You Know You Have Made It as a CHRO When…

Reflecting on the stories shared within our CHRO Mastermind community, it’s inspiring to see members reach moments that signal true impact. These aren’t just "HR wins"; they demonstrate the strategic influence and leadership that define the role of a Chief Human Resources Officer. Here are some signs that you’ve truly made it:

1. Your CEO tells his direct reports to come talk to you first about solutioning a challenge.
2. An outside management consultant asks what business unit you run, assuming you’re more than "just" HR.
3. You get to spend 80% of your time on the business and not the HR work.
4. Your team is able to handle C-suite meetings without you.
5. HR is a feeder system for talent into the business.
6. You never have openings in HR because everyone else in the organization wants to work in your team.
7. The CIO wants to adopt your strategic HR business partner model.
8. Your CEO asks you to recruit the next board member.
9. Your peers in the C-suite call you the "CEO Whisperer."
10. Your company has had three CHROs in three years, and now, after three years in the role, the C-suite says they’ve never had an HR person like you.
11. You have repositioned HR so well that business leaders are lined up for your team to help their teams reach their goals.
12. You are asked to lead the operating model transformation.
13. The CEO comes to your office multiple times a day to bounce ideas off of you.
14. The CEO tells you how much they value you for speaking truth to power.
15. Your year-end review of what was accomplished in HR becomes the framework your CEO wants all your peers to use.
16. Your team gets most of the out-of-budget initiatives approved because they have learned how to speak the language of the business.
17. Your CHRO peers in other companies reach out to learn how you’ve built such a high-performing HR function.
18. You have developed such amazing HR leaders that many of them get promoted into CHRO roles, and you’re known as an Academy HR Organization.
19. Your company’s PE firm recommends you for a board seat on one of their other portfolio companies.
20. The CEO keeps asking you if you want to be their successor

These milestones reflect the journey from HR as a support function to HR as a driver of business growth. They show that great CHROs not only solve problems—they build future leaders and create lasting change.

As John Quincy Adams once said, "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader." For CHROs who reach these milestones, that’s exactly what they’re doing—leading by example and inspiring their organizations to reach new heights.

If you’d like to be inspired monthly by stories like these, consider joining the CHRO Mastermind—designed for Chief HR and People Officers of companies with 500+ employees. Gain insights, share experiences, and elevate your impact. Learn more here.