I was born in late 1968. I’ve always thought that was a rather auspicious year to be born: so much GOING ON, so much VOICE, so much RIGHTEOUS REBELLION. I am still to this day miffed that no one thought to bring me to Woodstock. I’ve often thought that I should have been born twenty years earlier so that I could have reveled and participated in that impactful call for social justice and the extolling of peace and love and tolerance.
And here we are.
What Can We Do?
Against the current backdrop of the pandemic, the economy and amplified calls for racial justice, our leaders, managers and HR teams are facing significant challenges:
These are not straightforward questions. At least, there are certainly no straightforward answers. Because we’re talking about people. And people are messy. We are whole, complex, interrelated, changeable human beings with complementary and conflicting parts of ourselves that don’t fit like a cog in a wheel at work like we used to.
What It Takes
Like we used to? Yes, like we used to. In the industrial economy we were cogs: do this math, pull this lever, complete this form, answer this call, negotiate this deal. Leave your personal life at home and do what your boss tells you. Our management and change leadership systems still hark from this era. In today’s economy we create and shape and evolve and build upon and integrate – at all levels – which takes intellect and imagination and creativity which takes a working neocortex which requires an absence of threat response. Which requires different skill sets for individuals and managers and leaders and HR.
What I’m Doing
I created UPschool because people are messy. And we HR peeps and managers get it from all directions: we ourselves are messy, our bosses are messy, our colleagues are messy and our direct reports are messy. Don’t get me started on our families – they’re irretrievably messy – and now the whole world is getting in on the action. My purpose in life is to create experiences designed to inspire purposeful engagement in work and life. It’s to coach as many people as I can to see through the mess of the world and their work and their life, to make bold goals, to take purposeful steps and to find their purpose while they learn to help others do the same.
What You Can Do
HR and managers are in a unique position of power to fully understand, embrace and support their organization’s mission and vision, to develop staff to be and contribute their best, to achieve not just the goals of the work but the aspirations of the work environment so more people can be more impactful more of the time. To be the most confident, inspired and contributing version of yourself at work and in your life not only enriches you, it spills over to others, it has a voice of it’s own, it is a rebellion against the rote and the mundane, it makes a difference.
Let’s Do It Together
- For Managers and HR: Personal support, professional development, coaching and consulting through UPschool by Uncommon – an online, on-demand membership platform designed specifically for HR pros and people managers. Save time, reduce stress, avoid liability and improve productivity.
- For organizational change/improvement: Clarify strategy, align leadership, equip managers and engage employees using the Workforce Efficacy™ approach. Top to bottom, inside out approach to deciding what matters and ensuring you achieve it.
- Programs, training and coaching on Motivation and Engagement, Management Best Practices, Leading Change and more. Interactive, practical and impactful programs from 1 hour webinars to multi session engagements offered online or in person (where possible)
- For Diversity, Equity,Inclusion and Belonging I have a comprehensive network of experts ready to help individuals, teams and organizations address these critical issues.
Stay Uncommon,
– Julie
Everything you need to become everything you want