Driving
the bus—are we positioning our company for growth?
Don
Schmitz /Human Resource Staffing
As
HR leaders, we have no responsibility greater than finding
the right passengers to ride our bus but, do we have the courage
to answer the difficult questions of ourselves? Do we have
new passengers that can mentor and grow in our shoes and are
we providing them the time and resources necessary to make
this possible? Have we been so busy trying to keep our bus
slowly moving forward, we've abandoned the need to build future
leaders that will keep this bus on an uphill climb?
Strong
HR leaders know our bus will not survive with the players
we've had in the past. Future leadership will require many
leaders taking turns driving the bus. Some may have grown
tired. Some are worn out and need to be relieved of duty.
Some may not have the skills and strength needed for the future.
Some leaders may have been lucky with timing, but now their
clock has run out. Still some are just beginning.
Some
of our passengers are hurt and no longer have the energy to
continue the fight; hurt by the passenger who have gotten
off, hurt by the leaders who have personally taken short-term
profits for large personal bonuses, hurt by a lack of capital
to build long term goals, hurt by the lack of direction. Finally,
some are riding along leaching off of others with no intention
of ever being of help.
While
all this change is going on, the world environment has changed
as well. We now have new requirements for air pollution, new
technology, new world markets and new rules for the road.
Our
new bus passengers will require a variety of skills. We will
need experienced drivers with navigators requiring new GPS
systems, mechanics to fix us when we are broken down, passengers
waiting their turn to step up and temporary leaders who can
help us when the going gets tough.
Many
of the younger passengers are growing tired; tired of no new
opportunities, tired of postponements for new projects, tired
of their bosses' lack of direction, tired of complacency and
tired of not receiving recognition for guiding the bus in
the past. They are thinking; is it time for me to abandon
this bus? They know there are many other red buses and blue
buses out there where they may be appreciated. When the time
comes, will they get on and leave us without the necessary
fuel to go on?
Leaders
know timing is critical, but now its spring and we look around
us with fresh eyes and see things are finally getting brighter.
The birds have returned and our massive snowdrifts have disappeared
before our eyes. Maybe this is the time—the time to look again
at our dusty old bus with fresh eyes. Maybe this is the time
for innovation and a new source of fuel? We look ahead and
see a slow plateau for growth and opportunity to impact the
future of our bus. Do I as a leader of this bus have the courage
to turn this bus into a new shiny bus we can all be proud
of riding again?
Than
and only than will other buses look at us and say, “There
goes and old bus with an entirely new look—that's the bus
I want to ride”.
Back to the library
Reproduction
of this article cannot be accomplished without the expressed
consent of Human Resource Staffing. Don Schmitz is a popular
speaker and writer on all aspects of HR and CEO of Human Resource
Staffing. Don holds graduate degrees in Education, Administration
and Human Development.
Contact Don@HumanResourceStaffingInc.com
952 854 6040
