<p>Exceptional leaders don’t focus exclusively on the here and now, they commit to the long game of helping others grow and emerge as the next generation of leaders. Dr. Denise Montoya serves as associate vice president for finance administration and government relations, as well as adjunct faculty at New Mexico Highlands University. In this episode of SHRM’s <em>Honest HR </em>podcast, host Gloria Sinclair Miller speaks with Dr. Denise Montoya on her 32 year career as an HR leader and her advice for those doing the work to help develop the leaders of tomorrow.<br /><br />This episode is Part 2 of a three (3) part Mini-Series on Leadership and Navigation.</p><p><b>EARN SHRM RECERTIFICATION PDCs FOR LISTENING</b></p><p>Honest HR podcast episodes will help you build your competencies while earning professional development credits (PDCs) toward your SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP recertification! All you have to do is listen to a full Mini-Series to earn PDCs! All relevant details, including the Activity IDs, are provided during the podcast recording itself.</p>
Exceptional leaders don’t focus exclusively on the here and now, they commit to the long game of helping others grow and emerge as the next generation of leaders. Dr. Denise Montoya serves as associate vice president for finance administration and government relations, as well as adjunct faculty at New Mexico Highlands University. In this episode of SHRM’s Honest HR podcast, host Gloria Sinclair Miller speaks with Dr. Denise Montoya on her 32 year career as an HR leader and her advice for those doing the work to help develop the leaders of tomorrow.
This episode is Part 2 of a three (3) part Mini-Series on Leadership and Navigation.
EARN SHRM RECERTIFICATION PDCs FOR LISTENING
Honest HR podcast episodes will help you build your competencies while earning professional development credits (PDCs) toward your SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP recertification! All you have to do is listen to a full Mini-Series to earn PDCs! All relevant details, including the Activity IDs, are provided during the podcast recording itself.
Speaker 1:
This episode of Honest HR is sponsored by PNC Organizational Financial Wellness. Organizational Financial Wellness, organized for you. Learn more at PNC.com/wellness. PNC and PNC Bank are registered marks of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. PNC.
Speaker 4:
Welcome to Honest HR, the podcast for all of us HR professionals, people managers, and team leads, intent on growing and developing our companies for the better. We bring you honest, forward thinking conversations and relatable stories from the workplace that challenge the way it's always been done, because after all, you have to push back to move forward.
Speaker 3:
Honest HR is a podcast from SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management. And by listening, you're helping create better workplaces and a better world. I'm Wendy Fong.
Speaker 4:
I'm Amber Clayton.
Speaker 2:
And I am Gloria Sinclair Miller.
Group:
Now let's get honest.
Speaker 2:
Hello everyone. And welcome back. I am your host, Gloria Sinclair Miller, SHRM field services director. Today we are continuing our mini-series on leadership and navigation. This podcast is approved to receive re-certification PDCs, but only if you listen to the full mini-series. In the first part of the mini-series, focused on leading and influencing others, we had a great dialogue as we talked about how do we continue to influence those that may not be people that we directly manage. We will continue our conversation today on leadership, but this time talking about how we develop our next generation leaders. Our guest today is Dr. Denise Montoya. Dr. Montoya serves as the associate vice president for finance administration and government relations, and is also adjunct faculty at New Mexico Highlands University. After a successful career in HR leadership, in a variety of different industries, she moved into this role. She is also a very active SHRM volunteer leader at the state and national level. Denise, welcome to Honest HR.
Speaker 5:
Thank you, Gloria. I'm so happy to be here and I appreciate the SHRM opportunity.
Speaker 2:
Well, I'm sure our listeners are very interested in hearing about your background. So why don't you share with us a little bit about your background and why you chose this focus for your career?
Speaker 5:
Well, I'm definitely not a traditional HR person. I actually started when I was 17 years old. I got my GED when I was 16 and finished my first year of college when I was 17, and my friends were graduating from high school. And I started in the personnel office, which was the name of HR back then.
Speaker 2:
Oh, I remember those days.
Speaker 5:
I've been in HR ever since. I actually initially went between HR and accounting, and I achieved my business degree and I have my associates, my bachelor's, my master's and my PhD. And the reason why I say that is because they're all related to leadership or management. And one of the most valuable experiences that I had was an internship at Phillips Semiconductors and my early twenties when I was working on my undergrad. And I had the opportunity to work with trainers, recruiters, leaders, managers, consultants, generalists in that field who really exposed me to a lot of different aspects of human resources. And I really fell in love with it back then, and I enjoyed successful 32 year career in human resources until my recent role.
Speaker 2:
That's great. And I love, and what you and I share in common is that non-traditional track. And I think as you and I were starting to really get to know each other, which I didn't realize until just now that we both have this accounting piece, but I too started on a non-traditional track and originally actually thought I was going to be a paralegal, and then started the accounting track and then fell into HR. But I think having that experience and going on that journey, if you would, was so critically important to do, to really be able to develop as an HR professional. You mentioned that you learned many things along the way as you started out in your career. What were some of those things that you learned early on about the profession and more importantly about yourself that helped you to continue to develop your career?
Speaker 5:
I think one of the best things I did honestly early on was join SHRM. And the reason why is because it got me active and it got me in a space to network with other HR professionals and really surround myself with tools and resources and people who knew human resources. And one of the things I learned about myself is human resources is incredibly complicated. It's really an art and not a science, because it's about people and people aren't the same. And you can have all the policies and procedures and structure and systems in place, but every day is never the same.
So you have to feel comfortable in, I like to call it untangling the complexity of people. And when people come to you in the field of HR, you are impacting people's lives with the decisions or the advice that you're giving to managers. And I always say, you're not the one in human resources that has to live with the consequences of your decisions and the interactions with the employees. So you really have to be a good listener and you have to be a good researcher and be resourceful so that you can be of service to leaders and employees in helping to navigate the complexities of organizational life.
Speaker 2:
No, that's very, very true. And I think people, when they're considering a career in HR, they don't see the complexity that exists. And I'm sure during the course of your career, like the course of my career, how many people have said to you, I want to get into HR because I like people? And we quickly tell them, but we don't like people, at least that's what I say. I do like people, but that said, you learn the complexity of people quite honestly, and having to figure out some of the complex problems that exist around managing our most important asset, which is our people.
I love for you to expand on, given your career, a little bit, because I think sometimes leaders just see, or people who are looking to get into HR and then go into more of a leadership role in HR. They just see one path. And you said something that I'd love for you to talk a little bit more about, but there are more than one path that you can go on in your HR career, depending upon where your interest lies. Can you say a little bit more about that?
Speaker 5:
Absolutely. I specifically chose to be more of a generalist my whole career because I appreciate the variety of it. However, if you have more of an analytical, critical thinking mind and you love numbers, compensation is a great direction to go in. If you like benefits, that's another area of expertise that I think can be complex. If you like to really serve as a mediator, a negotiator, employee relations investigations, labor relations is a good choice to specialize in. If you like the training aspect and the development of people, training and organizational development is a good opportunity to explore. But again, I chose to be more of a generalist and a consultant my whole career because I really enjoyed all of it. And I think it was like putting together a big jigsaw puzzle and you really had to understand all of the pieces in order to be more valuable at a strategic level. And so I'm really grateful that I chose that path. However, there's so much variety in human resources that I would encourage people to explore all the options available, to really identify what works best for their skillset and their strengths.
Speaker 2:
That's so true. And I think part of this is also around as you think about building your career and think about having more of that diverse experience so that there I say, because I think we're overusing the word right now, pivot. If you need to pivot and pick up on another area, you're able to do that very quickly. The more you can diversify the skillsets that you continue to develop.
Speaker 5:
And I think HR is one of those careers that you truly have to be a lifelong learner. It's constantly changing. The laws are evolving. The organizations are evolving and people are evolving. And so you have to go into HR with a absolute curious mindset and willingness to learn and be agile and flexible because of all the changes that are happening so quickly within people's lives and within organizational life.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, that's true. So speaking of being a lifelong learner, so after working in a variety of industries in your career, you made the move to education and specifically making the move into New Mexico Highlands University. Talk about what made you decide to go into education.
Speaker 5:
I love education. As I said earlier, I got my GED and now I can say from GED to PhD, and I've seen the transformation that education has offered in my own personal life. And that's actually why I teach as well, because education is really the one factor that opened up so many more opportunities for myself and I'm grateful for that. And so I have a huge passion for what it does to individuals, to families and to community lives by getting an education, and by having more opportunities in your career because of your education. I've seen so many people, smart, intelligent individuals do incredibly well and then reach that glass ceiling because they don't have their degree. So I just really believe in it. And I'm so grateful that over probably almost 20 years I've been in that industry and I just believe in our mission, I believe in what we do to help people acquire better lives.
Speaker 2:
And I love it. GED to PhD it's probably your mantra, and you're so correct, because I think people have this fear of continuing to pursue their education, and this fear is probably not the right word, but just this I can only get this far, and there's so many opportunities out there if you're willing and able to apply yourself. And you're definitely an inspiration to many who have probably been in that scenario and didn't think that they could pursue their dreams and continue their education. So, that is awesome.
Speaker 5:
I have to say that I would never tell people in the past that I got my GED, because there's a stigma behind that. And people have these assumptions and perceptions, which aren't true or valid for my specific situation. And one day my husband comes home and he says, "Honey, I told everybody at work that you have your GED." And I said, "Why did you tell them that story? That's my story to tell." And he said, he says, "And then I just wait for their reaction. And then I tell them at the time," he says, "that you have two master's degree and they're so impressed." He says, "You should share your story because people can relate to your story." And so after that I realized that there are so many people just like me. And again, education's been that one powerful factor in my life that's really changed. And I'm not your typical story. I was on Dean's list and honor roll, and in elementary, junior high and high school, but high school wasn't for me and college was absolutely my thing and still is.
Speaker 2:
Right, right. No, and I have to agree with your husband on this one, it is your story, and you should share this story. And I'm glad that we're being able to share this story here, because you definitely will inspire and continue to inspire, I'm sure you do, as you teach those who need to hear it and need that inspiration. So thank you for sharing. So on the education path. So you mentioned continuing to be this lifelong learner. So you recently made a change in your career. So after this long career in HR and having mostly HR roles, you decided to, as we sometimes say, take a walk to the dark side and go into a business role. So talk about your change that you made in moving out of maybe a more traditional HR role.
Speaker 5:
I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I currently have at my institution. I happen to have a supervisor who is really a teacher at heart, and I've been able, over the last four years, to get into a lot of special project work in higher education, and I have so much enjoyed it. And I really felt that it was time for me to leave HR and provide other people opportunities to step into my role. I have been in HR for 32 years and it was time to learn something new and discover more. So I am branching out into finance administration and I'm really enjoying the government relations aspect of it. Specifically, we are running a New Mexico Highlands University legislative leadership fellowship. And I have to say that this is probably one of the programs that I'm most proud to co-lead at the institution, because I actually see the growth of the participants of the students who are involved over a semester or two. And it's just, it's so much fun to learn something new, to dive into the unknown, to really build confidence in how you navigate through learning new things.
Speaker 2:
No, that's so true. And I love to hear the passion in your voice about being able to branch out and learn some new things, but also quite frankly, apply a lot of what you're bringing to the table from your years in HR. I think the other thing it highlights is this aspect of really understanding the business you're in. And we talk about business acumen is so critical for all HR professionals or all professionals quite frankly, but especially for HR professionals. So obviously this role is helping you to flex that critical competency in this area, but what else have you done to build that competency of business acumen and continue to build it in your current role?
Speaker 5:
I think it's really important to understand what we're measuring in organizations, what's important to the long term success of an organization? For higher education it's student enrollment, it's student retention, it's programming, it's the new degrees and the programs that are being developed to ensure innovation in higher education. So I think learning more about what those are and connecting people who are not like me, connecting with people who have passion about their profession, or passion about the work that they do and the give back that they do to the community, I think that's really important. That inspires me when you surround yourself with people who have similar passion, but in something that you know nothing about, or you know little about. So I always say, walking away from a conversation where I want to learn more about what we discussed is just really inspiring to me, and I try to practice that as a habit.
I also think another important aspect of learning new things in organization and what the business acumen is, is making sure that you read publications, Chronicle of Higher Education, any publications that relate to higher education, I think is really necessary and important and interesting because you want to make sure that you understand not just your own institution, but institutions that are similar to yours and what they're doing, because oftentimes that triggers new thought, new ideas. Maybe it doesn't specifically apply to your organization, but it gets you to think differently oftentimes.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely. And I think you hit it right on the head as it relates to not only understanding your organization, but as you mentioned, reading publications about the industry that you're in and understanding what the changes are that are happening and keeping abreast of everything that's happening is important, because it helps to bring new ideas, as you said, to the table in your role.
Speaker 5:
Gloria, I want to add one thing that I think is really important.
Speaker 2:
Sure.
Speaker 5:
Everybody thinks we're good listeners, but I've never really met a good listener. And I think one of the things I'm learning about myself is how I need to develop my listening skills more. I think that when you're listening, you're learning. And I think so often in leadership roles, we think that we know the answers all the time, but I think listening is key to exploring new possibilities. So I just, I'm on a mission to become a better listener.
Speaker 2:
And that's true, and that is so critically important because if you're going to be not only just good at what you do, but good in leadership roles, that ability to listen, like you said, is so important. And as we think about the next generation of leaders, and there's a couple of things that you hit on already, the competencies that are going to be so critically important, listening, problem solving, which we've hit on already, this ability to handle complex problems like you mentioned that you're able to see and look at differently because of this lifelong learning, those are just some of the basic ones that are going to be so important.
So also I think you have a unique seat right now being in education and given the impact between the global pandemic, our increased conversation, as it relates to racial inequity, there's so many conversations that are happening I would say outside that you're obviously having to figure out how to bring into the educational classroom, but it's also these two pandemics, if you would, are having an effect on your students, they're having an effect on your employees, in your institution. I'd love to get your perspective on just being in education, specifically as we talk about our future leaders, what impact the global pandemic is having, and I guess will have on our future leaders.
Speaker 5:
I think for me, the most important thing that's happened is the need to innovate and create in a short period of time. And it's emphasized all of us to be agile and flexible and nimble to pivot when we need to. And I think when the pandemic first hit, all of a sudden it was telework and people were wondering, what does that mean? How do I do it? What's the equipment? And we didn't have a lot of time to really think that through clearly if organizations weren't already teleworking. So the fact that we did it, and we did it successfully is pretty awesome. I also think that during this pandemic that we need to focus on the good that has happened. I think people have had to innovate and create in a short period of time. And I think it's shown the potential of the human mind to be able to do that because we had to.
So this whole pandemic, I think we need to be comfortable in the uncertainty and the volatile and the complicated world that we live in. And if you think about it, and I tell my students this all the time, we don't know what this afternoon or tomorrow's going to bring, and yet we create it. So why are we so uncomfortable in the uncertain future when everything is uncertain? How do we help people feel safe? How do we help people feel like they belong? And how do we help people navigate through the unknown, minimize the fear and just create what's possible? And I think that we've had to do that during the pandemic, but in reality, we do that every day in our lives.
Speaker 2:
That's so true. That's so true. And I think people forget because of this heightened sense of just the situation we're in, that we were doing these things before. It's just, there's more of a spotlight and focus and a need to be more thoughtful about how we're executing on some of these things.
Speaker 5:
If you think about in education, we had to move to online quickly. And a lot of faculty who hadn't been teaching online had to learn the tools of technology. And if you think about maybe the elderly in nursing homes who hadn't used maybe FaceTime or Messenger or other tools to communicate through video, they learned how to do that. And so, the use of technology and the need to quickly learn that I think has been pretty phenomenal worldwide because of the pandemic. So people can learn, I don't care what age you are, I don't care what background you come from. We are learning organisms built to learn. I believe that from the bottom of my heart. And so if we put people in learning spaces, we will learn, and we will learn together and we have to believe that.
Speaker 2:
That's so true. And I laugh when you said, so my mother is probably more techy than I am at this point and can get on Zoom, WebEx, whatever the meeting forum is, she is thriving if you would, in this technical or virtual world and has figured out her technology without me to do it. So you're right, we adapt very quickly to what our situation is. So, if we're continuing to give our advice to our future leaders. So obviously in your role and in your ability to interact with our future leaders on a day to day basis, you've given some great advice already. What else, if you had to advise other HR professionals, business leaders who want to, or are working with our future leaders, what are some of the things or advice that you would give them at this point?
Speaker 5:
Really get to know yourself, know your strengths, your weaknesses, know what you like to do, what you don't like to do. Take assessments, be really curious about who you are, because I think that the more comfortable you are with who you are, then the more tolerant and accepting you are of others who are different. And make sure that you network with people. Network and expand your network more than people who are just like you. Read, read anything that you can get ahold of that pertains to your organization, that doesn't pertain to your organization, it doesn't matter. Just make sure that you are informed and become a better listener, be curious about people and things and organizations, and really take on learning as just the way you operate in life. And I do, and I'm not saying this because I'm doing a SHRM podcast, but I really believe in SHRM and its mission and all the opportunities that it's provided to me, not just within my city or my state, but at a national level.
I think my experiences with SHRM have helped me grow tremendously because of the exposures and the opportunities that it's brought to me and my career over the last 32 years. So I think those are a few tips. And the last thing is, just be comfortable in the uncomfortable. And know that you can figure it out one thing at a time. If you think about everything in life, it was first created in the mind before it was created in reality. And so know that your thoughts are powerful and you've got to believe in yourself, and you've got to believe in people and the capabilities of what the human mind has to offer the world. Those are a few things I would suggest.
Speaker 2:
That's great advice, Denise. And thank you, because I was going to ask you about your SHRM experience because I think that has played, for both of us, a very critical part of our continued development, both being volunteer leaders locally and in chapters and at a state level, and then for you at a national level as well. So whether someone's in HR and looking at SHRM as their association, or as we have other listeners who may not be in HR, looking for what that association is for their specific industry and getting involved is just another way to build your skillset, and it also plays a huge part in your continued development. So thank you for being an active SHRM member and volunteer leader and sharing that advice.
Speaker 5:
Gloria, can I add one more thing?
Speaker 2:
Absolutely.
Speaker 5:
I've been so fortunate in my career, I've had the worst of bosses, but I've been mostly surrounded by some pretty incredible, smart, generous individuals. And at one point in your career, I think it's so important to give back. There's so many people that help build you up and you have this pivot in life where you realize that it's your turn to give back and help others grow. And I think that's a really important part of leadership is helping other people grow as well.
Speaker 2:
I couldn't say it better myself. So Denise, thank you again for spending time with us today. I am sure our listeners enjoyed learning more about you, your background, and more importantly are appreciative of the advice that you shared. If our listeners want to connect with you or reach out with you, how can they find you online?
Speaker 5:
They can find me on LinkedIn under Denise Montoya. And Gloria, I just so appreciate this opportunity and thank you and SHRM for all the work that you're doing to enhance and advance HR as a profession. So I appreciate every single one of you.
Speaker 2:
Great. Well thank you. So we've come to the end of our show. Thank you again, Denise for sharing your time with us today. Thank you all for listening. If you haven't already, please subscribe so you never miss an episode. Feel free to reach out to me. You can find me on Twitter at SHRM Gloria or on LinkedIn. As a reminder, we are in part two of our mini-series on leadership and navigation. This podcast is approved to provide re-certification PDCs, but only if you listen to the full mini-series. Our next episode will be part three of the miniseries on leadership and real world problems. If you'd like to learn more about Honest HR podcast, about myself and the other host, or to get more information on resources or what was discussed in today's episode, please head over to shrm.org/honestHR. Until next time, thank you for joining us.
Speaker 1:
Honest HR is sponsored by PNC Organizational Financial Wellness, organizing multiple customizable financial health solutions to help address your employee's specific needs all in one place. PNC Organizational Financial Wellness, organizational financial wellness organized for you. Learn more at pnc.com/wellness. PNC and PNC Bank are registered marks of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. PNC.