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 I 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. Related Links:Join the People Managing People community forumSubscribe to the newsletter to get our latest articles and podcastsConnect with Bryan on LinkedInCheck out Nextdoor Support the show