At HR FutureFest, Google compliance leader shares how openness and psychological safety fuel innovation — even in compliance-heavy teams
In high-performing environments, building teams that are both effective and future-ready can be a challenge, especially when leadership defaults to control rather than trust.
Stasi Brown, Director of Alphabet Internal Controls and SOX Compliance at Google, has seen the impact of poor leadership firsthand.
“I worked for some managers that weren't the best,” she says. “Either they micromanaged, or they didn’t share a lot. You were kind of kept in the dark.”
Now leading a global team of 20, Brown takes a different approach—one grounded in trust, accountability and vulnerability, even in compliance-heavy roles.
Speaking at a panel at HRFutureFest held June 3 at the Toronto Event Centre,
Brown joined Noelle Pittock, Senior Director of Onboarding and Business Operations at Remote, to explore how leaders can build psychological safety, lasting team culture, and lead with authenticity.
For Brown, authenticity and vulnerability are rooted in her leadership philosophy. Unlike traditional models of leadership, openly expressing oneself is often perceived as a weakness or as straying from established norms.
“I tend to be the over-sharer of the group. ... I will tell people everything that is going on,” she says.
Brown says that vulnerability and authenticity in leaders help build credibility within the team and psychological safety, giving them the ability to be authentic selves in the office.
“We work so much better as a team when we have... understanding of what other people are going through, or understanding the differences that we're different as people ... So, let's be inclusive with those as well as just embracing that,” she adds.
That openness plays a major role in Google’s high-performing environment, where meeting objectives, deliverables and goals is often required on tight deadlines throughout the year, Brown says.
“Because we have this ability to kind of share and be vulnerable with each other, there's this notion of, if I need to flex things, that's the first thing I will do as a leader. If I have to rebalance the portfolio of what we're working on, I will do that quickly ... We built this almost culture [where]... it's okay to raise your hand and say, ‘Hey, I really need some time,’” she says.
Without that trust and safety, Brown notes, the team would likely face burnout and reduced effectiveness.
When asked by Pitockk about how to navigate teams through a compliance function, Brown says she takes a risk-free management style.
Working in compliance functions means navigating a lot of rules and oversight. However, it Brown says it doesn't prevent her from encouraging her team to take calculated risks and experiments.
She believes it is critical to stay relevant in a rapidly changing, tech-driven environment.
“I encourage team members and others in the organization, if there is something new you want to try, it's okay to try it. And if it doesn't work, try something else. And if that doesn't work, try it again,” she says.
Rather than aiming for zero errors, Brown prioritizes learning within her team.
“For your goals, when I come to look at your activities, it's not to have failures. I don't want to see that on your list. I want to have, if you find something, you're going to correct it, root cause it, and move on.”
The main piece of advice Brown shares with the panel at HR FutureFest about being an effective leader is the importance of being intentional when it comes to working with and developing teams.
“We get so caught up in the day-to-day that we really need to keep looking at the strategy of our team going forward—what are our objectives?” she says.
Once a year, Brown restructures and re-evaluates her teams to ensure everyone is being properly developed and that the team is delivering what the company needs.
“It's kind of the governance, but that alone sets the foundation for everything else—and then sharing what that vision is with our team, so we all know what we’re working towards,” she adds.
