The books
Two books. One body of work.
From the practice of leading people to the science of hiring them. Both books share a single throughline: agency is the trait that decides who stays, and nunchi is the lens that lets you see it.
Out July 2026
The Agency Effect
The trait companies hire, the trait disruption rewards, and the six behaviors every leader should learn to recognize.
A framework, a manifesto, and a practical guide for CEOs, founders, and hiring leaders who refuse to leave their next hire, or their team's future, to chance. Drawing on hundreds of post-mortems from the hiring rooms Helen has sat in over 27 years, the book introduces the six behaviors that predict who stays through downturns, reorgs, and AI disruption.
2024
Leading Through Human Experience
Architect your leadership, flex your modality muscle, and generate extraordinary impact.
Helen's first book on leading with empathy, intentional design, and the Korean cultural lens of nunchi. Drawing on 32,000+ hours of listening to top talent, it offers a practice for leaders who want to build cultures people refuse to leave.
Why two books
Leadership is the practice. Agency is the prerequisite.
Leading Through Human Experience is the practice. It is what a leader does, day after day, to create conditions where people can do the work of their lives. It rests on nunchi, the Korean practice of reading the unspoken dynamics in a room.
The Agency Effect is the prerequisite. It is the trait you hire for, the one no framework, resume, or skills test reliably surfaces. It is the trait that survives every disruption, and the only one AI cannot replace.
Read either book on its own. Read both, and you have the full architecture.