The Philadelphia School District is looking for a new head of HR. Ours got fired. Accused of malfeasance. Philly.com writes:

The school district’s chief talent development officer was escorted from district headquarters yesterday after an investigation found that her son was hired for two jobs he was unqualified for and she took it upon herself to give a group of workers raises, sources told the Daily News.

Here’s a couple of notes to the next head of HR at the District: 1) Don’t hire unqualified relatives, and 2) Don’t give out bonuses to your friends while firing a bunch of other teachers. Other than that, please feel free to be as corrupt as other administrators in the Philadelphia School District.

Come to think of it…I think I might like to have that job for a couple of years. My slogan: Kick ass, not kickbacks.

I work in the Old City section of Philadelphia. Ben Franklin lived across the street from our office. The Declaration of Independence was signed two blocks from here. The oldest church in the city, founded in 1695, is at the end of our block. There’s a lot of history here. Tourists, too.

Know what’s missing? Dirt.

There’s a team of street sweepers who are constantly cleaning. They keep the place tidy. And they’re invisible to most people.

I talk to the guy in this picture every day on my way into work. Sometimes it’s just a quick hello. Other times we talk about sports. Last week he showed me his cool new phone that has some pretty amazing streaming video functionality. I “met” him by saying hello one morning. I try to do that with people I don’t know. Like bus drivers. Police officers. People who run the little shops around here.

Which doesn’t make me a better person than anyone else. It just means I pay attention. But it does make me think about work and HR.

And it’s this: Do you know who cleans your streets? Want to have a great place to work? Don’t let anyone be invisible.

Perhaps apropos of nothing, I like this quotation:

Fervor is the weapon of choice for the impotent. –Franz Fanon

Perhaps apropos of something, I think that’s a pretty good distinction between those who are genuine HR leaders and those who say they are.