Uncommon Consulting

Tag: HR mentoring

  • Coaching for HR Selfcare

    Coaching for HR Selfcare

    When I got my first promotion from Training Coordinator to Training Manager I was proud and excited and grateful. I was working hard and felt like I was doing a good job. Lucky to be surrounded by super smart peeps who gave guidance and direction at every turn, I was working in a culture that valued coaching and HR selfcare.

    Starting out at 12 years old working in my mom’s clothing and home furnishings store, she coached me to be productive, creative and resourceful in everything I did. Those values stuck with me. Running the training department, I worked hard (productive), pushed the envelope (creative) and made do with what I had (resourceful).

    Coaching for HR selfcare

    In those early years, one particular experience caused me to add to those values in a truly meaningful way. We had recently lost our receptionist and changed the layout to the HR space. Employees coming to attend training programs would now be arriving to a blank wall with no one to greet them. So I wrangled a few stray chairs and a potted plant from some empty offices to create a makeshift sitting area for our guests. Productive, creative and resourceful!

    Our HR VP came upon the scene and said: “This is welcoming and I like the idea but these chairs are worn. Let’s order new ones”. I asked if she was sure given our tight budget and recent downsizing. She replied with something to the effect of: “First, it’s a worn chair and then it’s a frayed rug or broken desk. Our decisions regarding how to care for our space today set the precedent for how we see ourselves tomorrow”. That was the day I added HR selfcare to my value system.

    HR Coach Thyself

    Brene Brown has said that “The most dangerous stories we make up are the narratives that diminish our inherent worthiness”. When we diminish the field of HR, downplay our roles, or neglect the environments we work in, we erode our self worth and our profession’s worth. As HR pros, we can coach ourselves down or coach ourselves up and we have a responsibility to ourselves, our colleagues and our organizations to choose the latter. It’s the most basic form of coaching for HR selfcare.

    In the work I’ve done on myself and the work I do with others, without fail the questions come down to the stories we tell ourselves. We question what’s right, what’s enough, and what others will say or think. As we stretch to become next level in our work and in our lives, we need to revisit and revise our stories. And beginning that work could be as simple as upgrading the chair.

    Free Live Webinar for HR Pros & People Managers
    Free Live Webinar for HR Pros & People Managers

    Join me! My Motivation & Self-care free webinar is coming up! Learn more and register here: https://bit.ly/2Alvr3v

    UPschool - Strategic Leadership Development for Human Resource management & people managers.
    Learn more about becoming a member of UPschoolhttps://bit.ly/3eeJdDo
  • 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.