I was reading a piece my boss shared with our team, A Nation of Weavers, written by David Brooks of the New York Times when that term entered my lexicon. Its meaning, while not specifically defined, connected with me on a level that few other terms have in a long time. In the article, they write about experiences that they had while researching hyper-individualism. My favorite quote from one of the people they interviewed stated “We don’t do things for people, we don’t do things to people, we do things with people.”

What many don’t realize about me is that I am science-oriented person by nature. I majored in biology, not business or HR, in college and while I think I’ve done pretty well in my chosen field, I still have a love for science, specifically, the life sciences.

This term, “radical mutuality” resonates with me because it reminds me of the symbiotic nature of so many relationships that we need to have as humans. This goes beyond our mere need to be needed, but instead suggests that there is a very real connection that happens whether we intend for it too or not. It’s these interconnected elements that can lead to our ultimate success in life.

In one of my previous positions, we debated whether we should be striving to build up people’s independence without ensuring that there was an interdependence that was just as strong. Thankfully, we landed in a place where we emphasized connection with the larger community rather than a singular focus on an individual’s own ability (or disability).

One of the challenges many of us right now in an economy that has low jobless rates is finding the talent we need in our organizations. I suggest that the concept of radical mutuality can help us in attracting and retaining valuable talent. Building interdependence and treating people the right way can make an organization stand out. Pair that with a valuable mission and vision, you can achieve great things with the great people you are certain to attract.

Do even better. Figure out how you can help push this radical mutuality not just in your own organizations, but in the larger world as well.

Last Friday I stepped away after 12 years. I must admit it was more difficult than I thought it would be and I knew it would be difficult to do, however, all good things must come to an end. When I first started on the State Council in 2006 I was asked to join and fill an empty slot that had been open as the Director of Diversity and Inclusion for the State Council. I did so finding workplace diversity being something that I was quite passionate about as it directly related to my day job at Stone Belt and it ultimately became a key point within many of my volunteer activities. That role lead to another role as the Director of Technology and Communications, which let me do so much of what my professional life is now; being in touch with people on this new thing called social media which lead to meeting people online only to become real-life friends. For the final half of my tenure on the State Council I served as a Director-at-Large doing anything that really needed to be done. During the final years, I also had the honor of being part of the HR Indiana Conference Committee and I feel very fortunate to have been working with so many great HR professionals as we created something great in Indiana.

Now that my time with Indiana SHRM is over, I look back with great memories. It also with the conviction that there are still even better things ahead! THANK YOU to all who’ve been part of the journey. I look forward to continuing new journeys in the months and years ahead.

One of the fun memories from my time with Indiana SHRM

• On the keynote side of the house, Amy Cuddy (author of Presence) is the one I am most looking forward to hearing. I know several people who heard her speak during May’s WorkHuman event in Orlando and all had only good things to say. My own conference, HR Indiana, looked to have her but alas our conference coincided with the start of her term teaching at Harvard.
• I’ve not spent the time reviewing the concurrent session grid to know with certainty everything I am attending. My friend Karl’s session on Tuesday, Advanced CFO Wisdom is likely one you will find me attending. Given the changes coming out of the NLRB (just down from the conference site!) I expect to get some updates on those activities as well.
• One of my favorite things during the SHRM Annual Conference is time spent with the SHRM Foundation. I know they are releasing 2 new reports during the conference, and are partnering with Fitbit on a step challenge. Anyone who has attended SHRM before knows that walking is constant and achieving 50,000 steps during the time the conference runs is a realistic goal. I hope I remember my Fitbit charger!
• Of course, no SHRM conference is complete without the after hours social events. Don’t discount them and the learning and sharing that occurs!
• Speaking of social – the time with my SHRM Blogging friends (and yes, they are friends!) will be a highlight and will serve to recharge my HR batteries. There is no greater group of people than these smart and accomplished HR professionals. I am honored to know them.
• Finally (and most importantly!) I am being joined in DC by my wife and daughter. They will be tourists while I “conference”, but I will have some time to spend with them as well as some family who live in Northern Virginia. It’s my daughter’s 1^st time to our nation’s capital and I hope she enjoys it as much as I do each time I have the chance to visit.

If you’re going to be there, please send me a note. If we haven’t met, I would love to meet you! Reach out via twitter @bradgalin or come by the SHRM Bloggers Lounge (room 102A)

What class (in high school, college, or grad school) influences you now in a way that you did not anticipate at the time you originally took the class?

There have been so many great classes with so many good lessons. How can I settle on just one?

Thinking back to high school I could go with my biology classes (some inspiration from last week’s post,) my English classes for the writing skills they inspired, or even my time in band, which is still the only part of high school I would be willing to experience again!

College brought more fabulous classes. For majoring in biology though, the memorable or impactful classes had nothing to do with my chosen field of study. The personal finance class taught lessons I use to this day while my interest in political science can be traced back to Dr. Hershey and the class I took from her my junior year at IU. Environmental law, limnology, and my risk assessment course are also contenders.

However, after much thought around impact, I think I find myself finally deciding to settle on one of my graduate school classes. Introduction to Systems Thinking brought to clarity some of the factors I had always thought about. I could finally put words to the influence of one event upon another as well as the creation of both virtuous and vicious cycles. We experience these systems in all aspects of our lives and being able to apply the tools of systems thinking (primarily through the work of Peter Senge) has made me a better leader and HR professional. Being able to graphically and verbally explain what is happening to a group or process and the presenting some options to consider a change are now essential tools in my own leadership and consultative approach.

The base elements of systems thinking, the archetypes, have become more ingrained as I use them and rarely does a day go by when I do not think through a situation from a systems perspective.  Judging by impact, the systems thinking part of my grad school curriculum has provided me with not just theory, but a practical approach that I use in my HR world as well as seeing the larger scope of public education (my current industry) through a whole new set of lenses.

Thank you Claudia (my instructor) for providing a solid foundation that many other elements of my MBA were able to build upon.

My role as HR Director found me entering into negotiations with labor unions for the first time. All five unions reached agreements (some more easily than others!) and one of the five groups even decertified as the year progressed.  The beginnings of a departmental restructure are now underway and I look forward to continuing some of the good work in hiring the best and brightest to be part of our organization.

My outside professional interest also had a few highlights.  Although I purposefully reduced my speaking engagements and conference involvement, it did not stop completely. I had the honor of being part of SHRM’s social media team during the annual conference in Orlando. My involvement in HR Indiana continued (and I am thankful they still accept this Michigander!) and I added the additional role of being a presenter at this year’s conference. One valuable lesson I learned was not to try that again as I did not feel that I brought my best game to either effort. This year, HR Indiana will firmly stay on the planning side. We have lots of great people who can present!

On top of Mt. Baldy at Philmont!

The BIG thing for the year was in my personal life. Spending 2 weeks in the New Mexico mountains hiking at the Philmont Scout Reservation was certainly an adventure. It was difficult at times and certainly challenged this creature of luxury living, but I did it and look back on the time as precious. Even though I will likely not try such an adventure again, the preparation (including running several 5k’s) and time with my son will do my soul good for years to come.

With that, it’s farewell to 2014 as we see what 2015 brings. While I hope for more time with my esteemed friends and colleagues, I also look forward to the unknown that beckons all of us to journey forward one day at a time!

As I spoke to other attendees and asked them about their conference experience, I frequently get one of three reactions:

1. Who are you and why are you talking to me?
2. A story about the great session they just went to.
3. A comment about how little new information has been learned, but how they are hearing and getting refreshed on things they already knew.

It’s this third point that catches my interest. I believe this provides an opportunity for the HR pros who attend conferences to leverage their own knowledge in their organizations and build their credibility in the organizations.

We know that outside “experts” are often believed more than those who are embedded within organizations. This gaining of knowledge from the outside can be leveraged to help position HR as true knowledge partners throughout the organization.

When you hear a speaker talking about something that you believe and sharing information that you want your organization to use or implement, take note. When back in the office, share what you’ve learned. A simple summary of points can go far in helping convey points that need to be made. Giving credit to others brings both enhanced credibility to you as a learner and shows the value that attending conferences or other learning experiences is for the organization.

So, if you’re heading to state conferences in Ohio, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, New York, or Michigan in the next few weeks, don’t let the information gained reside only in your mind. Spread the knowledge and share the wisdom!

Traveling at over 500 mph is certainly NOT ordinary

Many people who practice in the area of human resources will either never have or never take the opportunity to learn from others in a setting like a large HR conference. For many, the way things are being done in their company or organization is the only way that HR is done and to veer away from that would require a leap of faith and a willingness to push beyond ordinary. Going beyond one’s comfort zone is essential to beating what is ordinary and making things, if not extraordinary, at least at little less ordinary.

This will be only my second SHRM Annual conference, although I am a veteran of several other SHRM conferences and remain heavily involved with a great state SHRM conference, HR Indiana. To me, these conferences are a valuable opportunity to learn from others, expand horizons, and challenge my own conventional thinking.

It’s been an interesting year for me professionally. A little more that a year ago, our family relocated to Portage, Michigan from our longtime home of Bloomington, Indiana. We moved as my wife pursued a tremendous opportunity to join Stryker, a leading medical device company. I am happy to say that move continues to be a positive one for her! This leap of faith then brought me an opportunity that I could not have imagined even a year ago.

That pursuit of things beyond ordinary leads to new experiences and the dissolution of barriers that I myself once imposed upon myself. For example, as an HR professional, I had never worked in a unionized environment. Now, I serve as the HR Director for a public school with five bargaining units with contracts that all expire June 30, 2014 and a sizable non-unionized workforce. A year ago, I would have told you that I couldn’t do this type of work as it’s too different from what I had done before. As it turns out, applying the same principles that worked well for me before provide great benefit now.  3 of our 5 groups now have tentative agreements, we are seeing success of our students in so many ways, and I’ve witnessed great development on the HR team I lead.  I count among the good fortune a great superintendent to work for, dedicated people in leadership focused on educational excellence, and another organization that has wonderfully dedicated people in every role!

One of my goals while at SHRM in Orlando is to find other HR professionals working in public education so I can learn from them and their districts.  Naturally, unconventional thinking is welcomed and I hope to find some kindred spirits who want to focus on the new and build greatness into their organizations. If you’re looking for, you will not find me in sessions on FMLA compliance or getting updates on the Affordable Care Act. These (to me at least!) are ordinary and will not help push my organization to the world-class level I know it can be.

So, if you have a session that pushes boundaries and will prompt new ideas, let me know. Life should always be less ordinary and more extraordinary!

Bradley Galin, MBA, SPHR is the Director of Human Resources for the Portage Public Schools in Portage, Michigan and serves as an official WeKnowNext blogger and member of the #SHRM14 blog squad! Follow him on twitter @bradgalin and subscribe to www.RollerCoasterHR.com for the latest updates.

In his opening keynote this morning at the 2013 Illinois SHRM conference, Dr. Daniel Crosby cited some frightening statistics related to reading.

First, 27 percent of population of the United State holds a bachelor’s degree.  Of that 27 percent, a full 42 percent never read a book again after their academic careers are over.  This leads to the most disturbing statistic of all for me.  A full 80 percent of US households do not either buy or check out a book in any given year.

Dr. Crosby summarized by stating that means that 4 out of 5 households are more likely to get their learning from Duck Dynasty or Honey Boo Boo than from a good (or even bad!) book.

This folks, is frightening!

What does this mean for our workplaces and what we do in HR?  

Think about this as you plan for that next big workforce initiative or new innovation.  The decision about how we communicate something can become even more important than the something we are talking about.  Perhaps we are moving toward a future where reading will not be as fundamental.  As an avid reader, that bothers me a lot!  However, it can mean a shift to recorded messages on video, using social media effectively (although that still requires reading!) or even face-to-face conversations.  The media matters more than ever!

‘If the opposite of pro is con, then the opposite of progress must be Congress…”

Are you accomplishing as much as the entity that calls this home?

Unfortunately, given the state that we find ourselves in right now, that is quite true.  Since the new Congress began in January 2012, only 15 bills introduced have become law.  That’s less than one law for each month that Congress has been in session!  No matter your political persuasion, that meets the definition of a “do nothing” organization.

As you reflect on this stellar record of accomplishment, keep a few things in mind.

1. We are paying for this (both directly and indirectly)
2. Change is not on the immediate horizon
3. You too may be guilty of acting this way

Odds are that the first two statements above have met with little opposition.  However, that third one may strike some of you as harsh.  Well, ask yourself these questions…

1. Is your HR department regarded as a “necessary evil” and nothing more?
2. How many processes owned by HR are necessary for the good of the organization?  If they do not benefit the organization or are not legally required, why are you insisting on doing them?!?
3. When was the last time and innovation that had a positive impact on your organization either originated or was housed in HR?  Asked another way, do good ideas go to HR in order to die?
4. Does HR leadership have an understanding of the organization and its mission, vision, and values?  Just as those in Congress seem disconnected from everyday life in the US, many HR professionals do not have a critical understanding of the business they are in.

So, are you going to accomplish something more than your Congressional representative this month?  Remember, they are on recess during the month of August.  While some will work hard during this break, many will not.  Here is your chance to leap ahead and be valuable and worthy of reelection!

Photo Credit – The Fiscal Times

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“I’m Brad and I’m a conference addict”

Please respond in unison “Hi Brad”

The reality is that yes, I do enjoy state HR conferences and the reasons really do go beyond what one might ordinarily expect.  There are certainly great speakers to be heard, HRCI credits to earn (I’m not taking the SPHR exam again!) and enthusiastic vendors to meet.  I think it is my parental duty to bring back at least one souvenir to each of my children and my professional duty to have at least one new idea that can improve my workplace (or the workplaces of my clients!)

Beyond those obvious things, I cherish the opportunity to meet and talk to new people.  There are so many interesting stories to be learned and be shared.  I’ve been to multiple state conferences now of all sizes and times of year.  No matter where or when, I always come away knowing more about someone and getting the chance to see people who love what they do.  This satisfies one of my core beliefs in looking for the best in everybody.

It bears remembering though that this requires some effort, and often, a little extra time.  Although sessions and time in exhibit halls can bring these moments, they are much more apt to occur after the conference’s official hours are over and attendees are gathered in more informal settings.  I think back fondly to Louisiana SHRM and my conversation with Laurie Ruettimann and Lizzie Maldonado.  Although I know Laurie, I still learned more about her experience and life beyond HR and her cats.  Liz I hadn’t really known before and now I not only follow her on social media, but know and see firsthand the great vivacious person behind her twitter handle and her work at The Starr Conspiracy.  Moments like these happen everywhere from sitting down with John Jorgensen and Dave Ryan (both from Illinois) while in Ohio to meeting Travis Sinquefield from Michigan while at HREvolution in Chicago.  All great people who are so much more than their Twitter bio can describe!

So, if you’re attending one of the many great state HR conferences coming in the next few months, please take a little time and go out on a limb to meet some new people.  I guarantee that you will benefit from doing so!  I know I intend to meet new folks and gain insight from those I am fortunate enough to get to know during my time at Illinois SHRM from August 18-20 and at my own HR Indiana August 27-30, 2013.