Archive
By Jennifer Koch
Nov. 1, 1998
Lillian R. Gorman has spent the past 20 years in human resources. Previously, she was senior vice president of HR at First Interstate Bancorp’s California bank (17,000 employees) which was based in Los Angeles, and then she was executive vice president for the entire company (35,000 employees). Now she’s in the top HR spot at Edison International, where she has headed the department for the past two years. With a degree in industrial psychology, Gorman has a unique insight into building a team and leaving an HR legacy.
Could you describe your leadership style?
I pick people who want to take responsibility for a piece of the action. I want a team to work with me to draw a picture of where we’re trying to take our company as a whole. I want people who share my worries on the various pieces of human resources. What I typically ask my staff is: “What will you go home worrying about for the next five years? What is your legacy going to be for the company? If you were to look at impact measures, not just activities, what short-and long-term markers indicate that you’re succeeding?” So I try to pick people who’ll step up and take ownership in impact, as opposed to people who just think functionally and do projects well.
Do most of the people you hire think about leaving a legacy?
Some do and some don’t, but I find that the people who end up being leadership caliber talk about outcomes, not just processes. Even as early as in an interview, it is a mark of a person who’s really in it for more than a job or a promotion. I find you can sort maturity levels in terms of foresight and leadership capacity. It’s the ability to make a guarantee and stake your career on it. You basically say, “It’s not enough just to be here, take a paycheck and do a good technical job. I really want to make a big contribution to this company through the piece that I’m asked to safeguard, which is the human asset.” People who see the HRrole that way have the capacity to really own a piece of the action on a business team, do a wonderful technical job and bring all their skills to the task.
What kind of legacy do you want to leave in your HR career?
I want to help create a sense of trust within the workforce, increase the confidence and capability of that workforce, and strengthen organizational resilience. In a time of turbulence and change, positive change can best come about in an environment of two-way communication. If there are good give-and-take relationships at all levels in the organization, and management paints a compelling and credible picture of where the company is heading, people are willing to follow and eager to contribute.
What matters to me most is that I embody that sort of spirit and integrity in how I do my job and what I represent to people. Whether in personal employee contacts or through the programs that I put in place, there’s an underlying trust that needs to come through. In leadership roles, and in HR specifically, who you are and how you conduct yourself matters, not from the standpoint of being perfect, but from an underlying sense of integrity and fairness. It’s like being a conscience for the company.
How do you build trust, especially in your HR group?
I build trust by being consistent in the kinds of values and ideas I hold, coupled with openness to other people’s points of view. I try to develop a style that lets other people participate meaningfully and bring their best thinking to the table. I need to allow others to prove me wrong and help me change the course when my assumptions are questionable. Igain access to better ideas and more trust and cooperation if Ilisten well and keep an open mind. When you’ve been in human resources for a long time and dealt with similar employee, management and organizational problems over and over again, you tend to reach conclusions more quickly than you might have earlier in your career. The patience factor is critical to adding value. If somebody brings me a problem they’ve been laboring over, I might see the answer in a second. If I see a quick solution and convey a sense that it’s simple, then immediately Ihave negated their concerns and in effect am saying, “Why couldn’t you see this?” It’s better to really honor people and help them evaluate options to get to the conclusion, rather than just saying, “Look, I’ve seen this 30 times before. This one’s easy, just go and do this.”
How does that translate into being a good leader?
When you get more seasoned as a manager or leader, you realize that coaching isn’t well served by taking an “expert” position too quickly or too much. A good leader or coach listens to a thought process that perhaps he or she has been through a million times, but the others haven’t. It’s being willing to work it through at their speed. Making that initial time investment will enable the person or the team to become more confident and independent in the long run.
Can you tell me of a lesson you’ve learned about leadership over the years?
There have been a couple of times over the years when I, like everyone, had short spells where politics or specific project controversies caused me to wear frustration on my sleeve. Though the signals I sent were quite subtle (e.g., retreating for a while or looking a little less optimistic than I usually do), I was surprised to learn how loudly those signals were read by my team. It taught me that leaders don’t have to be Pollyanna-ish or shy away from talking about obstacles, but they do have to be extra vigilant about letting temporary frustrations harm the work and spirit of the team. And it’s not just what the leader says that counts, it is very much about his or her real passion [for the job]. If you don’t believe in what you’re doing, don’t sit in the senior leadership chair because folks are looking beyond the task messages to connect with a meaningful purpose.
Can you describe one of your biggest leadership accomplishments?
Edison’s HR function was in serious need of revitalization when I joined two years ago, and we recognized that building the strength to be high-impact contributors is a multi-year process. Although we’ve been “cleaning up” and making sure we get our “basics” right, we also took the time last year to thoroughly look at the current state of Edison’s talent and capabilities versus where they need to be in the future of our changing industry. This formed the basis for a formal strategic plan and principles to guide our specific action plans over the coming five years. And we’ve been progressively building toward that vision in our annual key performance indicators. We’re making good strides. It’s not an overnight victory, but I firmly believe that having a centerpost and evaluating it routinely will help us shape our activities and build our HR competencies on a pretty sure footing for the future. Stay tuned. If we’re right, you’ll be seeing it through Edison International’s success in the face of this challenging period of industry restructuring.
Early on in your HR career, did you choose a style of leadership or did it evolve along the way?
My style evolved along the way. I’m an industrial psychologist, and when I first got out of school, I believed there was a true answer to everything. I hoarded my textbooks and thought that if I didn’t know something, I could fake it until I got home, studied my files and have the right answer by the next day. As I’ve aged into my career, I’ve realized there’s no such thing as one perfect answer. There are probably five good answers to everything. Every one of those five is a viable path, and if you work within the culture of the organization, they can each be equally effective. I’ve become more comfortable just relying on my wits and what I’ve learned, and taking things as they come. I no longer have an excruciating sense of insecurity about finding the ultimate truth.
Workforce, November 1998, Vol. 77, No. 11, pp. 27-30.
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