How Nextdoor’s Head of People is Protecting Workplace Mental Health While Adopting AI

We’ve spent the last few years talking about mental health at work like it’s always a crisis—trauma, burnout, damage done. Bryan Power, Head of People at Nextdoor, thinks that framing actually makes the conversation harder. Instead, what if we positioned mental health as something everyone can access, not just people in distress? In this episode, we cut through the jargon and look at resilience, performance, and the everyday practices that actually help people do their best work.

Bryan and Galen also dig into the cultural pendulum swing from “bring your whole self to work” to “respect my boundaries,” the generational divides shaping expectations around connection, and how AI is reshaping not just jobs, but how leaders set boundaries, communicate, and build culture. Spoiler: the hot takes on AI are everywhere, but the real opportunity isn’t doing more with less—it’s doing more with the same.

What You’ll Learn:
Why framing mental health only around trauma can backfire—and how to make it universally accessible
How workplace culture shifted from oversharing to boundary-setting, and why both extremes miss the point
What generational divides really mean for connection, mentorship, and remote work
Why intentionality matters more than ever when bringing people together in person
How managers can protect what really matters to employees without overstepping
The messy reality of AI adoption and what leaders should (and shouldn’t) do about it

Key Takeaways:
Reframe mental health: Stop talking about it as damage control. Position it as “priming” for performance and resilience—something everyone benefits from.
Boundaries beat oversharing: Authenticity matters, but so does professionalism. Healthy workplace culture balances both.
Connection isn’t one-size-fits-all: Early career employees often crave apprenticeship and social learning. Parents and older workers may value time at home. Flexibility needs to reflect these differences.
In-person time must be intentional: Offsites, recognition moments, and trust-building land better face-to-face—but simply herding people into an office won’t recreate old norms.
Protect the “one thing”: Ask employees what single non-work commitment they’d resent losing. Safeguarding it builds trust and reciprocity.
AI isn’t about cutting jobs: The smart play isn’t fewer people doing the same—it’s the same people doing more creative, high-value work.

Chapters:
00:00 Trauma vs resilience: reframing mental health
04:16 From “whole self” to boundaries
07:16 Generational differences and workplace connection
10:02 Leadership presence in a digital-first world
11:44 Teaching professionalism without osmosis
14:04 The intentionality of in-person moments
15:06 Protecting what matters most to employees
17:25 AI, fear, and cultural transformation
20:18 Where to connect with Bryan
20:57 Bryan’s question for David: what he’s learning now

Meet Our Guest:
Bryan Power is the Head of People (Chief Human Resources Officer) at Nextdoor, where he brings over 20 years of expertise in HR, talent strategy, and employee development. In his current role, Bryan steers global people operations, shaping culture and scaling employee experience across diverse regions. His prior leadership roles include Chief Human Resources Officer at Yahoo—overseeing HR for more than 10,000 employees across 30 offices—and senior HR executive at Square, where he helped grow the company from 350 to 1,600 employees ahead of its IPO. Bryan also spent eight years leading global recruiting efforts at Google. Beyond his corporate roles, he is a board member of Avenica, serves as an advisor to emerging tech firms, and is a certified executive coach.

Learn more: https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/peop...