by Alan Collins

In HR, we all have bad days.  Days when things just don’t go our way.

So, I’ve compiled for you a collection of  10 deeply inspirational videos.

I originally posted these months ago, but I’ve updated the list.

Some of these you’ve seen before.  Some you haven’t.

If you need an instant shot in the arm, view these videos.  Even if you don’t, check out ‘em out anyway.  Or share them with your HR colleagues (or your boss).  Or pick out a couple to spice up your next HR meeting.

In any event – watch them — and ENJOY!!

Warning: These videos might inspire you to greatness, so view them at your own risk.   But enough build up…let’s start the countdown to #1, starting with…

VIDEO #10………Unity in Diversity
Lesson for HR:  All it takes is one person to step forward to make a difference…

VIDEO #9……. Jason McElway
HR Lesson: Support your team – and when you get your chance off the bench, go for it!

 

VIDEO #8……..  ”Failure” Nike Ad by Michael Jordan
Lesson For HR:  Failure is very important, because it allows you to succeed!

 

VIDEO #7……….From the movie “Facing The Giants”
Lesson for HR: Everyone needs a coach in their life – whether they recognize it or not!

 

VIDEO #6…… Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech
Lesson for HR #1: Have a vision. And to achieve it – be hungry, be foolish.
Lesson for HR #2: Forget powerpoint, three inspiring stories = a great speech.

 

VIDEO #5…….. Rocky Balboa in Rocky VI – Teaching his son a lesson in life.
Lesson for HR:  You gotta take the hits and keep moving forward!

 

VIDEO #4…..Al Pacino — Speech from On Any Given Sunday
Message for HR:  Opportunity is all around us, just make a grab for it and make improvements…INCH BY INCH.

VIDEO #3….. Rules For An Extraordinary Life
Message for HR:  Never interrupt when someone is complimenting you + other nuggets of wisdom.

 

VIDEO #2…. Free Hugs Campaign.
Message for HR:  Everyone can use a hug.

 

VIDEO #1…….Christian The Lion
Message For HR: Relationships last a lifetime, stay in touch!

‘Nuff said.

Hope you enjoyed these!   CLICK HERE to add your thoughts, insights, or comments on these videos.

About the author: Alan Collins was Vice President – Human Resources at PepsiCo where he led HR initiatives for their Quaker Oats, Gatorade and Tropicana businesses. He is now Founder of Success in HR, Inc. and the author of the two HR best sellers, UNWRITTEN HR RULES and BEST KEPT HR SECRETS.

His NEW book, YOUR HR GOLDMINE is now is available on Amazon.

Feed your network: If you like this article, feel free to share it with your contacts by clicking the buttons below…

Global companies often struggle with the challenge of deploying technology solutions and process automation in regions that perceive the demanded changes as “corporate mandated” and specific to the location of the company’s corporate offices. How often do we hear the sentiment expressed that this is just another corporate initiative that has nothing to do with how we do business in the region? Consequently, many system initiatives fail miserably when the regions are asked to adopt it. Projected ROI is not realized, organizational ineffectiveness continues, and careers are adversely impacted – despite the well intentioned deployment.

Over the last several years I have had the opportunity to work with many world-leading companies that have deployed solutions throughout the various world regions – to local end user populations with very distinct processes, business cultures, and language requirements. In working with these companies one of the first thing we have done is assess the company culture to determine if the organization is truly ready to deploy a global system that will be adopted as envisioned. After all – “if you build it they will come” only works in the movies.

In response to this problem, countless books, articles and white papers have been written and an equally large amount of seminars and workshops delivered. So why not (I ask myself) a blog on lessons learned over my years working with companies that have ventured into the world of global system deployment? Lessons learned from working with executives, project team members and system end users – both at Corporate as well as in the regions. A blog that discusses how to create a more effective deployment atmosphere and culture during system definition and implementation and prepare the ground properly to ensure that the actual system deployment is positive and yields the desired response at the Corporate and Regional level.
So, from scheduling calls and engaging virtual teams, to walking the fine line between localizations and standardization; from ensuring representation and commitment at the regional level, to overcoming project stereotypes and misconceptions across the board; from defining deployment strategies and managing system rollout tasks – stay tuned. Practical tips and suggestions I have learned (sometimes through my own mistakes) over the past decade as I have worked with well intentioned, conscientious and highly motivated colleagues thrown into the deep end and asked to swim.

Note: On December 14 HRchitect conducted its traditional year-end WebMingle. Matt Lafata (President), Ron Hanscome (VP HCM Systems Strategy Consulting) and John Hinojos (VP Consulting Services) spent a lively hour discussing major HCM technology events that occurred in 2011 versus what we predicted last December, and delivered a fresh set of predictions for 2012. Part 1 reviewed major events of 2011 and how our predictions panned out, and Part 2 covered what we expect will happen in 2012. This post will wrap things up by discussing what HRchitect believes this all means for companies looking to invest in HCM technology solutions over the next 12 months.

When all is said and done, 2011 was certainly an eventful year for the HCM marketplace. The frenetic pace of merger, acquisition and investment activities has certainly validated the strength of the market, along with strong organic growth experienced by many vendors. Fundamentally, the HRchitect team views the following as the major HCM market implications that every potential customer needs to consider in order to increase the chance of a successful outcome:

• Even though consolidation has reduced the number of vendors, the complexity of decision making remains as high as ever – following all of the moves/adds/changes can be a time consuming, bewildering experience for those who follow HCM providers on an intermittent basis. In many cases, all of the market activity has only traded one kind of complexity (number of providers) for another (product & technology integration, product strategy). Current and potential users of HCM technology will get significant value from guidance provided by those who regularly follow the twists and turns of this market.
• Implementation timeframes have become somewhat extended – there are many factors driving this, including disruptions due to acquisition (changes in vendor product strategy, exodus of implementation resources), extended configuration/design phases as customers struggle to include leading-edge features (e.g., social, mobile, analytics), and greater than expected change management activities. Potential customers should take this complexity into account as they build cost estimates for their implementation plans.
• More than ever, potential customers of HCM technology solutions need a robust framework for selection decision making – with every vendor marketing their “latest & greatest” features, it’s important for customers to understand what is most important to their business and HR function, and to have a methodology for ranking vendor solutions. HRchitect provides a “Decision Drivers” framework that our clients use for this purpose – access a white paper that outlines this methodology here (Note: registration required for download).
• HR is still recovering from the downturn – the impact of 2008 and the uneven recovery since then has definitely affected the HR team in most organizations. Staff cutbacks have forced many HR teams to do more with less, and run a “bare bones” operation that is focused on getting processes done instead of gathering and analyzing information to drive business decisions and outcomes. It will be critical for those implementing HCM technology in 2012 to allocate some headcount to establish and extend the metrics framework to deliver information of value to the organization.
• Strategic linkage is critical – any potential purchaser of HCM technology needs to start with their organization’s business strategy, goals and objectives, and check the HR strategy for alignment. Only then can an HCM technology strategy be developed that supports the overarching HR strategy, which will then support the business. HCM project teams must understand the business at a deep level in order to make this happen.
• Be careful, integration can be a real “gotcha” – with all of the acquisition activity there are fewer HCM vendors that deliver an organically developed integrated application on a single platform. Recent acquisitions will take between 18 and 36 months to be completely integrated into the vendor’s main platform. Make sure that your evaluation process tests the extent of integration that exists between modules, as well as the robustness of integration tools for 3^rd party and enterprise applications. Remember also that project teams typically underestimate by at least 15% the time and cost required to integrate all the products needed to deliver seamless HCM processes – so build some cushion into your project plan.

We hope that you found this series of posts valuable as you move ahead into 2012. We’d love to hear about any questions or comments you may have, so fire away!

If desired, you may access the full audio of the WebMingle here. You can also find some very helpful supporting content (white papers and vendor summaries) here.

by Alan Collins

Failed at anything lately in HR?  Tried anything recently that didn’t quite work out?

Well, congratulations!

You’re probably well on your way towards your next success.

Let me explain.

Every year about this time, I do a personal self-assessment of my total career in HR to date.   Successes, disappointments and learnings for the future…you know the drill.

Again, this year was no different.

Except that…

This time I thought more deeply about my years in HR and discovered some things I didn’t realize before.  After crunching some numbers, I learned that…

• I’ve interviewed for 24 different HR jobs I didn’t get.

• I’ve been passed over 5 times for HR promotions that I thought I was a lock for.

• I’ve gotten performance ratings lower than I expected on 6 occasions.

• I’ve hired 6 HR people for my team that I later fired for poor performance.

• I’ve had 4 big shot senior executives who hated my guts bad mouth me to my boss.

• I’ve led 3 labor negotiations that resulted in embarrassing strikes that I didn’t anticipate.

• I’ve facilitated lots of off-site client meetings (too many to mention) that ended up in the toilet.

• I’ve had so many of my best HR ideas rejected by upper management that I’ve lost count.

I also realized something else.  I survived…and even more than that….I’ve thrived! In fact when I examined many of these situations, these disappointments and failures later set the stage for my biggest HR career breakthroughs and successes.

This is not unusual.  From my discussions with many top HR executives, I’ve learned (usually after a round of adult beverages) that they all share one common theme:  if they’re had off-the-charts success in HR, they’ve failed too…lots of times.  You just may not know about them.   Many of them just choose not to walk around bragging to the world about their screw-ups.

This is, of course, true even beyond HR.  The most successful people on the planet have had some of the biggest FLOPS along the way.

For example:

• Steve Jobs was fired from Apple – a company he founded.
• Michael Jordan as a high school sophomore didn’t make his varsity basketball team — another sophomore beat him out.
• Donald Trump at one time was $1 billion in debt (yes, 1 billion!) and near bankruptcy.
• J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series (400 million copies sold) was rejected by 12 publishers.
• Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper because “he lacked imagination and had no new ideas.”
• Winston Churchill failed 6th grade and lost every election for public office, until he won and became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War.

Guess what?  The world is filled with famous failures.

What all this says to me is simply this:  If you’re in any profession — including HR — you’re going to fail. 

Think about your career in HR.  If you have ambitious career goals and you’re pushing the envelope with your clients, driving positive change in your business and trying to make a meaningful difference, you are on occasion going to get your head kicked in and rejected.  It’s inevitable.

You may be disappointed that you didn’t get the feedback you expected.  Or that HR job you wanted.  Or the great promotion you craved.  Or the performance rating or raise you lobbied all year for.  Or the love from your clients you thought you richly deserved.

If that’s happened to you, no matter how painful that is, here’s one thing you should NOT do…  

GIVE UP!

You may need a different approach, more training, a mentor, a partner, or wait for a different time…or something else entirely…but hang in there.

If you’re serious about attaining the goal, you must stay the course.  PERSISTENCE is the key.

However, like most things, hanging in there is a lot easier said than done.  So let me give you a role model of PERSISTENCE to follow.   Someone you know.  Someone whose career achievements you’re well aware of.

His name: Barack Obama.

Yeah, I know you may not like his politics.  His stance on the war.  Or on health care.  Or on unions.  Or on the economy.  You may be a proud Republican.  I get it.  Believe me, I do.

But do me a favor and let’s push politics aside — for now.

And,  let’s turn the clock back to 2008 and look at how he pursued his career ambition of becoming the President of the U.S.

First, he had the audacity to go after it.  Secondly, he overcome huge obstacles and significant resistance to attain it.   And, just for he record, here are just a few of the hurdles he faced…

• He was considered by many “too inexperienced” to be President
• He began as the underdog candidate behind Hillary Clinton and John Edwards
• He had to raise $400 million – the going rate for a serious presidential campaign
• He began his career humbly as a community organizer earning $10,000 a year
• With the middle name Hussein, he was dismissed by many voters who viewed him as a Muslim
• He was accused of associating with terrorists which alienated more voters
• He was accused of being a socialist which alienated still more voters
• He was blasted for attending a church for ten years headed by a reverend accused of being a racist
• His father left him at age 2, leaving him without a paternal presence growing up
• He was raised in modest circumstances by a single white mom and grandmother
• He was born in Hawaii – not known as a talent hotbed for those seeking national office
• He caused protests by those who accused him of not even being born in the US – thereby ineligible to run
• His wife was criticized as being “un-American” and the stereotypical “angry black woman”
• His trusted mentor, Vernon Jordan, strongly advised him not to run — and wound up supporting his opponent Hillary Clinton
• He freely admits having experimented with cocaine — which alienated some religious voters
• And, oh yeah…I almost forgot…no one other than a white male had ever become president.

Obviously, he had just a “FEW” minor obstacles to overcome.

Of course, Obama could have used any of these as excuses to say: “Hey, I don’t need all this grief and resistance.  There’s no way the American people will elect me.  Perhaps I should stay put.  I’ve got 2 young daughters.  A good marriage.  You know, being the junior Senator from Illinois is not a bad life.”

Obviously, he didn’t succumb.   Instead, he PERSISTED.  And, the rest is history.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the obstacles you face in attaining your career goals in Human Resources are NOTHING compared what Obama’s faced in reaching his.   If that’s true, then like Obama, you have two choices:

1.  You can let these handicaps roadblock you, imprison your HR career ambitions or force you to give up…OR…

2.  You can learn from your HR failures and mistakes regard them as merely temporary setbacks — and continue PERSIST and TAKE ACTION — recognizing that the breakthrough you’re looking for in your HR career is just around the corner.

The faster you accept this, the faster you can get on with being brilliant – and making your OWN history!  Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing.  So get out there and try!

You’ll either succeed or you’ll learn a vital lesson.

The choice is yours.

Onward!

To comment or provide additional insights on this article CLICK HERE.

About the author: Alan Collins was Vice President – Human Resources at PepsiCo where he led HR initiatives for their Quaker Oats, Gatorade and Tropicana businesses. He is now Founder of Success in HR, Inc. and the author of the two HR best sellers, UNWRITTEN HR RULES and BEST KEPT HR SECRETS.

His NEW book, YOUR HR GOLDMINE is now is available on Amazon.

Feed your network: If you like this article, feel free to share it with your contacts by clicking the buttons below…

by Alan Collins

At last, it’s here!

For months, I’ve been working quietly, under the radar, behind the scenes on my fourth book. And, it’s finally done.

It’s called….

YOUR HR GOLDMINE:
How To Turn Your Human Resources Know-How Into
A Lucrative Second Income  & Make A Difference In
People’s Lives…Without Leaving Your HR Day Job!

That’s right, without leaving your day job in HR.

If you’ve been looking for a way to truly profit from your HR knowledge, talents and gifts – and get them out into the world where they can be recognized, appreciated and REALLY make a difference — well, you’ve now found it!

This book has been developed to be “career game changer” for HR. And, I will say unabashedly that there is nothing else like it for HR professionals.

In this book, I will share with you how you can generate MORE income on the side, create a profoundly MORE meaningful HR career for yourself…and become a POWERFUL difference in other people’s lives.

How?  By simply sharing what you already know about Human Resources.

So, if you’re frustrated with what you’re doing in HR.   Don’t quit your job – at least not yet.  Instead keep it, and utilize the approach in this book.

If you’re interested in “monetizing” the skills you’ve worked hard to acquire as an HR professional — beyond just using them in your current job — no matter how much or how little HR experience you currently have – then, you’ll want to get a copy of this ground-breaking new book.

One BIG caution: This book is NOT for everyone. It has been written specifically for HR professionals who are looking for innovative ways of cashing in on their experience in HR — and making a difference in the process.

So, if you’re out to screw people over and have problems being ethical, honest and using your expertise to provide sincerely helpful HR-related solutions to people, do me a favor.  Take a pass on this book.   It’s not for you.

Want to know more?   Then check out the specific details and download FREE EXCERPTS from TWO CHAPTERS of this book at YourHRGoldmine.com   You’ll also be able to read all the comments and feedback from a small group of HR pros who got an advance copy of the book a few weeks ago.

I hope you’ll take some time to download the FREE EXCERPTS and take advantage of this offer. Check out the book now at YourHRGoldmine.com

(Note: The Kindle version of this book will be available in February.).

Questions or comments?  Post them HERE.

Talk soon.

About the author: Alan Collins was Vice President – Human Resources at PepsiCo where he led HR initiatives for their Quaker Oats, Gatorade and Tropicana businesses. He is now Founder of Success in HR, Inc. and the author of the two HR best sellers, UNWRITTEN HR RULES and BEST KEPT HR SECRETS. His new book, YOUR HR GOLDMINE is now is available on Amazon.

Feed your network: If you like this article, feel free to share it with your contacts by clicking the buttons below…

January 19th, Social Media Club of Nashville (SMC Nash) is partnering with HireFriday’s #HFChat and Nashville Career Transitions Group to ask a panel of top HR professionals and recruiter how LinkedIn has changed job search and career development.  The event will be held from 6 to 8pm at the Massey Graduate School of Business of Belmont University.   

The panel includes Jennifer Way, founder of Way Solutions and career search expert for Career Builder, Matt LeBlanc, Recruiter with ADP and Nashville Career Transitions Group, Margo Rose, Founder of HireFriday and Social Media strategist, and Shannon Van Curen, Airs Trainer and Recruiting Specialist. 

Leah Mackey of SMC Nash will moderate the panel through a discussion of LinkedIn profile optimization for candidates and career advancements.  For guests who arrive early, the experts will be on hand before the panel offering LinkedIn profile reviews.

Social media will permeate all aspects of the event – a live Twitter stream will be followed during the events and guests who participate via Twitter or Facebook will have the chance to win career and social media books, coaching services form the experts, gift baskets, and more.  Sponsors for the event include Massey School of Business, Resume Target, Brazen Careerists, McGraw Hill, and Jibberjobber.com.

To learn more about the event, follow @SMCNash on Twitter, or visit the Eventbrite page here.  

# # #

by Alan Collins

It’s that time again.

2012.  A New Year.

This is time of year many HR folks make New Year resolutions.

You should too.

But you shouldn’t just make any old kind of flimsy commitments.

Now’s the time to set some REAL goals that can help you dramatically take your HR career to the next level…starting today!

Stuck for ideas?  Not sure where to start?

No problem.

I’m going to give you twenty goals to consider.   Most of them are simple.   A couple are completely out-of-the box.  Many of them take some work.   But all of them absolutely kick ass.

Pick two of them and start making things happen.

Here you go: 20 HR career goals — any one of which that will easily place you among the top 5% of all HR professionals.

1. Go get 20 recommendations on LinkedIn.

Want an edge when recruiters and headhunters check you out on LinkedIn?   Increase the number of your recommendations.  Blow hiring managers away with the sheer number of testimonials and endorsements from others who are praising you to the max.

2. Publish three articles this year in your HR specialty.

Get your name more broadly known and in print.  Check out the article publishing requirements for HR Magazine, Workforce, and HR Executive. Or just put up a three articles on ezinearticles.com…it’s easy.  Just make sure you include a two sentence bio about yourself at the end.   Here’s an example.

3. Write your own HR book.

Nobody has time to read 300-page HR books anymore.  Use this to your advantage.  Put together a 60-80 page book on a project you’ve accomplished or a problem you’ve solved that appeals to other HR or talent management folks and you’ll become a rock star.  If I can do it, anyone can.  It won’t take you two years either.  Want to do it in a weekend?  Here’s how.

4. Develop a white paper on your HR specialty and aim to get it downloaded by 500 HR people.

Don’t have time to do a book, even a small one?   Then, promote the crap out of your own unique HR brand with a 20-page white paper.  Need an example or model to follow, look over this white paper here.

5. Speak at a local or national SHRM conference.

Giving talks on your HR area of expertise is one of the fastest ways to attract favorable attention from those who can help advance your career. The national SHRM conference speakers are selected a year in advance, so now’s the time to approach them for 2013.  But local SHRM chapters are always looking for enthusiastic presenters with practical, real-world, in-the-trenches HR experience.  Become that presenter.

6. Re-read Unwritten HR Rules.

…Then commit yourself to two action steps from the book that can help move your career forward. Share this commitment with your spouse, significant other, trusted peer or BFF so they can hold your feet to the fire.

7. Start your own HR blog.

Get some inspiration from the HR blogs of Laurie Ruettimann (a self-described failed HR professional and crazy cat lady),  Chris Ferdinandi (an HR manager who works for EMC Corporation), and Suzanne Lucas (a corporate HR director known as the evil HR lady).  Craft your own unique identity and use your blog to share your own HR insights and experiences and you’ll gain instant credibility.  Not sure how to get started?  Follow the guidance in this step-by-step guide.

8.  Start your own group on LinkedIn.

Want to be perceived as a thought leader within the HR world or expand your LinkedIn network fast.  Then creating your own group may be up your alley.  Here are ten more benefits of starting up your own Linkedin group.

9. Give a lecture or teach an HR class at a local university.

Local universities, junior colleges or their extension campuses are always in the hunt for guest lecturers, instructors and part-time adjunct faculty members.  Landing a college teaching gig can help you polish up your presentation skills and your confidence.  Besides, you never know who is in your class and who knows whom.

10. Create a brown-bag lecture series.

Turn your lunch period into networking opportunities to showcase your knowledge.  Take an HR-related skill that everyone needs (like doing performance appraisals or interviewing employees), an empty conference room and start teaching  the ins-and-outs to others in your organization and you’ll become a hero.

11. Coach and run Train-the-trainers on your brown-bag topic.

Take your brown-bag program and expand it by sharing your expertise one-on-one or by training others to do what you can do.  Spreading your expertise in diverse ways helps spread your reputation in positive ways.

12. Become an officer in your local HR association.

Local HR associations abound.   Besides your local SHRM chapter, there is NAAAHR, The OD Network, and ASTD to name a few.  All turn over their officers every year.  This is an opportunity for you to get involved in a leadership capacity.  Volunteer to help increase their membership, put on programs, fundraise or manage their communications.  It’s a terrific way to expand your contact network, stay up to date and give back to the profession.

13. Get a twitter account and attract 500 meaningful followers.

Twitter is all about sharing information with people who are important to you.  Use it to put out interesting, relevant info for your followers.  Post inspirational quotes or helpful HR tips.  Provide links to interesting, relevant HR articles that will help others.  In many ways, this is like having your own mini-blog…and is therefore an excellent way to attract more followers and establish yourself as an authority in your specialty within HR.  For more information on how to best leverage twitter, go here.

14. Develop your own iPhone app for HR.

Time to think out of the box.  iPhone apps are growing rapidly, so it’s not surprising that there are some very serious ones being developed to help job seekers and HR professionals.

Examples:

• The “Hire Me!” app is geared to the potential job seeker.
• The “FollowUp — Personal CRM” app is designed to help you keeping up with your personal network of contacts.
• Career coach Deborah Brown-Volkman has transformed her coaching advice into an app called “Job Search Coach.”
• The “Interview Assistant Lite” is designed to help companies develop “a logical method for determining the potential benefits and problems when hiring.”
• The “Pay Stub Pal” or “Net Pay 2010″ apps allow employees to track their own compensation, 401(k) contributions, and other elections affect their net pay.
• There’s even an “iHateMyJob” app that lets users “vent without ever having to say a word and get in trouble with your boss.”

Just about any routine HR activity can be turned into an app.  Got a great HR idea you want to turn into an app, but you’re not a techie?    No worries.  There are plenty of programmers and geeks around the globe on Elance.com anxious for you to put them to work dirt cheap.  Lay out your HR idea and let them amaze you with the iPhone app they can design for you.  It’s more affordable than you think and may become your new HR sidehustle. Like I said, out-of-the-box.

15. Start running your HR department as a profit center.

Start quantifying the value of your HR programs and share the results with your organization…and on your resume.  For additional credibility, partner with your in-house Finance Comptroller on this initiative.  For more information on this topic, check out this classic.

16. Attain HR certification.

For some companies, the jury is still out on the value of an PHR, SPHR or GPHR…but not in my mind.  I don’t have one.  But I recognize its value in “credentializing” your HR expertise and differentiating you from others who don’t have it.  Someday, it may become what the CPA is for Finance folks.  Today, while it may not contribute directly to getting you promoted or landing that HR dream job, it definitely won’t kill your chances either.  Besides, putting those initials behind your name is kinda cool.

17. Make yourself available as an HR expert for news stories.

If you’re an expert in a hot area of HR like health care cost containment or employee engagement, you are attractive to reporters who are writing stories on these topics.   Reporters like to reinforce their stories with quotes from experts like you.  If this appealing to you, one service you might want to explore is PRLeads.com.  While I can’t vouch for the service and it looks expensive, it just might be worth exploring.

18.   Produce a series of YouTube videos on your HR specialty.

All you need is a video recorder (or flip phone) and You Tube.   Pat Goodman is a great example of someone who has produced an entire line of short HR-related videos on YouTube.  You can check out one of her many videos here.

19. Contribute regularly to your company’s e-zine or newsletter.

Your in-house communications group is always looking for positive stories about your organization.  They also tend to be always on deadline and understaffed.  Volunteering to periodically provide them with a story or article for publication will provide you exposure and visibility.

20. Clearly define what makes you different.

Take some time, sit down and figure out what REALLY makes you distinctive in the HR career marketplace?  Come up with a clear answer to the question: “Why should I promote or hire you rather than every other ‘result-oriented, HR leader’ out there?  Yes, it’s fine to be a jack of all trades, but you need to be a master of ONE – what’s yours?

Now that you’ve read over this list, what are you waiting for?

Your feedback is welcomed.  Please click HERE to add your comments or thoughts on this article…or to add any kick-ass goals that may have been omitted.

About the author: Alan Collins was Vice President – Human Resources at PepsiCo where he led HR initiatives for their Quaker Oats, Gatorade and Tropicana businesses. He is now President of Success in HR, Inc. and the author of the HR best seller, UNWRITTEN HR RULES . His new book, BEST KEPT HR SECRETS now is available on Amazon.

Feed your network — If you like this article, feel free to share it with your contacts by clicking the buttons below…

by Alan Collins

This is the story of a truly horrible HR leader.

This scumbag’s name is Mary McLeod.

You may have heard of her. She’s the former Chief HR Officer at Schwab and Pfizer.

What you’re about to read are excerpts about her days as the head of HR, which were drawn from this article about Pfizer CEO Jeff Kinder that appeared in Fortune a few months back.

Now, I don’t know her personally.  But I’ve learned a lot from her exploits.

Here’s her story (along with my take on it).

Mary McLeod began her career in HR at GE Capital and Cisco. While there, she quickly built a reputation as a no-nonsense HR-type who relished working in tough environments.

She then moved on to Schwab, where she was appointed SVP of HR.

As Schwab’s top HR officer, she built a reputation as “toxic.”

And her time in this job ended disastrously.

Why?

Well, according to Fortune, she promoted divisiveness among executives, isolated the CEO from other points of view, went to extraordinary lengths to alienate and remove her rivals on the leadership team and fed gossip around the organization that every HR tries every day to avoid.

If that wasn’t bad enough, she criticized the CEO behind his back and bragged that she had him “under her thumb.”

When the Schwab CEO found out about this, he investigated and then terminated her in 2004. In an e-mail sent to Mary the day of her termination, read aloud to Fortune, the CEO, David Pottruck, wrote about her: “The issues are about the perceptions others have of you around character, integrity and divisiveness…There is a perception that you do not tell the truth.”

Here’s what happened nine days later…

the CEO who fired Mary
…himself was fired!

That’s right.

Officially, he was forced out by the Board over “strategic differences.”

Unofficially, however, his hiring and handling of Mary McLeod, says one executive, “significantly contributed to his termination and affected his credibility dramatically.”

Said Pottruck, the fired CEO, who still sounds stung years later: “Why purposely undermine me and our entire team? Mary McLeod’s behavior and motivations are hard to understand, even to this day.”

(Note: McLeod says Fortune’s account of her time at Schwab is “false” but declines to offer any specifics, noting that she is bound by a confidentiality agreement with the company.)

Yeah, right.

Sadly, it doesn’t end here.

Mary wasn’t finished.

She managed to rebound from her firing and made her way back up the corporate ladder.

This time she, at age 51, became Pfizer’s HR chief in early 2007. And, at that time she joined the company, Pfizer as preparing to go through a big downsizing with wholesale layoffs.

The number of people that were ultimately let go would total close to 10,000. So her job as the head of HR was absolutely, positive crucial.

To support the company efforts, she moved rapidly to cut her own bloated team in Human Resources.

(Ok, not a bad move. No reason why HR should be exempt from these massive reductions too).

However, according to accounts in Fortune, once her deed was done in HR, she seemed uninterested in the details of how the streamlined Human Resources organization would actually function. Even her top deputies in HR say she was virtually unapproachable, preferring instead to communicate by e-mail, voicemail and quarterly videocast.

How did she spend her time?

You guessed it.

Her primary focus was the care and feeding of the CEO, Jeff Kindler. She became Kindler’s protector and surrogate, whispering in his ear, controlling access to him, delivering his blunt messages.

In part because of this, Kindler admiringly gave her the name “Neutron Mary,” after his hero, Jack Welch. Neutron Mary seemed to encourage his harshest nature, telling him, according to a person who was present, that one senior executive was “a B player,” another “too ambitious,” someone else a “crybaby.”

Neutron Mary also publicly denigrated her employees, announcing arrogantly at one town hall meeting in 2008 that two big positions would have to be filled from outside because no one inside Pfizer was capable of doing the job.

In another episode, one of Mary’s HR lieutenants unsuccessfully attempted to make an outside consultant turn over 360° reviews of Pfizer’s top brass — which she initially said were confidential, only intended for personal development…not to assess performance.  This unexpected flip-flop created paranoia in the senior ranks. (Note: McLeod would not discuss any events at Pfizer, citing a confidentiality agreement with the drug company.)

Even as Mary alienated staffers with her untrustworthy behavior, she was attracting notice for her perks. Mary had negotiated a special deal, personally approved by the CEO and later ratified by the Pfizer board. First, she received a $125,000 cost-of-living adjustment to compensate for moving to the New York area from her home in Delaware (while getting another $238,000 to cover a loss on the sale of a second home she owned on Long Island).

(Now, again there’s nothing on the surface wrong with this.)

Except one thing.

Mary didn’t move.

At least, not anytime soon.

Instead, she began traveling back and forth regularly on a company helicopter from Delaware to Manhattan. Under Pfizer policy, top executives such as her were entitled to business travel on company aircraft and 20 hours of free personal use each year of both jets and helicopters.

But Neutron Mary’s employment agreement, signed by the CEO, was even more generous. It allowed her to commute on a “weekend” basis between Delaware and Manhattan for a three-month period starting in April 2007.

When McLeod failed to move to New York during that period, her CEO extended the deal through the end of 2007. Ultimately, even after buying a house in New Jersey, she…

Continued using company helicopters for business travel into and
out of Delaware until she left the company!

(Rhetorical question: What kind of impression do you think was conveyed by the top HR leader choppering to work while 10,000 people are losing their jobs?   Can you spell: “Let’s Occupy Pfizer!”)

Anyway, if that wasn’t bad enough, someone soon realized that this arrangement posed another problem: Neutron Mary’s perks were so lavish they might make her one of the company’s five most compensated employees, which would require Pfizer to disclose the details in its annual proxy statement.

So, the company investigated the issue and found they had tallied nearly $1 million in payments to her, including those relating to her various houses, the helicopter use, and a large bonus to buy her out of a consulting partnership. Then there was Neutron’s Mary’s salary and regular bonus of $900,000 and restricted stock and options.

The prospect of revealing those details was disturbing for the Pfizer board, which had been raked across the coals for other lavish executive compensation packages. The compensation committee reviewed McLeod’s package in detail before ratifying CEO’s approval of exceptions to Pfizer’s compensation policies.   Ultimately, they concluded that it did not need to disclose McLeod’s pay.

However, rumors of McLeod’s perks spread around the company.

(Now, did these idiots really think this stuff could be kept quiet?)

Word also leaked to Pharmalot, an industry blog, and a cartoon circulated on the web showing a sinking Pfizer ocean liner and a helicopter hovering overhead. Asks the pilot: “Ms. McLeod, are you ready to head home?”

All this fed the rumor mill within the company and disarray within the executive leadership team.

Mary had become toxic and feared inside Pfizer.

However, Kindler, the CEO, seemed blind to her shortcomings, opening up a divide within his executive leadership team. Said one executive: “There was Mary and the CEO, and then there was the rest of us.”

But then, on Nov. 9, something happened that amplified the growing sense of disarray at Pfizer, setting in motion the events that would lead to Kindler’s departure: Mary McLeod sent out an e-mail. She had recently received the abysmal results of a survey of her direct subordinates. More than a third of them rated her performance  as a 1 or 2 out of 5 in key areas.

(These ratings seem a bit high to me…anyway…)

She reacted by writing a strange, meandering e-mail to her top staff. “I just wanted to say how sad and embarrassed I am by these results,” McLeod began. “I’m sad for all of you that you work in an environment that clearly is making you so unhappy.” One option she proposed: “I can leave the company and/or this particular job … This will allow the Jeff (the CEO) to hire someone that is more in sync with all of you and a better leader for you.” She added: “… if any one of you spent 48 hours in my job, you would understand.”

On Nov. 14, someone forwarded McLeod’s e-mail to both the CEO and the Pfizer board, with a detailed (but unsigned) cover note. While McLeod’s e-mail was itself “troubling,” the anonymous author wrote, the state of the Pfizer HR department should be “cause for serious concern … The real issue is Mary’s leadership. She has very little interest in the HR function itself, offers little guidance and focuses mainly on the CEO and his needs.”

The writer urged a thorough investigation, conducted by someone independent because McLeod’s deputies feared retaliation.

The letter was discussed at a Board call. Given the retaliation assertion, the Board wanted to name an independent outside investigator. The CEO defended McLeod, praising her for connecting HR to the company’s businesses instead of focusing on “touchy-feely” stuff.

But the CEO went along with the Board’s recommendation.

The two-week investigation was conducted by Gordon & Reindel, consultants who specialize in corporate governance work, and involved interviewing all of McLeod’s direct reports. They found nothing illegal, but concluded that HR was “thoroughly dysfunctional, and driven by inept management.” In their view, this was a simple case of incompetence.

On Wednesday, Dec. 1, Pfizer’s executive team gathered for a day of meetings with the CEO. Mary McLeod was missing. After hearing the consultants’ report, the CEO had finally parted ways with his controversial HR chief — though not without a generous severance package.

But that’s not all.

Now it was the CEO’s job in jeopardy.

The problems with Pfizer’s HR chief had sharpened the Board’s concern about its CEO.

• Why had Kindler defended Mary?
• How could he be so blind to all the trouble that she was causing?
• How could he have failed to acknowledge her manipulative and organization-destructing influence on the company?

By the time she was fired, the Board couldn’t help but think that it was too late.   The damage had been done.

So, just as had happened at Schwab, Mary McLeod’s issues had morphed into a crisis for her boss.

The next morning, Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010, the CEO, Jeff Kindler and Pfizer quickly agreed on a generous exit package. “They just felt he was no longer capable of leading the company.”

End of story.

For now.

Here’s my take on all this:

This is the kind of HR leader gives our profession a bad name. Like in any walk of life, HR has its share of bad apples. However, as HR, that’s no excuse.  I believe our ethical standards MUST be higher than ANY other corporate function.

Though HR is often under-estimated, we have a significant amount of power and influence…

• A bad HR leader can create the type of havoc with in an organization that no other function can.
• HR can divide (rather than unite) the people in an organization in ways that no other function can.
• HR is capable of setting a toxic tone that alienates people within the business and the performance of the business in ways that no other function can.

And, as the conscience and soul of the organization, we can’t permit this happen.

That’s what I’ve learned from Neutron Mary.

What are your thoughts?  Please share them HERE.

About the author: Alan Collins is Founder of Success in HR.  He was Vice President – Human Resources at PepsiCo where he led HR initiatives for their Quaker Oats, Gatorade and Tropicana businesses. He is author of the HR best seller, UNWRITTEN HR RULES . His new book, BEST KEPT HR SECRETS is now available on Amazon.

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