HR Higher Version Podcast

When you’re asked the question – Are you dying from a thousand HR papercuts? You may automatically think about all the little administrative tasks that steal your time and energy.

And that is an entirely fair assumption. We all get stuck in the daily minutia that is essential, but doesn’t necessarily move the needle in your career.

Today, however, I’m talking about your Personal Brand.   

That’s right. In today’s highly competitive business world, having a strong personal brand is essential to breaking through the noise and positioning yourself for executive opportunities. 

If you're stuck dealing with endless HR "papercuts," you might be missing the opportunity to establish yourself as a leader and influencer in your field.

So, let’s dive into why your personal brand matters and how you can begin to build it -because it’s one of the most powerful ways to move from “just” a good HR professional to a great HR leader.

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.

Have you ever heard of a limiting belief? It’s that little voice inside your head that tells you that you aren’t good enough or smart enough or too old or too young or you don’t have enough time.

Those beliefs can stem from past experiences, criticisms, or societal expectations. But the worst part, is that you believe them to be true.

Those beliefs stop you from achieving, accomplishing or even pursuing your dreams. 

A limiting belief can also manifest as making you think that the things that you’re currently doing don’t matter or aren’t good enough. That the little steps aren’t important and, unless you’re making big moves, you aren’t successful. 

I’ve certainly had my share of limiting beliefs over the years. I can even remember a vivid example of one of my first limiting beliefs when I was 6 years old.

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.

Regardless of your religious or spiritual affiliation, you’ve probably heard the story of Noah’s Ark. Where God told Noah that he was going to destroy the world and Noah should build an ark and put two of every kind of animal on it.

I want you to think about something for a minute - It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but when you really think about it, there’s a deep lesson here. Noah didn’t wait for the storm to hit before he started preparing. 

He didn’t wait until the skies darkened, the winds picked up, or the floodwaters started rising. He took proactive steps well before disaster struck, which ultimately allowed him to survive and thrive when the storm came.

As an HR leader, you’re likely no stranger to uncertainty. The landscape of work is always shifting. 

If you're only reacting to the storm though as it happens, you’ll find yourself constantly scrambling to stay afloat. But like Noah, the key to success is preparation before the storm hits.

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.

Whether you’re already leading a team or on the path to becoming an HR executive, you know that the road to success can sometimes feel like a series of hurdles—challenges you’re expected to solve on a daily basis, decisions that require your expertise, and the constant balancing act of leading others while also managing your own career growth.

But here’s the thing: When you're so focused on pushing forward, there's a tendency to forget one critical component of growth. That’s the need to occasionally hit pause and reset. 

Has your computer ever started glitching or running slowly? I know it has. And when you call IT support what is the first thing they ask you? Say it with me – did you turn it off and turn it back on again???

Seems simple, right? Yet, this simple action can often solve a number of problems and help the system get back on track. Well, the same principle applies to your career.

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.

In today’s episode, we’re diving into a topic that speaks directly to the heart of what you do every day: balancing priorities.

As an HR leader, your role is filled with decisions that affect your organization, its people, and your own professional growth.

Whether you're juggling recruitment, leadership development, compliance, or employee engagement, there’s never a shortage of things on your plate. On top of that, you're expected to advance your career, develop your executive skills, and, of course, maintain a strong personal brand. 

It can often feel like you're spinning plates, constantly reacting to the next urgent task that demands your attention.

So, how do you keep it all in motion without feeling overwhelmed? How do you avoid burning out while still making meaningful progress toward your goals? 

The truth is, it comes down to how you manage your energy, how you navigate your time, and—most importantly—how you shift between acceleration and reflection.

In today’s episode, I’m going explore what I call the One-Foot Principle. A simple but incredibly powerful concept that can help you understand when it’s time to push forward and when it’s time to pull back. 

It’s all about finding the right balance between action and pause, between growth and reflection—so you can navigate your career with more intention and clarity.

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.

One of my favorite things about summer is spending time around a bonfire at night. There’s something almost magical about watching the flames dance under the stars. But there’s an interesting process that happens when you're making that fire that always gets me thinking about communication.

When you build a fire, you start with a few small embers—maybe from a match, or some dry twigs. Then, you blow gently on those embers to encourage them to catch, to grow, to ignite into a full-fledged flame. But if you blow too hard, too quickly, the fire can go out. You’re left with nothing but a pile of cold ashes.

Now, I know this sounds like a strange analogy, but think about your communication like the ember in a bonfire. Your words—the things you say to others—are the breath of life, but how you say them can either nurture or extinguish the energy and connection you’re trying to create.

In this episode, I’m going to talk about the two crucial components you need to master in order to effectively approach those inevitable difficult conversations. 

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.

Welcome back to my HR Higher Version podcast where I want you to become a higher version of yourself. No matter what stage you are at in your career, or what level you want to achieve, you can always strive to be a better version of yourself.

If you’ve been listening to my podcast, you probably know that I have worked in the field of Human Resources for over thirty years. Early on in my career I knew a few C suite professionals who had executive coaches. I thought it would be amazing, but left it at that and didn’t explore it further.

Knowing what I do now – I wish I would’ve looked into the prospect seriously. But to be honest, back then, I didn’t know exactly what an executive coach was and how instrumental one could’ve been in my career.

Now that I have invested in my own coaching and become an executive coach myself, I want to dissolve the mystery of executive coaching for you. So what the heck does an executive coach do anyways and why is it important for your career success? 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.

A friend of mine returned from an HR conference the other day. I asked her how it went, and she raved about the breakout sessions, the networking opportunities, and the fresh ideas she came back with. 

She was buzzing with excitement about implementing all these new strategies in the office.

But then, something happened. As soon as she stepped back into the office, she was hit with a tidal wave of emails, urgent meetings, and tasks that needed immediate attention. 

The ideas she was so passionate about? They were quickly forgotten, buried beneath the pile of daily responsibilities. Sound familiar?

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.

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.

Today we’re diving into a theme that might sound simple but carries a powerful lesson for leadership: “I’m OK.”

I want to take you back to when my kids were little. You know, those early years when they’re constantly on the go, running around, tripping, falling, and then bouncing back up like nothing happened? 

I’m sure you’ve seen it—little ones trip and fall, and before you can even react, they’ve already popped back up and exclaimed, “I’m OK!” 

It was like their way of telling the world, “No big deal, I’ve got this.”

I remember one specific time, my son was running up the stairs, full of energy, like only a young child could be. We heard a sudden stumble, and then... silence. 

My husband and I both froze, waiting for him to call out or for the sound of a cry. And then, from the hallway, we heard his voice, clear as day: “I’m OK.”

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.