By Brian Fraser

“How are you going to show up?”

It’s a great question and one I remember from early on in this speaking and coaching phase of my career.  I spent a couple of years working with Tekara and it was one Peter Lee, one of the company’s founders, frequently asked his clients and colleagues.

It’s a great question – bold in its intentions and beneficial in its impact.  It was the inspiration that got me involved in the development of a couple of Tekara’s key programs – Coaching Conversations and Energy for Performance (now the Human Performance Institute).  In turn, it inspired me to generate Jazzthink’s focus on the  five  essential conversations that can help people show up in bold and beneficial ways in their workplaces.  It is the kind of question worth spending a few moments with as you begin each day, especially if you are an HR professional seeking to enhance the impact of HR in your organization.

An HR CRI de Coeur
Among my friends and coaching clients in HR, I hear three common complaints:

• I have very little credibility with other units within the organization;
• I get very little respect from other units within the organization; and
• I have very little influence on other units within the organization.

It’s not just related to the individual HR professional, but too often encompasses the HR department as a whole.  Things are changing for the better, but the pace of improvement is frustratingly slow, especially in times of economic restraint.

This is a cry from the heart – a cri de coeur– for credibility, respect, and influence. 

And it must be answered from even deeper within where HR professionals find the courage to show up in bold and beneficial ways.  It’s why self-management and self-improvement are so crucial for the resilience that HR professionals need in today’s workplace.  They are crucial to the success of the emerging corporate realities of companionship and community as the keystones of success.  Knowing how to show up with positive persistence in creating these values is a required set of skills for today’s HR professionals. 

Music provides the ideal metaphor – jazz in particular.

Jazz as a Model and Mode
The most common form of jazz in human experience is ordinary conversation.  So, if you establish credibility, get respect, and have influence through your conversations (and you all do), then what can you learn from the performance of jazz musicians about enhancing the organizational impact of HR?  What might jazz musicians have to teach you about showing up well?

The roots of jazz as a distinct art form lie in the experience of blacks in the United States during the years of segregation.  Jazz was a powerful way of expressing the cri de coeur of American blacks for greater credibility, respect, and influence.  It gave voice to their confidence that they had something to contribute that was worthy of respect and that had the potential to be a positive influence.  They did it through their instruments being played together in moving and inspiring modes of expression.  Every musician in the group had a valued place from which to perform and the support of every other person in the group to do their best, and then play above that.  Through the power of their performances, they attracted growing audiences who acknowledged, appreciated, and affirmed the value of what they were doing.  They blended intuition, feeling and thinking into a compelling testament to the potential of a people long-dismissed.

SMARTer HR
Listening over the past decade to the qualities of great impact and influence that people see in a jazz performance, we’ve identified five essential conversations.  While reviewing this quick summary of SMARTer conversations, imagine the difference these kinds of conversations might make for you and your HR colleagues in your daily work:

Soulful conversations are the ones you have with yourself.  They shape your self-image and, therefore, your self-confidence. 

Mindful conversations are the one you have with others to build positive alliances around a common purpose. 

Astute conversations are the ones in which you and your colleagues analyze the situation and make decisions about the best way forward.  They invite input from a wide variety of people with a stake in the outcomes and create space for innovative ways of seeing, thinking and acting to emerge.

Responsible conversations are the ones in which you and your colleagues negotiate the various accountabilities necessary to implement the decisions and the kinds of support needed to achieve the purpose. 

Trusting conversations are the ones in which you and your colleagues agree on what to monitor and measure to ensure continuous progress.

Mastery of these conversations requires intention, attention, and practice.  However, the benefit of engaging in this discipline will be a more positive and powerful influence for HR in your organization.

Brian Fraser is speaking at BC HRMA’s 50^th Annual Conference & Tradeshow in Vancouver. His session SMARTer HR: The 5 Foundational Conversations that Generate Influence is on Thursday, April 26.

Brian Fraser is the lead provocateur of Jazzthink.  He is a speaker, coach and facilitator who uses the wit, wisdom and workings of jazz to help people imagine SMARTer teamwork.  You can find out more about his services at www.jazzthink.com.