My Personal Board of Directors

Until Charlie Judy wrote about having a personal board of directors several years ago I had never heard of the concept. Kudos to Charlie for being so far ahead. At the time I thought it was a fabulous idea, and in the 'old' Jay Kuhns style I moved on. No follow up....no call to Charlie to explore it further...no email shout out.

Nothing.

Not This Time

Recently I saw another piece about the value of a personal board of directors and I realized it was time to do something. I was actually embarrassed reading it knowing that I missed the opportunity to have my all star team in place several years ago.

Not this time. I'm on it.

Discovering My Team

What was fascinating as I started thinking about who would be on "my board" was that I already had the core team in place. They were actively 'working' for me. How did I figure it out? It was easy. I looked at who I was reaching out to for advice, support, encouragement, and feedback. That very small list was the first group to become board members.

Building My Team

The next step was a bit more intentional. I realized the small group of people that made up the  'founding members' was not large or diverse enough for me to get the comprehensive support I needed. I thought about who would help fill in the gaps in membership in order to maximize the impact of the team without making it too unwieldy to manage.

Several more names were added and suddenly my board was coming together. As my view of the world has evolved (I'm increasingly interested in marketing, branding and communications) I realized I had another slot or two that needed to be filled. That's okay...boards are supposed to be fluid. Plus, my board is functioning very well!

 

When Are The Meetings

There are a variety of ways to implement your personal board of directors. I'm choosing to keep my membership confidential, even from the other board members. (Although I'm sure some of you are well aware that you have been appointed!)

For me, it's not about putting pressure on my all star team to have to "do" or "be" or "act" in a new or special way. I need them to just be who they are...that's why I chose them in the first place!

How About You

I'm surprised at how empowering my board has been for me. I view them as real board members now in addition to being friends, colleagues, and confidants. It's energizing to work with them and hear their views. Candidly, it's liberating to have a team I trust enough that I can open up on just about every issue in my life.

Don't make the mistake I made when Charlie showed me the way and I didn't listen. Build your team, seek them out regularly and learn from them. They care about you, otherwise they never would have made it to such a prestigious position.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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HR Is My Business...And Business Is Good

My friend Charlie Judy wrote a terrific post about Harry Levinson, one of Human Resources' pioneers. I can only imagine what he would think of the world of HR today. We have more tools, more responsibility, and more opportunities than ever before.

Just consider the consulting side of HR, and how it has exploded onto the world of work. Layer on top the technology industry that has developed enterprise-wide information systems just for HR practitioners. 

Harry is undoubtedly smiling down on us all...

Harry Levinson

...unless he's not.

Opportunities Do Not Equal Progress

I don't meet too many human resources folks these days who tell me how excited they are to remain stagnant and not be successful.

They rarely tell me that failure is a primary objective in the next quarter, and that by year end they hope to have gripped the status quo so tightly that their knuckles hurt. Yet I continue to witness behavior that reinforces these exact messages. 

Why do HR leaders in particular fear progress? 

HR Staff Rock

One of my great passions (yes, I used that word) is to do public speaking. Whether at a conference, event, or meeting, I enjoy the energy that is created between a speaker and the audience. One of the fascinating things I've learned is that many of the HR staff who attend these sessions are not only excited about using twitter and Linkedin, but they are often ahead of the supervisor (read here --> Dinosaur HR leader #DinosaurHR) in terms of adoption of these tools.

I've been whining about HR leaders being stuck in bygone eras, and now I've finally realized I don't need to worry about them anymore. Their frontline HR pros are embracing modern tools and will soon be in those leadership positions! I love it!

In fact, after the last few events I've had the privilege to speak at (large or small) I am consistently followed or connected to the HR professionals after the event, but not the HR leaders who were there.

What does that tell you about who is willing to move forward, and who is clearly waaaaay too comfortable in their very temporary leadership role?

How About You

I'm fired up about HR these days, and you should be too. Our team members are embracing these tools, even if many of you are still holding out for a return to the mimeograph machine. (Smell the copies, my friend.) I think the state of our HR business would even make Harry smile too.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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The Real Me

Game face.
Professional boundaries.
Opening up.
My "A" game.
Giving of myself.
Driven.
Focused.
Blah, blah, blah.

Sharing is Caring
I'm not type of person who keeps too many things inside. When I'm passionate about something it just spills out. It may be my work, it may be my family, or it may be my hobbies. But sooner or later, if it gets me fired up, those around me are going to hear about it. Since we all spend so many hours at our jobs, the people around me in the workplace definitely hear about it all...and then some.

But should they?

Professional Is Best...Right?
I've long espoused that we must maintain a level of professionalism in the workplace, particularly for those of us fortunate enough to be in leadership roles. Here's my dilemma: being professional all the time in no way comes close to the real me. Is that bad? I'm not sure. I do know it's real, so maybe I'm on to something.

Too Much Personal Is Bad...Right?

I've also thought for a long time that being a bit more fun and personal with those around me is the best strategy in just about every situation. Showing some personality, kidding around to alleviate the stress of the moment, and generally being a more upbeat member of the team just feels more natural to me. 

But should I be this way at work?

Finding The Balance

Jason Seiden has written some great material on the concept of profersonal relationships. I encourage you to check out his perspective on this issue. Putting all of these issues into practice however, changes the nature of our relationships with those around us. One way of finding our way on this journey could be, as Charlie Judy recently suggested, to develop our own Personal Board of Directors. It's an intriguing concept, and I'd love to hear if any of you have implemented this approach. I haven't taken that plunge...yet.

How About You
Do you think it's okay to share who you really are? Or, is it just simply safer to have a permanent game-face on that never comes off? I like to embrace my passions fully, which usually means my team at work hears a lot about social media, HR, and hockey. Can I go a bit farther and share my musical passions as well? Hmmm, maybe I should wait until I'm fully vested first?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.




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Stay Connected with Unsuccessful Job Seekers

With crushing unemployment and zero leadership in Washington D.C. to take meaningful action, we in the Recruitment world are letting job seekers know more than ever that they can not join our organizations.  It’s not that they aren’t good people; or that they wouldn’t be productive.  We either do not have enough vacancies to meet the need, or the applicants do not have what we need in terms of training and experience.  But does that mean we should disengage from these folks and never see them again?

That my friends is the new definition of lunacy in the Recruitment space.

Connections Are Good

Consider what is happening right now.  Thousands of job seekers are reaching out to employers across the world in an attempt to not only land a job, but to make a difference in the history of those organizations.  And for those that we can not bring on board right now we’re offering a collective “thanks for stopping…bye-bye.”  Let me tell you, I think that sucks.  Politicians have no idea how to create jobs, but we do.  We also have the ability to stay connected with motivated job seekers to make sure we help them find work when it becomes available.  But doing so requires leadership, effort and time.  If you’re going to wait for Washington to respond, you’re going to wait for a L O N G time.  I’m simply not that patient.

Captive Audiences = Opportunity

Perhaps the next logical step is to stay connected with this group of candidates?  After all, we have their information, we know they would like to join our companies, and most of all we know they need the work.  Now here’s the trick – we need to treat them well throughout the recruitment process, including when we tell them no, because they just might be able to fill a vacancy for us down the road.

Imagine that…ditching the “we’ll keep your resume on file spiel” and actually staying connected with candidates for months, even years, after they’ve originally applied.  I love it.

How About You

This is not a new concept, but I’m fired up about it, and will be moving ahead with it in my own organization.  If you’re already staying connected with unsuccessful candidates, how do you do it?  What worked?  What failed?  I’ll share more as we launch our strategy; but for now I'm just anxious to get started!
 

I’d love to hear from you.

No Excuses.


pic courtesy of trouper