One third of the way into my career, the garbage collector (one of whom I wanted to be at five years old; because my mother took them popsicles) became a waste management professional, the janitor became a maintenance engineer, and the personnel department became human resources.
If dignity and respect are increased for the individual in such shifts, I am all for it. In most cases like these, the work performed did not change much with the change of title. In most cases this is fine. In the case of human resources, not so much. There is still work associated with policy, procedure, and law. However, with this shift, it was intended to rebrand toward a balance to include the resources of our humanness. In the latter two-thirds of my career, I have seen too many human resource professionals behaving like 20th Century personnel employees. Then there are unique exceptions; like Tammy.
Tammy is a process visionary; balancing purpose with the desire of others. She leads each person to engage in a manner that brings value to the whole while consistently validating the individual. Guided by purpose, she becomes focused in leading others to understand the challenge, interactively learn, and create purposeful, present action.
In addition to being a focused professional of resourcing humanness, Tammy is a wife, mother, and teacher. She is always teaching, even beyond her adjunct position at a private college. When Tammy and I were working on her personal purpose/brand, we pulled in a peer and an employee to assist. Tammy found it hard to focus on herself so intensely for this exercise. Marcie told me that Tammy kept them all connected to reality. Melanie said that Tammy created the magic of alignment. What an honor and a privilege to be connected to others in such a powerful manner.
Does Tammy know how blessed she is? Probably so. Does she know the beautiful impact she has on others? Probably not. The thing she does know however is precisely (she is precise) how to focus on what is important. I was taken to a deep place in myself when she said, “I focus on the big things at work and the small things at home.”
It was no surprise that her personal purpose/brand became; “I Teach Others to be Presently Strategic” … the big things at work. But what grabbed my heart was when she painted the picture of the small things at home. She said, “If I’m washing dishes and my daughter is talking to me, I stop what I’m doing and look at her.”
If you are a VP/Director of Human Resources, find yourself a Tammy!
Tammy O’Hare is a focused leader of human potential.
