I like Lazlo Bock's book, Work Rules! If you think HR isn't central to management, I offer to you that the top junior officers in the US Navy are sent back to

I like Lazlo Bock's book, Work Rules! If you think HR isn't central to management, I offer to you that the top junior officers in the US Navy are sent back to the Academy as Company Officers to * run herd on ~120 talented young midshipmen, basically a high stakes RA. * meet each other * earn a master's in HR, focusing on leadership, administered by the Naval Postgraduate School. Spitball annual cost: $10M for 15 a year (2 year program and they're drawing salary and benefits, which could have been invested in having them driving ships or flying airplanes). Focus on your people, their development, their well-being. Let them handle the technical challenges. Communicate your people challenges to company HR aggressively. Make sure they are giving your folks money for training. If you have a weak player, talk to HR early. If they think you can handle it, they'll tell you. If they have tools for you, they'll bring those to bear. Collect data, ask HR what data they collect company-wide. Talk to the other directors. Those are your colleagues now. Use them. Be frank with them.