Doubling up throughout most of his career, my guest today has both maintained his rank and activity in the Air Force while being a C-level HR professional at a large, well-established company. I’m joined on the show today by Lieutenant Colonel and Chief Human Resource Officer at Riceland Foods Inc., Lionel Riley. Join the conversation as we learn how he managed his parallel careers, his thoughts on the journey of transition from the armed forces to the corporate world, and how his leadership overlaps from being Lieutenant Colonel to CHRO. He unpacks why he strives to maintain mindfulness while managing his team, his responsibility as CHRO for a multi-billion dollar company, including the journey of how he wound up there. We learn about his big move from a long and stable position at Walmart, and Lionel shares three key pieces of advice for those looking at forging a career in this space.

Key Points From This Episode:

• How Lionel maintains his rank and activity in the army while being a C-level HR professional.

• We delve into the journey of transition from the armed forces to the corporate world.

• His overlap in leadership from Lieutenant Colonel to CHRO Lionel.

• All eyes on him: Lionel recounts first realizing that people were starting to pay attention to what he was doing.

• How he strives to implement mindfulness when managing his team and their lives.

• He expands on the responsibilities of the CHRO of a multi-billion dollar company.
  
  

• Lionel shares the journey of how he wound up in his role as CHRO at Riceland Foods Inc.

• Questions he asked in his interview process when deciding to leave a stable position at Walmart.

• He describes the words that settled him into taking a new position.

• Lionel shares three key pieces of advice for those forging their career in this space.

Quotes:

“The struggle [to transition from the armed forces to the corporate world] is relative.” — Lionel Riley [0:04:03]

“It’s not that, from corporation to the military is so one-to-one, but there’s so many transferable skills: discipline, exposure, cultural experiences that military members who have had the privilege of servicing oversees; they’d be able to bring immense value to your corporation.” — Lionel Riley [0:06:01]

“HR, I tell this to everybody, is a thankless job.” — Lionel Riley [0:11:57]

“Never stop learning — relationships are key and always know that you can receive a nugget or two from anyone, on anything. Never stop learning!” — Lionel Riley [0:29:51]

“Complacency kills.” — Lionel Riley [0:30:17]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Lionel Riley on LinkedIn

Riceland Foods Inc.

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