By Giang Ha

Facing the biggest challenge as an HR professional

As an HR Practitioner, one of my greatest frustrations is losing myself in the HR processes, paperwork and tasks as we wear too many hats. HR is about people, yet I find myself drifting away from this purpose.

There are many times I questioned myself and wanted to give up. I could not see the connection between the things I am doing in my career and the strategic direction of my organisation.

As I interact with many other HR practitioners, managers and directors, I realised I’m not the only one facing this challenge.

How does self-mastery help to bridge people’s gaps in the HR profession?

I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel after attending the NLP Practitioners programme (Vietnam).

Giang Ha NLP Practitioner in Vietnam

Giang Ha in a coaching practice session during the NLP Practitioner’s Programme in Vietnam

 

My biggest takeaway is self-mastery.

To be connected with what I’m doing, I need to be connected with myself first. Only then I can be an added value for others. This is especially crucial if you want to develop a human-oriented culture as an HR professional.

The tools that I’ve gained during the program helped me to develop self-mastery systematically and progressively (in NLP, it is known as pacing and leading). These impacted me as an HR practitioner in 3 ways:

connecting the dots self development

1 – Connecting the dots of the details with the bigger picture through self-awareness

I tend to lose myself in the execution of tasks in my role. With self-awareness, I can understand and make connections with external market trends. Thus, I was then able to spot patterns by identifying similarities and differences, instead of following trends blindly.

Using the SCORE model diagnostics tool I’ve gained from the program, I have a structure to define my outcomes strategically. Within that framework, I can see the inter-relationships of the details and the bigger picture. This raises my self-confidence, which in turn improves what I need to focus on my role.

2 – Raising personal mastery raises professional performance

What’s exciting for me is this; improving my professional performance isn’t only about hard capabilities or the know-how. There are a lot of soft qualities needed to support my external progress, such as resilience. This is especially helpful whenever I am resisting change. 

When I meet with challenges, I now have a way to move forward by connecting with my beliefs and values. Whenever I am discouraged by the mundane activities in my career and life, I can now tap into my inner resourcefulness of being loving, calm and caring. With this ability, I can coach others in the organisation who are having personal struggles in moving forward in their role.

3 – With personal development comes clarity and with clarity comes efficiency

Working on my personal development also keeps me focused. It gives me clarity in my work. For instance, during meetings, I spent more time observing the interactions of the attendees as well as myself. From there, I can identify any gaps and clarify my understanding.

As a result, meetings or business discussion were conducted more effectively with clear outcomes, action plan and consumed less energy. With a weaker self-development in the past, I found myself losing focus due to misaligned expectations, distractions or getting sidetracked by hidden agendas.

On the overall, I am now able to manage different expectations and anticipate various scenarios to work with people from different cultures effectively. This empowers us to develop a win-win solution.

As a team, we have more time for our family without feeling guilty about it.

Improving relationship with others and making a positive difference in their lives

Self-mastery isn’t selfish. On the contrary, it builds trust and goodwill in others, thereby improving the relationship.

At work, I confide with my direct manager and develop a support system. I manage to have a more in-depth conversation with people on what matters most for them that goes beyond the trivial matters in life.

The positive impact of self-improvement extends to others wherever you go. 

At home, it empowers me to be caring, patient and to hold the space for my children, rather than reacting to their behaviour. 

How does self-development translate to effective parenting?

effective parenting nlp self-mastery

My personal growth also enables me to demonstrate love and care for my son in a supportive way. Rather than blaming him for his lack of interest in learning English, I lead him through feedback with an open heart. I also work closely with his teacher to facilitate this feedback system that can benefit him. 

He is now enjoying his English Class or Summer Trips. I feel lighthearted whenever I see him accepting his teacher’s feedback with a smile. He is more aware of his areas of improvement, with less tension and stress. 

With personal mastery, I was not bothered by the complaints from the homestay family on my daughter’s messy belongings. Instead, I help her develop small incremental steps towards her desired outcome. By reframing my concern about this whole situation, I change the way I communicate with her. As a result, she is now proactively cleaning her room, without me trying to micromanage her actions.

When we lack self-mastery as parents, we tend to become too eager and impatient. We then run into unhealthy parenting by trying to change our children according to what we want. What we think is best for them may sometimes backfire because they are trying to live up to our expectations. As I develop myself from within, I became a trusted advisor and mentor for my children. With the tools of NLP, I’m better equipped to support them according to their strength and pace. This is what coaching is all about.

Investing in yourself

You might think that investing in yourself is not worth your time and financial resources. For me, working on myself is the best investment. I become more accountable for my communication, habits, attitudes and behaviour that are responsible for what happens around me and in others. For this, I’m grateful. 

 

Upcoming training in Vietnam

If you would like to maximise your potential and create better success in your career, business and life like Giang Ha, check out the upcoming NLP Practitioner’s Programme in Vietnam 2020.

NLP VN 2019 Graduation


Giang Ha is an experienced HR Practitioner with nearly 20 years of experience. She has success milestones in new established HR function, organization transformation after M&A. She is skilled and applied Human Resources management models to develop people for high performance and to nurture growth mindset. She found value added from NLP in shaping her teenage children’s characteristics and behaviors in a VUCA world. It also helps people around her feel happy and rounded with their work-life.

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