What Human-Centered Leadership Looks Like in the Workplace
Episode Summary
Host Wayne Whitzell speaks with Tracy Hawkins, VP of Real Estate and Workplace at OpenAI. Tracy shares her career journey across global tech and lifestyle brands like Yahoo, Calvin Klein and Twitter, outlining her core philosophy of human-centered leadership. She highlights how focusing on team psychological safety, authenticity and practical AI tools that allow facility and workplace teams to eliminate friction and focus on what truly matters: supporting people.
Episode Notes
Great facility management isn't just about managing square footage; it's about building spaces where people can do their best work. In this conversation, Tracy Hawkins, VP of Real Estate and Workplace at OpenAI, shares key leadership and operational insights gained over a career spanning Yahoo, Twitter and OpenAI.
Together, Wayne and Tracy explore:
- Why protecting your team from "Sunday night scaries," remaining authentic, and maintaining transparency during corporate ambiguity builds resilient organizations.
- Why OpenAI's spaces are designed to feel welcoming, warm and human-first rather than cold and overly digital.
- Actionable advice for emerging professionals, bridging the gap between project management and operations, and empowering women to step into executive FM and real estate roles.
Whether you are managing local facilities or scaling a global corporate real estate portfolio, discover how leading with empathy and leveraging technology thoughtfully drives operational excellence.
Resources mentioned:
- Connect with Tracy on LinkedIn
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ifma
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalFacilityManagementAssociation/
- X: https://x.com/IFMA
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ifma_hq/
- YouTube: https://youtube.com/ifmaglobal
- Visit us at https://ifma.org
Show Contributors
- Wayne Whitzell
- Tracy Hawkins
- Elizabeth Shelton

