Tara runs a leadership consulting business focused on delivering compassion and empathy from senior leadership. Tara has a diverse background starting at Good Morning America, MTV, Global Television, transitioning to work in Human Resources and ultimately now as a leadership coach.
For the full interview please listen to the most recent CM Group- Free Lunch Podcast, Episode 41 “Too McCool for School, Compassionate Leadership”.
Colin and Greg: Tara, one of the things that's obvious in looking at your background is that you've had a diverse and varied career to this point. So tell us your story. How did you end up where you are today?
Tara: It is a very diverse and storied career. You're right, because I've never actually been formally educated in anything that I've done for my careers. And it's interesting, I wanted to own my own Holt Renfrew, that is what I wanted to do. And then when I got into it and I was finishing up my degree in New York and I said, I actually don't want to do this. It's a lot more paperwork and boring, monotonous detail and financials and all that that you guys so love. I don't. And so that's when I took a turn and started doing my practicum at Good Morning America, that's when I started in television. I worked at MTV for a while, then came back to Calgary and ended up working for The Movie Show, which was expanding from one day a week to six days a week. So I wrote them. I was working at Stage West at the time and I just said, I'm assuming that with your expansion you're going to need a Production Assistant? So I moved into that role with them and they took a chance on me and then ended up in front of the camera, which I was not expecting, did entertainment for quite a number of years and then moved into news and then from news, went into morning television.
And then from there, I completely transitioned into the corporate world, I started off there in a communications role and then it evolved into Communications, Culture and HR. And so I ended off there as the Vice President of HR and Communications. And I did all of the community investment as well with my team. Of course, I had an amazingly supportive team because in some cases I really didn't know what the heck I was doing and I needed their support. And in some cases they taught me everything that I knew about it. That's when I realized that I really loved working with leaders. And I'd always approached my own leadership with a lot of compassion. And just the way that I saw things and even when I was in TV, we'd have to work with people who'd be coming into the studio who would be really nervous. And so it was all about being compassionate and helping them through those moments and helping them shine. So we did that with leaders as well. And I transitioned and started to do it full time and focusing on compassion and the connection between compassion and leadership.
Colin and Greg: When you were at Good Morning America doing your practicum, would you have in your wildest dreams thought you'd be the Vice President of H.R. of an energy company in Calgary?
Tara: No. Oh, my gosh. Back then, early twenties, I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. I didn't have a whole lot of direction, I was just kind of going through saying that this is interesting, I'm going to stay here for a while, and I really thought that I would be working behind the scenes as a producer for television. That's what I thought. So, no, I don't even think I knew what HR was back then.
Colin and Greg: So tell us you've gone into this compassion and leadership area that you were talking about. What's the significant link between compassion and leadership in your eyes?
Tara: Well, part of being a leader is really helping your team, focusing on your team. So when you have compassionate leadership, I mean, the definition of compassion is wanting to alleviate someone's suffering in someone's pain. So as a leader, if you translate that into compassionate leadership, what do you want to take out of the workplace to make your people happier and thriving? You want to take out the drama. You want to take out uncertainty to the extent that you can. You want to help them feel valued. All of those are compassionate behaviors. So we're not just talking about being kind in a traditional sense. I mean, that I would think would be table stakes. Hopefully you are kind to your people and respectful. But the compassionate piece, a lot of people mistake it for just being soft and it really isn't. When you are a compassionate leader, you have the courage, you have the guts to get in and have tough conversations when you need to have tough conversations because it's the right thing to do for that person. I really feel like it's taking the focus off of yourself and placing it on others.
For more questions and answers with Tara McCool please refer to our Podcast.
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-The CM Group