Part of being a professional in any industry is knowing who you can learn from and sharing that with the world. Today's Tim Sackett Day--where we honor professionals who represent the best of HR. This year? It's Recruiting Animal. Who you ask? Don't ask who he is. Just meet him, listen to him and learn.
Here's the thing with HR. We're full of political correctness and niceties. Maybe it's because we have the war wounds of firings, layoffs, employee relations issues and more, that we just want some positivity sometimes. The problem? It's bred this culture of nice.
Every blog, every Facebook post, every Tweet, and the resulting conversation is full of praise. From lists of the best people to the ego-boosting "you're amazing" comments. Not that recognition isn't grand, but we're so afraid in our industry of offending each other or losing business, our conflict and debate has become this back-end passive aggressive commentary.
But not Animal. Since I've known and followed him, he's been the epitome of telling it like it is. He's not rude, he doesn't get his kicks from empty sarcasm. He simply challenges people (especially vendors and consultants like me) to make sure we're backing up what we say we know.
Who cares if you're on a list? Animal is going to challenge you, push you, debate you and Devil's advocate the heck out of you so you're forced to make your case and stand your ground.
This, people, is what we need more of in HR. Not snark, not ego, not "look at me" selfies, but honest, respectful challenging of our ideas and actions. I've been lucky enough to be on his show twice, once talking about how to sell to HR (when I was in-house) and once on personal branding. Both times I walked away not thinking "wow, I just shared my smarts with the world" but instead: "I really could have prepared better." That's what
That's the thing with people like Animal. He doesn't feel like he's there to pump you up or play Pollyanna. He's there to help you share your knowledge, but helps you think better and learn in the process.
Heard on the show: "It's always the nuts that fill the airwaves."
But no one ever said: "I learn from boring people."
So thanks Animal. Thanks for making me think, thanks for telling it like it is, and thanks for being the one person in HR who's willing to challenge without being a jerk and yet not worrying about what people think of you. The majority of us are too scared to do that.
Want to be entertained and learn about really great HR content at the same time?
GO connect and listen now:
- http://recruitinganimal.typepad.com
- https://www.linkedin.com/groups/36973/profile
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/recruitersonline/
Susan LaMotte is the founder of exaqueo, a workforce consultancy that helps companies build cultures, employer brands and talent strategies. Contact exaqueo to learn how to better compete for talent by building honest, authentic employer brands and powerful talent attraction and retention programs.