16: The Missing Ingredient in Your HR Leadership Journey

When I was about ten years old, I decided I was going to make cookies. Not just any cookies, mind you, but my mom’s famous butterscotch chip cookies.  They are absolute perfection—crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle, and those butterscotch chips just melt in your mouth. Now, my mom was the expert baker, and I was just a kid. But that didn’t stop me from thinking I could totally pull it off.  I knew that the secret to her cookies, was she used an oatmeal cookie recipe and then added butterscotch chips. So I got out the recipe and all of the ingredients. As I started to combine the ingredients, my ten-year-old mind told me, 'If I’m making butterscotch chip cookies, I should replace the oatmeal in the recipe with the butterscotch chips.'  After all, I was making butterscotch cookies, not oatmeal cookies, right? Well, let me tell you—big mistake. Those cookies came out flat—like, really flat. They didn’t have the texture or the structure they were supposed to.  The butterscotch chips didn’t hold it together. Something was definitely missing. Sure, the chips were sweet, but without that hearty base from the oatmeal, they just didn’t work. Now, you might be asking, 'What does this have to do with my journey as an HR professional working toward the executive level?' Let’s dive in.Kristen Wade helps HR professionals  who want to reach the executive level,to stop putting out fires and become more strategic with their time. For individual support, apply for Kristen's Signature Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you to a free discovery call.Or if you're ready to ensure your unique values shine, grab a Personal Branding Strategy Session with Kristen here.