|
|
|
Characteristics of a Good Company Report
With all the wonderful tools that the IT industry has brought to the business world, you would think that the level of written communication would increase. But documentation has become a lost art, especially when it comes to reporting to team...
The Seven Secrets to New Age Leadership
Did you ever notice that In our American culture, we have the tendency to look outside of ourselves for leadership? That’s a trap. Isn’t it time we looked inside ourselves to see how we can be the leader we want and need to be in the 21st century?...
The Top 10 Reasons Why a Manager Would Want to Learn Emotional Intelligence
1. Managers are called upon to make decisions. Primitive emotions, unmonitored, automatic, powerful and not always conscious can “hijack” us making us react thoughtlessly to people and situations instead of thinking through a situation and...
Thoughts on Great Leadership
“Thoughts on Great Leadership”
Leadership is not “who” you are; it is “what” you are. When you walk into a room where a meeting is about to be conducted, what are the people thinking of you?
1. Do they perceive you as confident and driven?...
Uncovering Soul In The Workplace
The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported “soul is in”. In a headline calling it “the buzzword of the ‘90s” a front-page story reported that some 322 citations for the word appear in the current edition of Books in Print. That’s nearly four...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
It Starts with the Selection Process: Prevention is the Best Cure
How many times have you heard this when talking with an experienced coach or consultant.
You say:
1.My department is not making quotas. I’ve provided training. I motivate. What am I doing wrong?
2.My marketing department head does good work, but alienates her employees. What am I doing wrong?
3.How come Adam’s department is running so smoothly, and Maribeth’s isn’t? What am I doing wrong?
4.How come I can’t motivate this employee? What am I doing wrong?
They say: [As you watch the wheels turning as they think over all they know and all they’ve seen, and keep going back to the root cause] It starts with the selection process.
As the president’s advisor had signs placed around saying, “It’s still the economy, stupid,” we should all have signs placed around our office saying, “It starts with the selection process, stupid.”
I’m not fond of the use of the word ‘stupid,’ however it makes a point here. Our folklore is full of the wisdom of the ages:
·You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
·You can’t spin gold out of straw.
·You can’t put a round peg in a square whole.
·All the hunting in the world won’t produce game if there aren’t any there in the first place.
·You can’t teach a pig to sing. You will frustrate yourself and greatly annoy the pig.
If you’ve chosen the wrong person in the first place, there isn’t much you can do. No, Chester, not even YOU.
Therefore, you will save yourself great frustration time and money if you choose the right person for the job in the first place.
Let’s go back to this selection process and look at some of the things you can do to insure a better “fit” in the first place.
THE JOB DESCRIPTION
Yes, you need a job description. I’ve never seen a good one, but you need one. This will cover the rudiments – the basic requirements, and this is the easy part.
You will know what credentials, training, skills and academic degrees the candidate needs. Then do the check list and you’re ready for the hard part.
THE PERSONALITY
Next, I suggest you take a look at the sort of personality you need to have in the position. The personality of the person you’re looking for will be determined by the requirements of the position itself, and then by the people this person will be working under, and with.
Take the time to think this through and write it out. For instance, I was talking with someone the other day whose company consists of three “chiefs” and they are about to hire their first “Indian” (support person). He was intent on certain traits for the job, but was going in the wrong direction. People often overlook that the most important trait in a support person is “willingness to help.” Get someone with a helpful disposition.
In this case, it takes a special personality to answer to three bosses. It’s stressful. The person must be both centered and patient. They have to have a strong enough personality to insist the bosses establish priorities among themselves, and the patience to work this through (because they won’t), and to be able to switch tasks on a moment’s notice. They need flexibility and resilience.
How do you assess for this? One way is in the interview. You can look for an easy disposition by their behaviors with you. Irritability and complacence show in facial gestures, in tone of voice, in speed of speech and movements. Work with a coach to learn more about reading nonverbal communication.
You can also assess from the StrengthsFinder® profile (see below). Someone with Command for a strength doesn’t like to be given orders and is not a good choice for a support position, unless you like to ride a bucking bronco.
Another trait to look for is introversion and extraversion. Extraverts derive energy from other people, while people drain the introvert. Consider the demands of the job, and hire accordingly. Keep in mind, though, that it has a lot to do with being in control of the flow of the people. Introverts, surprisingly, can make some of the best salespeople.
Keep in mind that people take jobs for the money, not because they’d be good at it, or enjoy it, or be able to tolerate its stress, i.e., they apply for jobs they are unsuited for.
Fitting the personality to the job is challenging. We recommend working with a coach experienced in EQ for
help with this. Assessments always need good interpretation.
THE TALENTS
The StrengthsFinder® profile, from the Gallup organization, is not well-known yet, but a dynamite profile in the hands of an expert interpreter. It will tell you the person’s top 5 innate talents (which, combined with expertise, education and training equal a “strength”), in new terms such as Focus, Deliberativeness, Relator, WOO (winning others over), Maximizer, Futuristic, Harmony, and Positivity.
How does this work? I worked with a venture capitalist who wanted to hire someone who would do the due diligence so important in this field. Deliberativeness is exactly the quality he needs in this person. People with this strength do “due diligence” on everything, as naturally as you draw a breath. They are innately cautious, look for loopholes, examine things carefully, and anticipate problems. Combine this with a strength such as Focus, or Intellection, and you have your due diligence person.
Another example, according to studies, the single best predictor of a good salesperson is an optimistic attitude, and this is encompassed in the strength called Positivity.
The assessment will give the person’s top 5 strengths. How they combine is also crucial. If you have Positivity, WOO and Activator, you may have a used car salesman, good for the initial sale but then they move on to other things. If you have Positivity, WOO, and Empathy or Communicator, you may have someone who can build long-term relationships in sales.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
One of the most important things to know about is the person’s emotional intelligence. This is apart from cognitive ability, degrees and skills. It means how they handle themselves and other people in social and emotional areas. The best qualified person on paper may be a total failure in real life because they can’t get along, are abrasive, scattered, emotionally out-of-control, or lacking in empathy, creativity, flexibility, or intuition. Yes, intuition is an EQ competency, because the data will run out. No matter how many facts we gather, and how much we analyze it, there comes a point where we have to go with a gut feeling, and to go with one, you have to have one and be in touch with it.
Emotional intelligence assessments give you valuable information about a candidate. People with low EQ burn out quickly. Also certain of the competencies relate to certain kinds of jobs, which a coach can help you understand better.
For instance, the US Air Force found that their most successful recruiters scored high in the EQ competencies of Assertiveness, Empathy, Happiness and Emotional Self Awareness. Using this information to select recruiters in the future, they increased their success rate by 300% and saved $3 million annually. [“Military Recruiting: The Department of Defense Could Improve Its Recruiter Selection and Incentive Systems,” report to Congress, 1998, Business Case for Emotional Intelligence, Cary Cherniss, Ph.D.]
An Emotional Intelligence assessment gives an overall score, and then scores on the separate competencies. You can select for exactly what you’re looking for, and also know what this person needs to develop in the future for maximal performance. To develop EQ, take a course such as The EQ Foundation Course© and work with a coach individually.
A person with low EQ is far less likely to reach the potential you’ll see in their training, experience and education or IQ. EQ may account for up to 80% of the factors which make a person successful. It matters more the higher up the person goes. More demanding jobs are more demanding because of the people skills involved, the “soft” skills. Leadership, visioning, strategizing, stress management, conflict resolution, and resilience become more important, not less important.
Work emotional intelligence into the hiring process, and pay attention to innate talents and personality as well the more obvious. It will pay great dividends in the end.
About the Author
©Susan Dunn, MA Psychology, Emotional Intelligence Coach, http://www.susandunn.cc . Coaching, business consulting, Internet courses, teleclasses and ebooks on emotional intelligence. The EQ Foundation Course©; http://www.susandunn.cc/courses.htm . Ebooks, http://www.webstrategies.cc/ebooklibrary.html . Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for FREE ezine. Subject line: “EQ Work”.
|
|
|
|
|
| The Art and Science of Leadership |
| The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. ... Leadership Development Outline - contains the leadership guide listed to the right, ... |
| www.skagit.com |
|
| LeadershipJournal.net | Church Leaders & Leadership Training |
| Leadership's award-winning and relevent editorial provides timely insights on critical issues facing today's pastors and church leaders. |
| www.christianitytoday.com |
|
| Leadership - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Leadership can come from an individual, a collective group of leaders, ... Though advocates of the "big man" school of visionary leadership would have us ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Leadership - Forbes.com. |
| Careers, Jobs, Management, Money, Compensation, Salary, Bonuses, Corporate Citizenship, Corporate Responsibility, Corporate Social Responsibility, ... |
| www.forbes.com |
|
| LeadershipNow - Leadership Development - Main Page |
| A source for free articles and shopping for leadership resources. |
| www.leadershipnow.com |
|
| Leadership University |
| Collection of articles in PDF format for distribution to classes, leadership teams, or outreach audiences. Sponsored by Campus Crusade. |
| www.leaderu.com |
|
| Center for Creative leadership: leadership at CCL.org, leadership ... |
| leadership at CCL.org. Specializing in leadership development, leadership training, executive coaching at CCL. |
| www.ccl.org |
|
| U.S. Senate: Senators Home > Senate Leadership |
| It shows the Senate's relationship to other branches of the Federal government and provides a quick view of Senate leadership, officers, and committee ... |
| www.senate.gov |
|
| Leadership |
| Quick Search This Journal:. Leadership. Sign up for SAGE Email Alerts today! Select an Issue from the Archive February 2005—November 2006 ... |
| lea.sagepub.com |
|
| Leadership |
| Describes programs, products, and services of the Covey Leadership Center, The goal of which is to help solve personal, professional, and organizational ... |
| www.ncrel.org |
|
| Academic Leadership |
| Articles and Essays for those in academic leadership roles - from unit coordinators to university presidents. |
| www.academicleadership.org |
|
| United States House of Representatives, 109th Congress, 2nd ... |
| Leadership Offices. Office of the Speaker · Office of the Majority Leader · Office of the Democratic Leader · House Majority Whip · Democratic Whip ... |
| www.house.gov |
|
| Amazon.com: Leadership: Books: Rudolph W. Giuliani,Ken Kurson |
| Amazon.com: Leadership: Books: Rudolph W. Giuliani,Ken Kurson by Rudolph W. Giuliani,Ken Kurson. |
| www.amazon.com |
|
| Leadership.com |
| Welcome to Leadership.com: Shaping the leaders of the Internet era ... Leadership.com offers several modules that empower leaders to build more effective ... |
| www.leadership.com |
|
| Leadership Network |
| Identifies and connects innovative senior pastors in the US and Canada through Leadership Communities and other events. |
| www.leadnet.org |
|
| Educational Leadership |
| Selected responses will be included in either the print or online versions of Educational Leadership. The deadline for this special section is December 8, ... |
| www.ascd.org |
|
| The Leadership Trust - Excellence in Leadership Development |
| The Leadership Trust has launched a new leadership development programme specifically ... The Leadership Trust recently welcomed The John Smith Fellowship ... |
| www.leadership.co.uk |
|
| Progressive Policy Institute: Defining the Third Way |
| Progressive Policy Institute, Democratic Leadership Council Home ... It is time for progressives to fill the leadership void on energy policy by offering a ... |
| www.ppionline.org |
|
| Business Leadership Skills - Leadership Development Training ... |
| Inc.com's Leadership Resource Center covering topics such as leadership development training, business leadership training, and business leadership skills. |
| www.inc.com |
|
| Leadership |
| These pages aim to expand the readers knowledge and understanding of the continuing debate in management studies about the role of leadership in the ... |
| www.ee.ed.ac.uk |
|
|