I once came up against a manager who really did not like me

Okay, it probably wasn’t me personally, I know I amplified it in my head, but that is how it felt 😰

In reality though, he just thought HR was a waste of time

He was a senior leader in the business running a large team – he was very good at what he did 🥇

But he was one of those managers who had been promoted through the ranks for being great at his job and certainly not because he had outstanding management skills

I knew I could add value to him, I saw so many opportunities 📈

➡️I invited him for a coffee – he declined
➡️I suggested we set up a recurring meeting – he didn’t have time
➡️I asked if I could spend some time in his department – they were too busy
➡️I emailed him congratulating him on a high sales months – he didn’t reply
➡️I offered to help him with his recruitment when he had a vacancy – he had it under control

My manager said to just leave it, but I wanted to take the challenge as a growth opportunity for myself too

There and then I set a goal to overcome his objections and prove to him my value 💪

It took time and boy did it test my resilience, but one day I got an email from him

I nearly jumped out of my seat 😳

It may as well have said I had won the lotto

But it simply said – ‘Can I get your thoughts on something?’

🤯🤯🤯

✅He then invited me for a coffee
✅We then put a recurring meeting in the calendar
✅I spent time in his department
✅I joined his team meetings and celebrated wins with them
✅I worked alongside him every step of the process as he expanded and grew his team

If you too are struggling with stakeholders who just will not engage, remember it probably isn’t you.

HR often doesn’t have a great reputation, and they might not know what good HR support looks like and how transformative it can be.

Or, they just don’t know what they don’t know 🤷🏻‍♀️

Don’t give up, we need to take ownership too of showing them what we can do 🚀