Ingrid Vaughan is founder of My Smart HR & Leadership
COLWOOD – When Ingrid Vaughan founded My Smart HR & Leadership almost 10 years ago, it was to provide human resources services for companies that need assistance but don’t have budget for a full-time HR person.
It didn’t take long for her to realize that HR really starts at the top, so Ingrid created a six-month Smart Leadership Academy, specifically designed for business owners and managers.
The program has experienced huge success and is now in its 10th cohort.
“I began to notice a pattern that companies with strong leadership had less HR drama and issues.” she recalls. “When business owners want to fix their employees, their culture, or their companies without understanding that they have to invest in themselves as leaders first, the changes don’t stick. The problems then are circular and recurring.
“I’ve seen the most radical, life-changing transformation in business owners that is beyond what I imagined when I started the program. The Academy is an interesting tie to HR because when leaders change first, the results are deep and lasting. I have one client who has placed an employee in every cohort and it’s galvanized their workplace, creating a common leadership language and tools and consistency in managing teams.” she notes. “I focus on leaders and the program fundamentally changes the cultures and environments their people come to work in every day.”
My Smart HR immediately skyrocketed, as the first three years of the program were the most fulfilling of her career. Ingrid, who holds ML and CRP designations and is the firm’s HR Architect and Leadership Developer, held senior HR leadership positions prior to start-ing her own firm, which now includes five HR professionals.
Looking to the future, Ingrid believes that business reinvention is going to be a critical aspect of companies surviving and thriving.
There are plenty of books available as resources to inspire leadership
“We’re looking forward to launching a program to work with business leaders on prioritizing an agile, change-oriented mindset to future-proof their companies,” she explains. “It’s based on the premise that the businesses have a life cycle – start-up, growth, maturity and eventual decline.”
Research shows that if businesses don’t do something at the mid-point of that cycle, they will struggle or even fail. 100 years ago, the business life cycle was 75 years. Now, it’s 5-7 years, meaning reinvention needs to take place every 2-3 years.
“It’s an emerging concept and most people don’t know how to analyze what’s happening in their industry and trends to keep them viable for the next 5-7 years.”
It might be really small, or it could mean blowing up the whole thing to start again. Re-invention is personal and will look different in every business and industry. A re-brand, new hires, an organizational restructure, adding new products or services, or shifting their service delivery model are all examples.
“The foundation of reinvention is that the critical injection of something different or new at that cycle mid-point is a huge key to business survival. As a Certified Reinvention Practitioner I’m excited to help businesses learn how to thrive in the future.”
Ingrid Vaughan leads sessions for My Smart HR & Leadership
The key to My Smart HR’s success has been its ability to make the connection between de-veloping leaders and supporting HR practices.
“I have a deep belief that great leaders change the world, but it’s not always on a big stage.” she notes. “When you change how your em-ployees feel about coming to work every day it’s infectious and the ripple effects of great work-place cultures are bigger than we imagine.”
