Becoming the Trailblazer and How HR Can Be the Leader (6 Principles to Make It Happen)

Forced by the circumstances, the business world turned to Human Resources (HR) in 2020 and onward for responses, ideas and action on how to continue operating in one of the most consequential times of modern history: a global pandemic.

HR responded. With courage and bravery, HR responded.

HR professionals, if only for a short period of time, led the way. HR was allowed to experiment with ideas and take risks like it never had before. HR didn’t always get it right, but the question was never about getting it right, but finding a way to stay in business while keeping employees safe, healthy and… well… sane, too.

For a few months, HR was at the epicenter. We went from “HR is not your friend” to “HR is the hottest career right now”, from “HR is a cost center” to “thanks to HR we were able to withstand the crisis that the pandemic forced us into”.

Why did something like this never happen before? Why was HR never at the epicenter of anything? Why did it take a global crisis for HR to rise up to the challenges of the moment? Why did HR never lead the way before? And, is it possible to do it again… but without a crisis?

For the past decade I have known that there is something in HR that I don’t see in other fields of expertise. I see something. I knew there was something. Just like the school teacher who sees some genius in the quiet kid that nobody thinks will amount to anything in life, with a hidden awesomeness that seems invisible to almost everybody, that’s how I see myself and my belief in HR. There is hidden awesomeness, perhaps invisible to a lot of business leaders and other fields of expertise, including HR professionals as well (which is, sadly, ironic).

Through my work and my thousands of conversations with HR professionals I realize that HR has the potential to become the business leader leading the way forward for people and organizations into the “future of work” (or “the now of work”, if you think we are already there). And to me, that has a name: a trailblazer.

A trailblazer marks the way forward for others to follow. HR has the potential to become that trailblazer. HR is in everything, and everything is in HR. Think about it: HR sits at the intersection of two powerful streams: business and people operations. From that standpoint, HR is the only (yes, THE only) business function with the potential capacity to resolve one of the greatest conundrums of our time: creating high performing, profitable, productive and efficient organizations that are also people-centered and put humans first.

Evidently, this shouldn’t be a dilemma or a conundrum at all. We know that organizations with people-first culture are also better at delivering business results, thus outperforming their competitors. Unfortunately, some business leaders are reluctant or plainly oblivious to this. For them, it is either performance OR people, not both. And that’s where HR can not only make a difference, but create an enduring legacy for the ages: design organizations that can do both.

Now, having the potential to do something isn’t the same as realizing and delivering that potential. Read back above and you will find that I repeat the expression: “HR has the potential”. I do believe that, as much as I believe that we are not there yet. We need a combination of things to realize and deliver that potential if we are to become the trailblazers and, rightfully, assume our significant role in one of the most consequential times for business in history.

There are six important principles that HR needs to embrace to realize its potential. Here they are:

Principle 1: Be Inspired

HR was considered the “necessary evil” and “cost center” of business life for decades, since the first iteration of HR (personnel management) showed up in the early part of the 20th century. Then, in the 1990s we saw an emergence of new ways of doing HR, mainly: operational frameworks. It concerns me that over the past three decades we focused so much on the way to do HR that we forgot why we do HR and what HR is for.

It is not operational models what will make the difference, and help realize our potential and become a trailblazer leading the way forward. If it was about operational models, we would have become the leader years ago, but that didn’t happen. You can put into practice the fanciest, most “relevant” and “effective” operational models for HR (and I don’t think such a thing exists), and still not deliver their value. This is what makes the difference: to be inspired by the work we do.

Only when we are inspired by the work we do, only when we embrace the true transformational impact of HR done well, only we embrace the right mindset (and that is: a business leader focused on delivering results both for the people and the business, and not one at the expense of the other), will be prepared to become a trailblazer and, only then, will operational frameworks or models make sense (or not).

Are you inspired, not by your work, but by the potential you have to transform work for good, create amazing organizations that are good for people and business, and leave an enduring positive legacy?

Principle 2: Think Big, Act Small

"Vision without action is just a dream, action without vision just passes the time, and vision with action can change the world" is a quote attributed to Nelson Mandela.

Both are needed: vision and action. That’s what I call: think big, and act small. Think big is the dream, act small is the action. And by small I don’t mean the size of what is done, but the fact that you (you individually or HR) make it happen.

Imagine this as a spectrum: one on one end you have the dreams and the vision, and on the other you have what you can do, today, to make it happen. Think about those dreams with excitement and awe. For example, believe that YOU can become the trailblazer. Now, move to the other end of the spectrum: what you can do, today, right now, to make it happen. That’s the power of your agency to make things happen. How do you start traversing the spectrum and making your “small acts” bigger and getting them closer to the vision? Of course, you do this by improving yourself.

These six principles are part of that, but there’s a lot more.

Principle 3: Learn. All the time

You expand the power of your agency (meaning the circle of influence and control closer to the “act small” end of the spectrum) by learning and acting on your learning. You must be a learning machine, learning all the time, from all experiences.

Now, this is the key to me, and the main reason why I believe those operational models that I talked about before have failed HR in so many different ways: they are HR for HR. I think HR for HR is not only an extraordinarily limiting philosophy, but an extremely dangerous one as well.

You don’t become an HR trailblazer by just become better at HR. You have to learn many things and connect the dots. In fact, for those who like to use the “T” model in HR (depth of knowledge in one area of expertise, and breadth across other areas), their Ts are still HR Ts. For example, deepening your knowledge of recruitment and also knowing about compensation. That’s what those HR T models propose. I am more adventurous and daring: you have to learn things that are so far out of HR that even for you is hard to see the connection. Two things will happen.

The first thing is that you are learning about learning, which in itself is a powerful skill to have. Not everything you learn is meant to be used by itself or in the short-time. But the learning exercise keeps your brain activated in learning mode, and that’s powerful for when you have to learn something that you may actually need in the short term. The second thing is that you may learn something today and, only later, you will connect with something else.

What you learn doesn’t have to deliver its value immediately. That value may be delayed in time, but compounded with all the other things you have learned, it will help you make connections that no one else can make.

This is what I am asking from you so that you can realize your HR potential: 1% of your productive weekly time for non-HR learning. Of course, 5% is ideal, but let’s kick-off with 1%. If your daily productive time is 10 hours, then 1% is only 30 minutes of your time.

30 minutes to learn about something that has literally nothing to do with HR. Trust the process. What you learn will eventually make sense. And, even if it doesn’t, the act of learning will make you better.

Remember the spectrum of Act Small to Think Big from Principle 3. Small gets bigger the more you learn. So, if you were able to do a tiny thing yesterday, maybe it’s a big bigger today, because you learned.

Principle 4: Remove the HR hat. Put on the business leader hat

You don’t do it HR for the sake of HR. You do HR for a larger purpose. Your capacity to become a trailblazer absolutely depends on your ability to envision yourself as a business leader who happens to work in HR. You are solving complex business challenges with people solutions. You are maximizing business opportunities through the power of the people. That’s what you do. When you think as a business leader who wears the HR hat rather than just as an HR professional you see things that no one else can see. You make connections that are impossible for anyone else to make. Imagine that kind of value. Unfathomable!

The greatest business leaders have the capacity to connect dots. Imagine how many more dots are in sight for you when you add people to business.

Start here: what would you do differently for the business and the people if you were promoted to CEO today?

Principle 5: Practice kindness, compassion, and grace

The world is a tough place. People are difficult. Learning how to business is hard. Don’t make it harder, neither for you nor for others. Practice kindness, compassion and grace toward yourself and others.

HR is burned out, mainly because of all the things that have been added to HR’s plate, while having the same or less resources than before. This is a great moment to be kind and compassionate and practice grace. You (or anyone, for that matter) don’t become a trailblazer overnight. It takes hard and intentional work to make it happen and you will experience ups and down in the journey. For example, you will work for organizations that don’t give a shit about HR and where there is no way for you to become the trailblazer. If you have the privilege to do so, leave. If not, be patient and continue to invest in yourself like I mentioned in principle 3.

Jim Rohn, a management expert who became sort of a mentor for me, said once: “invest more in yourself than you do in your job”. Some workplaces don’t value HR. Sad for them. What a missed opportunity… for them. But you will continue to invest in yourself, even when you are there. Trust the process. Believe in the journey. Keep your eyes in the prize. And do everything with kindness, compassion and grace.

Principle 6: Embrace the power curiosity and let go of the answers

Last, but not least: it’s curiosity over answers.

We are still grappling with questions that have been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. I don’t want to get too philosophical or esoteric about any of those questions, but this is the point: the questions have remained very similar, but the answers have changed over time. Answers are informed by science, theory, facts, experiments, new concepts, new ideas, etc. Some answers get better, others are completely ditched. But the questions remain.

Fifty years ago the answer to the question of “how to keep people engaged” was “pay them more”. We have science and data now and we know that that answer is not enough (and sometimes plainly wrong) anymore. That’s but one example.

Be curious and feed your curiosity with more and more questions. We don’t have to have the answers. In fact, that’s where the beauty of this principle lies: by asking questions we stay engaged and show interest, even if we don’t have the answers; and, especially when we don’t have the answers, we open up a whole world of possibilities… all unleashed because of our questions.

A true trailblazer has an inquisitive mind. Curiosity requires awareness, intellectual humility, openness, bringing people together and a drive to find answers and explore possibilities.

Are you ready to embrace the six principles and become the HR trailblazer that we are meant to be?

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By Enrique Rubio, Founder of Hacking HR

(Note: I write fast, speak fast and read fast. Sometimes - often times - I don't see the typos. Please let me know if there are typos or grammatical misconstructions in my write ups. It happened to Shakespeare, it certainly can happen to me. Do so with kindness, compassion and grace, though. I appreciate it!)