My very first article was published in a professional magazine (HRMagazine) almost exactly thirty years ago and it was titled: The Case For Valuing Diversity. At the time I was a young, idealistic first woman executive in a male-dominated utility and someone committed to helping this organization  go beyond compliance to actually embracing the idea […]

I am sitting at my desk in my home office looking out over a foggy Puget Sound. A cold pack is wrapped around my foot, a hot pack strapped to my shoulder, my face mask is hanging on it’s hook ready to cover my nose and mouth if I have to venture out from the safety […]

Today Suzanne Campbell and I facilitated a zoom meeting  for our HR Executive Forum members as a way of adapting to our new Covid-19 reality. And the topic was (not surprisingly): Covid-19, and how companies in the Seattle area are responding to our new reality. Our meeting today was a precursor for a more in-depth […]

  At my HR Executive Forum last week two dozen CHROs and senior HR leaders spent some quality time discussing the ins and outs of M&As. I was surprised how much juice there was around this topic. Here are some of my takeways: HR Seat at the Table. If you are not invited, are you […]

“VA FAAN! WHAT IS HAPPENING OVER THERE?” The phone is ringing on the morning of September 11, 2001, and to my surprise it’s my older brother calling all the way from Stockholm. I begin to exchange pleasantries, but my brother interrupts loudly. “Suzanne, listen to me. You must turn on your TV, NOW.” His voice […]

Last week two dozen of my HR leaders met to engage in a discussion potentially fraught with emotion and strong opinions.  The topic was: Sexual Harassment: What’s Next? Interestingly, only one guy showed up – was that a coincidence! Maybe, maybe not! It was interesting to hear at the outset how much fear and anxiety […]

Lately I have been doing some thinking around a discussion I had with my group of top HR executives a while ago. The general topic was around how organizations position themselves in the market vis-à-vis their values, a question we discussed in the context of knowing that consumers of products and services are increasingly paying […]

Today my group of HR executives revisited “wellness” in a fascinating discussion which started out by declaring “wellness” a tired and antiquated concept. Somebody said “it feels like a checkbox.” In keeping with our commitment to challenge conventional thinking and ride the crest of the wave of what is new and exciting in our meetings, […]

Last week a small group of HR executives  (about a dozen HR Executive Forum members) braved the snowy road conditions in Seattle and spent a chilly morning discussing teams. Our discussion catalysts (Sandra Gilliland, Google, and Ben Bratt, Team Effectiveness Project) shared some interesting stats to get the dialogue going such as: • 97% of teams […]

Disruption was the topic for discussion at my most recent peer executive coaching group. Michael Erisman, CHRO with DocuSign and a long term member, was a cohort in designing this session and we were both juiced up about the subject, which we approached both on a personal and organizational level with participants. We all agreed […]