Human-First Leadership With Paul Wolfe

In this episode of Redefining Work, I’m joined by HR expert and human-first leadership advocate Paul Wolfe. We discuss his career, his new book, “Human Beings First,” burnout, advice for aspiring HR leaders and much more.

Paul has been in HR for more than 20 years, including several years as senior vice president of global HR at Indeed, where he helped grow the company from 1,000 employees to 12,000. He’s also held executive positions at companies including AppNexus, Conde Nast, IAC and Orbitz Worldwide.

Most recently, Paul wrote the book “Human Beings First,” which aims to help leaders understand that they don’t need to be perfect, especially in front of their teams.

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Leaders Are Human, Too

Human-first leadership is based on the universal truth that we’re all human beings, and we all face challenges.

“I think leaders that are more vulnerable, and make sure that people are seen and heard and can see themselves in a leader, create a more encouraging environment. More loyal employees, more productive employees — a better kind of work unit,” Paul says.

Early in his career while working for GE Capital, Paul took part in a rotational program that included four leadership classes at General Electric’s famous Crotonville leadership institute. After writing his book, however, Paul reflected differently on that experience. “Basically, they taught us to be an imposter. They taught us to never let them see you sweat. Always have an answer,” Paul says. “It wasn't really about collaboration and team building.”

Paul doesn’t think leaders need to try to be perfect all the time. Becoming a well-rounded leader is instead about being willing to show your humanity. 

"At the end of the day, we're all humans, and we all have our own challenges and our own highs and lows in our life,” Paul says. “And just because we work someplace and we have a fancy title doesn't mean that stuff goes away. We have to deal with it just like anybody else does.”

HR’s Risk of Burnout

HR has gained strategic importance since the pandemic, but with that added importance came a tremendous burden. People expect HR to lead with empathy and compassion during challenging times, but HR leaders also need to look after themselves. 

“If you do everything with empathy as an HR leader, you're going to burn out, and you're going to be like, ‘I need to tap out because I can't do this anymore.’ Even if you're taking care of yourself,” Paul says.

Avoiding burnout isn’t commonly part of HR training or development. Paul agrees that this should change, especially because self-care comes in many forms and will look different for each HR leader. “And I think the leaders and the companies that are going to do best by their employees are those that allow them to do what they need to do to live a good life while they're being a good employee,” he says.

2-Way Communication With Employees

You only know what’s going on with employees when you ask them. Paul urges ‌HR professionals at all levels to establish two-way communication with the workforce. 

To effectively lead as an HR, professional, engagement surveys aren’t enough. The needs of the workforce are constantly changing. You need to regularly listen to what employees are experiencing. At Indeed, Paul traveled to offices and gathered 10 to 15 people for employee focus groups.

The rules were simple: “What’s said in here stays in here, unless you tell me something illegal,” Paul says. These frank, private conversations allowed Paul to take the pulse of the organization while helping employees feel comfortable with HR. 

“Sometimes there is this ‘us and them’ mentality and, it's like, [employees] are your best source of information,” Paul says. “And if you build that relationship with them and they know they can come to you with stuff, it’s the holy grail from a chief people officer perspective.”

There are many ways to build two-way communication with your workforce. The important thing is to get started. “Every program doesn't have to be wrapped up in a beautiful box and a bow to push it out,” Paul says. “Use an MVP approach, a product approach, and beta it and get feedback.”

People in This Episode

Paul Wolfe: LinkedIn, Twitter, “Human Beings First” book