00;00;00;07 - 00;00;40;29
Coach Dora Mendez
Welcome back, Amazing leaders to season three of Building Leadership Community Podcast. I'm your host Coach Dora Mendez, and today's episode is one you won't want to miss. We're diving into the world of human resources leadership development and what it really takes to build thriving teams in today's workplace. Our guest is a powerhouse in the air space, and Amazon bestselling author, recognized thought leader, and someone who has spent over 25 years transforming how organizations attract, develop and retain top talent.
00;00;41;01 - 00;01;14;19
Coach Dora Mendez
Joining us today is Kyle Patrick Smith, founder of HR Kyle and the host of a highly recommended podcast that's changing the conversation around work, leadership and career success. The HR Kyle podcast. By the end of this conversation, you will walk away with actionable strategies to elevate your leadership. Practical insights on building engaged teams and a renewed confidence in your ability to create workspaces where people truly thrive.
00;01;14;21 - 00;01;24;29
Coach Dora Mendez
This episode is your roadmap to leading with intention, impact, and heart. So settle in, take a breath and get ready.
00;01;25;01 - 00;01;50;14
Coach Dora Mendez
Hello and welcome to Building Leadership Community Podcast. I'm your host, Dora Mendez. I am the founder and CEO of Coach Dora LLC. Our guests will be entrepreneurs, small business owners, and community leaders that drive social impact. It can be lonely at the top, but it doesn't have to be.
00;01;50;16 - 00;02;15;13
Coach Dora Mendez
Hello. It means so much that you joined us this week and that you join us every week for these conversations, that you are back with us for season three. It can be lonely at the top, but it doesn't have to be. That is why we started this podcast. If you are new to the Building Leadership Community podcast, we are so glad you are here.
00;02;15;16 - 00;02;40;05
Coach Dora Mendez
Please don't forget to like, share and subscribe! Hit those buttons at the end of the screen at the bottom of your screen. Don't forget to like, share and subscribe so you never miss an episode. Say hi in the comments and we have some great resources to share with you today. Do you or your friend or loved ones struggle with what to do next in your career?
00;02;40;07 - 00;03;12;25
Coach Dora Mendez
I get it. I've been there and I've spent many years on the other side doing the hiring. That's why I've created something that will meet you right where you are. The Resume Reboot, Coach Dora's career relaunch program. It's designed for job seekers, mid-career professionals craving change and anyone navigating a transition, especially those rebuilding confidence. Inside the resume reboot, you'll receive a powerful modern resume built to stand out.
00;03;12;28 - 00;03;44;02
Coach Dora Mendez
It's not a template, it's a transformation. You'll gain clarity on your next role and direction as we define your narrative together clearly, confidently, and strategically. The resume reboot also gets you a hiring mindset, drawn from my 12 plus years as an HR professional on the other side of the table. This is a real playbook. I've seen the process and I can give you insight from a hiring managers perspective.
00;03;44;04 - 00;04;11;17
Coach Dora Mendez
We shape messaging that elevate your skills, bringing for the strongest, most compelling parts of your experience. And finally, confidence not by hyping you up, but by showing you, even on paper, who you really are. You deserve a resume that reflects your brilliance, not your burnout. If you're ready to relaunch your career with intention, the link is in the description.
00;04;11;19 - 00;04;41;20
Coach Dora Mendez
Now let's continue season three with another incredible leader. Let me tell you about our guest today, Kyle Patrick Smith. Kyle is the first person who reached out to me, asking to be on the show. We have been. This is season three now. The first two season. The our guests were really curated organically. Folks that I know, folks that were referred.
00;04;41;23 - 00;05;07;22
Coach Dora Mendez
But Kyle was the first person who, organically reached out. And it means so much as we hit 13,000 views on YouTube. Our show is growing. People are loving the content. And I was so over the moon when Kyle reached out and I started listening and watching his show, which he also co-produces, and with his spouse, as we do on our show here, you'll learn.
00;05;07;22 - 00;05;38;01
Coach Dora Mendez
And if you've been following us, you know that my co-producer is my spouse, Dylan Rogers. And so, with no further ado, let me just quickly introduce you, to Kyle. Read you a little bit about his background before we bring him onto the stage to share with you all of his incredible knowledge. Kyle is an Amazon bestselling author, recognized thought leader, and seasoned HR expert with over 25 years of corporate HR experience.
00;05;38;03 - 00;06;10;11
Coach Dora Mendez
As founder of HR Kyle Kyle offers impactful consulting and leadership development, employee engagement, and organizational growth, empowering professionals and teams alike. He holds an MBA in Human Resources, a Bachelor's in Psychology, and an Associate in Business Management, complemented by further studies in counseling, performance psychology, and organizational dynamics. So yes, we only bring you the finest experts here, at Building Leadership Community.
00;06;10;14 - 00;06;43;14
Coach Dora Mendez
His keynote speeches captivate audiences, blending practical insights with transformative strategies that inspire lasting change. Kyle's expertise is also highlighted in his book Recruiting Is Easy and Get the Job You Love, and on his highly recommended podcast. Today, Kyle is here to pour into you, sharing his wealth of knowledge on leadership, talent development, and creating workspaces where everyone can succeed.
00;06;43;16 - 00;06;49;21
Coach Dora Mendez
Let's bring him on to the stage.
00;06;49;23 - 00;06;52;08
Coach Dora Mendez
Hi, Kyle. How are you?
00;06;52;11 - 00;06;55;28
Kyle Smith
Hello, Coach Dora, thank you so much for having me.
00;06;56;00 - 00;07;16;27
Coach Dora Mendez
We're really, And this is such a perfect time to have you because, so many people are getting laid off. There's so much chaos in the workplace. And so while this while here at Building Leadership Community, we really focus on your leadership. I think you have so much to share. I think our audience will really get so much out of your story.
00;07;16;28 - 00;07;23;18
Coach Dora Mendez
So can you share your leadership, story with us, your unique career trajectory?
00;07;23;20 - 00;07;43;08
Kyle Smith
Yeah, I sure can. So I started off actually out of college, not quite sure what I wanted to do. I was the first one in my family to have gone to college, so I got a business degree and started working a little bit. Still drawn to sales and marketing and and customer service after a few years. And in that I thought, there's more that I can do.
00;07;43;10 - 00;08;13;19
Kyle Smith
And I immediately felt drawn to human resources. Just to test the theory a little bit, I worked a couple of internships and all that did was draw me in further. And then, as the bio says, I spent the last 25 plus years in corporate HR, working my way up the ladder from intern to senior HR executive to top H.R person, and in the companies that I represented and the lessons that I speak about now relative to to leadership, have really been curated from that.
00;08;13;21 - 00;08;40;26
Kyle Smith
And when I had the opportunity to move from corporate HR to my own organization, HR Kyle Services, that's what I wanted this to be about. And ultimately, or what it came down to, is I want to work with individuals and organizations to create the kind of workplace that we want to work in, because just like anybody who's in the workforce for a little while, you work at really good employers and you work at something you're not so good.
00;08;40;28 - 00;08;55;06
Kyle Smith
Well, we all want to work for a really good employer, so why couldn't I take my talents and work with organizations to make them desirable to their candidates and to their employees? So that's what's brought us here today.
00;08;55;08 - 00;09;17;15
Coach Dora Mendez
And that's something that we have in common, because I pivoted from many years working, and then we decided to take our expertise and talents and start our own, companies, our own businesses to do just that. So, I, we I can really relate to that. And I think that story resonates, will resonate really strongly with our audience.
00;09;17;17 - 00;09;34;20
Kyle Smith
Well, I got to cut you off there, but you mentioned about me reaching out to you. That's precisely why I did. I'm very impressed with what you're doing. And just as importantly, the way that you're doing it, because one of the things we talk about in our organization is, we've been there and done that. And that's exactly where you're coming from.
00;09;34;20 - 00;09;52;22
Kyle Smith
And, and as I did some research on you and looked at the work you're doing. It's no fluff, it's just facts. And I was immediately drawn to that message. So if you wonder why I reached out, that's exactly why. And it sure was an added bonus that you're doing this together with your spouse, because I'm doing the same thing.
00;09;52;25 - 00;10;17;02
Coach Dora Mendez
Thank you Kyle. I just love your genuineness and I and your, generosity. Also with your time and your knowledge. And I think that's going to shine through so much and why it's, why people, will want to work with you. So that's a great segue to our sort of our next question, because we're our conversation prompt, because we really don't have questions.
00;10;17;02 - 00;10;38;10
Coach Dora Mendez
Right? We just have conversations. Right Kyle? So, this is Building Leadership Community podcast. So we always talk about what leadership means to you because leadership can be lonely. It can be isolating. So here's your opportunity really to share what community means to you and maybe share some, you know, wellness tips.
00;10;38;12 - 00;11;06;03
Kyle Smith
Yeah. Well, you know, we've had a saying in our household for a long, long time, and I pass it along to my son that says of much is given, much is expected. And if I had to sum up my leadership style, maybe in one sentence, that's what it would be about, you know, leadership to me, when you're granted that opportunity, that is a responsibility that you have not a responsibility to yourself.
00;11;06;05 - 00;11;33;14
Kyle Smith
Because once you put into that position, it's no longer about you. It's about others that are around you. And I always say leaders are judged by how well their teams do, not how well they do. So as leaders, regardless if that's by title or by designation or wherever that comes about. At that point, we have a responsibility to lift others up, and maybe it's in our organization, maybe it's in our communities and so on.
00;11;33;17 - 00;11;55;12
Kyle Smith
When I've worked in corporate HR, one of the things that I've always said is as an organization, we have access to resources that the individual will never have access to. And because of that, we have a responsibility to utilize those resources to help them. So again, if I were summing up my leadership philosophy, it really honestly comes down to that.
00;11;55;14 - 00;12;07;01
Kyle Smith
I like to think of an organizational structure is really being upside down. Me as a leader, I'm no longer up here, I'm here, and I'm working to lift those up around me.
00;12;07;03 - 00;12;13;18
Coach Dora Mendez
Thank you for sharing that. I kind of like that upside down pineapple king. Kind of like analogy.
00;12;13;21 - 00;12;15;29
Kyle Smith
And that's a good neutral.
00;12;16;01 - 00;12;26;02
Coach Dora Mendez
And could you, repeat what it is that you told your son? It kind of sounds like, you know, like what Spider-man was told by his Uncle Ben.
00;12;26;05 - 00;12;30;08
Kyle Smith
That's kind of much is given, much is expected.
00;12;30;11 - 00;12;52;27
Coach Dora Mendez
I love that. And so, yeah, that's a great segway. We always love for folks to, give some advice to the next generation of leaders, or maybe something that you would want to tell your younger self when you were early in your career. What would you want to share with the next generation of leaders?
00;12;52;27 - 00;13;14;27
Kyle Smith
You know, there's a few things. One. Show up consistently every day because we're judged by how what we repeatedly do. We're not judged by those things that we occasionally do. We're ultimately judged and we're seen and and our results are about what we repeatedly do. So so show up consistently every day. The other thing I would say is show up authentically.
00;13;15;00 - 00;13;37;00
Kyle Smith
You know, I'm all young leaders struggle with this and I'm no different. You know, I was a leadership student way back when. Even as a teenager, I was curious about leadership. But what I came to realize over time is those are lessons that I needed to learn, but craft them in a way that that was consistent with my delivery and who I am and what I'm about.
00;13;37;02 - 00;14;00;02
Kyle Smith
So first and foremost, show up consistently. Show up with your true self. And again, that sounds like a worn out phrase. Sometimes, but that means just be genuine, be who you are. But the other thing is work to always come from a good place. And my experience has taught me that I can approach every single situation, giving the other person the benefit of the doubt.
00;14;00;05 - 00;14;20;17
Kyle Smith
And if I do that, it tends to lower the stress, mine and the other person. It tends to lower the tension and all the other negative things that can come into a situation when you just try to collaborate with that other person, no matter what the issue is. If they broke a policy or a procedure or they've done something wrong, work with them.
00;14;20;20 - 00;14;40;02
Kyle Smith
Don't work against them. Don't make the conversation punitive. Work with that person. Because the other thing that I've found, and I have a whole talk about this, I call it the 95% rule. And what that means is the vast majority of people in your organization in the world want to do the right thing. They want to do the right thing.
00;14;40;07 - 00;14;56;11
Kyle Smith
They want to do a good job. They want to receive recognition. They want to receive those rewards that go along with with doing a good job. And ultimately, they want to go home to their families and their loved ones and have a good personal life and do travel and do all these wonderful things. That's the vast majority of people.
00;14;56;13 - 00;15;19;07
Kyle Smith
And we as leaders, that's who we need to lead. Then we deal with those exceptions at 5% that falls outside of that. Those are the exceptions. So let's lead to the majority, not to the exceptions. And if you do that, you'll be a happier boss. And that's one thing that's important. Right. But the other thing is the people around you will be a lot happier.
00;15;19;10 - 00;15;25;17
Coach Dora Mendez
So, I want to elevate a couple of things you said. So, consistency.
00;15;25;19 - 00;15;26;24
Kyle Smith
Yeah.
00;15;26;26 - 00;15;28;14
Coach Dora Mendez
Authenticity.
00;15;28;16 - 00;15;28;21
Kyle Smith
Yeah.
00;15;28;22 - 00;15;33;23
Coach Dora Mendez
And lead to the majority, not the minority.
00;15;33;26 - 00;15;35;12
Kyle Smith
Exactly. Yeah.
00;15;35;14 - 00;16;08;20
Coach Dora Mendez
So I want to, interrogate just one of the things that you mentioned, a little bit further because I think people need to hear this. There is sort of this myth that authenticity means you can, just do whatever you want. Yeah. So I had a leader the other day come to me and tell me someone was being, someone was, oversharing a little bit too much and making others feel uncomfortable.
00;16;08;22 - 00;16;09;15
Kyle Smith
Yeah.
00;16;09;18 - 00;16;17;17
Coach Dora Mendez
And, you know, they talked to this person, and the person said, well, you tell me. I have to be my authentic self.
00;16;17;19 - 00;16;17;27
Kyle Smith
Yeah.
00;16;17;27 - 00;16;38;23
Coach Dora Mendez
And so my view is you can be authentic and bring your whole self to work, but you're still accountable. Yes. So can you talk about accountability because accountability authenticity and, and accountability to me come hand in hand because you can you want to be your best.
00;16;38;23 - 00;16;54;01
Coach Dora Mendez
You want to bring your best self to work. You want to bring your whole self. You want to be genuine. You want to be authentic, not want to be, but just be. But at the same time, there's accountability. Can you speak to that a bit?
00;16;54;04 - 00;17;15;29
Kyle Smith
Yeah. In any sort of role in any organization, when you join that organization, you have, of course, a responsibility to yourself, but you also have a responsibility to others. And that's an inherent contract that we sign will be joining an organization. And I talk to my new hires about that. And what that means is your responsibility to yourself is to make sure that you do your best.
00;17;15;29 - 00;17;40;11
Kyle Smith
You come in and you you follow these policies and procedures, but your responsibility to others is to also nurture a positive environment for them to work in. And to your point, when we do things such as overshare or we cross boundaries that everyone should have at that point, we're we're no longer honoring that responsibility that we have to others.
00;17;40;14 - 00;18;03;27
Kyle Smith
And to me, that's ultimately what it comes down to, that responsibility to self and that responsibility to others. That's that inherent contract that we sign. That's an imaginary contract. When we join an organization, a team or a group or whatever it may be, a club, you know, sports organization, whatever it is, those two responsibilities always exist.
00;18;03;29 - 00;18;36;26
Coach Dora Mendez
So thank you for sharing that about, response responsibility because I think, authenticity is a superpower. You know, and, I guess maybe because we're both in HR and HR has such a PR problem, like, yes, you know, we hire or fire everyone: āUh-oh HR is hereā, you know, and and, you know, I often think of, like, the stereotype of the HR person, but really we're there to support people.
00;18;36;26 - 00;18;41;06
Coach Dora Mendez
Yes. We want people to be successful and endure.
00;18;41;06 - 00;19;03;07
Kyle Smith
I'm so glad that you brought that up. And I know it's a little bit off script here, but it's very refreshing to talk with another HR professional that admits we've got a PR problem because I talked to so many that that either don't realize it, don't recognize it, or just don't know it's there. And it it's and it's something that we as HR professionals to make sure that we're doing our best, we need to recognize it.
00;19;03;14 - 00;19;09;03
Kyle Smith
And then and obviously then act accordingly to try to dispel that myth and the work that we do.
00;19;09;06 - 00;19;27;15
Coach Dora Mendez
And it's so it's I appreciate that because, it's very rare to be able people, a lot of people don't understand that. And, transparency is so important for us and to be transparent. And we often share. But there's also that line like you.
00;19;27;17 - 00;19;27;26
Kyle Smith
Yeah,
00;19;27;26 - 00;19;37;28
Coach Dora Mendez
There's that line where there's confidentiality and there's transparency. So and I think sometimes people conflate conflate the two.
00;19;38;00 - 00;19;57;09
Kyle Smith
Well during the way, the way I've explained it to my teams, every team I've ever joined, when I've explained that dynamic that you just described, here's what I call it friendly, not friends. We, in HR, especially have that responsibility. Be friendly to everyone, but we can't be friends with anyone because that puts us in a very vulnerable position.
00;19;57;16 - 00;20;20;18
Kyle Smith
And as you and I both know, in some organizations, there are those people that like to have the inside track to information. And wow, isn't it nice to have that HR friend that I've got and I can get some inside information. We have to be careful of that. And again, it's not it's not a really terrible thing. But to your point, it can put us in a position to where we maybe violate a confidentiality or a responsibility that we have in HR.
00;20;20;21 - 00;20;24;28
Coach Dora Mendez
So I like that āfriendly, but not friendsā.
00;20;25;00 - 00;20;25;11
Kyle Smith
Yeah
00;20;25;11 - 00;20;47;03
Coach Dora Mendez
Right. That's a great that's a great way to put it. So I would love for folks. Can you share a little bit more about you, your company, how people can get to know you? Because, first, I guess I should ground by saying, where are you physically in the world?
00;20;47;06 - 00;21;08;24
Kyle Smith
Yeah. So we're physically in a town called Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. And to give you some geographical bearing, we're on the outskirts of Akron, Ohio. And, many people, especially sports fans, have heard of Akron because of a man by the name of LeBron James. He's from here. My son actually went to the same high school with LeBron or not with LeBron, but same high school that he went to.
00;21;08;27 - 00;21;17;07
Kyle Smith
But again, to to give you further bearing as to where we are, we're about 40 miles driving distance from downtown Cleveland.
00;21;17;09 - 00;21;38;18
Coach Dora Mendez
Very cool. Cleveland rocks! So, you know and so and I'm here in New York as folks who follow follow me know I'm here in New York and New York State and, for those who are new here. So, tell folks a little bit about HR Kyle, how they can get involved with you, what your services are.
00;21;38;18 - 00;21;52;04
Coach Dora Mendez
We'd love for folks to, get to know you, because in the short time that I've gotten to know you and just just in this brief conversation, you know, I know people will want to work with you.
00;21;52;07 - 00;22;07;11
Kyle Smith
Thank you, I appreciate that. And believe me, the feeling's mutual. I shared that with you from the beginning. I. I came into this with such a wonderful feeling about you and your husband, both just based on the work that you do and the way that you help people. And I think that's, you know, that's something we definitely share in common.
00;22;07;11 - 00;22;38;02
Kyle Smith
We're are we looking to work with people? Yeah. But ultimately, we just really we want to help people. And where we come from on this is we want to work with them to create work places that they want to be in. So that comes down to our work in talent management. So the training components and some of the other things that we do from a talent acquisition standpoint, we will certainly work with them on individual talent needs, but we'll also work with them to create a more consistent, effective, efficient, talent acquisition process.
00;22;38;02 - 00;23;05;21
Kyle Smith
So that relates to the recruiting and all the communication that goes around that. We also work with organizations with, with some subcategories there, for example, mentoring programs, internship programs, young professional programs. So we hope that as well. And then on the other side, this may sound unusual, but I think it'll make sense based upon what I've shared. We also work with organizations as it relates to outplacement, meaning you've got a reduction in force that you need to go through, and some employees are going to be impacted.
00;23;05;28 - 00;23;33;22
Kyle Smith
We want to work with those employees to make sure that the process is handled legally, but also just as important ethically. We want to give those individuals who are impacted a soft landing, so we're helping them make that transition from current employer to next employer and all the steps that are involved there. So again, our goal with all the things that we do is to work with individuals and organizations to create a workplace that everyone wants to work in.
00;23;33;24 - 00;23;57;24
Coach Dora Mendez
So thank you for sharing that, and we will certainly share those links. In the description how to follow you, how to get in touch with you in the description of this episode. I also want to just say it's so interesting that you talk about outplacement. It's ironically, it's something that's, happening so much, in this economy.
00;23;57;26 - 00;24;15;22
Coach Dora Mendez
But also I have to say, it was made famous by a movie with George Clooney also. So, so for people who don't understand what outplacement services are, just George Clooney made that famous in that in that movie where he flew around the country doing that? But we do it with heart.
00;24;15;24 - 00;24;15;27
Kyle Smith
Yes!
00;24;15;28 - 00;24;17;15
Coach Dora Mendez
So thanks so much.
00;24;17;15 - 00;24;38;27
Coach Dora Mendez
If you can hold on there, we're going to roll our closing credits. And just hold on one moment. Thank you so much for being here, for sharing your knowledge and your, consistency. Authenticity and, lead to the majority, not the minority. So. Yeah.
00;24;38;27 - 00;24;45;01
Kyle Smith
Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. I love talking with you. I love being here. So thank you.
00;24;45;03 - 00;25;14;14
Coach Dora Mendez
You've been listening to Building Leadership Community. Watch on YouTube @CoachDoraM. Listen, wherever you get your podcast, follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube @CoachDoraM. Visit me on the web at CoachDoraMendez.com. Hosted by me, Dora Mendez. Produced by Dora Mendez and Dylan Rogers. Graphics, editing, and sound mixing by Dylan Rogers.
