Lucy Adams, the BBC's director of people, sparked protests when she was quoted recently in PM saying that one of her greatest strengths was "not being an HR person". Several readers jumped to her defence in our Letters column in the current issue (11 March) - and fuel is added to the fire when, in Linda Holbeche's article on HR leadership, former Asda people director David Smith is quoted saying that the mark of a good HR leader is "to be as un-HR-like as possible".

Now I suspect that Lucy Adams and David Smith would wish to point out that their comments need to be taken in context, and that they're not denigrating the profession. Yet most of us have heard others saying similar unguarded things at one time or another. Why is it that anyone in an HR leadership position feels the need to distance themselves from the profession?

What Adams, Smith and others are really trying to emphasise is that they're focused on the business rather than the function; strategic and flexible in their thinking rather than procedural and rules-based; financially numerate and focused on results. It's unfortunate but true that many colleagues in other business roles regard these as "un-HR-like" qualities.

But that situation is changing fast. Almost every issue of PM touches on another way in which vigorous HR professionals are helping to drive sustainable business performance. The best already operate at the front edge of strategic thinking and innovation in their organisations, and they couldn't operate effectively if they didn't speak the language of the business. This is a step change in role being well articulated by the CIPD in its new professional standards - known as the HR profession map - and in the Next Generation HR research project.

It so happens that in our next issue (25 March), we'll look in-depth at the working relationships between three HR directors and their chief executives - at Mouchel, McDonald's and Guardian Media Group. These HR leaders are just as business-focused as Lucy Adams or David Smith. But the emphasis is not on what they left outside the boardroom. It's at least as much on the people skills they brought into it. There's plenty to be proud of in the HR profession.