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We need a new definition of success—one that harmonizes meaning and money.
Imagine diving into your workday with renewed energy, leaving behind the exhaustion or dread of a monotonous grind.
Traditional beliefs about success and the root cause of burnout are the same:
Prove yourself.
Work harder.
Take care of the business, and it will take care of you.
We’re recycling the mindset and practices that keep us stuck. Our souls need a jumpstart into The Age of Humanity.
Tune in for a new way of working that honors our nervous system and the bottom line, using knowledge of the brain, the Bible, and business. We’ll discuss timeless truths that amplify growth, ignite change, and reshape the world of work. No corporate speak or business BS. Let’s get to the heart of a rewarding career and profitable growth.
We speak human about business.
What’s in it for You?
Value, Relevance, and Impact (VRI): No, it's not a new tech gadget—it's your ticket to making your work genuinely matter to you and your company.
Human-Centric Insights: We prioritize people over profits without sacrificing the bottom line. Think less "cog in the machine" and more "humans helping humans."
I'm your host, Rebecca Fleetwood Hesson, your thrive guide leading you into the new Age of Humanity. I’ve navigated the highs and lows of business and life, from achieving over $40 million in sales, teaching thousands of people around the world about leadership, trust, execution, and productivity to facing burnout, divorce, raising a couple of great humans (one with ADHD), and navigating the uncertainty of starting a business.
I’m committed to igniting change in the world by jumpstarting business into profitable growth with the timeless truths of our humanity.
Sound crazy? It’s only crazy until it works.
Hit subscribe to never miss an episode, and leave a review to help other listeners discover our show.
Want insight and advice on your real career and business challenges? Connect with me on social media or email me at rebecca@wethrive.live. Your story could spark our next conversation.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:00:00]:
I'm not coming down I never locked it on the ground I'm not coming down I wanna go higher, higher than that.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:00:10]:
Welcome back to the Business as Human podcast, where we discuss strategies to increase our VRI value, relevance, and impact. We're here to blend meaningful work with profitable success. I'm your host, Rebecca Fleetwood Hessian, here to steward what we call the age of humanity, to transform the way we work so we can transform the way that we live. As always, my friendly request. If you like what you hear, hit subscribe so you don't miss any episodes and then leave a review to tell the other humans that they might like it too. Always looking to help you and connect with others. Let's get into it, shall we? Get have those meetings that just keep getting rescheduled for one reason or another. That used to frustrate me because I used to believe that my timing was the best timing and I had a plan and people needed to stick to my plan.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:01:09]:
But what I realized is that oftentimes the shifts and adjustments that happen in rescheduling are on purpose for a purpose that I just haven't realized yet. And that is the case with our guest today, Adam Weber. Adam and I were introduced and we tried to get on each other's calendars to record this episode and things just kept getting moved around. And lo and behold, the timing is now perfect. Because as we have shifted into this format of business as human here on my show, Adam is also shifting into a knew business for himself as an executive coach and a keynote speaker. And his topics are so perfectly aligned to what we talk about here on the show that I just geeked out looking over his LinkedIn profile, his new website, reading his book, listening to some of his podcast. Because I believe that Adam is a part of this business is human movement that the world so desperately needs. Not only are we aligned, his best selling book is called lead like a human.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:02:32]:
So what could be more aligned to the business is human podcasts. A few other things about Adam well, another fun fact, we have family from the same little tiny town in southeast Indiana. Also random, weird, but I love connections like that where it's a real human connection. But let me tell you a little bit about Adam's background and the work that he's been doing thus far. He is, as I said, a bestselling author of a book called lead like a Human. Highly recommend. It sucked me in immediately. He has a top 100 Apple management podcast called HR Superstars where he has been interviewing amazing HR professionals as part of a previous role with 15 five as their chief evangelist.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:03:19]:
Hes a two time founder with two very successful exits. Hes regularly featured in Forbes and Fast Company. Hes been touted as a rising star by Business Insider. Top voice in executive leadership on LinkedIn, my gosh. Not to mention married, two boys and an avid pickleball player. Apparently we didnt get into that, but well have to note that for the next time. I am so excited for you to hear this episode because I believe you're going to not only be inspired by what you hear, there are very actionable things that you can take away from today's episode with Adam Weber. Let's go.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:04:05]:
Adam Weber, welcome to the show.
Adam Weber [00:04:07]:
Hey, thanks, Rebecca. It's so good to be here.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:04:11]:
I am just loving the accidental synergy that we have for this episode because I'm in a new chapter of my podcast story with businesses human. At the same time, you're launching into a new chapter of your story and we both have business as human lead. As a human. You've got family from my hometown, like a wacky kind of synergistic morning we've got here. So what's new? What's happening? We'll talk a little bit about your past in a minute. But what are you excited about this new chapter? What are you doing?
Adam Weber [00:04:47]:
It's fun that we're recording right now, like on day two of what's new. I've been on a entrepreneurial journey for about twelve years. My company was acquired three years ago and I had just the great fortune I lead. I host a podcast called the HR Superstars podcast for 15 five and have done talks for them and served as their chief evangelist. But, you know, recently I've kind of felt this, I would say less of a leaving them because I love them and the people and the work and still believe deeply in what they're doing. But just ive quietly been building an executive coaching practice on the side, just serving executives when it matters to them at these critical moments in their life and have kind of known for a long time that thats what I was the best at and what I really wanted to do and aligned to kind of what got me to this point. And so here we are. Were recording right now on day two of that journey.
Adam Weber [00:05:35]:
And so Im, thats the plan is Im going to serve executives knowing having been one for the last almost 15 years and experienced the stress and honestly learn more from failure than I have from what I've done, right. That just to be able to sit with them and help them on their own growth journey is just something I'm really, really excited about.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:05:54]:
I am, too, because you have a wealth of background and information and things to share that I think are going to be really important for. We call it the future of work, but the. The future of work is now, right? It's been happening since 2020, and I think this is a beautiful time for you to bring that into the world of executive coaching and keynote speaking and get on some huge stages and share.
Adam Weber [00:06:18]:
I'm trying to. You know, it's funny is I'm sure everybody deals with this. It's like the same thing I coach people on. I'm always in this tension of, like, abundance. Like, stay like it's going to work. Dream big things. Don't limit what is possible, right? Like the, like, big stages. You're going to have a full book of business.
Adam Weber [00:06:35]:
It's all going to happen. And then there's the other side of you that usually emerges for me at, like, 03:00 a.m. and it's like, all deep, insecure. Nobody actually likes you. You're a failure. I'm a human being. Like, I deal with the same thing as everybody else. I'm choosing to believe great things are coming and that it's all happening.
Adam Weber [00:06:57]:
Like, this thing I've been building for a long time is, like, in motion now.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:07:00]:
I have a name for that voice. I call her the little bitch in my head. We have to make friends with her, though. We can't just be mean to her because she's with us for life.
Adam Weber [00:07:12]:
She's not going anywhere.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:07:14]:
I find that if you personify it and then you can have a conversation with her, I say, you can. I put her in the passenger seat with a seatbelt and a snack, but I don't let her drive. So when she starts whispering to me, I'm like, honey, I hear you, but you just need your goldfish crackers and be a good.
Adam Weber [00:07:28]:
Exactly. I always say, hey, no. No conversations until 06:30 a.m. like, well, I appreciate everything you're bringing up to me right now. I'm happy to have this dialogue. Let's do it at a more appropriate time.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:07:41]:
Yes. When I'm fresh at 630, in the daylight, with coffee.
Adam Weber [00:07:45]:
With a cup of coffee. Yeah, a cup of coffee, a journal, sitting on my porch. You bring up whatever you need to bring up inside. But 230, this is not your moment.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:07:54]:
Not the time. It's not the time. I think you've given a great takeaway for our listeners already, because anything that you want to do is going to come with some opposition in your own headspace and finding ways to deal with it, whether it's like, this is not the time for that. We'll deal with that at 630 or conversation with a friend or trusted colleague is, is part of the, that's table stakes for doing big stuff.
Adam Weber [00:08:19]:
It is, and I think, and I'm trying to embrace that. Like, I think I, you know, I was really burnt out from leadership and my last, you know, at 15, five, it was a great place for me to rest a little bit and to heal and to do something new. You know, where there's actually stakes and you feel nervous. Like, I think it's good. I think it's actually more telling than anything else. Like, that means you're like, doing something that matters. And I've been just kind of like reminding myself that it's great to do something that matters to you so much that you feel nervous about it.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:08:49]:
Yes. And it lights up different places in your cellular structure to learn something new and navigate something new. So I'm a huge fan. I think we have a disservice in our business community that you're supposed to find a thing at the ripe old age of 17 or 18 and claim a career with a degree and a path that's supposed to just take you into the rest of your life. I think that is just awful.
Adam Weber [00:09:18]:
Yeah, well, and I still haven't gotten there yet. I'm still like, I actually did a LinkedIn post about this recently. I was like, when I was 18, I thought I was going to be a rock star. 22 thought I was going to be a sports broadcaster, then I became a pastor, then I got into sales, then I got into HR, then I got into marketing and then leadership. And it's like, I still am figuring out, like, and I think the thing I have figured out is that I like variety. Like, I don't like doing the same thing. Like, I like part of what's exciting to me about coaching. I get, like, what industry? And no, I like working in different industries.
Adam Weber [00:09:54]:
I like working with different people. Like, what I like is sitting with another person and helping them find out something about themselves, clarify something that has been blocked. But the context is where you're supposed to do this exact same thing your whole life. I'm like, but if you have the fortune to not, let's not.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:10:10]:
That's not. And I want to talk about that because if someone looks at your resume and you've built companies, sold companies with great exits, like well known companies, like, inflify. It was a great service that you provide through that software. You've done great things. And I think if somebody looks at your resume, there's this belief that you have to have this strategy to build a company and successfully exit it and sell it and profit from it. And your story is not that. And I think I want to talk a little bit today about how beautiful it can be to let your curiosity and let happenstance let you know. I spiritually love to think those are God moments.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:11:00]:
Let you know what you're curious about, guide you into new opportunities. Instead of feeling like we have to have this staunch plan for our lives. Because when you, in your book, lead like a human, you open it with. My life looks a little scattered or accidental. I don't remember the exact words that you use, but it's all kind of working out okay. And maybe the way it's supposed to be, and we're the ones that are messing it up.
Adam Weber [00:11:27]:
Yeah, I could do that. I think there's just an openness with how you live your life. You know, I think my life really changed when I, like, I became an entrepreneur, and not on purpose. It was the college student who I wrote a blog that he read. Santiago was my business partner for a long time. And he said, hey, can we get a cup of coffee? And I said, sure. Like, how many people have asked for a cup of? He said, I want to learn sales from you. That was his first kind of line that he sent me, which we both share back and forth now and laugh about.
Adam Weber [00:11:53]:
And it's like. And went to that coffee and just being present in the moment and doing that for other people, not being willing to say yes, being willing to sit with other people. And then sometimes, like, in this instance, something emerged. Something inside of me was like, oh, this is real. This is a person that I want to be aligned with. And this is like, I feel that nervous energy that's telling me something. But I think to create those moments in your life, one, you have to be a little bit willing. I don't think you have to be constantly searching.
Adam Weber [00:12:22]:
I don't think it's that. I don't think it's this. Oh, I'm constantly discontent. I don't think it's that. I think it's more being present, like living your life in the moment that you're in and paying attention. And then I think things like that do emerge.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:12:38]:
Love that. Because it's the searching. To me, I call it striving. Striving and searching. There's an answer up there. Gotta find it. But being open and present is. Do you align that with.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:12:49]:
When you talk about centeredness, is that the same? Does one lead to the other?
Adam Weber [00:12:55]:
I think they're at least adjacent to each other. You know, I think they're in the ballpark center. Centeredness, to me, is really like, what are the practices and disciplines you put in place that allow you to show up in a consistent and steady way? Like, leadership is really hard. And it's hard because it's stressful. It's hard because you have competing inputs. You feel like you're failing constantly. And then you have to, like, you'll be in an executive team, lively debate and then have to go motivate your team, and you're worn out from one, but then have to show. And it's like, how do you show up in your life in consistent, steady way? How do you remind yourself that life is bigger than your job? And so it's those kind of practices, things like, for me, like a gratitude practice, a daily practice of self reflection.
Adam Weber [00:13:41]:
I try to read something timelessly true every day. It's hobbies. It's like reminding yourself that you're not just your job. It's investing in your health and prioritizing your health. And it's investing in relationships, too, and finding people that'll tell you the truth about who you are and how you show up. So those are kind of the big buckets. I just walk through all the buckets. But that's kind of the big buckets of how I think of centeredness.
Adam Weber [00:14:03]:
And it matters, though, because what happens, I see this, like, I mean, I see this all still. It's a constant struggle when you're in leadership and no one is immune to it. It's that the current challenge that you're facing sometimes can feel big. So big that it feels more important than it actually is. And you lose perspective. And when you lose perspective, you don't make great decisions. And so the concept of centeredness is, how do I root myself in who I am so that when I'm making big decisions, I'm doing it from a safe, secure place?
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:14:35]:
Oh, my gosh. I love that so, so, so much. I will say to my clients, sometimes I think you need to take a moment and zoom out because the problem seems so big that they're magnifying glass with the problem, like, on their desk. And I'm like, I think you need to maybe go take a walk. Yeah, zoom out and look at the bigger picture. And that's when you say, perspective.
Adam Weber [00:14:57]:
That's what I think of which your walk comment is so good, because I just, you know, I shared a handful of things, but in reality, I'm not sure there's something that solves more problems. Then don't take your phone, turn off your notifications on your watch. Go on a walk. It is very rare that things get worse on a walk. And when you just let your mind like, this is why people wake up at 230 in the morning a lot. One of the reasons is that if you don't give your mind space to think and process and work through things, it will do it. So it'll wait. It'll wait for you, you know, if you're not getting.
Adam Weber [00:15:34]:
So if you give it some containers like walk, I think it's amazing how many problems are solved just by going on a walk by yourself.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:15:42]:
And that's backed up with science. That's nervous system regulation. The cellular structure starts to realign, so it isn't so frenetic and banging around. And it will actually give you health benefits long term by just giving yourselves a little bit of a break on a walk. So you broke those down. You did it very quickly, but they're very profound. Gratitude, self reflection, have hobbies, take care of your health, and be intentional about your relationships for people that will speak life into your life. So as a leader, you're busy.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:16:18]:
It's hard. There's always something coming at you. How did you manage to make sure those stayed a regular part of your life and practices in the midst of growing great companies and doing all the things that you've done?
Adam Weber [00:16:35]:
Well, it took discipline. It took a moment of knowing that the other way wasn't working for me. I think it took kind of acting, like, letting stress get the best of me, and then sometimes it, like, manifesting toward an employee or something and then going, whew, that's not really who I want to be or who I'm. And so how do I get out of that? Work is a big part of our lives. I believe that for everybody. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But work was taking up too big of a part of my life. It was taking up all of it.
Adam Weber [00:17:02]:
And so I go, well, what's the life I want to live, and who do I want to be at work? And so it's putting, it was just putting disciplines in place, you know? And it's not, I'm not talking about, like, a three hour morning or things like that. Like, to me, it's like, but I, for me, it's morning. I don't, I don't. I'm also not very prescriptive for people. Like, I think each person has energies at different times of day. It's more intention. Like, do you set aside the time to do these things? And gratitude's a great example, my version of it. Like, I've got a busy mind.
Adam Weber [00:17:30]:
It takes me a while. Like, it's been a long journey to get to be able to, like, meditate, for example. So gratitude, like, doing a walking. Gratitude is what I do. It started when I dropped. I just wove it into the fabric of my day. Like, when my, I dropped my kids off at school where I'd walk, and then on the way back, three minute walk, I would just kind of do this gratitude practice where I would just remind myself of things that I'm grateful for. And once you get past the big stuff, my kids, my wife, my job, like, it gets really interesting when you start to get really into small, nuanced things, the trees and the weather and indoor plumbing and air conditioning, whatever it may be, not to be too specific, but it really does impact your brain and it gives you perspective.
Adam Weber [00:18:14]:
And it's a really powerful way, I think, before you start interacting with the stresses of your employees or a big decision you have to make to kind of start from a place of, like, abundance, start from this place of gratitude, and then you're rooted there, and then you work out from that. It's the same reason and it's not the same practice. But why I try to read something timelessly true, because we live in this social media, quick hit like thing. You get these emails and slacks back and forth and you're, like, constantly bombarded and it zooms in on this really intense period of time that's very short versus taking the longer view. And, like, I think people make better decisions when they also feel connected to longer views and bigger stories. That sort of thing.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:18:58]:
Yeah. Oh, absolutely. And another place that we overlapped, I saw in your book, you talk about the love of story to make sure you said, I'm a big believer in story. I think you said that on another podcast that I was listening to when I was looking you up and checking you out on your work.
Adam Weber [00:19:16]:
Nice job.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:19:17]:
I got so enthralled by how much overlap we had. I think I probably went into more depth in terms of research for this because it was so intriguing to me how many similarities we had. And this idea of story, I believe, is a lost art of leadership that we need to reclaim because story is about perspective. I say that if you're going to connect the human needs, the business needs, you can't treat us like machines here. To produce, we have to have stories, because that's how humans process information. So simple questions like, who's it for? And why does it matter? Like, hey, we have to have this CRM implemented by this time and because of this thing. And it's like, okay, who's it for? Just tell me. Why does it matter? Just tell me that story.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:20:05]:
So when you think of stories, how. How do you apply that in business?
Adam Weber [00:20:10]:
Well, I think a timeless tale that I've heard is an executive who is making right decisions, right technical business decisions, who cannot get the team on board to connect with it. And that happens all the time. And then what happens is, and the book plays out, calls this character frustrated, Frank. They get really frustrated. Like, it's the right. It's technical, right business decision. Why are not people on board? The reality of leadership is that it is also your job to activate the hearts and minds of your people, too. And so it's not just about right strategy.
Adam Weber [00:20:45]:
It's how do you make it come alive for others? And stories are a great way to do that. Stories also reinforce and make tangible the behaviors that you want to see inside of the organization. So when you're trying to implement something new, tell a story really quickly of somebody who's actually doing it, the thing that you want to see in it, because it's just. It's easier to latch onto a story than it is a PowerPoint presentation where you're like, all right, three bullets. I mean, it's like I'm barely paying attention to anything. I was on my email when you said that. Sorry, what was it? But a story creates this personal connection. It connects to that.
Adam Weber [00:21:20]:
Why? I also think stories are good in a celebratory format, too. It's really easy to move fast in businesses, and you move on before you pause, and you move on before you celebrate. People want to be recognized. Like, when you recognize the behaviors that you, yourself, as a leader value, you're setting the tone of what the bar could be. And that's how people level up into that bar. When you do that.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:21:46]:
Love that. Again, making the science connection to the nervous system. Our human motivation in the nervous system is based on joy and excitement and gratitude. We move towards things that make us feel better and away from things that hurt us. Right. And so we have this obsession in business with feedback. Well, people rarely leave a feedback session joyful and excited and motivated. Be better and so this idea of pausing to reflect on the celebration of accomplishment, I believe if a leader was to do that five times more than they do right now, would have a significant impact on the organization.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:22:27]:
How did you do that? Like, practical? Like, tell us some stories of how you celebrated and did those things in the organizations that you've run.
Adam Weber [00:22:36]:
Yeah, I think anybody who's, like, listening and wants to apply this, like, regardless of if your role, say you're, like a manager listening, you can apply the same concept at the manager level. You can apply this concept to your CEO. And what I mean by that is, like, if you're a manager on a Monday morning, just as a practical example, before you run your team meeting, think back on the last week and pick one person on the team who did some. Like, the discipline. This is ties into gratitude, right? The discipline of thinking about one thing that went well and naming it and then highlighting it creates culture that sets the tone for your culture. So that's a simple way. The other thing is to do that same thing at scale, which is someone who had a high impact inside the organization. If you do a monthly team meeting, you highlight and showcase that person and tell the specific story.
Adam Weber [00:23:20]:
Tie it to a core value. That's critical, too, if you really want to make the connection, and you have to have good core values to make that work. A practical example of how to do story is, like, for your core values, if you have a list, a list of core values and best in class core values basically read as, like, a kind of pithy, punchy phrase that rings true about the culture and then actions that help you know if you're living it out or not. Three bullets, for example. And so when we rolled out our core values, one of the things we did was we collected stories of people who lived them out. And then instead of then kind of announcing the core values, here they are. And here's the PowerPoint presentation with bullet points. We had people tell stories of the values being lived out, and so then the texture feels real.
Adam Weber [00:24:08]:
Like, it feels like a real. Yeah, it is real, because it is real. Yes, exactly.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:24:13]:
Oh, my gosh. I love that. I'm glad you pivoted on that one. That's really good. And when you announce something in an organization, because of our history of kind of the industrial age model of it feeling like machines versus humans, the first response is always, well, not always. A lot of times, the first response when people get an announcement is, can I trust it? Can I believe it? Is there some underpinning of something I don't know. And when dismissed, and because of the way systems have been, not because of people, you can be the greatest leader ever, but living off of people's past experiences in their brains about leadership and business and things. And so when you have a real story of someone they know or someone they respect or someone that's in your organization, it says to them, this is real.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:25:09]:
That's important.
Adam Weber [00:25:11]:
You're right. Like with, when things are new, like, I think why this works so well when things are new is that change is hard for all people. Just anytime something is new, there is an unnatural resistance inside of you that comes. And the challenge in business is that change simultaneously is inevitable, too. And so it is coming. And I think, yeah, to your point, like stories, they make the unknown, the thing that taps inside of you that makes you feel, like, uneasy and feels risk and for yourself and security and all that, it makes it feel a little more known because it's like you understand tangibly what they're talking about. You start to erase some of those unknown type of insecurities that are inside and bring some, like, okay, I understand what this is going to look like. I've got some clarity now.
Adam Weber [00:25:59]:
Like that.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:26:00]:
Yeah, because uncertainty, that voice at 230 in the morning or what I call the little bitch in our head is our nervous system trying to keep us safe. But as I say to my clients, my kids, myself, is, if you want to grow and do bigger, bolder things in your life, getting comfortable with uncertainty is a great place to start because anything that you want to do that's bigger than what you're doing right now, there's going to be some uncertainty like you're feeling right now in this chapter of your story. And so being able to tell yourself a story, in fact, you know what? Let's do a little like Adam Weber in his new chapter of his. Here's one for you. You have big stages that you're getting ready to go on and share so much of what you've learned as a leader. What are one or two topics that you can't wait to get on a huge stage? Or maybe you've already been given these talks, but what are those messages that you can't wait to stand on a stage in front of thousands of people and say, this is really important, or this matters to me, or this is what I've learned. What are the topics that you're going to be out sharing with the world? Let's just go ahead and forecast that out.
Adam Weber [00:27:14]:
Yeah. Okay, well, think real time here with you. I mean, I think my big message is that the leadership journey is also the human journey and that there is a lot of growth to be had. And that if you miss it, if you think building a company and having an exit is the thing that will make you happy in your life, it is not. But who you become is a really critical thing. But the thing that I love talking about is that authentic leadership and kind of you going on that journey yourself and then that show, changing how you show up is what creates high performance teams. These are not mutually exclusive concepts. They're actually very much inclusive.
Adam Weber [00:27:52]:
And the amount of damage that leaders make who aren't connected to themselves, who just show up and kind of wreak havoc on organizations, and then they're so mad all the time and frustrated by people not complying. It has a negative twofold. Like, one is they're not living as their true connected self like themselves. And so then this journey ends for them and they know themselves less as opposed to more. And then two is it damages the potential of what could have been with their business, too. I mean, I think that is my core message that I do. And then I do a lot of talks on HR, too. And it's really about how HR leaders can create that environment at scale and really help them become a true executive, like the most critical executive on the executive team, the voice inside the ear of the CEO that creates and enacts change at scale, which is a very different role for HR than it had lived in historically.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:28:48]:
Yeah, I love that you've put a lot of messages on LinkedIn about that and helping both the HR professional do that, but also connecting it to business and strategy and making those connections going back to the leader message, which I absolutely appreciate and agree with wholeheartedly. What do you think it is? Let's picture now that you're in that executive coach mode and you're heartbeat to heartbeat, eyeball to eyeball with this leader of this large organization who's doing those things, and you're saying to them, hey, that's not working. What do you think it is that causes leaders to get in that spiral?
Adam Weber [00:29:29]:
Well, the job is stressful. So what is? Like, it's just technically hard, and stress doesn't take care of itself. It doesn't work like, it actually takes discipline and work to be able to process that. And two is that the funny thing about leadership is that it exposes all of your unresolved issues in your life. It just, like, brings them up, and you can either act like it doesn't, which it does. And which means you're suppressing, and then you're acting detached from yourself, like you don't know how you're, you are unaware of who you are and how you show up and how you're impacting others. That's your one path or your other path is you can lean in and embrace that. When you're pushed to the limit, aspects of who you are going to be, like your growth areas and growth edges are going to be exposed.
Adam Weber [00:30:16]:
And so then how do you handle it when they are exposed? Do you try to hide them or do you try to lean in and grow? And I think that is just like one of the core challenges and why being a leader is hard.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:30:28]:
Yeah, great. What about a conversation between those HR folks that are listening to your podcast and coming to your shrm talks? I know that you've had a, recently spoke at National SHRM and had a room full of 1200 or more HR professionals just hungry for your message. What would you say to them to prepare them to have conversations with their leaders, to elevate their role in the way that you know is important and integral to the future of work? What kind of conversations should they be having with leaders?
Adam Weber [00:31:01]:
Well, yeah, I think this is actually true of any executive. So regardless of HR. Right. So it's like if you're on the executive team and you have something that you're trying to convince the other executives of, right. There are some things that are timelessly true. Like, one is that it needs to feel like a logical extension of the business strategy. So you need to know what the most important aspect of the business is and then tie your big idea directly to that. The other is that when you share your idea, just know that every executive, that whole change is hard thing, execs aren't immune to that.
Adam Weber [00:31:35]:
And so knowing that you're likely going to get resistance anytime you share a big idea doesn't mean the idea is bad, it just means it's a big idea. And so when, so when you share with confidence, conviction, and lean in after you hear a no, to really have a real conversation, healthy, functioning executive teams debate. And so once you get that resistance from the fear, now we dive in and make sure, did I express this idea fully? Have I used metrics and data to back up my opinion? Have I a second time shared the consequences of a, of not moving forward with my idea? Those type of concepts?
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:32:11]:
Oh, those are good. Have the story, but have some data to back it up. And here's what happens if we don't do something about it. Yes, we're not going to do this. What are we going to do? Yeah, that question has helped me a lot in sales as well as influencing in any ways. Okay, if we're not going to do this, great. What are you going to do? And then they go, oh, this is a problem that you've just uncovered. So any other things from your book which I, like I said, just stumbling on it last night, and I was immediately like, drawn in page after page.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:32:44]:
Anything else from lead like a human that you want to share to our listeners today? Actionable, kind of that. How do you connect the business needs and the human needs takeaways?
Adam Weber [00:32:57]:
There is a chapter on continual improvement and I think it ties into this really well, too. And it's just that, like, there is no maybe just a reminder that, like, where you are is okay. Like, businesses grow quickly and that requires leaders to grow quickly as well. And so just embracing the fact that you are not a finished product and that you have room to grow. And I talked about this the very beginning of, like, the having people that'll speak into your life like friends, that sort of thing. The other thing with this continual improvement is that it's really important that you surround yourself as you move up in your career, that you surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth of who you are. That the higher up you move into an organization, the more often people lie to you. And maybe it isn't malicious, it's just a role power dynamic.
Adam Weber [00:33:40]:
It's just they don't feel safe telling you the truth, even if you're a great leader. So having people that will tell you the truth of who you are and then being willing to work on that is one of the things that separates, like, really exceptional leaders from everyone else.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:33:54]:
Love that. Any advice on how to find the people that will tell you the truth of who you are?
Adam Weber [00:33:59]:
Let's just both say that coaching is a great way to do that, for one, because you can always just, you know, fire your coach if you need to. They say something too hard. It's not an employee, but two is like peers. Like, having peer groups of people outside of the company, I think is really important to have shared experience and language with you. Don't need a bunch like one or two people who are in similar roles to you. I think that's the other. And then maybe people that just aren't even in your career and industry. Having a diverse set of friends is another way to do that, too.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:34:30]:
Oh, my gosh, I would love to do a whole nother episode about the diverse set of friends, age, diversity, upbringing that has been such a key for me in my life. And I don't think I knew I was doing it. But now that I look around at the people in my life that has served me really, really well, not to get so in a bubble of people that think like you or have the experiences that you do, that you lose sight of what you can learn from somebody else's experiences. We're not meant to be in these bubbles that we've created either from education where sophomore, junior, senior or whatever, or, you know, you're not supposed to be in your same age group or your same little bubble. That's just nothing reflective of what humanity is. So spreading out to that, I think it's a beautiful message. I can do this for two or three more hours, but that's not what we've scheduled on our calendar. So as we wrap up any parting words of wisdom for our listeners, I feel like there's been so many great nuggets of actionable things that leaders and managers can take away from this.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:35:33]:
Anything else burning on your heart today that you're like, oh wait, there's one, there's one more thing.
Adam Weber [00:35:38]:
I think we did it. I feel good. I feel like we shared what needed to be shared.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:35:43]:
Well, I just want to affirm your decision to move into this new chapter. I think the world needs your message more than ever. I think the timing is amazing for you to be out coaching and getting on stages. To share these summarize six really important takeaways that Adam shared with us today. One is managing that inner critic that we're all going to have those inside voices that try to hold us back. And Adam advises to choose when we address the inner critic when they show up. Number two, we talked about daily centering practices, implement gratitude walks, daily self reflection into investing and personal hobbies and your health to stay really centered and balanced. He emphasized storytelling and leadership to use real stories to communicate values, celebrate success, enhancing your team and to keep people motivated.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:36:47]:
Talked about stress management, taking regular walks without distractions to clear your mind and maintain perspective on challenges. Authentic leadership, embrace personal growth and authenticity to create high performance teams and improve leadership effectiveness. And finally, a little nugget about strategic HR leadership to align your HR initiatives with business strategy. Use data to support your proposals and to engage in healthy executive debates to drive change in the organization. Oh, that's a good one. Lots of things that you can go and implement. Thank you so much for being here and I hope you will go to Adamwebber co and learn more about him. And he's a great follow on LinkedIn.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:37:36]:
All right, y'all make it a great day. Thanks for listening to this episode. I would love it if you would go to Apple podcast and leave a rating and a review, and then you can go to rebeccafleetwith hessian.com and join the Badass Women's Council. And if you really want to take a deeper dive, join the movement of a thousand thriving women. There's amazing thrive tools there for you today.
Adam Weber [00:38:03]:
I'm not coming down.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:38:06]:
Hey y'all, fun fact. If you like the music for the podcast, that is actually my son, Cameron Hessian, and I would love it if you would go to Spotify and itunes and follow him and download some of his other music. My personal favorite is tv land.