Leadership Development – True Stories at Work: fresh from HR

From Forensic Finance to HR Heights: People are What Truly Impact the Numbers: Jolene

By fresh from HR | 2024-10-14

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Have you ever wondered about how your people and culture influence your business financials? In this True Stories at Work episode you get to meet Jolene who began in Financial Forensics on wall street to turning around companies through HR… using culture as her gateway drug into shaping companies for the better. You’ll hear how moving 33 times during the grades K-12 impacted her ability to connect quickly and build trust. Jolene shares her union negotiation tactics, call to action for leaders to be authentic, and how to solve HR problems by looking at them from a different angle. You will also learn how she used those connection skills during her union negotiations. We discuss the challenge of entitlement, catty behavior at work and how incredible it can be when you don’t do things the way you’ve always done them.

And don’t miss the workplace confession, read in an AI voice, to hear some of the more subtle ways that culture drives financials by reducing theft or sabotage at work.

Timeline

00:00 Introduction

02:19 Jolene’s Story

08:07 Stories at Work

30:27 Workplace Confession

36:15 Culture + Strategy Lab

36:30 Haiku for Jolene

Resources

Curious about the cost of culture on your company + the value of authenticity at work, here are some links to get started:

Not Just Soft Skills: Corporate Culture as a Key Company Value Driver | Columbia Business School

Managing Authenticity: The Paradox of Great Leadership (hbr.org)

What is Authentic Leadership? (The Theory and Model) (youtube.com)

Stories are what we remember and how we connect, so please share yours with me

Let’s talk about your people strategy

Tell a story!

Make a Workplace Confession

Host: Michelle Aronson

Editor: Bella Hutchins

Bring Your Zing: The Art of Building a Strong Culture: Stella

By fresh from HR | 2024-09-11

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In this episode of True Stories at Work, host Michelle Aronson sits down with Stella, an HR executive, who shares her journey from sales to Human Resources during the 2009 housing crisis. Stella opens up about the art of building a strong company culture, highlights the core values driving her employees, and reflects on her career journey across three different industries. Don’t miss the workplace confession to find out what happens when three people try to hide in the same closet—for very different reasons!

00:00 Introduction

03:12 Stella’s Story

09:12 Stories at Work

22:22 Workplace Confession: The Closet Incident

24:48 Culture + Strategy Lab

25:04 Haiku for Stella

Resources

Curious about the importance of culture or where to begin building one, here are some links to get started:

Corporate Culture In A New Era: Views From The C-suite (harvard.edu)

Changing Company Culture Requires a Movement, Not a Mandate (hbr.org)

Stella drops some wisdom:

Stella’s favorite resources? Other HR professionals. Building a network of experts as a sounding board is essential—especially if they’re smarter than you! And don’t forget to offer support in return. Stella’s best friend, a labor & employment attorney, is a prime example of how handy these connections can be. Nurture your network so you’re always one connection away from the answer or advice you need.

Stories are what we remember and how we connect, so please share yours with me

Let’s talk about your people strategy

Tell a story!

Make a Workplace Confession

Host: Michelle Aronson

Editor: Bella Hutchins

From Smoothie Bar to HR Star: Luck, Timing and Hard Work: Norah

By fresh from HR | 2024-07-30

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Have you ever considered how luck and timing impact your career? In this episode of True Stories at Work, meet Norah, who worked VERY hard but also showed up in the right place at the right time with the right skills.

From her serendipitous encounter at a smoothie shop to landing her first formal HR role at a bank during the 2008 financial collapse – she shares the moments that changed her career. We also discuss the challenges of office romance, return-to-work strategies, and how assuming positive intent could transform your workplace.

At the end, you’ll hear a workplace confession about the awkward moment when you accidentally send a text message complaining about a co-worker directly to that annoying co-worker, and how to recover if that ever happens to you.

From Smoothie Bar to HR Star: Luck, Timing and Hard Work

00:00 Introduction

02:14 About Norah

14:58 Norah’s Stories

30:39 Workplace Confession

40:14 Culture + Strategy Lab

40:48 Haiku for Norah

Resources

Curious about finding or being a good mentor + how to apologize, here are some links to get started:

What’s the Right Way to Find a Mentor?

The best way to apologize (according to science) (youtube.com)

Stories are what we remember and how we connect, so please share yours with me

Let’s talk about your people strategy

Tell a story!

Make a Workplace Confession

Host: Michelle Aronson

Editor: Bella Hutchins

Accidentally HR: From Car Sales to the C-Suite: Keri-Lynne

By fresh from HR | 2024-06-13

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In this episode of ‘True Stories at Work,’ Michelle Aronson interviews Keri-Lynne (KL), a seasoned HR professional who transitioned from sales and marketing to human resources by accident. KL shares her unique journey from selling cars to becoming a Chief People Officer, highlighting the importance of career ownership, empathy in leadership, and navigating challenges during the pandemic. She also discusses her experiences with global HR projects and the critical role of culture in organizations. The episode concludes with KL’s perspectives on career growth, a listener’s workplace confession, and advice for taking charge of one’s career.

Accidentally HR: From Car Sales to the C-Suite: Keri-Lynne

00:00 Introduction

02:39 About KL

12:34 Stories at Work

30:59 Workplace Confessions

34:16 Haiku for KL

Haiku

KL’s a baller.

Wants you hustling for big dreams,

you’re the shot caller.

Resources

Curious about career development + having essential conversations at work, here are some links to get started:

What’s Holding Back Your Career Development? (hbr.org)

A Managers Guide to Having the Most Essential Conversations With Your Employees

Wanna be a Baller – for your listening enjoyment 🙂

About our guest: Keri-Lynne Shaw is a Fractional Chief People Officer who started in the trenches and learning the hard way, KL has mastered the nuances of compensation dynamics and is dedicated to empowering people to recognize their market and negotiate with intent.

Stories are what we remember and how we connect, so please share yours with me

Let’s talk about your people strategy

Tell a story!

Make a Workplace Confession

Host: Michelle Aronson

Editor: Bella Hutchins

Rockstar to Recruiter: Living on the Talent Acquisition Treadmill: Travis

By fresh from HR | 2024-05-23

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This episode of ‘True Stories at Work’ hosted by Michelle Aronson features a conversation with Travis, an experienced HR professional and Talent Acquisition leader. Travis shares his journey from aspiring to be in a rockstar to falling into Human Resources. Travis discusses the challenges, surprises, and emotional moments he has faced in his career. He reflects on a powerful moment with an executive coach that changed his outlook on leadership and his life. We discuss the importance of HR in business strategy, the value of coaching, and the need for companies to be transparent and aligned in their values and actions.

0:00 Rockstar to Recruiter: Living on the Talent Acquisition Treadmill: Travis

00:01 Introduction

02:05 Travis’ Story

11:36 Stories at Work

28:41 Workplace Confession

33:11 Haiku for Travis

Resources

Curious about the benefits of coaching + how to set yourself up for success in college and life, here are some links to get started:

Leaders Need Professional Coaching Now More Than Ever (hbr.org)

The Secret Syllabus – A Guide to the Unwritten Rules of College Success

Stories are what we remember and how we connect, so please share yours with me

Let’s talk about your people strategy

Tell a story!

Make a Workplace Confession

Host: Michelle Aronson

Editor: Bella Hutchins

From HR Challenges to AI Opportunities: Karen

By fresh from HR | 2024-02-05

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How does an HR professional build a connected, inclusive, and tech-forward culture? Find out in our latest podcast episode with Karen, who considers herself an accidental tourist in HR! #HRLeadership #InclusiveWorkplace #Podcast

In this episode, Karen shares her experience crafting a culture to support high-growth companies. She discusses the importance of creating an inclusive culture and how to align the executive team and care for the HR team. We discuss how to keep culture (and humans) in focus as you implement technology for your HR practices. Karen shares that “employees want to know that tomorrow will be better than today and that they have a say in it.”

00:00 Introduction

01:55 Karen’s Story

05:45 Stories at Work

32:02 Workplace Confession

37:29 Haiku for Karen

Resources

Curious about culture and tech at work, here are some links to get started:

4 Ways AI Will Disrupt the HR Function in 2024 (shrm.org)

Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace (shrm.org)

Talent Management in the Age of AI (hbr.org)

Stories are what we remember and how we connect, so please share yours with me

Let’s talk about your people strategy

Tell a story!

Make a Workplace Confession

Haiku for Karen

Karen understands…

Connection is essential

in work and in life.

Host: Michelle Aronson

Editor: Bella Hutchins

HR is Artistic: Lauren Part 1

By fresh from HR | 2023-11-10

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Have you ever had to handle a rift in your department?

In this True Stories at Work episode you get to meet Lauren, who hit “all the desks” in HR to grow her expertise… but nothing prepared her for the mistake of rehiring a former employee, creating a “scorched earth” moment and a lot of leadership growth. We also talk about boundaries, and how you we keep them with our teams and employees.

Lauren shared so many stories that I had to split her stories across 2 episodes. In this episode, you’ll learn about Lauren’s background and how her career aspirations to be creative are fulfilled by working in HR. ”HR is artistic because you have to literally be able to handle things at the drop of a hat unique situations.”

For the Workplace Confession, you will hear a story from a former coworker, who wants to share some stories that still make him laugh and cringe from working with me. This one is from a leadership coaching conversation where he gets distracted by a squirrel… and I pulled the coaching recording to find out how that squirrel entered our coaching session.

Additional research on topics discussed in this episode:

Should You Rehire an Employee Who Left Your Company? (hbr.org)

How to Be Friends with Someone Who Works For You (hbr.org)

I need your workplace confession, so if you have every done anything wrong at work, please share your story with me by going to physicsatwork.com/podcast and leave me a voice message (anonymously and easily) from your phone or computer.

Make a Workplace Confession

Stories are what we remember and how we connect, so please share yours with me!

Let’s talk about your people strategy

Tell a story!

You Have to Want To Be A Good Leader: Bruce Part 2

By fresh from HR | 2023-05-02

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Have you ever wondered what makes a manager truly memorable? In this True Stories at Work episode we pick up with Bruce where we left off, talking about the impact COVID had on the employee complaints at work. This episode discusses the shift from employees complaining about each other to employees complaining about their managers. If you are just tuning into this podcast, please listen to episode 5, where this story begins…

Remember, Bruce studied HR, only worked in HR and oversaw the Employee Relations function of HR for a 15,000+ person company. He had a ringside seat to watch the best + the worst behaviors at work, including the behavior of leaders. “I think the sad reality, I don’t think there are a lot of very good leaders. And I don’t think it’s easy to be a good leader. And you have to want to be a good leader, but so many people have gotten into management who don’t even like to manage people, but that was the only way they can move up.”

Bruce knows that being a good leader isn’t easy and offers some insight for reducing complaints about leaders, improving the leadership hiring success and ways to become a memorable leader (in a good way).

Bruce reminds us that when leadership is done well, it is truly magical and the memory of that leader can last a lifetime “Um, that was literally 20, maybe like 22 years ago, and I remember being in the larger meeting room. And, and the impact that those messages had. “

Want to be a better leader? Here are some links to get started:

Spoiler alert, at the end we have yet another incident of love gone wrong at work, and by love I mean a relationship that started out as an affair but was really sexual harassment all along. “it was his admin who turned him in, who we later found out he had been having an affair with. And, the relationship fell apart… and then all of a sudden she wanted to get revenge on this individual.”

At the end, you will get to hear a workplace confession, something that didn’t make it through the doors of HR. Another one from my life-long friend Zoe, where she pulls a Robinhood move with some shiny new office chairs.

Feedback is a gift. Episode #6, the final episode of my first season, so please take one minute to go to www.physicsatwork.com/podcast and vote for your favorite episode… The winning episode will be invited back to share more great stories!

These are the first 6 podcasts I have ever created, so please share your feedback + suggestions for future episodes.

Haiku

Great managers are

hard to find… and even more

difficult to leave.

Words Matter, How Someone Leaves Feeling Matters… So Sweat Those Details: Kelly

By fresh from HR | 2023-04-04

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Today you get to meet Kelly, who emphasizes the importance of kindness in Human Resources and the fragility of company culture. Her stories demonstrate how Human Resources can be the crisis hotline for leaders. The first call they place when they don’t know how to handle a challenging situation. We discuss the everyday decisions that leaders make that shape culture, and how much communication (and words) matter at work. You’ll hear stories of Phantom Crappers where poop rolls down hill and into HR, a passive aggressive behavior which could be improved with better leadership.

At the end, you get to hear a workplace confession, this one offers a compelling reason not to eat the candy from your coworkers candy dish.

Curious how to increase kindness in your workplace? Here are some links to get started:

Don’t Underestimate the Power of Kindness at Work

Corporate Culture is Everyone’s Responsibility

Visit my website to:

Tell a story!

Make a Workplace Confession

Ask a question+ make a suggestion

Join the email list, follow me on social.

Listen or subscribe to the show

Join the private True Stories at Work Linked In group to connect with guests and listeners of the show

Haiku

Poop at work is an

Indication that you need…

Leadership training!

HR is Such a World of Psychology and Intention: Amy

By fresh from HR | 2023-02-28

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Have you ever wondered how having bed bugs could cost you your job and what Mr. Rogers can teach you about leadership? Could you benefit from a new approach to setting clear expectations and high levels of accountability?

Tune into this episode of True Stories at Work to meet Amy, an experienced HR leader with who will answer these questions and share great (and not-so-great) leadership stories!

Visit my website to:

Tell a story!

Record your Workplace Confession…

Ask a question?

Join the True Stories at Work Linked In group to share your stories and connect with other listeners.

Haiku

Amy wants leaders

to be accountable, and

always own mistakes!