The four seasons of a CHRO’s life

Which season are you navigating right now?

Most CHROs don’t talk about this openly, but the role has seasons.

I don’t mean career stages or titles. I mean seasons. You can be a first-time CHRO or a seasoned one and still find yourself right back in spring or winter.

If you’ve been in the Chief Human Resources Officer role long enough, you’ve lived this. Often more than once.

Spring. The foundational season for a CHRO.

Spring is the startup season of HR.

This is where many CHROs find themselves in PE-backed companies, high-growth organizations, or during major transformations. The business is moving fast. The people systems are not.

You’re planting seeds.

Compliance and risk management.
Core HR infrastructure.
An HRIS that works.
Hiring plans that don’t break under pressure.
Managers who need structure, clarity, and coaching.

This is the season of standing up the basics of HR so the business can function. It’s not glamorous, but it’s mission-critical.

In spring, CHROs spend most of their time in HR, not in the business. That’s exactly where they should be. Credibility is built through stability.

Many well-known CHROs started here. Early People leaders at Google, LinkedIn, and ServiceNow focused first on building repeatable people systems before talent management became sophisticated. Foundations come before scale.

Spring can feel exhausting. It can also feel full of possibility.

Summer. When HR drives business growth.

Summer is where HR starts to blossom.

The basics are in place. Your HR leadership team is stronger. You finally have room to think ahead instead of just reacting.

This is the season of advanced talent management.

Succession planning that informs real decisions.
Leadership development tied to business strategy.
Workforce planning aligned to growth.
Culture work that supports performance, not posters.

You’re deep in the business. You understand how money is made. You’re helping leaders scale themselves and their teams.

This is where HR shifts from a support function to a growth engine.

Many CHROs do their most visible work here. At companies like Microsoft and Adobe, CHROs helped leaders rethink talent, capability building, and culture as a competitive advantage during growth cycles.

Summer is energizing. It’s also demanding. The expectations are higher, and the stakes are real.

Fall. The payoff season for the CHRO.

Fall is not decline. It’s harvest.

This is the season where years of HR investment start to compound.

You have strong leaders.
You have systems and data.
You have credibility.
You have a team that can operate without you in every meeting.

You spend most of your time in the business, not in HR.

You’re advising the CEO.
You’re connecting dots across functions.
You’re helping the board think long-term about talent and risk.

This is where CHROs often say, “This is why I stayed.”

At companies with mature HR operating models like Procter & Gamble, CHROs operate at this level for long stretches of time. HR runs well. The focus shifts to enterprise value.

Fall is quieter. Strategic. Deeply rewarding.

Winter. The season every CHRO faces.

No CHRO escapes winter.

Layoffs.
Cost cuts.
Hiring freezes.
PE firms pulling back investment.
Entire industries being disrupted.

Winter tests everything.

Your leadership.
Your judgment.
Your ability to maintain trust when fear is high.

Winter is not failure. It’s reality.

Some of the most respected Chief Human Resources Officers built their reputations during winter seasons. Guiding leaders through reductions with humanity. Preserving culture during downturns. Helping organizations survive without losing their soul.

Winter can be harsh. It can also be clarifying. It forces focus on what truly matters.

The question every CHRO should ask.

The real question isn’t which season you’re in.

The real question is whether you’re navigating it alone.

Most CHROs don’t struggle because they lack experience or intelligence. They struggle because they don’t have a trusted peer group of other Chief HR Officers who understand the season they’re in and can help them see around corners.

If you’re a CHRO at a company with 500-plus employees and you’re interested in navigating these seasons alongside other CHROs who’ve been there, done that, and are willing to share what actually works, DM me.

You don’t have to grind through spring alone.
You don’t have to guess your way through summer.
You don’t have to waste the fall season.
And you don’t have to survive winter by yourself.