Successful Leaders Can Thrive In Uncertainty, With Clarity of Vision

Kristy Feldkamp , SVP, Talent & Learning at HP , shared smart insights with me and my colleague Adam Bryant , senior managing director at The ExCo Group .

Reimer: What are the X-factors that set apart the best leaders today?

Feldkamp: The first is having an enterprise-wide mindset and an external perspective. We also look for leaders who can thrive in uncertainty, with clarity of vision and resilience. Another area is the ability to unlock talent. How are you setting people up for success? How are you developing your teams? How are you creating shared purpose and focus on your team? Those are the three differentiators for folks at HP.?

We have found that thinking at the enterprise level can be particularly challenging because of the demands of the daily business.?HP operates in a highly competitive, innovation-driven industry and we are very tied to quarterly earnings, so our leaders tend to be more operationally focused.?We have to have people who can think across the enterprise. When they do, they really stand out.?

Bryant: There are so?many?demands on leaders today. What else do they need to do to build followership?

Feldkamp: We help our leaders refine their storytelling, particularly around their purpose, because you build connections with people by telling a story about yourself. It invites vulnerability very organically. So we help leaders write and tell that story in a way that feels comfortable and allows them to build those connections.??

The purpose piece is important, as well, because it spans generations, cultures, and roles. It's something that everybody can rally around. I haven't met a person who doesn't want to have purpose in their work and to feel valued and recognized for that.??

Reimer: What were early influences that, in hindsight, helped prepare you for the work you do???

Feldkamp: I've always been intensely curious about human behavior, how people interact and what motivates them. Once I got into the professional world, I saw the outsized impact that a leader can have on a team and the outsized impact that a high-functioning team can have on an organization.???

Bryant: Was there anything in particular that sparked your interest in human behavior early on??

Feldkamp: I had a lot of divorce in my family. My parents divorced when I was young. And then they both remarried and they both got divorced again in my middle school years. So it was a lot of figuring out who the players are, how are things coming together, what's my role, how is my family evolving, and what's my place in it.??

Part of it for me was really kind of navigating my place in the world and finding what anchors me. Being able to read people and read the room and read the dynamics of how people are connecting with each other or not was very much fine-tuned in my early years.?

Reimer: Was there a leader early in your career who had a big impact on you?

Feldkamp: My first professional role was at Ford Motor Company, and the head of HR there at the time was David Murphy. He was very authentic. He said difficult things that in some cases were unpopular. I remember being in a session with him where there were a lot of people who were new to the company and new to the professional world.??

Someone asked him a question about work-life balance, and he said, “Well, you're making a choice. When you get to these levels in the company, it's like being a professional athlete or a professional musician. You are consciously saying that you're going to dedicate a certain number of hours, and that's the reality.”??

Some people did not like that answer, and they challenged him on it, saying that he wasn’t being inclusive. But he held firm and spoke from his perspective, his experience, and his values in a very honest way. My two biggest leadership values are courage and connection. You have to have the courage to say hard things. It’s important when you’re at a more junior level, but it becomes even more important the higher up you go.?

Bryant: When you coach senior executives, what are the common patterns? What are the unlocks they need??

Feldkamp: One common theme is self-awareness. The higher up you go in an organization, the less feedback you get, and people often aren't honest with you. It goes back to courage, and why it’s so important for those of us in the human resources function to be that person who shares with the leader what people are saying about them. When I have had coaching conversations with very senior leaders over the years, it's often been about helping them understand their impact on individuals and teams.??

Reimer: Is there an assumption or practice or methodology in the HR field that you think needs to be revisited or reframed??

Feldkamp: Career paths are not linear. This has been a trend for a while, but I think it’s going to accelerate. That means leaders increasingly are going to be managing people who are doing jobs that the leader has never done themselves. That shifts the focus of leaders to be more of a coach than a manager.??

When I was at Ford, I did a rotation early in my career in finance. I had a master’s degree in labor and industrial relations, and I wanted to build my financial acumen. It was also my first people manager role, so that stretched me?in?a lot of ways.??

When it was time to move on to another role, somebody on my team who had worked in the function his entire career said, “You are the best manager I've ever had." I said, "Really? Wow. Why?" He said, "You didn't micromanage me. You didn't get into my work on a daily basis. You empowered me, you let me do my job." It was a great early lesson.??

Bryant: When you’re hiring, do you have a favorite job interview question??

Feldkamp: I like to ask, “What are you not getting in the role or company you're in now that you want to get at HP or in your next role?” I want to understand the motivating factor for people. It gives me a sense of what drives them and their purpose, and it also helps me understand how I can support their development as they come into the role.??

Reimer: What advice do you share with young people as they are thinking about a career??

Feldkamp: When you're young and trying to figure out what you want to do, people often think in terms of their forever job and finding their passion. Those two things can feel overwhelming to a young person. So I share with them the expression, “Pay attention to what you pay attention to.” What are you curious about? What are the things you find yourself drawn to, that you're interested in, that you enjoy???

How could you think about creating opportunities around those for the next couple of years, whether that’s through education or internships or seeking out mentors? I like to keep the discussion small and digestible, because when you take on big questions like what do you want to do with your life, it can feel very daunting.

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