Ep45: Sheree Knowles: Bridging Leadership Gaps with Emotional Intelligence

Your Business – Your Next Level

In this episode of "Your Business Your Next Level," I have an insightful conversation with Sheree Knowles, the CEO of HRKS and H3C, two highly successful human capital consulting firms. With over three decades of senior-level HR experience, Sheree shares her expertise in aligning people strategies with business goals, helping companies unlock their full potential. We dive into key topics like bridging the gap between leadership development and organizational success, building emotional intelligence (EQ) in leaders, and creating inclusive, purpose-driven cultures. Sheree also shares her journey from corporate HR to entrepreneurship, revealing how her personal challenges shaped her approach to leadership and consulting. This episode is packed with actionable advice for entrepreneurs and business leaders looking to elevate their teams and their businesses.

Key Takeaways:

Aligning People and Business Strategies: Sheree highlights the importance of integrating people strategies into business planning, ensuring talent development aligns with organizational goals.

The Leader Squeeze: Many leaders are promoted without adequate preparation or tools, leaving them to navigate managing up, down, and across without support. Sheree discusses solutions to close this gap.

Emotional Intelligence Can Be Developed: Sheree emphasizes that EQ is a teachable skill, crucial for fostering collaboration, empathy, and resilience in leadership.

Career Conversations vs. Performance Reviews: Career development should be a forward-looking process, separate from performance evaluations, to motivate and retain top talent effectively.

The Power of Inclusion: Drawing from personal experience, Sheree advocates for inclusive leadership practices that create belonging and drive team performance.

Timeline Summary:

[00:00] - Introduction to Sheree Knowles and her HR leadership journey.

[02:00] - Challenges of aligning people strategies with business objectives.

[05:00] - Addressing the “leader squeeze” and the pitfalls of unprepared leadership promotions.

[08:00] - Building EQ in leaders and its impact on team dynamics.

[12:00] - The importance of forward-looking career conversations to retain talent.

[15:00] - How inclusion and empathy drive business success.

[20:00] - Sheree’s personal story of transitioning from corporate HR to entrepreneurship.

[25:00] - Final thoughts on investing in leadership development and organizational alignment.

Links & Resources:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shereeknowles/

https://www.HRKSLLC.com