Dr. Jim is joined by Lesjune Simone, Chief Human Resources Officer at Valle del Sol to discuss getting people ready to lead. Lesjune shares her journey from being a Vegas cocktail waitress to rising up to the C-suite, emphasizing the importance of being a coach as a leader. They explore the role of coaching in developing new managers and leaders, and the need for leaders to take a step back and listen before rushing into problem-solving mode. Tune in to gain valuable insights on building a coaching culture and modeling what good leadership looks like.
Key Takeaways:
Leadership development must involve coaching – being a coach and receiving coaching.
Good coaching manifests through asking critical questions and actively listening to the answers.
Leaders should avoid rushing to solutions, instead it's best to reflect and consider feedback.
Chapters:
0:00:00
Introduction to the conversation and guest introduction
0:00:36
Lesjune's background and career trajectory
0:01:46
Key intentional actions that accelerated Lesjune's career
0:02:56
The impact of early exposure to business operations on Lesjune's HR philosophy
0:04:11
Importance of going the extra mile as a leader
0:05:52
Challenges and stress of transitioning into leadership roles
0:06:47
The importance of coaching in leadership development
0:07:59
Defining good coaching as asking questions and listening
0:08:48
Avoiding rushing into problem-solving mode as a leader
0:09:41
How to get in touch with Lesjune for further conversation
Music Credit: Shake it Up - Fesliyanstudios.com - David Renda
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Transcripts
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[00:00:22] Lesjune Simone: Thank you. Thank you, Jim
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So tell us your story and some of the things that stand out in your career on your pathway to becoming CHRO.
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I wanted to protect people. I wanted to be a people person. So I went back. I actually have a Bachelor's in Behavioral Health which helps me understand and know [00:01:00] people. And then I got my Master's in Human Resources Management. I worked my way up through the ranks at some smaller healthcare companies.
into semiconductors, into tech into manufacturing space. Then I went back to healthcare now as a
CHRO.
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So when you look at that trajectory that you've had throughout your career, what were some of the key intentional things that you did that helped bridge the gap, or at least helped accelerate the journey from where you started to where you are now?
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I always considered myself having a close relationship with my managers. Even when I was a cocktail waitress, I would stay later after we counted the money [00:02:00] Understanding what they were doing on the operational side. Understanding what it really looked like for management to be management. My father, he owned a store when I was younger.
Probably not your average hourly worker is something my husband would say because I understood owning your own business from a very young age. And I Really enjoyed the conversations with management and understanding how to run a business So when I went back to school, I was very intentional with everybody.
I had discussions with my professors It's really big to have those conversations and to network and to understand mindsets Was a really big deal for me.
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How has that shaped your talent strategy, your HR philosophy, your HR leadership philosophy throughout your career?
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Mindset is completely different when you're 15 through 18 working in a clothing store. You don't want to stand up all day. People who complain about folding the clothes. I'm just enthusiastic because it's my father's store. I think I'm the cool kid,. Even though it's just one little store.
We're nowhere some Empire or Louis Vuitton,. But it showed me day in and day out. I watched my father work as an engineer and then come in and count money. I seen him always open all of the new clothes, hang them up, everything that he could do, he did, over a seven year period of owning this store and working a job as well.
go that extra mile, Jim. And [:
So I can show them and lead them on how to go to extra mile and to grow and come in.
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And the reality of it is that there's degrees to that. And I think if you want to accelerate your career and have success, you should have the mindset of. Going the extra mile within reason because that's going to give you the capabilities and the learning that you need to really accelerate in your career.
in your dad's store is that [:
Doing the little things to help the business move forward. And that's shown up in how you actually move forward. So I think that's brilliant advice. And I think more people should take that posture rather than taking the posture that I'm only going to stay within this extremely narrow set of responsibilities that's defined by what I'm getting paid on an hourly basis.
I appreciate you sharing that insight. What I'd like to do now is get into the big part of the conversation, which is getting your people ready to lead. And one of the common issues when you look across many
organizations at any level is that there's a ramp up period that often occurs, whether you're going from individual contributor to manager or manager to director.
ers should deploy to shorten [:
[00:06:06] Lesjune Simone: One or two best practices. So my first best practice I'm going to tell you about Jim is going to be someone has to be a coach to be a leader and they have to be coached. Okay. That is a really big deal to get anybody ready to be a new manager to be a new leader. You have to be a coach first. And that's what wins the game, .
And I'm an athlete by nature in my past. So a coach is the most important part of the team. So when somebody is becoming a new manager and a new leader. They have to coach their people. It's not about you rose from an individual contributor. So now everybody below you, you get to point the finger at and tell them what to do.
l time feedback because that [:
[00:07:12] Dr. Jim: I totally agree with you on the coaching front, but oftentimes I think what happens in the leadership tiers is you have a lot of interchangeability of words that are used. So people confuse coaching and feedback and all that sort of stuff just gets jumbled into a big mess.
So when we're trying to define what good coaching looks like. How does that show up in the day to day?
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So you are listening in that effective manner. That is what good coaching looks like, is just sitting down, having some questions that you need answered, and getting those answers to them.
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And the trick is listening to that answer without rushing into solve. So what are some of the mechanisms that leaders need to put into place so they're not rushing into problem solving mode?
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Every time he talks, when he asks somebody a question, he says, Now remember, we don't have to solve that today. And that allows everyone in our conference room, as a C suite, To take a breath because there's some of us who and I can even catch myself doing it. Sometimes Want to spit out an answer But sometimes you need to sit on that because maybe that first answer you have as a leader you're there because you're a problem solver Is the right answer, but you need to sit and think about it So I always tell everybody to take a day [00:09:00] Before you solve that answer when you become the new director of a team and you're saying what has went wrong here And they tell you can't just jump So the solution, you have to know some of the other questions to ask before jumping in.
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So this is a much broader conversation, but if people want to continue the conversation with you, what's the best way for them to get in touch with you?
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And I'm there.
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And also what that taught you. I think if you want to build a leader, full organization, you as a leader have a responsibility to demonstrate what good looks like. And that means paying attention to the little things you should never be putting your people in a position to do tasks or activities that you wouldn't do yourself.
So this might be controversial, but I'm a big believer in leading from the front and And modeling what good looks like. Oftentimes people advise you to lead from the back. I don't agree with that. Maybe other, maybe I'm wrong. I think that was really valuable in the conversation.
