Early in my move to HR, I inherited a direct report who had been a professor of HR for a decade.
I had just spent 10 years in sales.
In the sales seat, I led through expertise.
With her, I had nothing to fall back on. She knew everything. I knew nothing.
So I had to learn to lead differently. Get clear on strategic priorities. Remove blockers. Build consistency. Create measurement systems.
I probably grew more from managing her than 10 years of leading people in the discipline I was most comfortable with.
Nobody told me at the time, but that's the whole transition from managing people to leading at the executive level.
I think this is the most under-discussed transition, so let me try to put words to the main shifts:
A VP of HR is evaluated on the health of the people function. A CPO is evaluated on the health of the business.
Those sound similar, but they're not. One lets you go deep on your craft and demonstrate mastery. The other requires you to go deep on the business and build a point of view on things outside of your domain.
A VP of HR has a clear role. A CPO's role is clear everywhere except the room where it counts most.
Outside of the ELT, everybody understands what you do. Inside it, the definition gets slippery in a way it doesn't for the CFO or the CMO. This is where the imposter syndrome lives, and I want to be direct with you: almost every CPO I've worked with has felt it in that room. It is not a signal that you don't belong there.
VPs of HR arrive with problems to solve. CPOs are expected to arrive with a proposal on how to solve them.
When I coach CEOs (and about 50% my practice is CEOs) the most consistent frustration they name about their executives is stating problems rather than solutions. Business is problems, and CEOs are already carrying more than they can hold. The shift is from "let's talk through this together" to "here's what I see, here's what I'd do, and here's what I need from you."
VPs of HR: Which of the above excites you most? Which feels the most intimidating?
CPOs and CHROs: When you look back on your career, what was the moment that shifted your leadership from "manager" to "executive?" When did you realize subject matter expertise alone wasn't enough?