Uncommon Consulting

Tag: HR Leadership Development

  • HR Leadership Development

    HR Leadership Development

    My first experience with human resources leadership development was as an employee of a valve manufacturing company. The Department was called Personnel and they set up my payroll, walked through my benefits, gave me a tour of the facility and introduced me to my supervisor. Among other things – like the mandatory use of safety glasses in the machine shop and the required training on how valves were manufactured (?) – he let me know that if I called in sick, the company nurse would call me at home to confirm that I was indeed sick.

    I’m sorry, WHAT?

    From that day I regarded “Personnel” as paperwork, policy, procedures and punishment. And it was certainly nothing I (nor anyone else) wanted anything to do with.

    Fast forward two jobs and ten years later and I found myself as a Training & Development Manager – happily employed despite reporting into HR. My opinion was still tainted by my Personnel experience and I delighted in brandishing a metaphorical wooden cross and chain of garlic when anyone suggested a career progression into HR. Unfortunately, a staffing crisis unfolded and my Director ended up dragging me kicking and screaming into an HR Manager role. “It will be good for you”, she said. “You need field experience”, she said. “You don’t have a choice”, she confirmed. Damn.

    How I was HR-Raised

    But then, the clouds parted, angels sang and light poured down from the heavens. Some of the smartest, most empathetic, whole-business-thinkers taught me what HR can be if it is approached from a strategic perspective. In hindsight, I have had the privilege of reporting into one of the most forward-thinking, business-oriented, seat-at-the-table-earning, performance-focused HR leaders – and therefore HR departments – that I have ever been acquainted with in all my 25+ years of practicing.

    HR leadership development

    • There was built-in business savvy. Most HR leaders held business degrees or MBA’s.
    • We were generalists who learned by doing. Leaders talked through decisions out loud so that we could connect dots.
    • We were thrown into the deep end but knew a rope floated somewhere relatively close nearby.
    • Leaders were committed to answering “how can we?” as opposed to “why can’t we?”
    • Self-care and self-respect was assumed for both the people and the profession. HR mattered as much as anyone else.
    • We were coached to speak the language of the business and to understand the industry.
    • We fired people who didn’t perform and promoted people who did.
    • This was true HR leadership development.

    Uncommon HR

    25 years have passed since I joined that HR shop. Over that time, dozens of OUTSTANDING human resource professionals have gotten their start and gone on to earn top HR leadership positions in their current organizations. They are regarded as strategic, insightful and essential members of their C-suites. As I’ve said before, I was raised by uncommon HR practitioners, I became an Uncommon HR Practitioner and I’m passionate about making and mentoring more of us.

  • I Love Coaching HR Peeps (Welcome UPschool!)

    I Love Coaching HR Peeps (Welcome UPschool!)

    I freaking LOVE inspiring and coaching HR peeps to go next level. And not in a “do more” next level kind of way. More in a “do what you’re made for” or “do what fuels you” next level kind of way.

    (Unless we’re talking about inspiring next level management and leadership development. In that case, I go for “do more and do it better, dammit” because none of us – no matter how experienced – are doing next level management and leadership at all times.)

    I created UPschool for four reasons:

    #seatatthetablehr

    CEOs have consistently remarked that my approach to HR as “next level”, “uncommon”, “more that we expected”, “strategic”, “more than HR”, etc. I think this approach to HR is what HR is supposed to be. We should be coaching HR peeps to do it and coaching business leaders to expect it. It bugs me to hear so many HR peeps wondering how to get a seat at the table and it bugs me to have to explain to a CEO why HR should have a seat at the table. I mean for Pete’s sake, companies have three resources: financial, capital and human. Can financial or capital resources manage either of the other two? No. Can human resources manage all three? Yes. So how HR is ever not “at the table” is beyond me. This absurdity must be stopped. By coaching HR folks to embody and articulate their value, we can do this together.

    #hrleadershipdevelopment

    Over the years, direct reports on teams I have led have said they’ve benefited from my dedication to sharing information, mentoring, pushing their boundaries and providing straightforward feedback and direction. A number of my former direct reports have built Director, VP or Sr. VP-level careers having started at entry or professional level roles on my teams. Folks who have worked with me have developed their leadership skills, confidence and impact significantly. But this is not because of any magic I personally possessed. It’s because of how I was HR-raised. I had the privilege of being mentored by and reporting into one of the most forward-thinking, business-oriented, seat-at-the-table-earning, performance-focused HR leaders – and therefore HR departments – that I have ever been acquainted with in all my 25+ years of practicing. The details of this I will save for another blog post. Suffice to say, I was coached to become an uncommon practitioner by an uncommon practitioner and I love coaching HR peeps to become uncommon practitioners too.

    #HRSelfcare

    In HR we often exhaust ourselves to the point of burnout, cynicism or at the very least we endure a constant low grade level stress as a result of our efforts to respond to the unrelenting waves of employee, management and leadership challenges that cross our desks, jangle our phones, darken our doorways and text us at home. As an HR professional, when was the last time you invested in your own development and leadership development? I hope you are taking advantage of awesome programming from local and national HR organizations. I hope you are taking moments during the day to be mindful, to attend to self care, to saying no to things that don’t serve the organization and saying no to things that don’t serve you. I hope you are taking care of yourself. Because in HR, we help and we reliably forget to ask for the help we need ourselves. I’ve been there and it’s painful. I love coaching HR peeps to avoid or lessen that pain.

    #wellbeing

    Finally, the realization of my own purpose and my well-being depends on it. As I have said before, my purpose in work and life is to create experiences which inspire people to engage purposefully in meaningful work and life. UPschool allows me the perfect platform to coach HR pros who want to go next level – in their way, on their time, on their terms. It also allows me a career that not only supports my family but allows me to be present for my family. I have learned I can’t do it all. But I can have all of what matters. I can’t travel and at the same time be present for my children but I can connect with a global audience and be more available to my kids than ever. UPschool allows us all to better ourselves, our careers and our lives. Virtually. So that, in reality, we can be and have all that we need and want.

    UPschool. Human Resources Leadership Development. Uncommon HR by Uncommon Practitioners who invest in their development to better their organizations, themselves, their careers and their lives.