Every three or four years I have the “seat at the table discussion” with a group of senior HR executives. Just recently it was time again, and I must say I was encouraged by the confidence I sensed. It was a fascinating discussion? While many HR executives still struggle to gain credibility as business partners, we have come a long way.

So, what do HR executives that are invited to the table do? Here are some of the nuggets I took away:

1. They speak the language of business, which is finance. One of the first things one of the participating executives asked was: “How many of you know what tripping a credit covenant is? Do you know the balance sheet, the P&L, what the cost drivers are, ROI?”

2. They are confident about their contribution and take credit when appropriate. Being too humble can be detrimental. They invite their peers into their tent. They do not compete with the CFO…but complement and partner up.

3. They don’t focus on the past, whine or get their feelings hurt easily.

4. They develop hard metrics that make a difference to the business and spend time on analytics/implications of business decisions. They talk about how what they do impact assets of the organization. After all, HR controls the number one or two largest expense in the company. One executive suggested that we “count goals while we are on the ice.”

5. They spend time on the shop floor and experience the product/services first hand. They make sure employees understand the business.

6. They are the confidant of the CEO, the one that the CEO talks to about what keeps him or her awake during the night. They tell their CEOs the hard truths: “you may fire me for this, but you need to know (the emperor has no clothes).”

7. They are stewards of the company culture.

8. They have mastered the basics of HR and gained the credibility to move beyond.

9. They are solution oriented and proactively work on issues before they get to the “no” stage.

10. They are focused on business issues and understand that what HR does ultimately needs to grow the business or add productivity. Someone suggested we “drop the HR label and represent ourselves as business persons first.”

11. They are not embarrassed about the soft skills they bring to the table.

12. They focus on their teams and surround themselves with top HR tacticians.

13. They say “thank you” a lot.

Bottomline: more HR executives seem to believe and know that they belong at the table. I look forward to revisiting the question again in a few years.