3 years as a HRBP and 5 key things I have learnt

I have just passed the 3 year mark being a HRBP with the journey starting in Mondelez where I sat on a leadership team for the first time as a 4 month old fresh graduate, to leading a turnaround situation in Philippines and now, holding a regional role in Unilever. Along the way, there have been many lessons, taught to me via mentors, colleagues, friends, experiences and my own daily reflections. There are 5 things which have stuck and continue to guide me which I would like to document and share. The first 3 are lessons given to me from my mentors and the last 2 are lessons derived from my own experiences.

1)     The Smell of the Place

In the early weeks of my first role, I was shown the video of Professor Sumantra Ghoshal delivering a speech at the World Economic Forum (click here) where he shared a metaphor to help us to articulate what a good culture feels like and how it can impact individuals and their performance. He talks about the shift in negative context from Constraint, Compliance, Control and Contract to a positive context of Stretch, Discipline, Support and Trust. He ends by saying that the real test of management is what context they create to shape the behavior of their people to become one of Stretch, Discipline, Support and Trust. (I have watched this video at least 30 over times!)

Over the last 3 years, I have held this close to my heart and every office that I go to, I try to really take in the “smell” of the place and breath it in. What started out as an attempt to assess has turned into an attempt to act and improve – I now walk into a place and question if and how my presence can improve the “smell”.

2)     Principled Decision Making

“Some decisions will buy you favour and some will erode it, but more often than not, principled decisions will buy you credibility”.

As I partnered leaders and co-led a transformation agenda, there were multiple decisions that were needed to be made. Some were difficult decisions and some were pleasant to communicate but all of them had an impact to an employee’s life. Behind every decision, I was adamant that me and my team had to have very clear principles that led us to this decision. These principles were guided by the company’s values, our policies and an element of morality and ethics. These principles gave us strength to administer these decision, but most importantly, it gave colleagues assurance and trust that these decisions (and many others) were applied consistently. This allowed my team and I to establish credibility and reliability – two major components of the Trust Equation.

3)     Being a Leader With No Title

I was given the book The Leader Who Had No Title by Robin Sharma in the beginnings of my career which proved timely as it became a guardrail for my ambition, keeping me honest and true on my path towards success. The main character had conversations with 4 unorthodox leaders with each one sharing key principles that helps us view success from a different perspective.

a)      We consciously and subconsciously believe that a title denotes the level of our leadership but it is certainly not true. Leadership is a position which we ourselves take up or place ourselves in. We lead by choosing to be unrealistically persistent and wildly courageous, pushing the boundaries in the area in which we operate and “leading” the way for others to follow.

b)     It is in challenging times where we doubt our leadership or question our ability to lead. Failure and fear is able to devalue our leadership when actually it should be viewed as a magnifying glass, taking our leadership skills and amplifying it. Turbulent times should be the periods we yearn for and be comfortable navigating.

c)      Great leaders are always described & remembered by the lives that they impact. The deeper and more inspirational our relationships are, the better leader we are. “Leave every single person who intersects your path better, happier, and more engaged than you found them”.

d)     Lastly, to be a great leader, we need to first become a great person - the key is learning to lead yourself. In the future world, we will be judged more by the person we’ve become rather than the things we possess. The more self-awareness we develop, the more we know about who we are and who we want to be and therefore, the more likely and able we are to grow and help others.

4)     Creativity

With the greater shift of focus on Diversity & Inclusion at all social units, either at work or in society, it is evident that multiple backgrounds, beliefs and opinions are increasingly valued. But does having a colourful palette of perspectives end at just creating the space and the safety for many individuals to be themselves and to have a voice? I believe that a singular individual should also have that within, internalizing their experiences with individuals, processing it and having various lenses to view the world. We need to continuously search for sources of learning that allows us to see challenges and situations in a different way and to propose a solution that is unique to our experiences – bringing originality and excitement to others!

5)     Be Self Aware, and then Be Authentic

One of the values that I live and lead by is being authentic. However, to be authentic we need to be clear on who we are as a person. It may be discovering it organically through your life experiences, or it may be an intentional effort via tools such as MBTI, Social Styles, HBDI or DISC. It may also be through thought leaders out there such as Simon Sinek who talked about The Golden Circle, or Jay Shetty, the urban monk, who shares his journey towards mastering the mind. It could also be as simple as asking your friends and family to share/describe what they think of you. As one’s self awareness increases, then the enthusiasm to be authentic will come naturally.

These 5 lessons are amongst many others that I continue to revisit and develop and reapply. The search for additional learning continues and I hope that the next 3 years brings about more than the last 3.