What Motivates You?

By Mark Stelzner | Published: January 6, 2011

It was about 6:00 am when my Dad entered the kitchen to prepare his second cup of Folgers Crystals. I was already hovering over my cereal bowl, little sugary pieces of multi-colored deliciousness losing their battle with my furious spoon. Placing my empty bowl in the sink, I saw my father reach for a coffee mug from a high shelf, his plaid shirt peaking just far enough over his waistline for a fleshy bit of chub to pour out. My twelve-year-old body started to shake in laughter as I grabbed ahold of his soft midsection and gave it a really healthy squeeze. “Man, look at that. Whoa!!“, I exclaimed with a toothy grin.

He didn’t think it was funny.

Since nonverbal cues weren’t my strong suit I ribbed him about the fact that he had just turned forty and needed to get into shape. With flat affect he proposed a bet – we would wager $1,000 on whether he could pinch a single inch on me on my 40th birthday. “You think you can do it?“, he asked, smirking as I quickly agreed. That was a lot of money and c’mon, I was a toothpick so this would be a no brainer, right?

I took this bet in 1983. I now have four months to win.

This story popped into my head during today’s workout, my breathing heavy as I slogged through another fairly unfulfilling day in the gym. You see, I’m absolutely determined to win this frickin’ bet and there is no way in hell that I intend to go down without a fight. On my walk home I started to reflect on motivation and how I so clearly fall into one prominent motivational subset.

The mysterious minority (in my opinion) are the self-starters, those admirable individuals who are able to motivate themselves through some invisible inner drive. I am absolutely fascinated by their ability to go and go and go without the need for any form of external catalyst or validation. These people are a complete anomaly to most and are not always treated with kindness. Take the hilarious 1999 article from the Onion, “Energetic Self-Starter Instantly Despised By Co-Workers“.

It’s funny because it’s true. :)

Then there are the rest of us, the mass of reluctant participants who respond most favorably to carrot, stick or both. I embrace my role among this crowd, warmed by the knowledge that I am clearly the most productive when I have committed to do something for someone else. It’s this sense of accountability to others that helps me juggle dozens of items at a time, a motivator I rarely seem to muster from within.

Which brings us back to 1983 and that pesky little kid with the big mouth.

My Dad was wise enough to know the score and that time was on his side, but he also figured out fairly early that without some motivation I’d have a high likelihood of being in the same shape he was at my age. I’d like to think he bet me with these intentions in mind, but maybe he just wanted to shut up his painfully annoying son. Either way, well played sir …

… but I’m still going to win.


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2011: The Year of Reactionary HR

By Mark Stelzner | Published: December 31, 2010

Gearing up your 2010 reflective engines, you may let your mind soar over your personal and professional landscape in an attempt to observe and report from a dispassionate distance. There are moments you’ll be proud of, those which make you cringe and others whose outcome and impact are still somewhat clouded and unresolved.

As you float above the fray and attempt to make sense of it all, a distant object approaches at high speed. Suddenly buzzing past you are the 2011 wing-walking fools who squint their eyes into the blinding sun and pretend to see what’s ahead, often misinterpreting the smallest of clues as a means of preparing a seemingly interested world for what is most assuredly an uncertain future.

I am one of those fools.

But before I crash into the future, let’s take a quick journey back to December of 2009, a time when I predicted that 2010 would be the “Year of the HR Truism“:

2010 Scorecard

  • Prediction #1: The Vocal Minority Will Be Unhappy - Since these are truisms, this one was painfully easy to predict accurately, peaking in a crescendo of outrage over a certain association, the activities of said association’s board and their subsequent treatment of those who attempted to enlighten the masses on their alleged actions. Some were vocal and very unhappy but alas they were still the minority. Score: A+
  • Prediction #2: Technology Will Fix What Ails Us – Despite budgets opening up just slightly this past year, we did see signs that organizations were making the types of investments necessary for this particular truism to at least partially blossom. Per Towers Watson’s 2010 HR Service Delivery Survey Report, “not only were a great number of HR service delivery initiatives undertaken by organizations in the last 18 months, but they also (finally) delivered the desired results, often not just meeting but also exceeding expectations.” Score: B
  • Prediction #3: The Value Of Memberships Will Be (Passively) Questioned – See Prediction #1 above for the catalyst for much of this questioning, yet I believe this was a slight miss because there was absolutely nothing passive about it. Practitioners were quite vocal about this issue in 2010, with some describing exactly why membership adds little to no value while others rose to the defense of these same memberships. It was a very positive and somewhat heated debate, something I believe to be quite healthy for a function that could use some more time in the public square. Score: B-
  • Prediction #4: Managers Will Terrorize HR – This is a very tough one to assess and probably should have been eliminated from the outset. Of course I witnessed this to be true in 2010, but I also saw many managers step up to the plate and take on more responsibility for their people. This was a year of digging out of the recessionary rubble for most and I suppose the real HR terror might come in the form of what many predict as a mass exodus of top talent, but since we’re talking about 2010, this is a miss. Score: F

Not a bad performance but as purported truisms I should have nailed them all. This whole prognosticating business is such nonsense but why start bucking tradition now. Thus, I present you with:

2011: The Year of Reactionary HR

I’m not in love with the title but let’s spend a minute discussing why this may come true.

Over the course of the recession we found a function forced to eliminate a massive amount of its workforce, slash its operating and capital budgets, reduce its own personnel and co-depend much more heavily on third-party service providers to assist with a mass of regulatory and legislative changes, selective recruiting initiatives, globalization and technological rationalization and deployment. Meanwhile, a skeleton crew of HR full-time equivalents tried to keep the basics of payroll, benefits, compliance and other day-to-day activities in check and on target.

As the recession abates and we begin to poke our heads out of the Whac-A-Mole hole, we see mallets ready to fall on HR from every corner. Most HR and C-level leaders that I’ve spoken with recently are running to stand still, but the real crisis hits when they are asked to answer to their boards on systemic issues such as:

  • How are we going to stem rising benefits and healthcare costs without abandoning our population? Per Starbucks’ CEO, “We spend more on healthcare than coffee“.
  • How do we retain our employees once the economy fully recovers and they have a choice of employer? CNNMoney reports that 86% of Americans plan to look for a new job in 2011.
  • Will my current service providers continue to be in business and will our organization be a priority? Including notables such as Aon/Hewitt, there were dozens of M&A transactions among HR service providers in 2010, a trend that will likely continue to accelerate next year.
  • Can we service our own M&A transactions? According to Reuters, 2010 M&A activity grew to $2.2 trillion in 2010, and “next year could be busier still.”
  • Can we remain productive? The Bureau of Labor Statistics revised its third quarter productivity measures upward following recalculations.

There is no question that 2011 is going to be incredibly busy and that HR will be right in the middle of the melee. My fear is that without appropriate resources (be they financial, technological or personnel) HR will have no choice but to fight the fires as they arise. Thus, I believe we will witness an incredibly busy twelve months of largely reactionary activity.

But what do you think? Do you have suggestions on how HR can avoid this quagmire? Share your comments below, have a safe and spectacular New Year’s Eve and let’s keep the conversation going.


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On Choices And Tradeoffs

By Mark Stelzner | Published: December 22, 2010

When crammed into close quarters at 36,000 feet, eavesdropping is often unavoidable.

While on my way to Denver this past Sunday I overheard the couple behind me heatedly arguing about holiday gifts for friends and family. The husband’s voice hissed through gnashing teeth as he made the case for a somewhat expensive present for his mother while his equally irate wife asked him how they’d possibly explain the disparity to her mother (should she ever find out). Like an EKG reading, the conversation had predictable spikes in tone every few seconds but never did flat-line. This continued for three hours with her crossing off names while he calculated costs on his smartphone. The last thing I heard before arriving at the gate was along the lines of, “and this is why she thinks you don’t like her” (from him) and “too bad shallowness runs in the family” (from her). The only holiday miracle was a lack of bloodshed.

One of the unspoken victims of the recession has been the ability to exercise choice. Tens of millions of people lost their jobs or experienced significant reductions in income without warning. Budgets were slashed and headcount reduced for those who were left behind and they simply had to live with the reality of doing more with less. Across every strata of society we saw (and continue to see) individuals forced to react to situations that were fundamentally and completely out of their control.

But now, as things start to improve for some and organizations/individuals begin to slowly regain control, I’m finding that we seem to have lost our ability to weigh choices, measure tradeoffs and embrace compromise. As shades of gray return to the mental color palette I’m seeing many stuck in a black or white world, unwilling to bend from their position despite clear room for a healthy give-and-take. Negotiation has become cut throat and a “take no prisoners” attitude often prevails.

It is no exaggeration when I tell you that the past fifty conversations I’ve had with clients have all included a discussion on choice and compromise. This typically involves the phrase, “there are no perfect solutions to [issue/problem X] and we’re going to have to make some tradeoffs“. What I find so interesting is that this tends to calm everyone down as the realization of what I’m stating sets in, thus allowing us to get down to the issue at hand and move the ball forward. I’m no genius and I often sigh at the notion that I have to remind people that choices can be made and tradeoffs are part of everyday life, but as a consultant, I’m often paid to tell people what they already know — it’s the most fascinating and frustrating part of being an advisor to extremely smart people who struggle to get out of their own way.

So as we embrace the holiday season and prepare for the new year, I’d ask each of you to weigh the choices in your own personal and professional lives. Let’s avoid situations like my lovely flying partners and perhaps learn from the words of ancient philosopher Lao Tzu, who said:

“To yield is to be preserved whole. To be bent is to become straight.“

Happy holidays everyone.


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The HR Idea Lab: Analyze the Analysts

By Mark Stelzner | Published: November 30, 2010

A few weeks ago I declared that I would be giving away my unused ideas in a series I refer to as The HR Idea Lab. The simple concept is to document my thoughts surrounding potentially viable opportunities and let you all run with them as you see fit. This will hopefully stimulate some interesting dialogue and perhaps provide some of you with a spark to creating a new venture. Or perhaps this will be a horrible and ill-conceived notion that flames out in a dramatic and humiliating fashion. No matter – I’m good either way. :)

Okay, so on to the inaugural HR Idea Lab — Analyze the Analysts.

The Problem

Regardless of the market segment, industry analysts serve as a critical force in rationalizing the construct and constitution of a given space as well as measuring the current and projected growth, the service provider landscape and the likely sustainability of its value proposition to the end users it intends to serve. We purchase their reports, attend their briefings, seek their guidance and generally assume that they are credible sources of unbiased advice and accurate metrics.

The problem sits in our assumption that all analyst firms – and as a subset, all analysts themselves – are created equal. Rarely do we take the time to double-click into their underlying assumptions, deconstruct their market data and CAGR projections, seek transparency into the financial relationships with the very same firms they rank and rate, or comprehend the confluence of factors that underpin their preferences and bias.

The service providers in a given segment face the quandary of attempting to cajole and influence these influencers to attain pole position for their firm while simultaneously using these same analyst market sizings and future projections to build budgets, seek funding and assess their respective market share. The buyers/end users use these same metrics to assess which service providers are most appropriately matched to their needs while determining whether a particular concept is just a fad or one that’s attained mainstream adoption (and therefore worth investing precious dollars and resources to pursue).

It’s a complex, messy and highly interconnected web that lacks independent oversight and an objective rating system.

The Opportunity

As the problem setup implies, the opportunity is for an unbiased third-party to establish a transparent mechanism to rate and rank industry analysts across a wide variety of metrics. Rating systems are not a new concept yet would be new if applied to the industry analyst community.

One existing entity who applies this construct to investment funds is Morningstar. Their rating system is one of the most commonly leveraged mechanisms for fund assessment in the world (and you can read up on how their establish their ratings by clicking here). My suggestion is to leverage this example, and others, to establish a well-documented and common set of rules in your rating of the analyst firms. Let me give you an example.

Given how important an analyst’s market sizing is to a given space, one could envision a mechanism whereby you compare an analyst firm’s compound annual growth rate (CAGR) projections against actuals for the segment. There are two ways to accomplish this; either, 1) you would calculate your own market sizing at the end of a given period and compare the analysts’ projections to your own; or 2) you would simply compare analyst projections against their own firms actuals for the following year. I think Option 2 is an easier place to start (although less accurate) because you’d basically be comparing two easily accessible numbers from published reports. Here’s how it could work:

[EXAMPLE ONLY] Analyst Firm X projects that the market for talent management will be $10B in 2011 and $13B in 2012, with 2010 estimates at $7.5B. They publish these numbers in their Fall of 2010 talent management study. In Spring of 2011, they release new numbers which show that the 2010 market size was actually $6.8B and the projections for 2011 are now $9.5B (and so on). You would give them an accuracy rating of 91% for 2010 and flag them for an adjustment of -5% for 2011 projections. You would do this every time they publish on the segment.

The Challenge

Comparative analysis for their own CAGR projections are relatively easy, but what about uncovering their inherent bias? And how do you force them to disclose the financial relationships with the service providers they study and rate? These are much more complex issues and the only means of attaining that level of detail is if the buyer/end user market looks to you as a trusted independent entity and effectivity forces the analyst firms to play ball. Alternatively, you may find that certain analyst firms love this idea because they have confidence in their ability to be beyond approach and they will therefore “score well”. They would welcome a third-party firm to expose their competitors for the frauds they are, right??

Don’t underestimate the complexity of this endeavor and the lives and reputations that would be at stake. The right management team with a properly constructed value proposition and very clear rules of engagement could overcome this resistance and serve a valuable role in the community, but don’t kid yourself that this would be easy.

How You Make Money

This is the trickiest part of the equation and one that the analyst firms themselves constantly wrestle with, namely how you take money from the same organizations you are analyzing. This would require some additional thought as you could see how well-performing analysts would want to leverage their “5 Star Rating” in their literature, on their websites, during briefings, etc., and how you could monetize their ability to do so through a subscription or per-instance licensing agreement.

Another alternative is to create an annualized membership fee that various stakeholder groups (venture capitalists, hedge funds, service providers, clients/end users, etc.) would pay in exchange for access to your rankings and ratings. Once again, the monetization model would need to be crisp and well documented so that no one could accuse you of colluding through back-channel financial arrangements.

Thoughts?

So that’s it for the first HR Idea Lab. What do you think?… is this a good idea and one the market would value?… should someone pursue it? There are many holes to be plugged and much more than one thousand words of thought to put into this but I’d greatly appreciate your feedback. Moreover, please share your thoughts on whole HR Idea Lab concept below, and as always, let’s keep the conversation going.


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Do You Have Vision?

By Mark Stelzner | Published: November 16, 2010

The soft spoken gentleman invited me to join him and greeted me with a smile. Adjusting his glasses, he told me about a journey spanning thirty-two years in the inglorious world between human resources and technology. He seemed surprised as he did the math and described his longevity as a “feat of amazement“.

He went on – “You want to know something? I’m fully aware that my job hasn’t been glamourous and I may not have a memorable legacy, but I do know this much – I mattered. They may not know who I was, but every week I made sure people were paid fairly and on time.” He paused for a moment and asked me a question that took me by surprise. “Don’t you think that’s worth something?“

“Yes sir,” I told him in reply, “it surely is“.

This conversation occurred last week at WorkForce Software‘s inaugural user conference, Vision 2010. If you’ve ever attended an HR service provider’s user conference you know that the majority of the schedule is dominated by presentations from product marketing and product management, executive briefings, product demonstrations, updates on release schedules, current and future feature sets and the like. And yes, as would be expected, WorkForce Software checked all of these predictable boxes in a very respectable fashion. But there were a few things that really stood out as somewhat remarkable considering that this was their very first event:

  • Attendance: A full 50% of WorkForce’s customer base were in attendance. There are a number of reasons why this may have been the case (the workforce management market is heating up again, there’s an increased focus on compliance, tremendous legislative complexity, pent up demand, etc.), but when asked I found that attendees wanted – more than anything else – to learn directly from one other. This is why they came, which brings me to…
  • Engagement: This was an extremely engaged audience. They came to learn and there was no shortage of questions during and after each of the sessions. Whether over breakfast, during breaks or evening activities, this was a very talkative crowd who expressed genuine curiosity about the strategies of their peers and where this subsegment of the HR market was headed. And to WorkForce’s credit, they served as facilitators and did not oversell, something I call…
  • Courage: WorkForce took what many may see as an enormous risk by letting their clients tell their own stories in their own words and without a so-called co-presenter from WorkForce’s staff. That’s right – clients stood alone on the podium,  presented their own slide decks and spoke from the heart. In an era when every message is so carefully crafted and controlled, I have to applaud WorkForce for stepping aside and acknowledging how smart and compelling their clients really are.

And let’s face facts – workforce management is not considered a very sexy or exciting topic, but that doesn’t mean it’s not absolutely critical to your business. Whether it’s complex time capture, managing to labor regulations and union agreements, ensuring legislative compliance or dealing with the increasing problems surrounding employee fatigue, these are the issues that effect most organizations on a day-to-day basis. And as Vision 2010 keynoter Jim Holincheck shares in the video below, the intersection between talent management and workforce management ties directly to productivity:

Jim Holincheck on Workforce Management – Vision 2010 on Vimeo.

I think we often look down on those who focus on the care and feeding of our workforces as somehow inferior and less strategic than those who are addressing the next shiny new HR initiative or fad. I’m willing to admit that I’ve been guilty of doing just that on many occasions. Vision 2010 really opened my eyes and allowed me to spend time with those HR professionals who do important work every single day. And that, I believe, is definitely worth something.

My gratitude goes to WorkForce Software for their hospitality and willingness to let me visit with their clients unfettered. I congratulate them on a wonderful first event and suspect we’ll be seeing much more from them in the future.


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2011 SHRM Strategic Guidance: Do More With Less

By Mark Stelzner | Published: November 8, 2010

Voice of HR has asked a number of industry contributors to take a critical look at SHRM and offer their advice for 2011. This is my response and a republication of what was posted on the Voice of HR blog.

Many look at SHRM as an influential and extremely valuable organization that commands tremendous power and respect. Others see a highly bureaucratic and largely tactical entity that is increasingly irrelevant to the modern HR professional. This broad spectrum of opinion is to be expected once you reach significant scale, and each time SHRM makes a move, there is bound to be a highly vocal contingent that either praises or laments those specific choices. I myself have travelled many times across the broad continuum between admiration and disdain. And lately I have found myself, like so many others, struggling to identify the true north of the organization.

SHRM, I no longer know who you are or aspire to be.

Your Operational Paradox

You cannot express the criticality of certification yet have two consecutive CEOs who have yet to test for (or pass) HRCI exams. You cannot speak to transparency yet hide your financials and board minutes from the very members who underpin your power. You cannot express the importance of building and sustaining partnerships yet compete with your chapters and state councils for membership, engagement and revenue at every turn. You cannot present yourself to governments around the world as the face of an industry when you establish policy decisions without a means of ensuring a true and accurate reflection of your constituency.

And most of all, you cannot expect the industry to turn a blind eye to the paradox of your current existence without many pausing to question your motives and ultimate destination.

Less Is More

I would love nothing more than for you to go back to your roots, to jettison your lofty growth objectives and instead focus explicitly on the needs of your members over your desire to multiply. I’d like to see trust return to the chapter and state council relationships and for you to leverage these entities (and others) under an overarching strategic partnership program that emphasizes the strength of the many over the strength of the few. I’d like to see a focus on securing only that income which is absolutely necessary to meet your newly narrowed charter and therefore significantly reduce the cost to participate meaningfully in your conferences and events. I’d like to see you treat each member as a valuable and unique individual versus an ever-increasing number on a spreadsheet or chart.

SHRM, I want to you to be so much more by focusing on so much less.

Use Your Senses

I need you to seek ideation from beyond the four walls of your Alexandria offices. I need you to stop talking long enough to listen and listen long enough to hear. I need you to develop an acute sense of what’s happening around you without discounting or dismissing those voices that attempts to break through your highly controlled and oft-impenetrable exterior. I need you to remove the dollar signs from your eyes and embrace the service provider community as something much more valuable than underwriter, sponsor, advertiser or exhibitor.

You’re doing yourself and the market a terrible disservice by avoiding this unique opportunity to do more by doing less. Consider this a final plea from someone who dearly wants to see you overcome the odds and stop trying to be all things to all people. You don’t have to do this alone as there are so many others who are willing and able to help.

This is likely the last time you’ll see me write about SHRM. My position is clear and the challenge I put forth to you will not be easy. Whether you ignore or embrace my words, the future is in your hands.


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The HR Idea Lab

By Mark Stelzner | Published: October 29, 2010

The sun is setting slowly as I drift somewhere between Dallas and San Francisco. Low clouds softly drape the mountains below as I gaze toward the reddish-orange horizon. I feel so calm as I fly home tonight. You see, I’ve made a promise to myself that I thought I would share.

2010 has been a fascinating year in so many ways. Despite experimenting with a variety of new and interesting businesses my mind simply cannot stop thinking about potentially viable opportunities for our highly fragmented and ever-changing industry. These theoretical concepts seek purchase yet rarely crack through their cranial prison. This creates noise and can be incredibly distracting…

Until now.

Over the next few months I will be giving most if not all of my ideas away. I commit to documenting my thought processes and any initial supporting data/materials and simply clicking “publish”. Most will likely be the most absurd and ill-conceived notions you’ve ever encountered. Others may already exist in the real world (thus exposing my myopic and limited purview). No matter. I’m willing to face public humiliation and ridicule if there is even the slightest chance that someone can take a single grain of an idea and turn it into something material.

So what’s in it for me?

Nothing but closure. I don’t seek credit or any rights to whatever happens from here. If you can turn my steaming pile of coal into diamonds you deserve all the praise, believe me. You’re a brilliant group of people and I have tremendous faith in your ability to execute on anything you put your mind to.

So stay tuned as I embark on this potentially career-limiting journey. And if others want to join in by posting their own ideas, perhaps we can turn this into an interesting industry-wide experiment. Welcome to my personal HR Idea Lab.


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Amateurs and Professionals – HRSouthwest 2010

By Mark Stelzner | Published: October 19, 2010

As many of you know, last week our Voice of HR team joined HRSouthwest for the presentation of their 69th Annual HR Conference and Exposition. In my initial coverage of the event I was very critical and even recorded a pasty-faced rant on the “stamp-ede” of HR professionals seeking nothing more than giveaways and prizes.

It’s been three years since I’ve written something without a single reader comment so this definitely caught my attention. I suspect it’s because my initial HRSouthwest post made people very uncomfortable and left no room for conversation; I effectively “Stelznered” myself (a verb defined as rendering one speechless due to a definitive statement). It was an amateur move and represented the culmination of my frustrations following a long and taxing conference season. I now realize there were at least two major items missing from my coverage of this show:

1) In an unforgivable oversight, I neglected to publicly thank our HRSouthwest hosts for their hospitality and support. They welcomed us into their event and I’m very grateful for both the opportunity to collaborate and their willingness to embrace a cadre of new media participants. Thank you HRSouthwest.

2) I also neglected to share one of the most amazing presentations that I’ve ever witnessed. I don’t use the word “amazing” whimsically, so let me take you back to last Tuesday morning at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

In April of 2001, Chad Hymas was nearly killed by a massive bale of hay which crushed his vertebrae and left him a quadriplegic. His broken body was discovered by his wife and children, and local emergency rescue staff somehow managed to lift the bale and pull him to safety. Following a lengthy and emotional recovery, Chad became a professional speaker and began sharing his story around the world, presenting to hundreds of thousands of individuals in nearly 200 venues each year. The Wall Street Journal called Chad one of the most inspirational people in the world and I can understand why – Chad is a professional.

Like so many in our industry, I question the value of speakers who bring no connective tissue to the human resources profession. But putting HR aside, let me try and share four things that made Chad’s presentation stand out:

1. The Hook – When Chad is on stage he immediately grabs your attention. Physical attributes aside, Chad nearly shouted at the audience to wake them out of their morning slumber and focus their highly divided attention. People sat up taller, stopped checking their email and wondered exactly who this man was and what he might have to share. He wasn’t there to speak to you, he was there to speak with you, a point he made clear through a constant test of the audience’s engagement level. Chad was there for you and it was time to get down to business.

2. The Story – Chad saves most of the tragedy of his story for the end and instead focuses on his journey through the eyes of his father, sharing lessons imparted from a very young age and those pre-accident instances where he was cruel and thoughtless to those less fortunate. He’s self-effacing and uses humor to help diffuse the discomfort that most people feel discussing largely taboo topics. And although Chad has told this story a thousand times, he makes you feel like he’s sharing a secret you’re hearing for the very first time.

3. The Audience – Chad forces the audience to meaningfully participate, including an exercise where two volunteers were asked to open a water bottle, take a drink and return the cap without the use of their hands. Both were able to successfully open the bottles and drink, but when they struggled to return the cap to the bottle, another woman jumped up on stage to help. And that was the entire point of the exercise, to show that we are all connected and that selfless acts are needed regardless of what we do. It was unforgettable to witness and this was a turning point in his presentation when he asked, “Do you have the ability to give more than you take?“

4. The Emotion – With these HRSouthwest audience members now on stage crying, the place came unglued. Every single person around me was weeping (many of whom had started crying much earlier) as Chad turned up the volume on his message. He shared his accident in intimate detail. He had supporting videos, a gentle soundtrack, a series of photos of him and his family members. And while audience members were transfixed on these images and sounds, Chad all but shouted into the microphone describing how he and others felt at those moments. I watched him (instead of the screen) and saw someone at the pinnacle of his career. He had the audience and they were with him every step of the way.

Chad’s closing thought was, “Go find a place to give, change a habit and hang around good people.” I like that advice, and as people dragged their emotionally spent selves out of the hall to continue with their day, I smiled at the fact that this man had decided to turn his terrible situation into a profession. He has told his story thousands of times and nothing he did that day was truly spontaneous or unplanned. Instead, he has honed his skills in such a way that he knows exactly what to say and when to say it.

Sure, I’m impressed with how Chad Hymas has overcome seemingly insurmountable odds – who wouldn’t be. But more than that, I’m impressed by the theatrics, the stage presence, the conveyance of his story and the emotional impact that one person can have in such a short period of time. I guarantee that although they may forget many of the details, attendees will remember how they felt that Tuesday morning. And I’ll be honest, this may be the only presentation people will recall from their time in Fort Worth. This isn’t meant as a knock on other presenters but instead represents how one professional speaker can shake us from the waking comas that can dominate most of our working day.

So I ask you brilliant readers, what’s the best keynote presentation you’ve ever seen, and why? What have you seen that made you pause and really think about something greater than yourselves? We amateurs can learn a thing or two from the pros so share your thoughts below and let’s keep the conversation going.



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The Power of Doing

By Mark Stelzner | Published: October 15, 2010

My very first business was called “M&M Worms”. My brother Mike and I started it out of our garage when we were little kids living in a suburb of Milwaukee. To drum up interest, we peddled our banana seat bicycles all over town with cardboard signs and a staple gun to advertise “the best worms in town” and point weary-eyed fisherman toward our home. Each night we would water the lawn and emerge with our flashlights and styrofoam coolers, snatching the wriggling edges of nightcrawlers from the damp grass before they escaped back into their mysterious underground lairs. And at 6:00 am in the morning, Mike and I would rise and gladly serve our clients while the other neighborhood kids were fast asleep.

When thinking back to my first taste of entrepreneurship, I don’t recall aspiring to be the world’s best worm wrangler or the most popular pre-teen bait store in the county. Instead, eight year old me and eleven year old Mike simply wanted to do something. Sure, we had plenty of reasons not to do it – it would be hard work, no one knew who we were, we’d have to get up early and stay up late, we didn’t know the competition, we didn’t know how much to charge, etc. But here’s the wonderful thing about doing: it’s the most liberating feeling in the world.

I see so many wonderfully talented individuals who think themselves into paralysis. They overly cogitate to the point where barriers seem insurmountable, goals unattainable and success nothing more than a distant pipe dream. And in doing so, they effectively convince themselves not to take that first baby step toward exploring the great unknown.

So do me a favor. Take a lesson from a scrappy little towheaded kid and just start doing something. You may not make it, but you will quiet that pesky little voice that whispers this disconcerting question in your ear  – ”What if?“


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HRSouthwest Day 1 – Why Are We Here?

By Mark Stelzner | Published: October 11, 2010

My day began at 3:00 AM in a Hill Country Marriott outside of Austin, Texas after spending Sunday evening celebrating the 10-10-10 wedding of two very close friends. Sure, there was the odd cricket problem (officially written off by the hotel as, “we’re experiencing a migration or invasion of crickets” – umm, okay, so which is it??), but all things being equal it was nice to catch up with a great group of people and enjoy a terrific multicultural wedding.

What was so interesting about the wedding weekend was the pervasiveness of careers as a topic of interest. Rarely did an hour pass without someone in our group lamenting their current employment situation, pondering their next move, discussing their start-up ideas or generally struggling to assess what’s next. There were financial analysts, consultants, accountants, receptionists, doctors, educators, business strategists and everything in between. These are smart and well educated folks who are finding it impossible to predict the state of the economy, the future of their own professions and their place in the world at large. The question they kept asking themselves in varying degrees was, “Why are we here?“

Which brings me to 3:00 AM today. The alarm rang to give me ample time to pack, make the pre-dawn drive through Texas hill country to Austin airport, catch a flight to DFW and cab over to the Ft. Worth Convention Center for the 69th Annual HRSouthwest Conference and Exposition. The is the largest regional HR conference in the nation boasting nearly 2,000 paid attendees.

And like you might expect from a Texas-based show, everything is big. Big expo hall. Big costumes (yes, people take their super heroes seriously around here). Big sessions. Big giveaways. I’m writing you now from our Voice of HR booth where we’re wired with high-speed internet and visiting with bloggers, thought leaders, attendees, exhibitors and our sponsors Aquire and WorkForce Software. Laurie Ruettimann got stuck setting up our show footprint, had to wrestle with an uncooperative banner, became a master in IP addresses and high-speed internet cabling and somehow managed to get it all together. And over a big cup of coffee this morning Laurie and I shared a laugh and asked ourselves, “Why are we here?“

We broke free from the action for an hour this morning for the first of two special HR Happy Hour broadcasts. Today’s topic was “The HR Conference Show” with live guests like Jason Seiden, China Gorman, Trish McFarlane and a host of others. We pondered the fate of live conferences, the lack of practitioner presenters, offered some suggestions for organizers, discussed the conference economy and the balance between revenue generation and certification. And if we bubble all that up, one might believe we were wondering on some level (you know what’s coming…), “Why are we here?“

And now I’ll be brutally honest. I’ve spent the day stamping attendee bingo cards, scanning badges, handing out tweetup invites and trying to engage a generally disengaged audience. I’ve overheard attendees discussing the show in neutral to negative terms, watched the HRCI credit hounds rack up hours for certification, heard the emcee of the expo announcing prizes and giveaways (versus content and solutions), walked by booth after booth of bored and lackluster sponsors and only had two meaningful and deep conversations with attendees.

Those two conversations were quite telling as both were senior HR practitioners from very large organizations (one public and one private). They both said something that struck me as both odd and a lesson for us all – “Mark, you’re the first person to actually talk with me and ask about my needs.” One added, “I come here hoping to meet new people and listen to new ideas. Until now, this hasn’t happened.” I’m not saying I’m the greatest booth monkey in the world and everyone should emulate my approach. Instead, I’m sharing the frustration of those who are obviously asking the same question I’ve repeated throughout this post.

I don’t have a cute answer or quick quip that can solve this systemic problem. And unfortunately, I have yet to dive into a meaty session and hope to do so shortly. You may think this is a rough and unfair review of a show I haven’t fully experienced (and you’d probably be right), but I suppose my observation is that we all pause to ask ourselves how we’re spending our time, where we invest our capital and what we expect in our personal and professional lives. Share your thoughts, post your comments and let’s figure this out together.



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