Wellbeing for HR: tools for resilience – reflections from the Uplifting People x HEX CHRO breakfast
Through my partnership with the brilliant Cecilia Crossley and Uplifting People, I had the privilege of facilitating a group of inspiring Chief People Officers to explore what it really takes to sustain impact, wellbeing and resilience in our profession. The conversation was honest, practical, and energising, exactly what I had hoped for from this group of driven and experienced individuals.
The reality for today’s CPOs
Many of us are aware of the pressures CPOs find themselves dealing with: delivering strategic impact, navigating constant change, supporting dispersed teams, and carrying the emotional weight of leadership. The challenge isn’t just about keeping up, it’s about finding ways to thrive, to balance visibility and ambition with recovery and reflection, even as macro-political and organisational pressures mount.
What we discussed and learned together
Our discussion surfaced some powerful themes and practical tools:
- Balancing the “dancefloor” and the “balcony”: Using this handy metaphor, we recognised the need to move between the demands of the day-to-day and moments of reflection, using reflection tools, coaching, peer networks, and safe spaces for perspective and support.
- Embedding psychological safety and trust: Executive conversations must be grounded in trust, allowing us to be visible and ambitious while also protecting our energy. HR leaders have a key role in influencing executive teams to be more effective.
- Small nudges, big impact: Daily rituals—like 10-minute pause moments—can make a real difference to wellbeing and focus.
- Reflective models: Taking time for reflection, and using frameworks such as the Gibbs Reflective Cycle help us process experiences and learn from them – these are true “balcony moments”.
- Safe, confidential spaces: Whether it’s a Teams chat or a peer circle, having somewhere to share challenges and insights is invaluable.
- Supportive executive habits: Micro-feedback loops and transparent conversations with ExCo about trust, boundaries, and emotional availability are essential.
The power of community
What struck me most was the collective wisdom in the room. By building trust, psychological safety, and allocating time for peer support, we can not only sustain our own wellbeing but also model resilience and drive meaningful engagement across our organisations.
You can download key takeaways from the event here.
How HEX supports individuals, teams, and organisations
At HEX, we’re passionate about unlocking people potential and driving leadership impact. Our work is grounded in deep coaching, leadership development, HR consultancy and thought leadership. We bring challenge, passion, and joy to every client engagement.
One of the things we’re great at is supporting senior HR leaders, which we do using our CHRO Impact Framework®. This is featured in my book, “People People: Reach Your Full Potential as a CHRO”, and is a comprehensive and robust model to support high performance in the role.
We offer one-day intensive and longer coaching programmes to senior HR leaders and other c-suite leaders to enable their impact and performance. We also work with executive teams to be more impactful together.
Let’s keep the conversation going
If you’d like to explore these ideas further, I’d love to connect. Book a complimentary hour with me at tom@hex-development.com.
Together, we can uplift people, and our profession.
