Strategy: 5 Simple Steps to Improve Your Decision Making…Work from a Proven Playbook Instead of Trying to Reinvent the Wheel

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CEO’s/Mangers/Entrepreneurs are Natural Born Problem Solvers.  To solve difficult problems, you need to make difficult decisions.

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If your résumé is hard to read, no one will.

How well do You Make Decisions?

In this post, I will unpack five tips to help you improve your decision making process.

1. Don’t delay

Simple decisions are fun. You can tick them off your to do list and feel like you’ve accomplished something along the way. When the stakes increase and you’re faced with making a critical business decision, don’t delay because it’s difficult.

Dedicate a focused block of time each day to work through the pros, cons, risks and realistic outcomes of your decision. Consider the second and third order effects of your decision during this session.

Sweeping problems under the rug will not help you make better decisions.

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2. Shelve ego and emotion

Decision making can be difficult because you become too personally invested in how a decision will make you look and feel. Can you objectively solve the problem? Yes! List potential causes and put your emotion and ego on the back-burner.

Imagine your business isn’t generating enough revenue to hit your target. What is the specific cause of this?

  • Do you have a positioning issue?
  • Is your pricing right?
  • Do your potential customers know your brand?
  • What can help you solve these problems?

You will make better decisions by focusing on the facts instead of personal deficiencies. If you need help with anything in your business, from marketing through to customer service, you have options.

Self-awareness is an entrepreneurial power play.

3. Ask an expert

The decision you’re making has likely been made in the past. While the problems you’re trying to solve are unique to you, it’s highly probable that someone else has solved the same issue at a larger scale.

Luckily, managers/entrepreneurs are very approachable and love to help each other. To get an expert help with your question, research the influencers in the area you need help with, then send three of them a quick note to ask for their help. Serve up the facts, your thoughts and the options you are considering.

A neutral third-party to help you make decisions will keep you objective.

Work from a proven playbook instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.

4. Question your data

You will never have complete data to make your decision. This is OK.

It’s still your responsibility to seek the right data. Relying on a friend’s opinion as a trusted data source may land you in hot water. Instead, use qualitative and quantitative customer feedback if you’re making a decision that impacts your customers. Use industry trends, research reports and ask experts in your field if you’re making a strategic move. The only thing that is worse than having no data is trusting the wrong data, so be vigilant about the inputs to your decision making process.

Seek trustworthy data and your decision making ability will skyrocket.
5. Plan for doomsday

The final step of decision making is understand the underlying risks of the decisions you make.

I like to call it planning for doomsday. Take 10 minutes to deeply consider the absolute worst case scenario of the decision you’re about to make. For example, if you need to let someone go from your business, what is the absolute worst case outcome? Perhaps they’ll sue you for wrongful dismissal or your team will lose their motivation. There are dozens of ways to mitigate the risks of each decision, but first, you need to clearly identify these risks.

Know your risks and you will rest easy when making decisions.

When you get a decision wrong, don’t beat yourself up. Instead, reflect on why it failed, then write it down to make sure you don’t make the same mistake twice.

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Leadership: New Evidence Why Employees Are Burned Out…We are all Burning out Because We can Never Unplug. Work Chases Us Wherever We are & the Expectations Keep Growing

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No one can argue that our personal and professional lives have come together through the power of technology. This is especially true for managers/entrepreneurs who are working all the time and have no personal lives, but even for workers at major companies, the boundaries are gone between work and life.

 

burnout

While many of us know that we’re working constantly, I set out to uncover the story by surveying employees, job seekers and HR professionals with CareerArc, a global recruitment and outplacement firm. In our study, we found a disconnect between employers and employees on work-life balance.

While 675 of HR professionals think that their employees have a balanced work-life, 45% of employees feel that they don’t have enough time each week to do personal activities. To make matters worse, 20% of employees spend over 20 hours working outside of the office on the personal time working each week. This is bad for their health and their families.
It also leads to burnout. Employees are getting far less sleep these days because their managers are demanding more of their time. Professionals are answering their email on vacations and on weekends. Smartphones are always with us and as a result, we are getting emails constantly regardless of our location or the time.

This is especially true with global companies, where employees are connecting with people from around the world in different time zones. I ran into this when I was working for a company and had to take calls with Japan at night, then wake up the next day to work.

We are all burning out because we can never unplug. Work chases us wherever we are and the expectations keep growing. What can we do? Well, there’s actually a lot of things you can do to prevent yourself from falling into this trap, or simply breaking away from these chains. Here are a few tips:

1. Have two phones, one personal and one business. This way, you can shut your business phone off after a certain time and leave your personal one on.

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2. Tell your manager your concerns. Be upfront with your manager that your lack of time for personal activities is hurting your relationships with others. They should support you in helping you better manager your time if they view you as valuable.

3. Tend to your calendar. One of my secrets is that I block off certain periods of the day for going to the gym, going on a date or to a show. This way, it forces me to participate in those activities because I live and die by my calendar.

Dan Schawbel is the Founder of WorkplaceTrends.com, a research and advisory membership portal servicing forward-thinking HR professionals.

Strategy: 15 Tricks to Boost Productivity at Work…Only 17% of People are Able to Accurately Estimate the Passage of Time

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There are only so many hours in the day, so making the most of your time is critical. There are two ways increase your output — either put in more hours or work smarter. I don’t know about you, but I prefer the latter.

Cross Training

Being more productive at work isn’t rocket science, but it does require being more deliberate about how you manage your time. This post will walk you through 15 simple but effective strategies for increasing your productivity at work.

1. Track and limit how much time you’re spending on tasks.

You may think you’re pretty good at gauging how much time you’re spending on various tasks. However, some research suggests only around 17% of people are able to accurately estimate the passage of time.

There are only so many hours in the day, so making the most of your time is critical. There are two ways increase your output — either put in more hours or work smarter. I don’t know about you, but I prefer the latter.

Being more productive at work isn’t rocket science, but it does require being more deliberate about how you manage your time. This post will walk you through 15 simple but effective strategies for increasing your productivity at work.

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2. Track and limit how much time you’re spending on tasks.

You may think you’re pretty good at gauging how much time you’re spending on various tasks. However, some research suggests only around 17% of people are able to accurately estimate the passage of time. A tool like Rescue Time can help by letting you know exactly how much time you spend on daily tasks, including social media, email, word processing, and apps.

3. Take regular breaks.

It sounds counterintuitive, but taking scheduled breaks can actually help improve concentration. Some research has shown that taking short breaks during long tasks helps you to maintain a constant level of performance; while working at a task without breaks leads to a steady decline in performance.

4. Set self-imposed deadlines.

While we usually think of a stress as a bad thing, a manageable level of self-imposed stress can actually be helpful in terms of giving us focus and helping us meet our goals. For open-ended tasks or projects, try giving yourself a deadline, and then stick to it. You may be surprised to discover just how focused and productive you can be when you’re watching the clock.

5. Follow the “two-minute rule.”

Entrepreneur Steve Olenski recommends implementing the “two-minute rule” to make the most of small windows of time that you have at work. The idea is this: If you see a task or action that you know can be done in two minutes or less, do it immediately. According to Olenski, completing the task right away actually takes less time than having to get back to it later. Implementing this has made him one of the most influential content strategists online.

6. Just say no to meetings.

Meetings are one of the biggest time-sucks around, yet somehow we continue to unquestioningly book them, attend them and, inevitably, complain about them. According to Atlassian, the average office worker spends over 31 hours each month in unproductive meetings. Before booking your next meeting, ask yourself whether you can accomplish the same goals or tasks via email, phone, or Web-based meeting (which may be slightly more productive).

6. Hold standing meetings.

If you absolutely must have a meeting, there’s some evidence that standing meetings (they’re just what they sound like — everyone stands) can result in increased group arousal, decreased territoriality, and improved group performance. For those times when meetings are unavoidable, you may want to check out these 12 unusual ways to spur creativity during meetings.

7. Quit multitasking.

While we tend to think of the ability to multitask as an important skill for increasing efficiency, the opposite may in fact be true. Psychologists have found attempting to do several tasks at once can result in lost time and productivity. Instead, make a habit of committing to a single task before moving on to your next project.

8. Take advantage of your commute.

This goes for any unexpected “bonus” time you may find on your hands suggests author Miranda Marquit. Instead of Candy-Crushing or Facebooking, use that time to pound out some emails, create your daily to-do list, or do some brainstorming.

9. Give up on the illusion of perfection.

It’s common for entrepreneurs to get hung up on attempting to perfect a task — the reality is nothing is ever perfect. Rather than wasting time chasing after this illusion, bang out your task to the best of your ability and move on. It’s better to complete the task and move it off your plate; if need be, you can always come back and adjust or improve it later.

10. Take exercise breaks.

Using work time to exercise may actually help improve productivity, according to a study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. If possible, build in set times during the week for taking a walk or going to the gym. Getting your blood pumping could be just what’s needed to clear your head and get your focus back.

11. Be proactive, not reactive.

Allowing incoming phone calls and emails to dictate how you spend your day will mean you do a great job of putting out fires — but that may be all you get accomplished. My friend and business partner Peter Daisyme from free hosting company Hostt says, “Set aside time for responding to emails, but don’t let them determine what your day is going to look like. Have a plan of attack at the start of each day, and then do your best to stick to it.”

12. Turn off notifications.

No one can be expected to resist the allure of an email, voicemail, or text notification. During work hours, turn off your notifications, and instead build in time to check email and messages. This is all part of being proactive rather than reactive (see number 11).

13. Work in 90-minute intervals.

Researchers at Florida State University have found elite performers (athletes, chess players, musicians, etc.) who work in intervals of no more than 90 minutes are more productive than those who work 90 minutes-plus. They also found that top performing subjects tend to work no more than 4.5 hours per day. Sounds good to me!

14. Give yourself something nice to look at.

It may sound unlikely, but some research shows outfitting an office with aesthetically pleasing elements — like plants — can increase productivity by up to 15%. Jazz up your office space with pictures, candles, flowers, or anything else that puts a smile on your face. For other ideas on increasing your happiness quotient at work, see my post 15 Proven Tips to Be Happy at Work.

15. Minimize interruptions (to the best of your ability).

Having a colleague pop her head into your office to chat may seem innocuous, but even brief interruptions appear to produce a change in work pattern and a corresponding drop in productivity. Minimizing interruptions may mean setting office hours, keeping your door closed, or working from home for time-sensitive projects.

If you feel the need to increase your productivity at work, resist the temptation put in longer hours or pack more into your already-full calendar. Instead, take a step back, and think about ways you can work smarter, not harder.

Looking for more productivity tips? Check out my posts 7 Productivity Hacks Every Busy Entrepreneur Should Try and 5 Things Productive Entrepreneurs Do Each Day.

http://www.inc.com/john-rampton/15-ways-to-increase-productivity-at-work.html#ixzz3QoqXSq8v

Leadership: If You Want To Change Things, You Might Have To Break Them First…If you Want Your Company to Be Innovative, it’s Going to Take More, Much More, than Just Saying the Words

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“The problem with this company is it lacks an innovative culture,” said the CEO while asking his secretary to print out his emails for that day so he could check them, pulling out a pen at the same to sign the minutes of a meeting…

SheepHerder

Okay, I made that up, but the scene is played out all too often in the business world: managers who say they want an innovative culture in their company, a proactive approach toward what they still call “the new technologies” —when in reality they are talking about products and services that have generally been around for several years… how long does a technology have to have been in used by us before some people stop calling its “new”? — but who are unable to even consider giving up some of the oldest and outdated aspects of their own culture.

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The first thing you must have clear in your mind when talking about innovation is whether you really want your organization to be innovative. Managing genuinely innovative companies is a headache of the first order. Compared to the classic concept of a company where everybody has their job and their responsibilities are clearly defined, as well as their place in the hierarchy and roles properly assigned, managing an innovative company is like trying to herd cats, where just about every day, some nutcase keen to discuss the latest idea they’ve been reading about who knows where or has heard about from who knows who, and that in their opinion needs to be got going right now. Madness.

If you’re an “old school” manager, of the kind that look beyond the protective walls of your company with raised eyebrows and a large dose of skepticism, it’s very likely you think “all that innovation stuff” is little more than posturing, and that saying: “I’m an innovator” is pretty much the same as saying: “I keep up with fashion”, and that the implications of trying to develop innovation are enough to make you think twice.

Let’s face it, at the end of the day, you’ve been around the block a few times, life is short, and if you just carry on the way you have until now, there’s every chance you’ll make it to retirement (I swear I have heard that said by more than one manager over the years).
But if, after looking at the issue more closely, you really want to make your company innovative, then bear in mind the following: if you wanna change things, you gotta break things. You can’t ask the people who work with you to be innovative if the company where they spend hours working has always done things in the same way. It just isn’t coherent. It makes no sense. It’s not going to happen.

Businesses, all businesses, have a common enemy:isomorphism. The academic definition of isomorphism, which comes from the field of sociology, is something along the lines of the similarity of an organization’s processes or structures to those operating in the same environment.

All banks look like other banks, all electricity companies tend to be similar, all universities are practically identical, and all carmakers seem to be cut from the same pattern. If we were to be teletransported to the offices of any of these companies, it wouldn’t be so hard to say in which industry we found ourselves, because almost all the companies in that industry respond to any number of common stereotypes and all tend to look alike.

When one comes along that does things differently, managing in the process to overcome the established entry barriers, they tend to stand out. Tesla Motors stands out in the automotive industry because it is so unlike everything else in the industry, and is what the vast majority of observers would consider to be an innovative company.

At the same time, isomorphism doesn’t happen by accident. For example, companies look for efficiency, for optimization: so certain ways of doing things because it seems more logical, more efficient, to do them in that way; the most logical and efficient… at a certain moment, and in light of the technological advances of that specific moment.

On the one hand, isomorphism comes from the strengths of the industry itself, an infinity of rules, processes and standardization, or simply, from the progressive incorporation of managers and workers from other companies in the same sector, producing a kind of promiscuity or genetic crossbreeding that results in the characteristics of companies in the same industry mingle to create a common prototypes, an accepted standard.

If you really want to change things, if you really want to help create an innovative culture, then you’ll have to break things. You’ll have to identify the isomorphism and challenge it if your company isn’t going to seem like all the others. Identify all those people who contribute to things being done in the same way all the time: those who refuse to try new things, who seek comfort, those who are convinced they’ve seen it all… the disciples of isomorphism.

If they don’t want to change, show them that in this company and under your management, they are going to find an unequivocal vocation for change: no complicities, no privileges for the “old guard”, and no exceptions based on time served. If you want to be innovative, then don’t prop up those old structures any more, because each of these exceptions will be an obstacle on the road of coherence.

If you want your company to be innovative, it’s going to take more, much more, than just saying the words. You’re going to have to break things. Starting with old habits; today, rather than tomorrow.

Forbes.com |  February 4, 2015  |   Enrique Dans 

Strategy: How Savvy Are You About Office Politics?…Playing Politics in the Workplace is Not about Gossip, Backstabbing, or Opportunism

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Playing politics in the workplace is not about gossip, backstabbing, or opportunism. Instead, savvy people in business know how to network and with whom. They also understand how decisions are made in their organizations, and they have learned to use these political factors to their advantage.

OvercomeFear

Political savvy is critical for career success and the good news is that you don’t need to lose your integrity in the process. Political savvy involves developing relationships and a sensitivity to the culture of the organization. This can be accomplished over time with the use of keen observation and listening skills.

In her research on this topic, Lisa Mainierointerviewed 55 high profile executive women in the 1980s to determine the role corporate politics played in their career histories. Her article, “On Breaking the Glass Ceiling: The Political Seasoning of Powerful Women Executives,” is the result of her interviews about their involvement in workplace politics. Most of the women interviewed felt that “politics” was a dirty word and did not admit to engaging in the politics.

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Mainiero stated, “A careful analysis of the career histories of these women, however, showed that they developed a sensitivity to corporate politics that belied their comments. As they recounted key developmental events in their careers, it became clear that not only were these women astute observers of their corporate cultures, but they had an ability to build alliances and partnerships that were unequaled among their peers.” In essence, they became politically savvy over time despite their lack of intention to do so.

What is involved in learning to be politically savvy?

Using Mainiero’s work as a guide, I have identified four stages for development of political savvy. In each of these stages, I have indicated specific characteristics and milestones that will help you figure out where you are in this process and where you need to go to further your savvy skills.

Stage 1: Naiveté

In Stage 1, you are completely focused on your work. In fact, you spend most of your time in your cubicle or office. You most likely work long hours and are not tuned into or even aware of the politics around you.

You are in Stage 1 if you:

Are unaware of unwritten “Rules of the Game”

Are 100 percent work focused

Learn about workplace politics through a negative or positive experience.
You can be in Stage 1 at the very beginning of your career or when you transition to a new role or company and need to learn the rules of the game all over again. Then something occurs that catches you off guard and opens your eyes to the culture and decision-making process. Maybe you were passed over for a promotion or see others less qualified than you being promoted. At this point, you begin to move toward Stage 2.

Stage 2: Great Work

You are in this stage when you:

Build a reputation for great performance

Are aware of who has the power and influence in the organization.

Understand the importance of relationships

Focus on career advancement but you do not yet have a strategic plan to move forward

Do some networking, but not strategically.

In this stage, you see the importance of developing your personal brand and creating visibility and credibility across the organization. You still work very hard, but now you see that relationships are also important for your advancement. However, you are not actively building relationships for your career or prioritizing this. You are aware of the politics but do not yet engage. You recognize that if you want to get ahead, you need to focus on your career, not just your work. You have yet to figure out how to fit this into your work schedule.

Stage 3: Career Strategy

The next stage, Stage 3, is about becoming strategic. In this stage you are:

Learning delegation/management skills

Building strategic relationships

Seeking mentors/sponsors/coach

Learning to talk about accomplishments

In this stage you are looking at where you want to go and creating a strategic plan to get there. Your plan includes building relationships with key stakeholders and influencers. You are aware that if you want to succeed, you need to delegate to and empower your team and develop your own personal influence and self-promotion skills. In this stage, you recognize the importance of working with a coach or finding a mentor and sponsor.

Many of my clients are in this third stage. They have established themselves as talented and hardworking and now realize that they need to work with their team to reach the next level of success. The work involves how to motivate and inspire the team; how to sell their ideas to their supervisors, peers, and direct reports to achieve business outcomes—in other words, how to create influence and be recognized as a talented manager.

One of my clients, Katherine, contacted me to help her create more visibility and credibility for herself in the global financial services firm in which she works. Katherine describes herself as the “go-to person”—the person who gets things done. My interviews with her peers, direct reports, and supervisors confirmed that this was Katherine’s reputation in the organization. Though her performance was exemplary, she was perceived as more of a doer than a manager. Coaching her to empower and delegate to her team has improved her executive presence and therefore leadership potential. Helping her to identify and build relationships with the power people resulted in her identifying a sponsor and getting promoted twice in 18 months.

Stage 4: Political Savvy

Using personal influence

Mentoring others

Maintaining credibility/visibility

Leading and inspiring others

In Stage 4, you have reached a leadership position by leveraging your talent and hard work along with the relationships you have built across the organization. Now at the top of your organization, you see politics as a way of maintaining your status, promoting your ideas, and helping others to move up the ladder. It’s more competitive on top and you spend much of her time and energy working the politics. You are a great role model for other women in the company and mentors other men and women to achieve their goals.

Bear in mind, as you develop your political savvy you will most likely move back and forth between stages. There are no formal rites of passage. These stages are meant to be a road map for you to track your development and progress.

Where are you in terms of your political savvy?

What stage best represents where you are right now?

What do you need to do to move to the next stage of political savvy?

If you found this article valuable, please follow me on Twitter TWTR +6.22% @selfpromote and check outmy website for more resources and interviews.

Strategy: This 24-Minute Morning Routine will Energize Your Whole Day…Start your Day With a Glass of Water

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Time is one of your most coveted and scarce resources as an entrepreneur, so maximizing pockets of time in your day through a productive routine is crucial.

woman drinking exercising with reusable water bottle

Probably the most important period of your day is when you first wake up. Your morning routine can set you up for massive success the whole day. You can chose to linger in bed, hitting snooze and dreading the alarm, or you can set yourself up for massive daily productivity and success with the introduction of a simple 24-minute routine.

Most of this routine you’re probably already doing in some form or another, but if you’ll follow this format and stick with it for a few weeks, you’ll find yourself hopping out of bed in the morning renewed and looking forward to what lies ahead.

Here are the six steps to your ultra-productive 24-minute morning routine.

1. Brush your teeth (2 minutes)

One of the first things you should do when you get out of bed is brush your teeth. While you sleep, your mouth produces less saliva and actually dries out. Unfortunately with that decrease in saliva comes an increase in bacteria. So one of the best things you can do when you get up is to take two minutes to thoroughly brush your teeth and tongue to get rid of the influx of nighttime bacteria.

Related: A 9-Step Framework for Creating a Morning Ritual

 

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2. Drink water (1 minute)

Just like your mouth is dry, the rest of your body and brain need water after your sleep. After you’ve cleaned your mouth, you should go get a massive glass of water and drink away. I prefer to drink my water after I brush, simply because I don’t like the idea of drinking a big glass of water and flushing down massive quantities of nighttime bacteria into my system.

3. Meditate (7 minutes)

Most people make the mistake of thinking that they have to meditate for 30, 40 or even 60 minutes to experience results from meditation. I’ve found that six to seven minutes first thing in the morning is a great way to start off the day with a calm, clear head.

I personally enjoy the free Headspace app to guide me through seven minutes of meditation, but you can just as easily sit in a quiet, softly lit room and practice breathing in and out.

You can up it to 10 minutes or more if you want, but seven has been the sweet spot for me. It’s about getting some stillness and silence in the mind, nothing else. Doing it every day has introduced a calmer mindset and clearer perspective throughout my waking hours.

Related: 5 Simple and Effortless Morning Routines You Can Start Tomorrow

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/242171#ixzz3Qh5UqAKy

Strategy: Here’s How one CEO makes Hiring Decisions in 7 minutes… “I Interview for Only 7 to 10 Minutes, & I Have a Framework, it’s Skill, Will, & Fit.”

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Hiring can be a complicated and drawn-out process. But Marla Malcolm Beck, CEO of luxury beauty retailer Bluemercury, has it down to a science.  In a recent interview with Adam Bryant of The New York Times, Beck said she’s the “queen of the seven-minute interview.”

Marla Beck

Marla Malcolm Beck, CEO of luxury beauty retailer Bluemercury.

She told Bryant: “I interview for only seven to 10 minutes, and I have a framework — it’s skill, will, and fit.”

She said she can ascertain skill in about two minutes, just based on what the candidate has done.  To figure this out, she asks: “What’s the biggest impact you had at your past organization?”  “It’s important that someone takes ownership of a project that they did, and you can tell based on how they talk about it whether they did it or whether it was just something that was going on at the organization,” she told Bryant.

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Then, to determine a candidate’s will (which “is about hunger”), she asks: “What do you want to do in five or 10 years?”

“That tells you a lot about their aspirations and creativity,” she said. “If you’re hungry to get somewhere, that means you want to learn. And if you want to learn, you can do any job.”

Then, there’s fit.

For this she turns to the résumé.

Beck told Bryant that she’s always looking for employees who have some sort of experience with a smaller organization. “At big companies, your job is really one little piece of the pie. I need someone who can make things happen and is comfortable with ambiguity.”

Click here to read the full New York Times interview. 

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-one-ceo-makes-hiring-decisions-in-7-minutes-2015-2#ixzz3QgazlYGM

Leadership: 6 Things Wise Leaders Do To Engage Their Employees…These 6 Things are What Employees are Constantly Thinking About, but Not Talking Enough About with their Leaders

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An article in the New York Daily News reports that nearly 70% of U.S. employees are miserable at work. According to the story, research conducted by the Gallup Poll suggests that the majority of American’s dislike or feel disengaged on the job. Needless to say, this is disturbing news. It’s also an indicator that leaders are having trouble finding ways to stimulate engagement with today’s employees – a workforce that is much more diverse and younger than ever before.

SheepHerder

Many corporations are experiencing transformation mode, where leadership is about enabling the full potential in others. It’s about allowing employees to be their authentic selves so they can leverage their strengths and unique perspectives. I know this firsthand; in the early years of my career, I was considered high-potential by an organization that was reinventing itself. Rather than assume I was too young to take on the additional responsibilities of hiring and leading people twice my age to accomplish their goals, the organization’s leadership invested in my potential and as a result I grew quickly in this new role. This calculated risk from leadership paid off, and allowed me to prove that as an executive in my late 20s, I could generate tremendous revenue growth and ROI for the organization. I will forever be grateful to those leaders that engaged me early on and guided me rightly.

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Leaders need to let go and guide their employees to mature within new and expansive roles and responsibilities. Employees want to feel valued and challenged; they want to be trusted and given the freedom to explore and learn within the job. Employees that stretch themselves to grow and take on more advanced assignments especially should be given the opportunity to further accelerate their advancement. The bottom line is that leaders must continuously create new opportunities for their employees – or their workforce will not be innovative enough.
How else can you determine if an employee is capable of performing and stepping-up their game if you are not continuously finding new ways to engage them? This is leadership and it takes extra time and effort. If you are not cut out for this, then reconsider your leadership role. If you are not engaging your employees to create great teams, you are being irresponsible to the organization and the people you serve. Perhaps this explains the Gallup Poll’s recent findings.

Today’s leaders must constantly focus on the growth of their teams and strengthening the capabilities of individuals that can make the team more effective; this creates an environment of continuous innovation and initiative. Think of your employees as an innovation lab. As such, employee engagement should always be abundant!

To assure you don’t create a reputation as a leader that doesn’t engage employees, here are six things to consider to more effectively engage your employees. These are fundamental tips that employees desire from their leaders, and if implemented properly, will stimulate employee engagement that’s been missing.

1. Stop unknowingly creating tension

Leaders unknowingly create tension with their employees when they expect them to behave like they do, rather than encouraging them to be their authentic selves. Opportunities are everywhere, but few leaders have the eyes to see them. When employees are encouraged to be themselves and not what others want them to be, they will begin to embrace an entrepreneurial attitude that wasn’t previously being leveraged – thus stimulating engagement.

Tension is created by leaders who don’t take the time to engage with their employees. When an employee feels that their leader doesn’t care – or is disingenuous about their career and future When an employee feels that their leader doesn’t care – or is disingenuous about their career and future opportunities, they may begin to shut down and grow bitter. Employees respect leaders that allow them to use their most natural skills and characteristics. Employees are most engaged when they don’t feel confined to an environment of limitations and constraints.   Be more aware of what your employees need and stop unknowingly creating tension.

2. Detect the most positive capabilities in people

Stop spending time being overly critical of what your employees are not doing right and identify what they are naturally gravitating towards – that which gets them excited. Throw their job description out the door and focus on those areas your employees enjoy contributing to the most and build a plan that utilizes their most positive capabilities to create the outcomes you desire.

Everyone wants to enjoy what they do at work, so allow employees to engage with the business in ways that generate the results that you require, while giving them the flexibility to navigate and explore how they can best contribute. See well beyond the obvious. Expand your leadership lens to detect what matters most to your employees and allow them to flourish.

3. Empower to discover potential

You will never know what an employee is capable of accomplishing unless you stop micromanaging and start empowering them to discover their full potential. Put them in situations that will build their confidence and strengthen their self-trust.

Empowering employees sounds simple, but it requires a leader to let go, step back and observe. It demands a confident leader that is willing to allow their employees to fail, then help them pick up the pieces and rebound. Employees engage when they are empowered to explore endless possibilities.
4. Put them in a position of influence

Beyond empowering employees, put them in a position of influence to see how they react and engage in their new role. Stimulating engagement is a two-way street: it’s not just how employees gravitate towards their leaders, but how others gravitate towards them. Allow your employees to discover their own potential and put them to the test. Witness how they lead and collaborate with others. If you micromanage employees too much, they disengage. Employees want to feel trusted and valued for the independent decisions they can make and the impact they can create.

The most engaged employees are those whose leaders have confidence in them; who trust that they can always be depended to deliver when called upon.   Employees are most engaged when they feel a sense of responsibility towards their leaders and the example their performance sets for others. This is accelerated when they are placed in roles of influence and responsibility.

 5.  Share your success to build their momentumRather than enjoy your leadership success alone, share it with your employees and allow them to experience it with you.   The wise man forfeits his fortune when he does not trust himself. Sharing your success with your employees and making them feel an important part of your accomplishments is a sign of trust that organically creates engagement.

Employees want to support their leaders – even more so when a leader is transparent enough to share not only their success, but also their vulnerabilities. Employees don’t need leaders that always have to be right (or perceived as perfect) – they want leaders that open themselves up enough to share their journey with them. Genuine collaboration drives engagement and creates an environment of significance for everyone.

6.  Be consistent and have their backs

Leadership is about having each other’s backs – especially those of your employees. Employees disengage when their leaders play mind-games and are inconsistent with their approach and style. Employees are vulnerable these days – not really knowing who to trust, rely upon or follow.

Recently, I spoke with a Fortune 80 executive who has been with his organization for more than 15 years.   He has grown tired of the inconsistency of his leader, who doesn’t value him nor does he place a priority on his career development.   This executive is ready to leave the organization in search of a leader that has his best interests at heart – while still in support of the organization’s goals. He wants to be part of a team that matters, with no hidden agendas.

Who wants to engage with a leader that doesn’t have their back?   This is why leaders lose top talent all the time. They just assume their employees will be loyal to them – rather than recognizing that retaining top talent requires leaders to always be looking out for their best interests.   Leaders must communicate and become more emotionally intelligent to stimulate employee engagement.

These six things are what employees are constantly thinking about – but not talking enough about with their leaders – as they navigate ways to elevate their engagement at work. Just as the wise man may forfeit his fortune when he does not trust himself, the wise leader forfeits his leadership when he does not engage his employees.

Follow me on Twitter @GlennLlopis.  Join ourLinkedIn Group

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Job Seekers: What To Do If You Aren’t Getting Called For Interviews…Go Through this Process for Several Other Jobs for Which You’ve Applied. Do You See a Pattern?

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When you’ve been actively applying for jobs, it can get really frustrating when you aren’t getting called for interviews. If this is happening to you, don’t give up; but take a short ‘time out’ to analyze the reasonswhy you’re not making it to the next round in the hiring process.

ChairsTable

First, look at how much of a ‘fit’ you are for the jobs to which you’ve been applying. Review several of the job postings for jobs to which you’ve applied. Read through one job posting and as you read each requirement, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Do I meet the minimum level of experience required for the position?
  • Do I meet the minimum level of education required for the job?
  • Do I have most of the required skills for the job?
  • Do I have the certifications required for the position? (if any are required)

For each requirement, write down whether you meet, partially meet or don’t meet that requirement. Once you’ve done this for the first job posting, look at what you’ve written. Do you meet the majority of the requirements?

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Then, go through this process for several other jobs for which you’ve applied. Do you see a pattern? The most common reason I’ve found when people don’t get telephone or in-person interviews is that there are other candidates who are a better ‘fit’ (more qualified) for the job. As a hiring manager, I look for candidates who meet at least 80 percent of the job requirements. One reason you aren’t making it to the interview round might be because hiring managers don’t see you as qualified enough for the position.

If you believe this may be your issue, look for ways you can obtain the education, certifications, skills or experience required – so that you’ll be a better fit in the near future. Then, before you apply for any more jobs, conduct this same exercise of analyzing yourself against the requirements listed in the next job posting. Pretend you’re the hiring manager and take a critical look at your resume. If you were the hiring manager, would you hire this candidate for the job?

Some people have a tendency to apply for higher-level positions than what they’re qualified for, which is why they don’t get called for interviews. In this situation, try looking for lower-level jobs that are the stepping-stones to get you to those higher-level jobs you’d like to have in the future – and apply for those.

Another issue I’ve seen is where someone has the relevant skills, experience or education, but forgot to include many of these on their resume. For every requirement in the job posting that you meet, somewhere on your resume, you should explain that you have that skill, experience or education. If you aren’t customizing your resume to include the appropriate information, then your resume won’t get the attention it deserves by recruiters and hiring managers – and you won’t get as many calls for interviews.

~ Lisa Quast, author of the book, Secrets of a Hiring Manager Turned Career Coach: A Foolproof Guide to Getting the Job You Want. Every Time.   Join me on Twitter @careerwomaninc

 
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Got Kids? The 10 Best Websites For Finding An Internship…Question: When do You Need to Search for your Summer Internship? Answer: Now!

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Alexis DePuyt, 21, an English major at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY, was spending the spring semester of her junior year studying in London, when she started hunting for a summer internship back in the States. She logged onto a website called Internships.com and looked for positions near her parents’ home in Philadelphia. Up popped a posting for a paid summer internship at a three-year-old boutique marketing firm called Sweet Rose Studios in nearby Blue Bell, PA.

20 yr old hired

 

Through Internships.com she sent in a résumé and cover letter. Within weeks she heard from the firm’s founder, Sean Rose, who interviewed her via Skype. “She was very ambitious and smart and she knew how to research what we do online,” he recalls. DePuyt got the internship and loved it. “It was a great way to utilize my writing skills,” she says. “I did blogging, emailing and worked on attracting prospective customers.” Says Rose, “She’s a terrific writer, very ambitious, independent and able to do things without a ton of babysitting.”

In most of my stories about using the Internet to find work, I exhort job seekers to limit their time online. Spending eight hours plugging your search criteria into job board aggregators like Indeed or SimplyHired and then sending your résumé into a black hole by hitting the “apply” button, is almost guaranteed to get you nowhere.

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Most jobs posted online have either already been filled or will likely be taken by someone with a personal connection at the company. If you want to have a shot at getting hired for a job listed online, you have to reach beyond the posting, scouring LinkedIn and your personal network for a contact at the company, meeting with that contact, doing lots of research on the company, trying to land an in-person meeting with the hiring manager by writing a carefully-crafted email that shows how impassioned you are about the position and how you can solve the company’s problems.
But I think the story is different for internships, especially if you’re college-age and looking for a summer spot. Many companies field applicants from job boards. Amanda Fox, 20, a junior at the University of Connecticut, had never done an internship. Instead she had worked summers as a lifeguard at the YMCA. She wanted an internship where she could apply some of what she was learning as an economics major.

On Internmatch.com she signed up to get daily notifications for new postings. One of them was for Enterprise Rent-a-Car at a location in Vernon, CT, just five minutes from where her parents live. Internmatch referred her directly to Enterprise’s site, she applied online and got the job, which pays $10.50 an hour. “I didn’t have to jump through any hoops,” she says. “Internmatch was all I needed.”

I don’t want to deter anyone from hunting for internships the way I usually recommend job seekers go about their search, by first tapping their network, relying on personal referrals and targeting companies that attract them. But because online searches really can work for internships, and also help you focus on what you want, I’ve put together a list of the best sites for finding an internship:

1. LinkedIn: Not only should you use LinkedIn to hunt for internships, you should build a fleshed-out profile and reach out to everyone you know, especially professional contacts, on the 12-year-old Mountain View, CA professional networking site. Get people you’ve worked for to write you recommendations. Do include volunteer work.

To search for internship listings, go to the jobs tab at the top of the page and put “internship” in the search box. Then refine your search by filling in the boxes on the left side of the page. I searched for “marketing internship” and a New York City zip code came up with ten pages of listings. One downside: You can’t filter for paid or unpaid positions. The most valuable aspect of LinkedIn: instantly seeing which of your contacts works at a company or knows people who work there. I also recommend college students get their parents to search their own LinkedIn networks for contacts. Companies pay varying rates to list internships and jobs on LinkedIn (a 30-day posting in San Francisco costs $499), so they are serious about hiring for many of those jobs. A possible downside is that the fee might deter smaller players, like Sean Rose, who says he listed on Internships.com because it was free and he was only hiring one intern.

2. Glassdoor: Founded in 2007 and based in Sausalito, CA, Glassdoor scrapes job boards for internship listings. But its main attraction is that it offers an instant way to search for salaries, company reviews and descriptions of job interviews. Its interface is straightforward, though for smaller companies, the salary and review functions don’t always bear fruit. In the search fields I tried putting in “paid marketing internship” and in the location box, New York City, and I got 21 listings. When I clicked on the first listing that came up, for Inspired Marketing Associates in the Bronx, I found just two company reviews and no salary listings. But a paid internship for Major League Baseball had 37 reviews and one internship salary ($1,660/month).

3. Google: Don’t underestimate the power of a Google search. I put in “paid marketing internship New York City” and got hits for several of the sites in this piece and others I’m not familiar with, likeFindSpark, which bills itself as having “the best creative internships & entry level jobs in NYC.” I like that you can filter for paid internships (I believe that by law, almost all internships should be paid, but that’s another story), though when I filtered for paid marketing internship, only one job came up, at Inc. magazine. Still, Google is a great shortcut.

4. Your school’s job listing site and alumni network: At my alma mater, Brown University, there’s something called Brown Connect, where alumni post internship listings. If you can get access to a database like this, you will vault over other potential interns vying for these jobs. This is a first stop if you are a student.

5. Internships.com: Founded in 2010, Internships.com is now owned by textbook rental and online tutoring company Chegg in Santa Clara, CA. It offers 100,000 listings from 60,000 employers. Internships.com does not charge employers to list positions. When I searched for “paid marketing internship” in New York City, I got 10 listings. One huge advantage the site offers: a “who” button that lets you see which of your Facebook friends have a connection to a company, either because they work there or used to work there. Facebook has no job listings and no other site I could find has the capability to match a job search with your friends’ résumés.

6. Internmatch.com: Founded in 2009, San Francisco-based Internmatch has listings from 30,000 companies. It specializes in internships, and entry level jobs up to two years after graduation. When I searched for “paid marketing internship” in New York City I got seven pages of results, though some of them were for jobs as far away as Morristown, NJ and not all of them were paid. But there were some promising listings, like a paid internship at DirecTV. You can sign up and the site will send you notifications when new internships in your area of interest are posted. Employers can post up to 10 listings for free, after which they pay a fee. Some of the big companies who have listed on the site: Facebook, Zappos, Aflac.
7. YouTern An unusual site, YouTern tries to mentor and connect would-be interns using social media tools like Twitter. Internship seekers fill out a profile and interact with mentors. Founder Mark Babbitt says he has relationships with recruiters at 100 companies and personally refers appropriate candidates. But internship seekers need to interact with the site before they get referred to jobs. YouTern also includes a jobs board powered by aggregator SimplyHired. Babbitt says he has connections with many startups but also works with established companies like ad firm Ogilvy & Mather. YouTern launched in 2010 and is based in Lake Tahoe, NV.

8. Idealist: An excellent site to look for both internships and jobs in the non-profit sector, Idealist, based in Portland, OR, dates back to 1996. Run as a non-profit, it has listings for organizations around the world. The site currently lists more than 2,000 internships worldwide. A couple of current offerings for paid internships: a fundraising position in Washington, DC for the National Hispanic Council on Aging and a summer internship at the progressive Nation magazine and Nation Institute.

9. Global Experiences: Founded in 2001 and based in Annapolis, MD, Global Experiences offers internships where interns pay instead of getting paid. This would surely run afoul of US laws but the bulk of its offerings are overseas and interns get visas that don’t allow them to work. The plus: genuine work experience in foreign cities. Global Experiences works in eight cities—London, Paris, Dublin, Barcelona, Florence, Milan, Shanghai and Sydney. Prices range from $6,000 to $10,000 per internship stint. Company founder Emily Merson says that some colleges like Arizona State, University of Southern California and University of Illinois have partnerships with the company and pick up the tab. Students must apply but once they’re accepted, placement is 100% guaranteed.

10. CoolWorks: This site isn’t for internships per se, but rather for jobs, especially summer positions, geared toward young people. According to the website, it offers “job opportunities in great places like national parks, various resorts, ranches, camps, ski resorts, and jobs on the water.”

Founded in 1995 it’s based, rather exotically, just outside the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Sample jobs: Ranch Foreman/Ranch Hand/Wrangler/Packer at a ranch called Flying B in Idaho wilderness located on the middle fork of the Salmon River, and Rafting Guide on the Arkansas River in Buena Vista, Colorado. Some of the jobs are listed as “internships,” but they seem indistinguishable from the other jobs on the site. Example: positions with Alaska Wildland Adventures on the Kenai Peninsula in Denali National Park.

 

Forbes.com | January 30, 2015 | Susan Adams