When I got my first promotion from Training Coordinator to Training Manager I was proud and excited and grateful. I was working hard and felt like I was doing a good job. Lucky to be surrounded by super smart peeps who gave guidance and direction at every turn, I was working in a culture that valued coaching and HR selfcare.
Starting out at 12 years old working in my mom’s clothing and home furnishings store, she coached me to be productive, creative and resourceful in everything I did. Those values stuck with me. Running the training department, I worked hard (productive), pushed the envelope (creative) and made do with what I had (resourceful).
Coaching for HR selfcare
In those early years, one particular experience caused me to add to those values in a truly meaningful way. We had recently lost our receptionist and changed the layout to the HR space. Employees coming to attend training programs would now be arriving to a blank wall with no one to greet them. So I wrangled a few stray chairs and a potted plant from some empty offices to create a makeshift sitting area for our guests. Productive, creative and resourceful!
Our HR VP came upon the scene and said: “This is welcoming and I like the idea but these chairs are worn. Let’s order new ones”. I asked if she was sure given our tight budget and recent downsizing. She replied with something to the effect of: “First, it’s a worn chair and then it’s a frayed rug or broken desk. Our decisions regarding how to care for our space today set the precedent for how we see ourselves tomorrow”. That was the day I added HR selfcare to my value system.
HR Coach Thyself
Brene Brown has said that “The most dangerous stories we make up are the narratives that diminish our inherent worthiness”. When we diminish the field of HR, downplay our roles, or neglect the environments we work in, we erode our self worth and our profession’s worth. As HR pros, we can coach ourselves down or coach ourselves up and we have a responsibility to ourselves, our colleagues and our organizations to choose the latter. It’s the most basic form of coaching for HR selfcare.
In the work I’ve done on myself and the work I do with others, without fail the questions come down to the stories we tell ourselves. We question what’s right, what’s enough, and what others will say or think. As we stretch to become next level in our work and in our lives, we need to revisit and revise our stories. And beginning that work could be as simple as upgrading the chair.
