While I did not see any turkey’s
on this Pilgrimage it was one that I will remember for a lifetime. If you were from any other state than
Illinois at the annual SHRM Leadership Conference in National Harbor, MD last
week you would have seen the sea of red shirts and thought it was a “wow-look
at the masses that made the trip (Pilgrimage) from half way across the country
too. Again this year (3rd in
a row) all attendees from the ILSHRM board and chapter board members were
offered a red shirt to wear for two reason: 1) Take a group photo and 2) show
our team/state spirit. The latter was
the more important of the two because no one felt alone. They had others to turn to and felt included
which is extremely important to me as a leader in this state. In the “Strengths Finder” assessment one of
my top five is “INCLUDER” and if this is the only legacy I leave for my time in
a leadership role, I am ecstatic, because when I was a chapter leader, I had no
idea what the State Council was let alone the massive amount of energy you feel
at an event like #SHRMLead.
The red shirts,
however, was not the thing that impressed me at all. I was impressed by almost 40 individuals who
gave up part of their week at work and with family to attend this event. We had a little over 30 people who attended
our now traditional Thursday night networking dinner. Here we introduce ourselves because often we
communicate across the state via email but never have a chance to meet people
in person (F2F or IRL). Have a to a name
means all the difference and for some who commit to multi-year roles they will
see each other again at this conference and hopefully the ILSHRM leadership
conference in January. Having attended
this conference now for twelve years as a chapter then state council I have had
the opportunity to bond and long term relationships with people all over state
as well as the country and with SHRM staff.
While this pilgrimage was
impressive, the most moving for me was the amount of representation Illinois
had on Capitol Hill this year. When I
first started attending the SHRM A Team hill visits about five years ago, first
at SHRM Leadership and at the annual SHRM Legislative Conference, we
consistently had no more than a handful of visitors. However, in the past few years the number of
representatives has increased to the point that it put tears in my eyes as I
looked around the room.
This is the time for
Thanksgiving and while I am definitely looking forward to passing the gavel, I cannot
tell you how deeply thankful and humble I am to have had the opportunity to
serve such a dedicated group of individuals who put their profession at the forefront
and #HaveAVoice for all those in our state.
It has been a fantastic honor and I know the future is in good hands
with Cathy Plouzek and Connie Wolgemuth at the helm.
Happy Holidays to all and if
you’re an HR pro in this great state, please join me in thanking those who
attended this conference and the hill visit to make a difference for each of us
on the job back home! ILSHRM & SHRM
Chapter Volunteers ROCK!
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