The Voices for Voices Podcast Episode 8 with Guest George Sample, MBA, SPHR, Assistant Vice President at Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
Justin Alan Hayes:
Welcome to the official The House of You Podcast Sponsored by Voices for Voices, where we discuss how mental health and our careers intertwine. I'm your host, Justin Alan Hayes, business professor, author, career coach, founder and president of The House of You. Here at The House of You, we are passionate about helping others navigate their workforce preparation while thriving on their mental health journey. So we're sitting down with career professionals and mental health advocates to take a deep dive into our professional lives, ambitions, swap stories on mental health in relation to career moves, and so much more.
Justin Alan Hayes:
From making the leap to transition careers, job losses, difficult interview experiences, feeling stuck or helpless in your current position, or whatever the case may be, we're so glad you found us. Join The House of You as we explore raw and real stories of mental health in the workplace. No matter where you are in your career, you are not alone. Welcome home. Today, I am grateful to be joined by George Sample, MBA, SPHR, who is the assistant vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. George, we're so happy to have you on The House of You podcast today.
George Sample:
It's my pleasure to be here. I'm looking forward to the conversation.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Yeah. So much to get to. Our conversation before we got rolling, wished that part was included, but it wasn't so we'll try to recreate some of that, but while we get started, can you give our listeners just a little brief background about you, what you do and how you like to help and give back?
George Sample:
For sure. I'm going to have to recreate the impromptu drum session as well.
Justin Alan Hayes:
That was awesome. I got that on video.
George Sample:
Yeah. So it's fun to do the career path that I've had. I've been able to... My undergrad at John Carroll University was computer science. I'm from inner city Cleveland. I went to John Carroll. A very different experience in going to John Hayford High School and then going to John Carroll for college. I played football, ran track there. I also played in the jazz band. I was a DJ for the radio station so I had a lot of really good experiences while I was there. Majored computer science, came out, went to Lubrizol Corporation, was a computer programmer there, and my first seven years of my career as a computer programmer. The last two of that, I was supporting HRIS systems and then I was also involved with their employee resource groups. I was on our United Way committee. I was the coordinator for our corporate challenge team.
George Sample:
So I was building a network before I knew what really building a network meant in an intentional way, and then after a while of doing that, they asked me to apply for an HR manager position and I was like, I write the ones and zeros. Are you sure about this, but yeah, but at that point, I knew them. They knew me. I knew HR processes. So moved into that position and really had to, I was in charge of diversity and inclusion for Lubrizol, 7,000 employee global company, and I was learning on the job. It was from the ground up. It was challenging. It's interesting looking back now with all I know now, having been in the HR field for a while now, but looking back at that first job, I didn't know that I should have been scared or I didn't know that I should be worried about some of the screw ups and different things.
George Sample:
I didn't have a fear of it. It was just like, oh, I messed that up so I'll figure out how to do it better the next time. So that was great. Did that role for three and a half years, went to the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. I did three different HR manager roles there over that five years I was there, five and a half years I was there. I call it my self guided tour of human resources. Managed pretty much all the different parts of human resources during the time I was there. After about five and a half years there, was recruited to go over to the county public library system as their director of human resources. Fantastic experience, fantastic organization.
George Sample:
I've actually, I've been very fortunate career wise to be at some fantastic organizations who are just best in class in what they do and that's been just the luck of my career, I would say for sure. I was HR director there for a couple years and was recruited over to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland to manage HR business partners. So now, I've been there for two and a half years. I'm currently assistant vice president there where I manage our diversity and inclusion team, our education outreach team, and our museum team, which I can tell you for sure was never on my bucket list to be in charge of the museum, but I now am. So it is a learning experience, another learning experience. I can say that for sure.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Yeah. No, fantastic. I love the background. Just curious since the, [inaudible 00:05:10] really to the studio where we're taping our podcast does a ton of recording for musicians and artists, and you mentioned that you have an electronic drum set home and you sat down in the regular drum set chair, and I thought it was awesome. I'm just curious because you mentioned that you do have that musical background, that whether that's the mindset, that you enjoy it, that things might come a little easier to. Would you be able just to explain, maybe you haven't been asked before, but especially dealing with the mental health, the sometimes playing music and doing certain things can be helpful, and can you just maybe go into some of that, how it's been helpful in your life and maybe how someone could maybe apply just some of that process in theirs?
George Sample:
Yeah. I have read the different studies in regards to music because I started playing music when I was nine, had been engaged in orchestras, whatever kind of band. I've played for my church, taught lots of kids in my church how to play, played for orchestras, jazz bands, rock bands. My favorite band was a Led Zeppelin cover band. We did other stuff as well, but most of our catalog was Led Zeppelin covers. So when you talk about the way that people engage, how their mind engages when you're doing music, especially in a group setting when you're coordinating with others around the music and how the physical action of playing an instrument engages with the mind, it's a different kind of experience. You feel it different. You also feel it in your soul.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Your soul. Yeah.
George Sample:
And there's just an energy that comes along when there's a really good groove going on, when you're in sync with the people that you're playing along with. If there are folks who are watching you play and we're fortunate in college to have a few folks who would come watch us play when we're here or there, and they're enjoying that and you're connecting with the audience as well as you're having this shared experience, that is something else. So I'm fortunate to be, now years later, a couple decades later, still be able to go in the basement and when I have a little bit of extra time, go on my electronic drum set and just tap into a different channel, a different channel of energy after having spent a day in meetings or talking with folks and having different conversations. It's a different kind of release. It's a different kind of energy that you get to bring when you are tapped into an instrument.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Yeah. No, that's awesome. I guess when we start looking at George Sample, the brand.
George Sample:
The brand. Oh my goodness. This is heavy. This is getting heavy.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Yeah. We're getting heavy now. So that was the easy question, and so my thoughts and question is really around what do you find are your characteristics and overarching qualities for your personal and business brand?
George Sample:
Sure. And one of the things why I was going through my, I went through my paid jobs. I didn't mention all the unpaid jobs I have.
Justin Alan Hayes:
That's right.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Just want to let you know about our upcoming Voices for Voices, A Brand New Day event, which is our annual gala event. It's on October 12th at 7:30. For those that are in the Northeast Ohio area, it's going to be held at the Canton Cultural Center and tickets are $20 and all the proceeds go towards the Voices for Voices organization, which is also a 501(c)(3). Dr. Jessica Hoefler is going to be one of the ... I call it the blockbuster speakers, but one of the three individuals that's really going to talk a lot about what she's talked about here with us today and really just that thought of A Brand New Day, kind of like with Piper's Key, of unlocking and setting her free, that's with Voices for Voices and with the brand new day event specifically.
You'll want to share experiences of real everyday people, not celebrities, just people that are going through and have gone through some traumatic things, whether that is mental health related, whether that is anything really traumatic. So it doesn't have to be mental health related. That's how I started the organization, but obviously as I'm learning and want to have a broader reach, that individuals with mental health challenges aren't the only individuals that have gone through traumatic experiences. So again, Dr. Jessica Hoefler will be one of the blockbuster speakers. We're also going to have Brian Laughlin, who is a lieutenant at the Twinsburg Fire Department. Then one of my actual former students, James Warnken, he is an online specialist with expertise and search engine optimization and data analytics and he's actually legally color blind. So he goes through certain software packages to be able to do the work for his businesses now. Even when he was my student at Walsh University, there were some I guess, accommodations, accessibility, things that he was able to do.
So really not only from a spectrum of age range, but from first responder to somebody in education, traumatic, male, female, that we are all going through and have gone through things and I really want with A Brand New Day is to talk about not just some of the tough times, but how the message of a particular mission and vision is living on and how it's touching and reaching and helping more people. So again, you can find out more about A Brand New Day at voicesforvoices.org, or you can go to Eventbrite, which is the official event platform to put events together, and you can search A Brand New Day and then you'll find the event tickets there. Then you can join us in person. We'd really love to have you and bring a friend, a family member, somebody that would like to be uplifted.
So it’s not just the speakers, we're also going to have a special needs band, RockAbility, going to be playing. So some real rock music. So some of these individuals are going to be playing real live instruments with some mentor musicians and everything from the music. It's all going to be played live, in person. We're not going to use auto tune like some of the music today, and even the singers, the vocals, are going to be done. So it's going to be a lot of fun. We hope you'll make plans to join us and you'll see more on this coming up on our social media pages, the Voices for Voices on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, wherever you consume content, as well as future podcasts.
George Sample:
So I'm on three different boards. I'm on the board for John Caroll University, I'm on the board for United Way of Greater Cleveland, and I serve as president of the Cleveland Society of Human Resource Management, and for me, and I coach a lot of folks. I coach and mentor a lot of people as well and one of the things I talk about is what is your purpose? I was fortunate enough to find my purpose when I stepped into human resources. I mentioned that a segue from going from being computer programmer to a HR manager, I thought I would do that for a couple years and then go back into IS.
George Sample:
But very immediately saw how much impact I could have on people's careers and on organizations. So I found my purpose was to have a positive impact on as many careers as I can have. So through these different nonprofits and through the actual paid job I have, through the combination of all that, I focus on trying to have a positive impact on as many careers as I have and that's really my purpose. That's why I'm here. I appreciate you reaching out to me-
Justin Alan Hayes:
You bet.
George Sample:
To have this conversation because if I can just share something that helps someone either get unstuck or to see their career in a different way, or to illuminate their path for just one person, then my mission's complete and I can go home and sleep well at night because that really is my purpose and that has brought me so much energy and joy when I'm able to have those conversations, when I'm able to help that person get over that hurdle or figure out their next path or the next step. It's been just absolutely a fantastic path and a privilege for me.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Yeah. And getting to the conversation we were having a little before we started rolling, you mentioned that you also do coaching with your daughter, and just curious if you'd be able to maybe share a little bit more. You mentioned earlier that our audiences wasn't able to hear since we weren't rolling, how much joy, how much fun that almost in a good, surprising way that it really hits you and how that could really even just be maybe helpful to somebody else that's like, okay, you can have those types of experiences in your personal life and if you're looking for that feeling or something that's making you feel good, and whether that's music, whether that's a certain career, maybe it's a certain job function within a career. So maybe if you just talk a little bit about the experience you're having coaching.
George Sample:
Yeah. It was interesting because we have two daughters, they're 12 and eight, and I remember my older daughter was going through playing soccer and I'd be on the parent sidelines and the parents would be just losing their minds, just going absolutely nuts, and I was like, "Man, I would never, ever want to coach youth sports," and then my younger daughter came through and they send the email that I found out that they send to everybody all the time. We don't have enough coaches. I was like, well, I'm already going to be at practice. I'm already going to be at the games. They're five. My job was to make sure they go in the correct direction. So I started coaching then. Absolutely loved it. So now, here we are four years later and it is a joy. I would say it's the toughest job I have because you have these eight year old girls and I have to influence them.
George Sample:
I have to influence eight year olds that we're going to work on this. No, we're not going to pick dandelions. Right now is not the exact time for seven cartwheels. A couple cartwheels are okay, but not seven cartwheels right now. So that has been the biggest challenge, but it's the biggest joy as well, to be able to connect with these people because they're people and they're humans on their way. They have these in depth conversations in regards to soccer strategy and they're questioning this or that, or they want to do things a different way and we're having this back and forth in these conversations. I get to help them shape their path. So we talk about my purpose of it having a positive impact on careers, it starts here.
Justin Alan Hayes:
That's right.
George Sample:
It starts with giving people the tools to navigate the world the right way, to know that we're not going to win every game, to know that sometimes we're going to get beat over the head. We got to finish the game anyway, to know that sometimes we can help each other and lift each other up. We can share each other's successes and the joy of success, and we can just enjoy the process, win or lose, raining, sunshine, whatever it is. We, as a team, can come together and share in a joyous process and just love that time we have together, and that has been for me, the biggest part of it, those relationships I get to see the girls build and the fun that they get to have in cherishing those moments.
Justin Alan Hayes:
I'm glad we got to rehash it a little [inaudible 00:13:42] because it's important and definitely for our listeners to also pick up that personally, you might think, well, I don't have a brand. I'm not a well known name, a well known organization, but that we all, really, everything we do is our brand from waking up in the morning until we go to bed, social media posts, how we interact, how we communicate with others and is a beautiful experience. You talk about with coaching younger children and really equating that really to the workplace of you have that overarching wanting to help, wanting to make somebody better.
Justin Alan Hayes:
And whether that is a child running in the right direction and maybe over the course of practices and games, it incrementally goes in the right direction, or if you're coaching somebody and mentoring somebody at work or outside of work, but professionally, that's really your goal too. You're there to help them. We're not there to help them take steps back. We want them to take steps forward, and with that, is there maybe an experience or a person, you don't have to give names, but professionally that you could tell that you had a good impact on in that maybe coaching, mentor, leadership role?
George Sample:
That's been one of the joys career wise. I've had a few folks who've worked for me, who I've been able to work with, mentor and coach, and when I first started working with them, they were individual contributors and they've been able to move onto roles of significant responsibility, moving to director level roles, moving to different organizations, bigger organizations, and I've been able to stay in contact with them and now I've earned a few of those good free lunches of appreciation for what I've been able to help them grow, help them see within themselves because the world will teach you to be fearful.
George Sample:
The world will teach you to stay in your place. The world will teach you that you are not good enough for that next thing. I've been really successful in helping people to break beyond that mold of devaluing themselves and really seeing how much impact they can have on organizations, how much impact they can have on other folks. There's a great John Maxwell quote and he has his 150 books. It's somewhere around that. I don't even know if that's an exaggeration.
Justin Alan Hayes:
No, I don't think so.
George Sample:
But one of his themes is leaders build leaders and that's one of the things that I really try to focus on as much as I can. So for those who are coaching and mentoring others, how can you help build them up in a way where they're going to magnify that impact and be able to coach and bring along others as well?
Justin Alan Hayes:
Yeah. That's so true. There is so much... You're right. There's so much craziness just in the world in general and maybe what the world needs now is more people to be positive. They want to help others, advance themselves, not just help us individually, and again, I thanked you at the beginning and I'll thank you at the end for joining me, but it really, for you to take time out of your day. We all have busy schedules. We all have things that we have competing demands. So saying, well, I could do this one thing, or I could do this other one. This one, I have to drive to. This one, I just have to log in on the computer or whatever that may be, and so for you to take the time out your day to share with our listeners and be able to impact them in a positive manner, I think it just shows more of your personal brand.
Justin Alan Hayes:
More of your character and qualities that I am glad to not just now be a connection on LinkedIn, but somebody that feels comfortable communicating and knowing that you're obviously a real person and the experiences you have couldn't be closer to the truth of things that are just happening, living life on a day to day, that we have a family so we're going to spend time with them and there's certain activities that we're involved with, some more in a leadership or a coach level and some just as a parent and then bringing that in to the workplace and I just, again, so thrilled to have you.
George Sample:
Well, I appreciate those kind words, but kudos to you for having this platform in the first place.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Thank you.
George Sample:
You never know when someone's going to come across your content or find out about you and you have delivered content that is going to hit them at the right time because these messages we're sharing, these aren't new. We're not creating these for the first time, but sometimes you just, someone comes across you at the right time. So thank you for creating this platform that's just another outlet for positivity, for people to know that there is a path for them to improve their life and move forward in a solid way.
Justin Alan Hayes:
You're welcome and thank you again. I'm noticing the shirt you wear, the Cleveland SHRM, S-H-R-M. Can you talk a little bit just about the organization, how it helps you and how somebody, somebody that's a student, somebody maybe in a career transition, how important getting involved with an outside organization can be helpful, not only while they're employed, but even if they're looking for a role that they might be able to get some benefit as well at that point.
George Sample:
Yeah, for sure, and thanks for asking. So it's the Cleveland Society of Human Resource Management. So we are in Northeast Ohio. We have a membership driven organization that focus on supporting those practitioners in the human resources field. So before the pandemic, we were doing 35 to 40 live events every year in person. When the pandemic hit, we very quickly pivoted to where we were doing basically, twice as many events virtually. We reached out to speakers all across Northeast Ohio, but then when the pandemic hit, we were reaching across speakers all across the world to come in and to connect. We were able to have special interest groups. So if your specialty is total rewards or learning and development or diversity and inclusion or talent acquisition, we have special interest groups, make sure we're focusing on those topics. So we really are the preeminent support structure for HR professionals in Northeast Ohio.
George Sample:
It's been a pleasure. I've been involved with the organization almost since I got into HR, I think was this in 2009, and I have the pleasure and honor and privilege of serving as the president. We have just such great volunteers who are on our board of directors for Cleveland SHRM. It's a volunteer led organization so for us to have people who are dedicated to the cause of uplifting, connecting, and energizing the network of HR professionals across Northeast Ohio is so important and it's such great work that we get to do, and it's because our HR folks, they support the workforce across every organization. So I talked a little bit earlier about leaders, building leaders. It was so important for us to build strong HR professionals because HR professionals, they should be the backbone of every organization, making sure that culture is there, making sure the right people are in the right seats, making sure we're attracting the right talent into an organization.
George Sample:
Once that talent gets into our organization, making sure we're growing them the right way and making sure people have a voice within the organization. So the more that we're able to help share best practices of how our HR practitioners can do that, we get to amplify that positive impact throughout Northeast Ohio, and we talked about students professionals. I always tell folks, not specific to Cleveland SHRM, but any professional organization that is akin to what they do, please get involved with that. Please get involved. I have a blog myself and one of my recent blog posts talked about how valuable leadership positions are because it helps you to accelerate building a skillset because volunteer leadership is hard.
Justin Alan Hayes:
It is. It's hard.
George Sample:
It's hard. It's one thing you say, Hey, come do this work because I'm sending you a paycheck. Another thing to say like, Hey, you told me you would do this. Please do it.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Please do it. Yeah.
George Sample:
That's a different thing.
Justin Alan Hayes:
And it stops there.
George Sample:
It stops there.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Paycheck.
George Sample:
So for those though, who are whatever your profession is, there's some professional organization that is tied into that profession, or if you just have causes you care about, whatever cause you care about, be it animals or be it conservation or be it music, there are organizations which could definitely use your volunteer help. It's a great way to connect with like-minded people who have a passion for the same thing that you have for and to start to really build that network.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Yeah. And a couple things, talk about not having a paycheck being on a board and so there's that aspect, but then as somebody who is more of a consumer of the content, they're usually probably a membership fee, but after that, you're able to consume that content, you're able to network and interact with those individuals, and I think that's a huge benefit and what I try to share with my students as well, that when you go to an interview, one of the things that you might be asked about is why should we hire you versus another candidate, and yes, you might have the education. You might have those qualities to be able to do the job on the job description, but when you have those other things like being part of a nonprofit or an organization that has really uplifting messaging to either professionals or the community for some of the interest that you mentioned.
Justin Alan Hayes:
And I think that's something that maybe sometimes gets overlooked. I know for myself, I never thought about that when I was going through my initial job search phase. I was like, oh, well, that's what people do maybe when they get a little bit older and more established, and I really didn't have a good answer, but that was in my mind what was justifying it, but right now, especially with just everything that's going on in the world, there's avenues and outlets where we can make a positive impact and what better thing could you do to come into an interview, already be positive, already knock the interview out of the park, but then also bring in some of those and I also do this, I'm also involved here and here are some of the things that I've done, and so if you're a student out there, a recent graduate or somebody in a transition, getting involved with an organization, whether you get paid or not is something that is going to benefit you.
Justin Alan Hayes:
And I would echo what George was saying, and I can't stress enough how important, whether it is a nonprofit organization or coaching. If you don't have any children yourself, maybe coaching youth little league or a softball team or getting involved in a community, it's good for your mind. So it just gives your mind something else to work on, and then you talk about networking. So if you're in the community working with families, they're going to be people that have jobs that have those children and so you never know. Might run into somebody that might be able to help you network, whether it is get a job or may introduce you to the right people, and with networking being so huge and a ton of it being done online, that's another just human way to be able to expand your network, and sometimes you might stumble into some job that you might not have been looking for a change.
Justin Alan Hayes:
And you might have been thinking about subconsciously that eventually, I'd like to do this and maybe this might come to you in one of those forms that you weren't ready for, from somebody you weren't expecting it to be from, and I guess the main takeaway is that you never know unless you try it. Definitely don't tie yourself up a hundred percent of your time, but if you do have some time, why not think about that? So especially for some of our students out there, get involved with maybe some nieces and nephews and maybe some cousins and that experience, and those are all transferable characteristics or traits that can be brought into the workplace. George, can you talk just a little bit about some just transferable traits where some might say, well, I'm just a student and I don't have the 10 years experience or five years experience, but that they do gain a lot of transferable traits that do translate to the workforce?
George Sample:
Yeah. It's amazing the opportunities that are available from volunteer because they're not paying you. You have a lot more flexibility in what you're going to be able to do with the organization and you get to do things that exist in the real world. These organizations, and they're all over. Organizations, they need help. They need people who are interested and they'll give you plenty of latitude to learn things on the job and to figure things out. If you want to be in marketing, there are plenty of organizations that need somebody running their Twitter feed, LinkedIn feed, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, there are folks who need that. So if you'd be able to hop in and fill in that gap and do that, you're able to build real world marketing experience that you can use as an example when you start talking to organizations because when most college students come out, they're in a pretty similar place.
George Sample:
Hopefully, they've had some internships, but realistically, they haven't had a full time, year round kind of a job. So for those who go that mile to look for what organizations they can connect with to have different kinds of experiences, that's hugely helpful and continues to be helpful as you go forth from in your career. I mean, some of the opportunities I have, I always tell folks the last time I've been at four different organizations, I think this is my eighth job if I'm counting them right. The last time I was looking for a job, I was in my college dorm room. That was the last time I was looking for a job is because I've been intentional about volunteering with organizations, trying to add value to organizations whose mission and vision I care about.
George Sample:
And through doing so, I've been able to greatly accelerate my ability to lead, greatly accelerate my ability to influence. I've been able to come across a wide diversity of people in industries and thought. Like I mentioned, three different boards I'm on right now, one is a professional services organization with Cleveland SHRM, one is a human services organization in United Way of Greater Cleveland, and then John Carroll University is a university. So when I'm in those meetings, those are completely different universes, but I'm there at the table and we're thinking through the problems and the challenges that are in front of all those organizations. So I have to stretch my thinking.
Justin Alan Hayes:
You do. You really do.
George Sample:
And around much, very different sets of people around those conversations. I'm able to bring that back into any experience that I come into. So I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of those tables and have those conversations, and that's something that everyone can do. So many organizations need to help and when you sit at those tables, you help those organizations step into their mission, step into their vision by helping to remove some of the different challenges or work through some of the problems that are there, it makes you stronger. As you solve problems in different arenas, it makes you stronger. So that those transferable skill sets that you build as doing that work, they are so much tremendous value to you long term, not just for your earning potential, but for your potential to add positive value and have a positive impact on the lives of others.
Justin Alan Hayes:
You bet. And for students, what I share with the students, the first transferable trait that I can think of is working in teams and groups where, and I know that as being a student, undergrad and masters like George, that working on teams might not have been at the top of the list of something that we love to do, not even love to do, but that we didn't enjoy because we didn't know the other... Many instances, we didn't know the other people, we didn't know their backgrounds. We were, I think, afraid of the unknown. It wasn't that we were afraid of the other, the people and working together with them. It was just, we were so used to ourselves and we're so comfortable in our own skin, and so it was really taken us out of that really comfort zone and working with people from come from different backgrounds, different areas, you name it, just somebody that has a different experience than you.
Justin Alan Hayes:
You'd be surprised how much you can learn from that, and so that was one way how I got through my group experiences of internally telling myself that take out as much as I can. Yes, there might be some negatives. There might be a group member or two or maybe three, depending on how big your group is, that doesn't pull their own weight and doesn't show up to group meetings or doesn't join via Zoom and get their portion of the work done on time, but take that out of the equation and the people that do put the time and energy in from those backgrounds, you have a great opportunity to learn from. So I would recommend to students out there that you might be rolling your eyes right now and say, well, he doesn't understand and I just want to do my work and get done and move on.
Justin Alan Hayes:
That's great, but again, working with somebody that you don't know, that maybe has a different major than you. So somebody with an IT background coming to a marketing class, also having an individual in accounting and finance, all those just different ancillary areas of business and then lining that up with maybe an IT student that has that background, just that by itself, not even getting into the individual differences that everybody has, we're all unique, just the individual differences that we have as a student and so I just recommend the students out there, that what George said is a hundred percent true and he gave really good examples that a real life individual working in the workplace that is volunteering in three completely different areas, he's being asked about probably his experience in his areas and the companies and the background that he has.
Justin Alan Hayes:
But when he is in those different meetings with those different groups of people, the meetings might go a little bit differently. One might have an agenda, one might not, one might go late, one might start early, just little things like that, and then once you get into the nuts and bolts of what's actually discussed. So I think it's awesome that George has that really diverse background because I think sometimes I know when I came into the workforce, I was like, oh, well, I'll just do my job and then that's what you do, and then you have your personal life and then you work your job, and just really didn't have that mindset of what do I want to do just as a human being, and with what George talked about, I think is key for whether you're a student now, or whether you're a veteran of 10 years in the workforce, 20, 30 years, that all this is really applicable.
Justin Alan Hayes:
And obviously, if you're exhausted and things make you uncomfortable, not suggesting that you do that, but go to, maybe do something that you're maybe a little uncomfortable. If giving presentations is tough, but that's something part of your job or something that you might want to do in the future, maybe join a Toastmasters organization, or maybe talk to your communications professors or instructors and talk to them because those individuals, they're there to help you. Yes, they may have had some levels of success, but again, like George has taken time to talk with us today and being gracious with his time, so are those individuals at the organizations and instructors. That's part of why they do what they do is to help, and I know with myself, that sometimes teaching is a thankless job, but I know that I'm helping somebody potentially, whether it's today or maybe it's in five years, or maybe they talked to a friend or a roommate about an experience that I gave.
Justin Alan Hayes:
It could be a really crappy experience that I had, or it could be a positive experience. The goal is just to keep your mind moving in a positive direction and we'll all stumble along the way. So there'll be roadblocks and there'll be hurdles, but take the advice that George is giving us as somebody who is living it, breathing it, has lived it, has breathed it personally, professionally and then I guess I want to ask, George, maybe if you could describe maybe what's the toughest part of your journey, or what has been the toughest part of your work journey been, and maybe how did you overcome it? Maybe not thinking at the time that, okay, well, X came up and I did Y. Maybe if you could share a little bit.
George Sample:
I would say the toughest, and it's almost retroactive. I mentioned when I got into that first HR manager position, I didn't know enough to know how bad I was when I stepped into that first position. So some of those situations, because you'll have a lot of folks who are going to be very helpful for you, not everyone though. You'll have some folks who are not cheering for your success. You'll have some folks who because everyone, it was no secret that I was new in that position. I was learning on the job. I had a lot of potential coming into that position, but I was learning from the ground up and there were some people who were not very supportive of that
George Sample:
And something that I took too much to heart, took it a little bit too personal, but as I've realized over the course of subsequent moves and careers, some folks, they're just like that. You just have some people who are like that. Another thing that was interesting for me is Lubrizol, it was a Fortune 500 company before Berkshire Hathaway acquired it. So I was fortunate enough career wise to grow up in a Fortune 500 company. Then I went to the Regional Sewer District, which is a very good organization, but it's a regional sewer district. So there are certain things they were doing where I felt like it was the wrong way. So this being my first time transitioning to a new organization, I was basically saying the equivalent of like, Hey, you are setting money on fire. Let me tell you how you're doing that wrong.
George Sample:
You should do it this way. So suffice to say, that first six months of me at the sewer district, I wasn't the mostly warmly received person, but it was a great learning experience and as I have made subsequent transitions to new organizations, I've taken that lesson to be curious. When I've stepped into new situations, new organizations now, I'm very curious to understand why are things the way they currently are, to understand the history around things, how things got to where they are, who are the players in it, what's the history around the way things currently are situated, which has been tremendously helpful for me.
George Sample:
But that transition, that first HR management position and then transitioning into a new organization in that role, those were challenging times, but they helped me to build a muscle, helped me to build some resilience, and since I had survived that I've been able to accelerate through the subsequent positions and be able to add a lot of value because I've been very conscious about I'm going to learn hard and learn a lot, and I do want to come back to you talking about the in class, you sometimes have slackers on the group projects.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Please do.
George Sample:
There are slackers, no matter where you go.
Justin Alan Hayes:
That's right.
George Sample:
Once you get into a paid positions. So if you think there are some slackers that are bringing down, bringing your A to an A-,please believe me. Once you get into work world, they will be slackers bringing your A to an A-.
Justin Alan Hayes:
That's right.
George Sample:
It's just figuring out how to navigate that because you have all kinds. You have some folks who've come, they've come to set the world on fire. They want to be CEO yesterday. You have other folks who, I mean, they're solid folks, but they just want to come, do their work, and they want to go home and that's it, and you have to understand what people want. So like I just mentioned the curiosity, have a curiosity about organizations, but really have a curiosity about the people who labor amongst you. Have a curiosity about them because once you start to learn them, understand them, it helps you to connect with people who want all different things, come from all different backgrounds, and it helps you to more effectively work with them, engage with them, partner with them.
George Sample:
And then in some cases, figure out who to avoid because you're going to have those folks in every setting. I know I sometimes talk with people as I'm coaching and mentoring and they're like, if I can just get away from this one person or I just have this one teammate and they're terrible and if I switch my situation, then everything will be great. There's always going to be that person. There's always going to be some negative people. There's always going to be someone who's bringing down the temperature in the room. There's always going to be that. For you, it's how do you build the skillset to navigate that because that's always going to exist.
Justin Alan Hayes:
I love it. I'm just, again, my listeners are saying, well, he said it again. I mean, I'm just truly, the guests we've had on the podcast have just been fantastic, and George has really knocked this out the park as well, just really just blown away, not just by the work experience, but just by the human qualities and while George's background is in HR, it's about people. It's about communicating with individuals. Usually, in the interview process, somebody in George's area that he oversees will probably be in contact with you and candidates as you go through the process, and I think it's important that while we as individuals, yes, we want jobs and we want titles. We want money and we want benefits. We want all these things, that at the heart, we're individuals and HR, human resources is working with humans, and that's why I think that the world can get back to just understanding that we're human beings and that we all are one and we should stick together.
Justin Alan Hayes:
And then with today, with George working with people in organizations, whether he is in a leadership position at his organization that he's currently at with the Federal Reserve at Cleveland, whether it's on the board of additional organizations, the key is that he's helping others. So whether it's helping his daughter and her teammates play soccer and having a blast while doing it, or helping and mentoring and coaching somebody in his particular workplace, or maybe they're in a different industry, a different company. I think just showing that human compassion for people has been one of the biggest things I've taken away from our conversation today, and I really do feel like we could talk for much longer, but what I don't want to forget is to let our listeners know more about how they can learn more about you. You mentioned your blog, how people can find that and other resources and how they can keep up with George and what he does next.
George Sample:
Yeah. So it's georgesample.com. That's where I have my blog at. You can find me on Twitter. I think I'm Gsample9. So usually, I'm just posting back to the blog and on LinkedIn as well. So George, George Sample, I'm on LinkedIn and I connect with folks. So when people reach out to me, anybody, I say, Hey, can we talk? I make the time to do that. I don't have to have a previous relationship with them. They reach out to me because I want to have that impact on as many careers as I can. So if someone feels like I can add value to them, I give it the old college try. Usually, I'm able to help. Sometimes I'm not able to help, but whenever someone reaches out to me for help, I mean, that's my opportunity to add value to their life.
George Sample:
To help them reach whatever those goals are, and they are different for every person, those life goals. Some folks, they want to climb the corporate ladder. Other folks want to figure out how to get a better work life balance. Some folks just want to figure out is the path they're on right now, is that the right path. Some folks don't have a career path. I've talked to a bunch of people who are in their forties or fifties, they're still not sure what they want to be when they grow up and I tell them that's okay. Just be thoughtful about it and be thoughtful about what are the things, what do you care about in life?
George Sample:
What do you care about in the universe? What are your values? What are the things that are important to you because once you start to really identify those things and you identify the things you're good at, it helps to crystallize how it is you should be spending your time. So for me, like I mentioned, georgesample.com. Connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter. I am definitely here to help. You shoot me a note, shoot me a DM or an email, I will respond and we'll figure out a time to connect so we can have that conversation so I can try to be valuable to you.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Wow. I definitely recommend our audience reach out to George, very personable, easy to chat with, funny as well, and somebody, again, that really has your best interest in mind. So he wants to help and I think that's a big takeaway as well for listeners, that people in leadership positions, people making big moves, a lot of them, in this case, George here with us today, he wants to help. So he wants to help you. He wants to help as many people as he can and I mean, the world needs 80 billion, however many people, I don't know, that live in the world, but need people that just want to help others and I just think that it would be to your benefit as a listener if you want to reach out.
Justin Alan Hayes:
And I mean, such a wonderful person. I mean, again, from the personal side of things, down to earth, and then on the professional side, just being straight and just being transparent of here are some things that go on and there's going to be people that bring the temperature down, whether you're in school or whether you're in the workplace, but just knowing that's going to exist, that might just be enough information to help you maybe through a situation of saying, okay, I just need to work through this. How can I do what's best for me while also getting through the situation with the individual, and maybe that is talking with a supervisor and talking through that.
Justin Alan Hayes:
But really, just think about I don't need to make it a confrontational issue, that we can just work through things and that individual has thoughts and feelings as well. So maybe they're not realizing some of the things they're doing, or maybe they're just a person that is a little bit on the, I guess, tougher side, rougher around the edges, and I think in our families, we have people and families and friends that they're a little rough round edges. So they're going to have people in the workplace and in that school with the same. So George, thank you for joining us today.
George Sample:
Such a pleasure. Again, please keep doing what you're doing.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Thank you.
George Sample:
It is so important for people to have as many positive outlets as possible to help them navigate this thing we call life. We're all in this together. Those relationships that you build are so meaningful. So thank you for creating this platform people to understand, to navigate their careers, to think about their mental health, and how to push forward in their lives.
Justin Alan Hayes:
You're welcome. Thank you so much. This has been The House of You official podcast sponsored by Voices for Voices. Thank you so much for joining us as we explore mental health in the workplace. Our team at The House of You is dedicated to supporting folks as they prepare for a fulfilling career while thriving on their mental health and wellness journey. For more information, please visit our website at thehouseofyou.com and check out our book series available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Audible, or where you consume content. Until next time, I am Justin Alan Hayes, and we're so excited you're here.
Please donate to Voices for Voices, a 501c3 nonprofit charity today at: https://www.voicesforvoices.org/shop/p/donate
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