Being an HR leader in a company is a complex role, highly exposed and at the crossroads of different and sometimes conflicting interests.
It requires both an overall vision and attention to detail, being strategic and operational, to be equally comfortable with the technical as well as the human dimension of an organisation, going through different cycles of the company's life with courage and maturity, because not all situations are always humanly easy, knowing how to hold a unique posture while adapting to various audiences (management, teams, managers, unions, authorities, etc.), guiding and animating healthy social relations, keeping an eye on the integrity and ethics of the collective while encouraging risk-taking. The list could go on much longer...
I chose this job to be alongside human beings whether they are entrepreneurs or in technical, commercial, management, reception, security or top management roles. To put in place the tools that support them in their day-to-day decision-making. To help generate impact.
Through this job, I have learned a lot about myself and about others, about the responsibility that goes with power (the important thing is not so much to have power but what you do with it).
I grew up through management experiences where I inevitably started by making mistakes (the path of the perfect manager is a path marked by mistakes from which one learns, let's be humble to admit).
I learned to make difficult decisions, or to accompany those who had to make them, to remain constructive while challenging them, to hold difficult conversations, to negotiate for the best interests of the collective.
I realized that I was capable of building and implementing a vision for a collective, that I could solve or rather develop a competent function to solve complex organizational problems.
I learned to trust the other, to fully delegate responsibilities to them, to make them see the best of themselves, whether they are aware of it or not.
Sometimes I got it right, sometimes I was wrong.
I've had successes and I've had failures.
What a job!
It's also a very demanding job, where you are at the heart of all the company's adventures and where you have to accompany and orchestrate the responses of a management team focused on tangible results in a business under pressure in all circumstances.
Quite honestly, it hasn't always been easy...more than once, I wanted to give up my apron: stop, it's over, we're done.
So, I was wondering about the meaning for me to do this job and to position myself at the heart of the turmoil. The answer always came back to me without detours, clear and limpid: I am there for the human being.
So whatever the circumstances, whatever the difficulties, the obstacles, the hardships, I have this energy in me to give my all to do my best.
I have learned to love this job, to love myself in this job and to put my contribution to the service of the collective interest in order to generate the expected impact together. It is in this perspective of serving a larger plan that I love this job.Photo: "cell cluster 3" by Anthony Mattox is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Comments