Integrity, reputation, results. There’s really not much more to strive for when you’re in business. Anyone can have product or services. Winners also have integrity, reputation, and results. I remember when, as a new CEO with a fledgling HR outsourcing firm, I was first asked by a prospect what I did for HR in my own company. It was at that moment that I realized what I really wanted people to say about me and see in my company.
In this blog, we’re going to explore both the tactical and the theoretical ideas behind the statement, “Make HR a Driver of Results.” Today, on the theoretical front, I want to talk about leadership. I’m in the interesting position, because of my career and industry, of having seen lots of it – good and bad – over the last 25 years. Most of what I’ve seen has been at a pretty intimate level. All of it has involved people. Aside from the obvious fact that people are innate to the definition of leadership, there’s just no denying that not a single company that I’ve worked with over the last 25 years would have been able to function without people at least marginally focused and pulling in the same direction.
What’s been the difference between those companies that were just functional vs. successful? It’s been their CEOs. Those CEOs who managed to realize that they couldn’t really get from point A to point B without the active participation of their employees have been the best. And the crème de la crème? It was those CEOs who went one step further and managed to figure out that the willingness and eagerness of those employees to work together to drive organizational results was one person’s responsibility to develop – theirs. That’s what “Making HR a Driver of Results” means – actively taking responsibility to lead effectively, clearly and deliberately.
Company leaders who have successfully integrated this concept into their business are characterized by almost cult-like followings amongst their workforce. Management teams and employees associated with these leaders are known to go to almost “ridiculous” lengths to accomplish actions or results they have committed to achieving. I call out the word ridiculous because I’ve heard CEOs publicly pooh-pooh some of the more famous of these wonderful stories, while privately wondering how they too could engender that kind of intense focus, dedication and results.
I believe that Making HR a Driver of Results is a special combination of that stuff that makes someone a CEO in the first place and something else that has to be learned. Take this HR Leadership Assessment and see how you score. You can use your results to follow the next several blogs while we talk about what makes Great HR.
