Margaret Spence · Author · AI Governance · Women's Leadership

Books That Don't
Let You Stay Comfortable.

Two bodies of work on the leadership questions most organizations keep deferring — the ones that decide whether you lead through disruption or get managed by it.

Forthcoming · August 2026
When AI Breaks the Law book cover by Margaret Spence
AI Governance

When AI Breaks the Law

The HR Leader's Complete Guide to AI Governance, Workforce Risk, and the Legal Obligations You Didn't Know You Had

In 2023, Mobley v. Workday became the lawsuit every HR leader needed to read but most hadn't. It documented exactly what happens when organizations outsource accountability to algorithms without building the governance systems to audit them.

This book is the infrastructure those organizations were missing. Built around real cases, real legislation, and five proprietary frameworks, it gives HR and talent leaders the complete system for governing AI before the next lawsuit makes the decision for you.

SimpliFocus™ AI Governance System
The 12-step program build methodology. From governance gaps to a documented, auditable AI governance program.
AI Failure Web Analysis™
The diagnostic for how rational decisions compound into systemic discrimination — and how to interrupt the pattern.
TRACE™ Verification Protocol
The verification-before-deployment workflow. What gets audited, by whom, and when — before a tool touches a hiring decision.
The CPIO Identity Framework
Defining the Chief People Intelligence Officer — the role HR leaders must grow into before AI governance becomes a legal mandate.
AI Law Tracker

The Law Changed Last Week.
Did Your Policy?

The AI Law Tracker monitors state, federal, and international AI legislation in real time — mapped to what it means for your workforce decisions, vendor contracts, and governance gaps. Built for the HR leader who cannot afford to be the last one to know.

40+ Laws Tracked
11 Active Requirements
6 States Covered
Open the Tracker
Verified against primary sources
Now Available

AI Governance for Talent Leaders

The companion course to When AI Breaks the Law. Six modules that take you from vocabulary to implementation — building a governance program your organization will actually use. The SimpliFocus™ system applied in real time, with case studies, frameworks, and the language you need for the boardroom conversation your CEO is already having without you.

Women's Leadership · Available Now

Leadership
Self-Transformation

The Framework for Building a Leadership Identity That Doesn't Require Permission

Too many women reach leadership positions carrying the full weight of the credentials and track records they built to prove something. The credentials are real. The results are real. And yet — something doesn't fit.

This book names what that is. It dismantles the proving-and-performing mode and replaces it with something that was always already there — an internal leadership identity that doesn't depend on anyone else's validation. This isn't a framework for getting ahead. It's a framework for arriving — as yourself.

The Self-Transformation Model
A structured framework for inside-out leadership development
Identity Before Strategy
Why the right role in the wrong self never works
40+ Years of Pattern Recognition
Case studies from women who led change before it was welcome
What's Your Possible?®
The companion transformation framework — forthcoming
Leadership Self-Transformation by Margaret Spence — book cover