Executive Coaching for HR Directors

I spent my corporate career in HR and talent

Before I became a coach, I worked for more than 26 years in leadership, HR and talent development, in multinational organisations across financial services, FMCG, entrepreneurship and government. I developed leaders, built talent strategies, shaped culture and supported executive teams through growth and transformation.

That means I do not need the role explained to me. I know what it is like to sit in a talent review, to deliver a restructure you argued against, to be asked for a culture change with no budget, and to be trusted by everyone while being fully open with almost no one. This is the page in my practice where my own background fits most closely.

The pressures that are particular to people leaders

Every executive role is demanding. The HR director’s role has a few pressures that other leaders rarely see.

• ✦You are everyone’s confidant, so you hear more than you can ever say.
• ✦You are expected to be a strategic partner and, on the same day, the person who enforces policy.
• ✦You carry the human side of restructures, redundancies and dismissals, often after the decision is already made.
• ✦National talent targets, such as Bahrainisation and Saudisation, sit on your desk alongside performance and retention.
• ✦Conflicts within the executive team end up in your office, even when you are part of that team.
• ✦You are asked to build a culture that the leaders above you do not always model.

Influence at the top table without becoming the conscience of the company

Many HR directors are in the room but not in the decision. The business sees people topics as important, but the conversation moves to revenue and cost, and HR is asked to implement rather than shape.

In coaching we work on how you show up in those conversations: speaking the language of the business, choosing which battles to fight, and holding a view under pressure from a CEO or CFO. We also look at the trap of becoming the only person who speaks for values, which can isolate you and let others off the hook. The aim is shared ownership of the people agenda, with you as a leader rather than a guardian.

When the hardest people decisions land on you

Restructures, layoffs and senior exits test HR leaders in a way few other roles are tested. You hold the process together, protect the organisation’s legal position, support those leaving and reassure those staying, often while managing your own feelings about the decision.

Coaching gives you somewhere to put that weight down and think clearly about how you want to lead through it. My guide on how to lead your team after layoffs covers the practical side. For the wider organisational picture, my change leadership coaching works with leaders steering large transitions.

Boundaries when every problem has your name on it

Because people problems exist in every part of an organisation, there is no natural limit to the HR director’s day. Leaders call late in the evening, employees catch you in the corridor and the urgent always pushes out the strategic.

We look at what you take on that belongs to someone else, and at the beliefs that keep you saying yes. Setting boundaries at work as a leader is not about caring less. It is about making sure your energy goes to the work only you can do.

Our first session: separating your role from your own development

After a free 30-minute discovery call, our first full session begins by drawing a clear line between the organisation’s needs and yours. HR leaders often arrive talking about their CEO, their team or a programme. We will get to those, but first I ask what you want for yourself in the next year.

We then pick one live situation, often a relationship at the executive table or a decision you are carrying, and look at your part in it. You leave with a small number of themes for our work and one action to try before we meet again.

If you also buy coaching for your organisation

HR directors are often the people who commission coaching. If you are considering me for your leaders as well as for yourself, we keep the two completely separate. What you bring to your own sessions is never used in, or affected by, any work I do with your colleagues.

We discuss this openly at the start, and if it ever feels like a conflict, we talk about it before going further. If you are exploring coaching across the organisation, my page on building a coaching culture is the place to begin.