Purpose-Driven Leadership – Steve Browne, VP of HR at LaRosa’s

For this week’s Inspirational Leadership I had a lively discussion with Steve Browne, the Vice-President of Human Resources at LaRosa’s, Inc. – a regional pizzeria restaurant chain in Southwest Ohio with 13 locations and over 1,200 team members.

Steve has been an HR professional for 30+ years and has worked in the Hospitality, Manufacturing, Consumer Products, and Professional Services industries in various HR roles. He is currently a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Board of Directors and has been a member of the Membership Advisory Council (MAC) representative for the North Central Region of SHRM and Past Ohio State Council Director.  He facilitates a monthly HR Roundtable as well as an HR internet forum, called the HR Net, which reaches over 12,000+ people globally each week. Steve is an accomplished speaker who has been featured at local, regional and national conferences, chambers of commerce, HR chapters and businesses. He is also the author of the bestselling book, HR on Purpose!! which looks at Human Resources from a fresh, positive and intentional perspective.

Here are some of the topics we discussed:

• Why leadership is about being there for someone in a time of need
• The difference between credibility and trust
• Why setting expectations should be a two way street
• How to show up with vulnerability instead of bravado
• The myth that work is more important than people
• Why high potential programs are very narrow and don’t consider the full spectrum of people in your organization
• The importance of watching and understanding nuances at work
• Why effective leadership development won’t happen until organizations realize they are people-centric
• The power of recognizing that we all have different operating systems

Listen to the podcast here:

Watch the interview here:

Do you spend time reflecting on your strengths and blind spots? How do you go into interactions – do you assume a positive intent?

The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development. There is almost no limit to the potential of an organization that recruits good people, raises them up as leaders and continually develops them
– John Maxwell