and, if I may say, my expertise. It’s the area I find most engaging, both in discussion and in practice. That said, here’s my answer with major sources of my point of view cited in parenthesizes:
Relationships of Trust (Covey, Kouzes & Posner, Lencioni) – Trust is the cornerstone of effective teams. Leaders must establish credibility through consistency, authenticity, and mutual respect. A team that operates on trust will collaborate more openly and make decisions with confidence.
Unabridged Candor (Lencioni & Welch) – Transparency and honesty drive strong team dynamics. Leaders must foster environments where open discussions, constructive feedback, and difficult conversations are welcomed rather than avoided. When people feel safe to voice concerns, the team is stronger.
Shared Vision (Koch, Covey, Kouzes & Posner) – A winning team is aligned around a common purpose. Leaders must clearly articulate long-term goals and ensure each team member understands how their role contributes to that vision. When individuals feel connected to a greater mission, engagement and performance tend to improve.
Honest Differentiation (Welch, Dorrance, Carroll) – Recognizing and leveraging individual strengths is key to team effectiveness. Leaders should ensure talent is appropriately differentiated—placing the right people in the right roles and providing tailored opportunities for growth.
Deliberate Practice (Ericsson, Kouzes & Posner) – Great teams don’t happen by accident; they are built through intentional development. Leaders must foster continuous learning, skill-building, and refinement through structured coaching, mentorship, and stretch assignments.
Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader?
Matthew: An effective leader has vision, is authentic and inspiring, and communicates with power and frequency.
Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Matthew: Leadership is rooted in influence, and influence begins with personal credibility, earned through a combination of character and competence. Prioritize self-development over guiding others. Understand your values, strengths, and aspirations, and continuously refine your expertise to deepen your impact.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to emerging leaders?
Matthew: 1) Cultivate Personal Credibility – Leadership begins with credibility, which is built through character and competence. 2) Lead with Purpose – Effective leaders align teams around a compelling vision and/or goal. 3) Invest in Talent Development – A leader’s legacy is measured by the leaders they develop.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to senior leaders?
Matthew: 1) Champion Culture & Organizational Effectiveness – Culture is the foundation of engagement, performance, and innovation. 2) Drive Alignment – Senior leaders must ensure that every initiative, decision, and investment aligns with the organization’s long-term goals. 3) Develop Future Leaders – Invest in mentorship, succession planning, and capability development to strengthen the organization beyond your tenure.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Matthew: Early in my career, someone saw potential in me—more than I saw in myself at the time. They also saw what I lacked: a true vision and belief in my own abilities and future. Instead of just offering encouragement, this individual gave me a book, The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz, and told me to read it. I was 24 years old, and that book fundamentally changed the trajectory of my life and career. It challenged me to recognize that the scale of my vision determined the scale of my success.
Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Matthew: Absolutely! If anyone out there hasn’t listened to your podcast Thirty Minute Mentors yet, they’re missing out. It does exactly what we’ve done in this interview—but with hundreds of world-class leaders from all sorts of backgrounds.
