Ep. 67: Small sparks, little steps to drive change

Mia Blom | Global HR Director, OnceHub

Mia Blom, a seasoned human resource director and strategic business partner with over 20 years of experience, shares her expertise in leadership and human potential. Mia joins Raising the Bar on Leadership host Aaron Levy and discusses the importance of active listening, building trust, and creating value in workplace relationships. 

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Answered on this Episode

• How can business leaders become better active listeners?

• How can people professionals bring dignity to difficult HR situations?

• What are realistic goals for bringing change to a workplace?

Advice from Mia

The Power of Active Listening

Active listening is crucial for effective leadership, particularly in remote work environments. It’s not just about hearing words—it’s about understanding what’s left unsaid, picking up on body language, and recognizing nuances. Leaders who practice active listening can build deeper, more meaningful connections with their teams.

Building Trust Takes Time

Building trust with senior leaders takes time and consistency. It doesn’t happen overnight, especially with strong personalities. Delivering value consistently is essential for breaking down barriers and creating lasting partnerships.

Encouraging a Growth Mindset

In difficult situations like terminations, maintaining dignity is vital. These moments offer opportunities for growth. Treating individuals with respect during tough conversations helps them learn from the experience and move forward with confidence.

Connect with Mia: LinkedIn

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Find This Conversation

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Full Transcript

[00:00:00] Aaron Levy: Today on our podcast, we're thrilled to have Mia Blom, a true champion of human potential leadership with over two decades of experience as a human resource director and strategic business partner. Mia honed her skills in crafting and executing HR strategies that drive exceptional value for organizations.

She excels in connecting and empowering leaders to inspire and lead with purpose, fostering meaningful and impactful journeys for their teams. Join us as we delve into Mia's insights on leadership, human resources, and human potential. Mia shares just some great insights on the core tenets of how to show up for people, how to build trust in those relationships and how to create value.

Enjoy.

 Mia, it is so nice to have you on. I'm really excited to have this conversation and to have. a unique, different perspective than maybe we sometimes have on the podcast. So, thank you very much for making some time in your day. 

[00:00:54] Mia Blom: Thank you so much, Aaron. Great opportunity. 

[00:00:57] Aaron Levy: I think one of the things when we first talked a few weeks [00:01:00] ago was your approach to coaching and mentoring business leaders, 

As a business partner yourself, I'm curious, can you talk a little bit about how you think about that role and how you think about coaching and mentoring the business leaders? 

[00:01:14] Mia Blom: Absolutely. Human resources in itself has got a vast area of responsibilities. And as you become more experienced in the role, and if it's in your, whether it's your background or your nature or ability, I lean towards more of a business partner to my colleagues, as opposed to a resource to tap into.

Thank you. And in my experience, I have found the best way to do that is to listen, to sit back and listen, guide the conversation, but listen.

[00:01:51] Aaron Levy: This is music to my ears because, whenever anyone says, what's the number one thing you'd work on with a manager, I say start with listening. Tell me more about that. What does that actually look [00:02:00] like? When you're working with an, executive or a VPs sales or whatever tell me how that actually presents, in your day to day.

[00:02:08] Mia Blom: I'm going to give you all my…secrets and tips. When I say listen, 

[00:02:13] Aaron Levy: That's what we're hoping for! 

[00:02:15] Mia Blom: I refer to active listening and that's not just the words that are being spoken. It's what's not being said. It's the nuances. It's the body language, especially in a remote environment. It's so much more important for me because people easily get distracted.

You can often see people's eyes on different screens, multitasking. Similar to how we watch television these days, we've got our telephones with us whilst we're watching. That doesn't work, so when I say listen, I try to lean in and always create some rapport. My style, the more you know me, the more you'll find out that it come as you are there's no bells and whistles and any pretentiousness very raw and real.

And in relationships, I try to build that real connection.

[00:02:59] Aaron Levy: I [00:03:00] guess. What I'm wondering is so you say like I try to lean in but you also have a cell phone I presume and have other Things going on and priorities and stressors. How do you remind yourself to as you said lean in to the conversation? 

[00:03:14] Mia Blom: The one resource we don't have a lot of his time So I'm not going to sit in a space or a place and disrespect your time or my time.

If we're here. Let's show up, let's do this proper. Let's invest our energy and effort into that moment because we're going to reap the rewards. If we do it half water down, Similar to watching television and being on your phone. I think if you asked exactly to recall what happened on the TV screen, it's going to be watered down.

It's going to be a much smaller version. You might've missed so many nuances of what was happening in the program. The same in a conversation. It's just a question of respect. Probably.

[00:03:53] Aaron: How does the way you show up as a partner and coach for the [00:04:00] business, actually show Value actually add value to the business. 

[00:04:04] Mia Blom: That's a great question What I have seen is through that relationship friendship Connection just having someone to bounce something off and saying but that's great and What's your alternative?

Have you thought about? I hear what you're saying. Let's look at it from this perspective. So, I'm by no means, I'm not someone who has studied engineering. I haven't studied Property development. I'm just thinking about my past experiences. I'm not the subject matter expert in any way, shape or form, you are.

And, I try to see myself as a business partner who can help you reach those goals. You've got the answers. I'm just helping you. get them. 

[00:04:51] Aaron Levy: One of the things I've always been fascinated by is this role, right? And this perspective, and especially when you're doing it with senior leaders [00:05:00] within a business who've been there before, right? They're hired or they're brought in because they're good at what they do. And, it's easy to think, I don't need help.

I don't need this. And yet now I have a partner who is there to help me what I want. I don't need your help. How do you…break down those barriers and ultimately serve and support those executives who are, can sometimes be challenging egos, I guess is the most polite way to say it. 

[00:05:23] Mia Blom: It's not it's not a quick, it's a long, slow and steady.

You don't come in day one and get the respect for the fact that you can support in that capacity. You don't you've got the title human resources. There's a host of. Attributes, halo horn effect that you would assume that this person is administratively strong or, whatever attributes you want to throw at it.

So, it really takes, it takes time to build that trust relationship. It doesn't just happen overnight. And eventually, once, something has landed. It [00:06:00] just blossoms from there. 

[00:06:01] Aaron Levy: Do you, or would you be willing to share a story, an example of one that you were like, I don't know if this is going to happen.

And then it did and what it took to get there.

[00:06:10] Mia Blom: Yes, there's so many, Aaron. There was a disciplinary scenario with a colleague and that was dealt with on the Friday.

And over the weekend, another colleague phoned in a very sad personal state because of personal circumstances. And the beauty for me was that person who no longer was employed with that company at that time left with dignity. And in the same breath, the other person felt comfortable enough to ask for a shoulder and just some encouragement.

So, I'm answering the question in a very strange way, but for me, it's that [00:07:00] balance between being fair and consistent, but leaving people feeling, and this is something we try, I'm saying I've reached it, but it's important for me when people leave the space we occupy together feeling better about themselves, regardless of whether it is in a disciplinary format or in a personal circumstances, things are not going well.

[00:07:25] Aaron Levy: Yeah. I think you mentioned that last time we talked to this idea of dignified termination. How do you navigate that when there is disciplinary, when it is not something that somebody wants to be hearing. How are you making a termination or even a disciplinary moment dignified?

[00:07:44] Mia Blom: Aaron, we learn from failures. We when things go wrong, you've got a couple of choices. So, for me, it's an opportunity to help that person understand what went wrong to not repeat that again. It's a learning opportunity. It's an [00:08:00] opportunity to give them. The dignity to start again to learn from that. So, it's never my place to let them leave feeling bad or uncomfortable, or they've got to reflect that's critical, reflect and not make whatever the mistake was, or whatever the lack of progress or performance was again, in the growth mindset, it's an opportunity.

[00:08:24] Aaron Levy: I love that. And I think it's one of the biggest challenges I've had. And I'm not someone who is strong on attention to detail. And what I mean by that is I can easily overlook like the legal ramifications of saying something or not saying something. So, because I don't feel confident in that space, I'm always worried about how Something like a termination might go and I know others are probably as well.

And I've always had the trouble of seeing terminations and hearing about them or being a part of them where we're intentionally opaque. about the reason for termination, because we don't want to [00:09:00] get sued in this way or that way or the other. And what you just shared is something that I'm fascinated by of just let's be honest with people.

Let's tell them what didn't work. Let's tell them why it's not working. How do you tow that line? Or how do you set that up for success? Leading into that? Cause I'm guessing it's. It's not always the easiest. I 

[00:09:18] Mia Blom: think first and foremost, I'm based in South Africa. We've got a very stringent labor law.

So, through experience and qualification and going to the likes of, I think it's called the Small Claims Court or the CCMA in South Africa. There's no two ways about it. You toe the line and make sure whatever you do is always. It's always legally sound. If you have any doubt, you don't do it.

You don't go down that route. So, whenever those conversations take place, hand on heart, it's legally sound. It sounds like I do this for a living. I don't do this for a living, but being in HR for 25 years, you would have come across it sadly more than once. My gauge is if I can go to bed [00:10:00] that night.

Knowing that this is the right thing to do. I still have to look myself in the mirror. And if I've got any discomfort then it's a performance development look at, various aspects, manager training, whatever the case is. But my first thing is it legally sound? Second thing is, do I feel comfortable with this?

Is it the right thing? Have we done everything from the employer side that we could do? And if that is the case, then it's much easier within that map. To just navigate an honest conversation with intent for the other party to have a win as much as it feels like a lose if there's a win That's good because it sets them on a trajectory to do better

[00:10:41] Aaron Levy: I get the sense that you win people over through consistency, through continuing to show up and be there and do what you say you're going to do. Is that something that's important to you?

[00:10:53] Mia Blom: A fairness, consistency and kindness. Life isn't always rosy, so a little bit of [00:11:00] kindness goes a long way.

[00:11:01] Aaron Levy: How do you navigate the HR priorities with business priorities in the role of supporting, steering, working with business leaders? 

[00:11:12] Mia Blom: I would probably say. 20%, the 2080 rule, 20% of my time is invested in core HR work. There's an amazing team who's very supportive and very helpful and very competent.

There will always be work. There will always be things that must be done. Finding the processes to get that done the most efficient way, those are easy wins. Aaron, those are easy wins. My personal opinion is in life, you get opportunities for growth if you create capacity to take on anything additional.

It's that capacity. So, if you can do the operational necessities in a way that you've created capacity for the race, you can lean into that space. 

[00:11:56] Aaron Levy: What gives you the energy, the passion, to keep [00:12:00] going in this space? Because it's not an easy one. 

[00:12:02] Mia Blom: Ironically, I was out of the space twice in my career, and I just keep getting back here.

It's passion, a space where I feel comfortable in, because it's never boring. It's challenging. You, working with people, every single person is unique. I've got the privilege of working in a global organization and in each jurisdiction, there's other things happening and each person's life.

So, for me, that variety and getting to know different cultures, different people, I absolutely love it. It's like sitting at a restaurant doing people watching. I get to do people watching actively for a living. 

[00:12:42] Aaron Levy: And in your vast experience of people watching, I think it's fascinating as you navigate those people dynamics across cultures, across ages, across different dynamics.

Are there any? similarities, core truths, or things that you hold to say, Hey, this is what I know [00:13:00] to be true about humans, regardless of religion, region, age, you name it.

[00:13:06] Mia Blom: My husband will probably tell you that I'm a glass half full person and I'm not overly optimistic, but I do try to believe and inherently we all just trying to. To do good. And I always try to make that assumption even in the scenario where someone needs to be helped towards exit door.

Sometimes there's other things that lead up to that. So, what is true is that I think we yearn for connection

and whatever shape that looks like, even if that is a well done or. I'd like you to do the following or thank you for assisting or it's great working, whatever that looks like. It's different for different people and slightly different where you are in your career. But that connection, that feeling that you're contributing.

Somehow, some way, 

[00:13:52] Aaron Levy: I think about it as humans. We all want to; we all want to do good. We all want to be liked. We all want to… look good and [00:14:00] not look bad. And yeah, we do yearn for connection. I'm wondering knowing that whether you might not have it explicitly written up, on a post it on your computer but having that in your conscious and subconscious, how does that Influence the way you show up in relationships in different challenges with coworkers.

[00:14:18] Mia Blom: I'm going to bring it back to being in the room. It influences it in the fact that you are there. You allow the space for the other person to speak. My favorite thing, not my favorite, but definitely one of my favorites, things is awkward silence. Thanks. There is so much magic in silence and just holding that space I don't think anyone will call me just fun and easygoing. I'm hardworking and I expect results from myself first and foremost and colleagues and that I've worked with and collaborate with. Work needs to be done and there are moments where you start a meeting and you say, how [00:15:00] are you? How was your weekend?

And there are moments with, hello everyone, let's move that you need to focus on it. Definitely when we working at a task, whether it's very heavy deadline driven, whether it's a big challenge, it's important that we all understand where we moving towards what we're trying to achieve. When you take on something and you energized because you understand the purpose of what you're doing and you've got some sense of the roadmap of how you're going to get there. It is unbelievable what you can do.

, I'm sure you've done it yourself as well, where you wake up and you go, I can't do this. Imagine an absolutely massive task. I can't do this. And then you just pause for a second. You say, I can do this. And just that incredible mind shift that takes place between feeling overwhelmed and going, it's almost like Tetris, my favorite game in the world, because all of a sudden you go in a world where I could do this.

What could this look like? So, knowing what I have [00:16:00] learned about people, I tried to apply that in the workplace. If I am actively listening and I see there's a sense of someone feeling out of depth, I Or not quite sure what the next steps are. I try to be there to support that growth for them to figure out what, if I can do it, what would it look like?

[00:16:20] Aaron Levy: How do you get them to that spot? How do you get them out of the ‘I can't do it, to, if I could do it, what would it look like’? 

[00:16:27] Mia Blom: It's eating an elephant. You start some way. You start with, so what part of what we're tackling now do you feel comfortable and confident in?

Great. Next one. Next one. It's similar to how do you get rid of debt? You start with your smallest and then you put that towards the next and that's, it really works with a big challenge as well. With helping someone through coming up with a plan. If we've got some sort of a plan or some sort of a sense of, I've got this.

It's amazing what we can [00:17:00] do.

[00:17:00] Aaron Levy: I'm hearing just like the core tenants of being a really good partner of partnership is it's in being there with people, it's in listening to people, it's in asking questions, and then it's also believing in their potential. I'm like, I'm hearing that through what you're saying, right? It's not just in listening to them and saying oh it's listening to them and truly being there with them and believing that They can learn, grow, accomplish, do something different, whether it's in termination or it's in, solving a problem.

It seems to be a consistent through line in these examples of stories you're sharing. 

[00:17:31] Mia Blom: There's a Shakespeare play. I think it's Macbeth, something my mom raised us with. And it's something along the lines of all things are with more spirit chased than enjoyed. And what I understood from it is sometimes.

You don't even want to dream big because what if it's going to fail? But at least if you've got the dream, you had the dream versus, versus neither. So don't try if [00:18:00] you can't fail. If you can't try, it's probably the more modern version of it. If you passionate about something, it doesn't matter how big or small it is.

If it's something that you feel, whether it's a silly challenge at work, but if you feel I'd like to do this, you're going to do it. So, I tried to probably foster a tiny spark. Maybe that's the best thing to, I tried to foster a tiny spark, a one degree of change. That's all just tiny steps. And before you know it, it actually gives me goosebumps to, think of.

And that's I've got someone who does it for me, someone else it's I'm by no means, won't look at me, not in any way, shape or form. I've got someone in my life, a shout out to Gal who gives me that spark, and my husband as well, and my colleagues. So, we give it to each other, it's an energy exchange.

And just sometimes being that person to stand back, listen, and go, [00:19:00] wow, did you see that spark go over there? Gosh, that's actually got to be fun. Even in the silliest things of sending an email to someone, I try to always think of not what I want to say, but what I want the recipient to feel and experience.

It's probably my background in hospitality, but it's that seamless five-star experience. I try to create that.

[00:19:26] Aaron Levy: I, it gave me goosebumps too. I love the idea of, 

creating or offering or showing that spark that's already there. That's so powerful. And I'm so grateful that you that you're out there in the world, giving people sparks and creating the space for people to notice the spark and create that flame.

And so, I'm just very grateful for you to be on, for you to share your insights and your stories. And thank you, 

[00:19:50] Mia Blom: Aaron. Thank you very much.