Sign In

Eric Bacolas

Chief People Officer at Newsela

Eric Bacolas serves as the Chief People Officer at Newsela, a rapidly growing EdTech company focused on transforming K-12 education. In his role, he oversees key areas such as talent acquisition, people operations, internal communications, and training. Bacolas is dedicated to enhancing the company's hiring practices, particularly in fostering diversity within its workforce. His approach emphasizes the importance of hiring individuals with substantial experience in their respective fields, reflecting Newsela's transition from a startup to a more mature organization.12

Bacolas has been instrumental in implementing systems and tools that improve diversity hiring at Newsela. Since 2018, the company has committed to increasing diversity among its leadership ranks, focusing on creating a more inclusive environment by adjusting hiring processes to prioritize diverse candidate slates before presenting them to hiring managers.1 His strategies include moving away from traditional cultural interviews that may perpetuate homogeneity and instead focusing on candidates' abilities to navigate ambiguity and challenge existing norms.1

Before joining Newsela, Bacolas held various leadership roles, including serving as Chief People Officer at 360i from 2011 to 2015. He is also noted for his work as an executive coach and leadership consultant at The Muze Group.3 Bacolas's extensive experience in talent acquisition and organizational design positions him as a key figure in shaping Newsela's workforce strategy amidst the evolving demands of the education sector.14

Highlights

Aug 20 · linkedin

🧠 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗡𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 Neuroscience can help leaders create a brain-friendly environment where ambitious goals become attainable. It can provide insights into motivating teams, overcoming challenges, and achieving “moonshot” goals.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝘆: 𝗗𝗼𝗽𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 When your team hits a milestone, no matter how small, the brains releases dopamine (the “feel-good” neurotransmitter) that reinforces positive behavior and can have us striving for more.

𝗔 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝟮-𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 A leader I worked with used OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). (𝘖𝘒𝘙𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭-𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬-𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝗌𝗎𝗀𝗀𝖾𝗌𝗍𝘴 𝗌𝖾𝗍𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗀𝗀𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗀𝗈𝖺𝗅𝗌 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗎𝗇𝖽𝖾𝗋𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗇𝖽𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗁𝗂𝗍𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝟩𝟢% 𝗂𝗌 "𝗀𝗈𝗈𝖽.")

However, after a few years of only hitting 70%, the team began to feel demotivated. (𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 70% 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢 “𝘊” 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.) So the lack of dopamine triggers from these misses might have been preventing the team from pushing harder.

To address this, we converted their OKRs into a 2-Tier system with ways to celebrate "wins" along the way.

  • 𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝟭: Realistically achievable goals that could be hit by at least 90+%
  • 𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝟮: The “making-the-impossible-possible” stretch goals
  • 𝗜𝗻-𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀: Milestones to provide opportunities for the team to have “winning” moments along the way

We found that achieving the in-quarter goals sparked the motivation to push harder. And this inspired the team to consistently hit 100+% of their achievable goals. Over time, they began to hit — or come close to — the stretch goals, effectively making the seemingly impossible possible.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗬𝗼𝘂? In the comments, there are more strategies on “Making the Impossible Possible.” Take a look, and 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂.

#Neuroscience #Leadership #OKRs #AchievingTheImpossible

Aug 13 · linkedin

🤝 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀-𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲  🤝

Nothing ambitious happens alone. So you rally your team and get them laser-focused on the goal.

To improve the odds of delivering, you agree to de-prioritize or eliminate less critical work during this time. And you trust that your cross-functional partners will have your back because, after all, you’re all in this together, right?

Well, yes—but there’s a catch. ⚠️

Even when your partners agree to support you, unless you’re crystal clear on what that support looks like and how it will be measured, you’re in for an uphill battle.

Without this clarity, you risk wasting time, losing focus, and struggling for resources. It’s a common pitfall that even the best-intentioned leaders face when striving to achieve the seemingly impossible.

✨ For more on this, check out this article "Strategies To Make The Impossible Possible" https://lnkd.in/ezyPGAzG

⏱️ 📈 Here's An Example: You’re leading a Product team tasked with deploying a new feature in record time, with a goal of 20% adoption.

The Engineering team agrees to support you, but their primary focus is on delivering the feature on time. (This could mean that the stickiness or usability of the feature takes a back seat.)

The Customer Success team is on board too, but they haven’t planned for pre-delivery training, which could be crucial for driving adoption.

In the end, you might get the feature to market on time, but without the adoption rates you were aiming for—arguably the more critical part of the goal. 

🤔 Has something like this happened to you?
💬 What strategies have you used to overcome it? Let’s discuss in the comments!

#Leadership #TeamAlignment #CrossFunctionalCollaboration #MakingTheImpossiblePossible

Related Questions

What are Eric Bacolas' main responsibilities as Chief People Officer at Newsela?
How has Eric Bacolas' background influenced his approach to talent acquisition at Newsela?
What specific strategies has Eric Bacolas implemented to improve diversity at Newsela?
How has Newsela's hiring process evolved under Eric Bacolas' leadership?
What are some common mistakes education companies make during the hiring process, according to Eric Bacolas?
Eric Bacolas
Eric Bacolas, photo 1
Eric Bacolas, photo 2
Add to my network

Location

New York, New York