“The Best Advice I’ve Ever Received...”
50+ HR Execs Share the Wisdom That Guided Their Careers
The Best Advice
What advice shaped your career? The best leaders are willing to continuously grow and receive feedback from those around them at all stages of their journey. HR leaders across industries share the words of wisdom that had the most impact on their career.
Explore the top advice by browsing the five themes below. Whether you’re focused on building a foundation or expanding how you think, there’s advice for every phase of your HR journey.
Chapter 1: Build the Leader Within
Strong foundations are built internally through self-awareness and the habits that guide daily behavior.
Create a Personal Board of Directors
“One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was to create a personal board of directors. I encourage everyone to build a network of trusted individuals with different perspectives and experiences than their own. Look to these individuals to challenge assumptions, give advice and provide honest feedback. I regularly turn to my personal board of directors when I have an important decision to make."
Chapter 2: Speak Up and Step Forward
Effective leaders don’t wait for certainty. They use their voice, act with integrity, and move forward even when the path is uncertain.
Listen Widely, But Act Decisively
“My dad says, ‘No one puts statues in the park commemorating committees.’ It’s important to listen to everyone while being hyperaware about the internal and external environments. Then, it is my responsibility as a leader to sift through all the available data and discern the helpful insights from the noise. Ultimately, I need to make informed decisions based on all the available data.”
Jeff Lindeman, Chief People, Culture & Capability Officer, WD-40 Company
Chapter 3: Grow Your Career with Intention
Building a career is less about speed and more about intention, patience, and the experiences that shape long-term growth.
Let the Game Come to You
“’Let the game come to you.’ A CHRO that I worked for would tell me that all the time. I was always anxious about what my next thing was going to be. But he reminded me that if I focused and worked hard, it would be recognized. And he was exactly right. It is funny to me because, although that is a sports quote, it has been important to me ever since I worked for non-sport organizations early in my career.”
Chapter 4: Develop and Elevate Others
Lasting success is shaped through relationships, mentorship, and a focus on enabling others to grow.
Shift Your Focus from Climbing to Lifting
“Growth isn’t about how high you climb. It’s about who gets stronger, more capable, and better equipped because you were there. That’s how I lead, how I coach, and how I build systems that move people and business forward. When the right people grow in the right ways, the business scales with them.”
Chapter 5: Expand How You Think and Lead
Progress depends on the ability to challenge assumptions and connect ideas in new ways.
Find Success in Shades of Gray
“Approach any business issue from a human perspective first, and recognize that rarely is there an answer in the problems you must solve that is definitively wrong or definitively right. Instead, you must manage on a constant continuum of least optimal to most optimal, and you should try to stay to the right of the midline as much as possible.”
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