As many readers know, I am attending the Leadership Experience at Gettysburg this week.  This event is part of the leadership offerings from The Conference Board.  They invited me to attend and write about the event.  They did not direct me in what to write or how to write it though, so all thoughts and impressions are mine.

That said, I think this is an event that everyone should attend.  Notice I did not say just leaders or just people from a certain industry.  I didn’t say that Boomers would benefit more than Gen X or Gen Y.  I didn’t say that you should be black, white, Asian, or Hispanic. EVERYONE.  Why? Because we all need leadership and we can all learn from leadership examples in the past.

I’m someone who needs some time to absorb things before writing about them in a manner that does it justice.  That said, there is one point that came up again and again that I must share now.  In the moment.  Even as I have one more day of the event to attend.  The point is this:

If you do not understand the leader’s intent, you cannot possibly be successful. Conversely, if you are the leader and you have not adequately conveyed your intent, your leadership team will not succeed.

That is a bold statement, so I have been thinking about it for the last few weeks.  I was not a particular history buff when it came to the Civil War, or Gettysburg in particular.  However, after reading The Killer Angels, watching the movie ‘Gettysburg’ and now being here live and in person, I can share that the lessons that played out here on the battlefields were numerous.

The most important ones all come back to the success of the Army of the Potomac KNOWING, communicating, and reacting to the leader’s intent, the leader being General Meade.  Each of his direct reports in his leadership team had some degree of autonomy in decision making as long as that decision tied back to the intent of the mission.

Several of his leaders, Buford and Chamberlain in particular, understood Meade’s intent and made their own divergences contrary to orders based on knowledge they had that their actions would further the mission. This was based on Meade’s intent.  Sickles, on the other hand, was a renegade and did not.  His disobedience was not something that furthered the leaders’ intent and he was ultimately driven back.

My question to you is this…..how have you seen this played out correctly in the corporate world, and how have you seen it fall apart?  What happens when the 2nd line leaders make decisions that are contrary to the main leader’s intent?  Share in the comments please.  This will also further our discussion at Gettysburg.

I’m working on an exciting project at work and I’m hoping you will want to help me.  If you’re reading this post, there is a high probability that you found my blog via social media.  If that’s the case, then I don’t have to explain that social media can be a powerful tool to help us in our day-to-day jobs.  The challenge seems to be articulating HOW it can be helpful in business.  I’m convinced that my post today may just help us all prove a point.

I work for a very forward thinking organization.  My boss and I met today to talk about employee engagement and how in many organizations, it is centered around the annual employee survey.  While the survey is certainly an important tool to show measurable results, it is only one small part of the engagement that employees feel throughout the year.  That said, I’m trying to think of ways to highlight engagement all year long.

I want to show:

• Engagement means different things to different employees
• If an employee is engaged, you should be able to see evidence of it every day
• Engagement is an ongoing cycle, not an annual survey

Here’s where I’m hoping you can help.  As I wrapped up my meeting, I told my boss I would begin research on organizations that view engagement as an ongoing, daily activity. I also said I would reach out to the online community to find out what you all think about engagement.  My goal is to get as many comments from you that talk about

1) what engagement means to you

2) what can be done to promote engagement every day

3) what are ways you see organizations promoting engagement (ie. poster campaigns, videos, etc)

I’m convinced that collectively we can come up with some great ideas that I can share with my organization and YOU can share with yours.  Let’s work together to show that social media connections are powerful collaboration opportunities.

Thanks in advance for your help.

“Coming together is a beginning.  Keeping together is progress.  Working together is success.” ~Henry Ford

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” ~ Michael Jordan

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision.  The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives.  It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” ~Dale Carnegie

“Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable.” ~Kenyan proverb

Today, I am thankful for all the sticks in my bundles and teamwork is on my mind.  There are a couple things in my life right now that are reinforcing the importance of a strong team.  One is work, the other is personal.  From a work standpoint, you may know that I am still relatively new in my position at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.  And, while there are many things there that continue to impress me, the teamwork here really stands out.  Never before have I felt such a strong pull of a team.  Sure, we all hear the lip service about being on a team, but have you ever REALLY experienced it?  I’m not sure I have.

Until now.

What are the elements I view as critical to being a team?

• Mission- Working with a group of people who have clear mission and who actively keep each other on track by ensuring we provide service that clearly links to the mission
• Communication-  Open lines of communication and knowing your opinion will be heard
• Respect-  Acknowledging the experiences of individual members and embracing them

The other team I am on is personal….my HRevolution 2010 team.  Working with Ben Eubanks, Jason Seiden, Crystal Peterson, Steve Boese, Mark Stelzner, and Joan Ginsberg is wonderful.  Each of us volunteers our time to work together toward the common mission of pulling together an event for you~ the HR and recruiting professionals we want to interact with.  If you’re reading this blog, HRevolution is for YOU.

And, much like a work team or athletic team, the HRevolution team is focused.  We’ve got our goal, we communicate every day, and we have the utmost respect for each other and the strengths and abilities each individual brings to the table.  It’s a great feeling to be part of that.  And, we want YOU to be part of that.  Be sure to check out the HRevolution 2010 registration site and register for the event on May 7- 8, 2010.  Tickets are going fast.  Also, if your company is interested in sponsoring HRevolution 2010, let me know via e-mail at trisham89@hotmail.com.

So tell me, are you part of a great team?  Who are the “sticks in your bundle”?  It can be work-related or personal.  Share your story, tell us how it works, inspire us in the comments.

During a recent session I participated in at TRU London, we were discussing leadership and the conversation turned to whether or not someone even needs a background in human resources to BE in human resources.  A couple people came out and said you could just take an operations guy or marketing guy and move them to HR, no problem.

Well, as someone who has been trained in HR, this immediately made me want to wave a red flag!

Sure, you can take someone with a background in other areas and migrate them successfully into HR.  But, that needs to be done with quite a bit of on-the-job and external training on employment law, compensation planning and strategy, recruitment and sourcing strategy, just to name a few.  That said, I know it can be done successfully.

For me, the key is not having one “perfect” HR person who encompasses all the skills and abilities.

It’s about building your HR TEAM so that collectively you have strong HR skills, strong business skills (finance, marketing, communications), social media skills, etc.  Then, the team can cross-train each other so that everyone becomes a stronger player on the team.

But, for those people who ask me what skills I think the “perfect” HR pro needs, I’m including a post I wrote last year that outlines that.

Building the Perfect HR Professional

Sugar and spice and everything nice?  No, that doesn’t sound right.  Maybe it’s more like Steve Austin, the six million dollar man- building someone who is stronger and faster.  No, that’s not it either.  So what does it take to build the perfect HR professional?

I’ve heard people who say that in order to be successful in human resources, you must have a Human Resouce degree.  Others say you MUST have a PHR or SPHR certification in addition to your degree.  Still others say you should not have a HR degree or certification, you should be an MBA with real-world experience.  Just this past week at the Senior HR Executive Conference I heard some of these ideas plus executives who believe that you can take someone with operations experience and turn them into the perfect HR pro.  So, who is right?

The answer is simple: there is no “perfect” recipe. It depends on the company, work environment, culture, and role the person will fill.  Certain skills are paramount to being a strong business professional regardless of whether that person is in HR, marketing, advertising, finance, or operations.  What this conversation and debate tells me is that there are currently HR professionals out here who could be doing more to demonstrate their value.  I assert that if you only have a HR degree, certification, MBA, or operations experience, you will not be the ideal HR pro.  You need to have skills from each of these components in order to truly be a successful business leader.  There are some key skills you can focus on obtaining or improving that will ensure you will be able to remain relevant in 2010 and beyond.

Strong human resource knowledge

This is a MUST.  Now, obviously this can be learned in a degree program or by studying for certification, but it goes beyond that.  It involves REAL LIFE experience working with employee issues.  You must have experience

• actually picking up the phone and recruiting candidates
• interviewing candidates in person for all levels in the organization
• investigating reported issues
• coaching and counseling
• understanding and applying HR related laws
• handling the compliance (I-9′s, Visas, etc.)
• developing talent through strategic and tactical approaches to training

Finance and Internal Communications

These are areas where many HR professionals are weak.  From a finance and accounting standpoint at a bare minimum you must be able to understand general accounting principles and be able to read and interpret a balance sheet.  If you cannot do that, you need to set that as a goal.  How can you advise your CEO, CFO, and other company leaders if you cannot interpret the financial results of the company?  Strong financial acumen will help you drive the business forward.  Then, in terms of internal communication, you need to be able to effectively communicate the policies of the company in a way that aligns with the company strategies.  For more detailed information on how to improve your skills in this area, check out the HR 101 series by Victorio at the Creative Chaos Consultant blog.

Innovation

The HR professional of today and the future needs to have the spirit to innovate.  It is critical to success.  If you plan to sit back and just do the day-to-day role, you will not help move the company forward.  Our world changes fast and innovative ideas will be the catalyst to propel your HR career.  Challenge yourself each day or week to come up with an innovative way to handle something differently.  Hold your feet to the fire to make sure you are accountable for keeping your department from getting stagnant.

Global Effectiveness

Technology has made the world a much smaller place.  More companies are global than ever before, so more HR professionals need to have an understanding of what is going on in global markets.  Are you making yourself aware?  Are you reaching out to gain understanding of other countries laws, financial systems, and culture?  This is something you should focus on if you are not already.  Today’s HR leaders are responsible for driving the success of people around the world.

HR Technology

To the average HR generalist or specialist, HR technology is the “big bad wolf” of the story.  It’s the one thing we’re all afraid of.  In order to really be successful at running an effective human resources department, you need to have a solid understanding of your current HR technologies as well as staying abreast of emerging technologies.  You will need to understand how to evaluate your systems effectiveness as well as be able to identify technologies that will support the data needed to make strong business decisions for the company.  A good place to start is by reading and following blogs by Naomi Bloom, Steve Boese, Michael Krupa, and Bryon Abramowitz.  You should also follow the writings of Bill Kutik at Human Resource Executive Online.

So, how do you measure up?  What other skills do you believe are critical to being a successful HR professional in the future?  Let me know in the comments.

Yammer

Back in August, I wrote a post about Yammer called ‘HR Guide to Using Yammer‘.  I decided to try using Yammer in my human resources department with a handful of people.  I was hoping to learn whether people would use it and if not, what the barriers were.

I began by asking each person to participate so that I would have a group willing to try it with me.  We all signed up and began to use it.  It was slow to catch on, even with a group of people who agreed to try it.  After a few weeks, we had abandoned it altogether.

Fast forward to November.  Following a training course offered to some of the employees, more employees began to sign up for Yammer.  Now, I see that the interest is starting to pick up.  I don’t see that it is being used for “work” much yet, but I think people are still in the networking/getting to know each other phase.

I’m curious, do you use Yammer?  What are the pros and cons?  Please leave a comment with your opinion and/or any tips on using Yammer successfully.

Thanks.