Get to know Yale leaders—John Whelan
John Whelan, vice president for Human Resources (HR), joined Yale on August 1, 2021, just as the university was preparing to welcome back thousands of faculty and staff members to on-campus work after sustaining the university’s mission remotely for more than a year. John comes to Yale from Indiana University, where he spent seven years as the chief human resources officer. At Indiana University, he implemented a comprehensive strategic plan and redesign of HR operations to improve effectiveness in staff recruitment, retention, and professional development. John also created a diversity, equity, and inclusion taskforce to review HR practices and policies before launching DEI initiatives to support an inclusive and equitable workplace. He also collaborated with colleagues across the Indiana University campus to confront the economic uncertainties and other challenges associated with COVID-19.
John earned a J.D. in Labor and Employment Law and a B.A. in American Studies from the University of Notre Dame. After graduation, he decided to focus on human resources because he wanted to motivate and develop the people whose talents and commitment are essential to the success of an organization. Prior to joining Indiana University, John took on increasingly complex leadership responsibilities in HR for the Gillette Company, Bristol Myers Squibb, the University of Notre Dame, and Baylor University. Right now, John and one of his sons are living in New Haven while the rest of his family remains in Indiana to accommodate his youngest daughter’s high school education. He and his wife Molly are the parents of five children—two recently out of college, two in college, and one in high school.
How has the pandemic affected your first several months at Yale—challenges, opportunities?
It has helped me get connected quickly with my colleagues because I’ve had a pandemic-related meeting almost every single day. And since I was dealing with this for the last year and a half at Indiana University, there was a familiarity that helped me hit the ground running. On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve had less casual hallway interactions and introductions because we were working remotely. But this is changing. Several Yale people have asked me what the silver lining of COVID has been for me, and my answer is two-fold. All my children ended up at home and I was able to establish a morning exercise routine of either walking or running. These two things aligned nicely when my kids joined me in the morning, and we could spend some valuable time together.
What do you think is the best advice a leader can receive?
I don’t know that I’ve been given advice so much as I’ve observed and watched other leaders. I’ve realized the value of observation when I’ve tried to follow in their footsteps. Most notably, I’ve learned not to micromanage; to trust the people on your team to use their skills and their experience to make the decisions that are within their job responsibilities. And even though this may mean some people stumble a bit, they are ultimately going to be stronger in their roles. They’re also likely to stay longer because they’re going to feel valued.
What books are you reading?
I listen to audio books and it’s a passion. I build listening into my routine of walking every morning if I can, or on the weekends. I slowly chip away at one book and as soon as I’ve finished that, I jump to another. I have a list of almost 40 books that I can’t wait to get to. My preference is non-fiction, but I occasionally listen to a novel as well. The one that I’m listening to right now is “Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment” by Daniel Kahneman. I read his book “Thinking, Fast and Slow” several years ago and enjoyed it so much that when his new book popped up recently, I had to grab it. Both are about how humans make decisions, so I’m interested because much of it applies to Human Resources—when we hire people; when we give performance ratings; and more. I’m fascinated by behavioral science. Another favorite book that I’ve listened to, maybe two books ago, was “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration” by Isabel Wilkerson. It is incredible and I learned so much about the history of the great migration of Blacks from the south to the northern and western states. She writes so well that I just couldn’t put it down.
What music do you listen to?
I’m a child of the 70s and 80s so the music I listened to growing up was mostly the pop, Motown, and classic rock that came out of that era. I still like all of that music. My kids, however, are all into the classical music they play on their instruments, and even though I didn’t grow up with classical music, I’ve really come to enjoy it over the last 15 years of going to recitals and listening to them practice at home. Now, if I want to relax, I’ll put on classical music. Our kids picked up instruments when I moved from Notre Dame to Baylor University around 2009. We were new to Texas, and we found this strings program that was literally right around the corner from where we lived. One of my daughters had an interest in picking up an instrument and the other kids decided to take up instruments too. I have one son, Gavin, who plays double bass although not regularly anymore, but because of that experience, he played it all through high school. I have another son, Aidan, that plays classical guitar. He teaches in a pre-college program at Indiana University and then, I have a daughter, Maeve, who is a viola performance major at Indiana University’s Jacob School of Music. Her plan is to be a professional musician. Another daughter, Grania, played the cello but then she moved on after high school into theater and drama, also at IU. My youngest, Sinead, is a freshman in high school and in the last year she has switched from the violin to the viola.
What are you most grateful for?
I read a lot of the “Get to know Yale leaders” interviews while I was doing my own interviewing at Yale just to learn anything I could. I came across this question and saw that most people do say their families, and now that I am answering it, yes, I am most grateful for my family. My wife and my kids are the bright spots in my life. I am also grateful for the opportunity to come here to Yale. This is a dream opportunity for me.
Where would you like to travel on vacation?
I would like to go back to London where my wife and I lived after we were married. We were caretakers in the law school building where I was studying which meant we had free rent. Our building was in the heart of central London, only a block from Piccadilly Circus, which allowed us to take full advantage of such a vibrant city. My ultimate vacation with no time or resources limitations would have to be a journey through the United States. I imagine my wife and I getting a small RV and driving with no real schedule on back roads—just stopping in small towns, exploring them, and then moving on to another place until we had crisscrossed the country.
If you could solve a human problem, what would it be?
The immediate one that comes to mind is racism. It pervades everything that we do, and it’s ingrained in the fabric of our society. It causes so much pain, suffering, and inequality everyday, so if I could wave a magic wand and fix one problem in the world, it would be that. I obviously don’t have a magic wand to eliminate racism, so it is important for me, as the head of human resources at Yale, to ensure that our policies and practices are anti-racist. Another existential problem we face is climate change, which has a longer-term impact for future generations, our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I think we’re on a terrible trajectory right now.
If you were giving a dinner party, what five people, living or dead, would you invite?
The people I immediately think of are Martin Luther King Jr., Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Warren Buffett, Kamala Harris, and Daniel Kahneman. If I could have a sixth person, I would say Barack Obama. I would love to sit around a table with all these individuals and talk about the big issues in the world and understand how they think about them.
What do you think has helped you develop as a leader over the course of your career—relationships, courses you’ve taken, making mistakes, hard work, all of the above?
Relationships for one. I have found that what’s been critical to enjoying my career and then being successful in it has been building good, trusting relationships. I would give that advice to anybody. If people trust you and enjoy being with you, they’re going to connect with you more and you’re going to grow. The second thing that’s helped me develop was taking on assignments that were outside the scope of my job when someone asked for assistance. I would do it out of a willingness to be helpful, but what I didn’t realize was that it could benefit my career. I can think of at least one promotion that I received in part because somebody asked me to help with a big assignment that was outside of my normal job duties. It was a senior person, not my boss, and so I stayed late several nights and hammered it out. And I believe that my promotion was influenced by this because the person who asked was very close to the person who promoted me. Helping out creates a greater sense of teamwork, but I think it also opens doors to greater opportunities. What I’m referring to happened when I worked at The Gillette Company very early in my career.
Do you have some favorite childhood memories?
I grew up in the Northeast. I was born in Philadelphia and lived there until I was 12, and then my family moved to Boston. Boston is the hub of my extended family and it’s what I connect to as my hometown even more than Philadelphia. Throughout my entire childhood, the one thing that was at the center of everything I did was sports. I love sports. I was on organized teams, and I was constantly playing sports with my friends in the backyard or in the driveway or on a basketball court—those were the most enjoyable times of my childhood. The three sports that were the biggest for me were basketball, football, and track. I didn’t really get into track until I was in middle school, and then in high school I got serious about it until I slowly dropped organized basketball and football. I ran track when I was in college and, to this day, I still like to run. I have to spread it out a little bit because I can’t run every day and I can’t run as far as I used to, but I exercise before my day starts and it puts me in a much better mood; makes it so much easier to deal with the unexpected stressors in a workday.
Can you please tell me about the first time you made a mistake on the job; reached an important goal; realized what you wanted to be when you grew up; or were promoted.
I’ll tell you about a mistake I made. It was early in my career in Human Resources and the mistake had financial implications. It was a compensation decision, and it was just pure error; I mean I just made a mistake. I thought I was going to get fired and I was horrified by it. But I had a great boss who basically said to me, “Let’s think the mistake through.” We did and then he said, “I think of this as an investment in your future, so don’t worry about it. Don’t make the mistake again, but use this as a learning opportunity.” I was so grateful. I had a young family at the time, and it was a scary situation. This story ties back to the advice question you asked me earlier. Empower people to do their jobs and don’t worry if they make some mistakes. Don’t be a micromanager who is so afraid of things going wrong, who wants everything to be so perfect that he or she gets involved and tells people how to do their jobs. To be blunt, people hate micromanagers, and they often leave the workplace because of them. We’re human beings and our brains are imperfect devices; we’re not computers. We make mistakes and judgments; emotions get in the way. We’re not perfect, and I find it really fascinating to understand that so we can learn to adjust for that as much as possible.
What would you say to your 12-year-old self if you could talk to him today?
I was raised by my parents with a mindset to help out others, especially those who don’t fit in or who are marginalized. I would reaffirm to my 12-year-old self that this approach will continue to be important for the rest of his life.