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By on July 18th, 2011

Are you leading your organization or is HR?

I was at a party enjoying festivities around the pool and sitting next to an IT Manager from a Fortune 100 company. When he learned about my vocation as an Executive Coach, he shared with me his frustration with his company’s HR department. For a few years he’d wanted to find a way to fire two underperforming, non-protected class employees. Finally he saw the opportunity to make a move; the company was going to do a reduction in head count, so he put these two employees on his list of three to let go. HR blocked that move and actually had him remove two “A” players instead. He didn’t elaborate on HR’s reasons, but they likely had to do with seniority, loyalty over performance, or the potential for legal action.

I am accustomed to hearing such stories when I work with Global 100 companies or Fortune 500 companies.

Does HR wield too much power in your organization? Are they assisting or inhibiting leadership? Share your stories.

About the Author

Gary Cohen is a highly-skilled Executive Coach, Leadership Author, Trainer, and International Keynote Speaker. His clients range from entrepreneurial CEOs of the nation’s fastest-growing companies to executives of global 100 companies. He differentiates himself from traditional (psycho/therapeutic) executive coaches by bringing a vast amount of business experience as a former Founder / President of one the Nation’s Fastest growing companies. He is the author of Just Ask Leadership: Why Great Managers Always Ask the Right Questions (McGraw Hill). Gary B. Cohen Full Bio

Leading Organizations • Overcome Obstacles
  • Marcia Reynolds, PsyD, MCC

    Great question. As a former Training Director working for an HR department, I always felt there were decisions being made that affected the organization without the line managers having a say. It was always top-down, not collaborative. This is an issue that is not talked about but should be addressed. Thanks for brining it up.

    • http://co2partners.com/blog Gary B Cohen

      Marcia, Thanks for your comment. When there are things that are happening and not said one of the best ways to make change happen is via adaptive leadership. This is very difficult for leaders of organization to navigate and it often takes great courage on the part of the leader. What do you think prevented it from surfacing within your organization?

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