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#CareerAdvice : #JobInterview -How to Survive (and Succeed In) An #Interview with a #CEO .

CEOs are just regular people. Regular people who run billion dollar companiesand accomplish amazing things, that is.

Considering the polish and professionalism of your average CEO, we think it’s perfectly natural that most of us will feel a glimmer of something like nervousness or fear when we find ourselves in a position to interact with someone at this level, whether we’re being introduced for the first time, passing in the elevator, or giving a presentation.

Do you find yourself with a light case of the jitters when you think about interacting with your CEO? In honor of our Top CEOs award, read on for tips on holding your own in a handful of common office scenarios, like…

…Interviewing With a CEO

You don’t need to read through the Glassdoor Interview Questions & Answers to know that a standard interview with a recruiter or hiring manager can be intense. But interviewing with the CEO adds a whole other level of intimidation: you’re speaking with the most experienced, invested, and authoritative person in the company, and her opinion of you can have a strong influence on whether or not you get the job. So, how can you keep your cool?

First and most obvious, respect the CEO’s time by preparing for your interview. Your answers should come from an informed and authentic place, not a memorized and rehearsed one. And remember, you’re there to interview her just as much as she’s there to interview you. Ask as candid and analytical questions as you can and CEOs and founders like Eventbrite’s Julia Hartz will appreciate your moxie.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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…Presenting to a CEO

One of the biggest stereotypes attached to CEOs and higher ups is that they’re busy – they’re often the ones showing up late to your meeting or staring at their phone as you talk through an important topic. Which brings us to your first task for holding your own when presenting to a CEO during a meeting: not taking his behavior personally. It doesn’t feel good, but sometimes what’s happening before your meeting is genuinely a higher priority than the meeting itself – and the same goes for the email, text, or call that comes in right when you flash to the most important PowerPoint slide you’ve got.

Speaking of PowerPoint slides, we know they’re unavoidable sometimes. But if you really want to impress your CEO (and follow in the footsteps of Jeff Bezos, who banned PowerPoints in executive meetings), you’ll skip the slides in favor of an in-depth conversation that digs into the story of the topic at hand. Providing your CEO with the narrative context he needs to make a decision is the most effective use of his time.  

…Having a Casual Conversation With a CEO

You’ve heard the standard advice about talking to Important People: Be yourself. Don’t talk politics. Know when to exit the conversation. But if you really want to impress a CEO – or just walk away from the conversation without feeling like your foot is in your mouth – we recommend heading into work with a few go-to conversation starters in your pocket, like the following:

  • Ask about a recent business trip
  • Compliment a recent initiative, keynote, or product release
  • Ask for recommendations for work-appropriate things like where to take a client for lunch or what local attractions you should recommend to a prospective employee visiting the city for the weekend
  • Compliment a piece of clothing or accessory he’s wearing and explain why you like it (but only if you can be genuine!)
  • Inquire about her past or future weekend plans (depending on which end of the week is closer)

As with most interactions, how you say something is just as important as what you say. With just a little preparation, you can be prepared for a warm, casual conversation with your CEO.

…Recovering From an Embarrassing Incident in Front of a CEO

Are you worried you’re so nervous around your CEO that you might accidentally hug him or sputter a mouthful of jibberish when he asks you what you’re working on? These extraordinary but true examples show us that no one is immune to awkwardness around the highest employee on the totem pole. But you can recover from almost any awkward moment if you practice a fool-proof social situation process.

First, prepare to respond with good-natured humor. Try to shift to a perspective that everything that happens in the workplace is well-intentioned until proven otherwise and respond accordingly: a brief smile, a quick apology, and an invitation to laugh it off.

And most importantly, remember that while this moment might define your day, it’s just one of hundreds in the day of a CEO. It’s not at all that you’re not important – it’s that your few seconds of perceived embarrassment will be balanced out with hundreds of other interactions with other people. Barring any extreme circumstances, the rest of the CEO’s day will dilute your embarrassing moment enough that it’s not going to haunt you.

GlassDoor.com | |

#CareerAdvice : #ProductivePeople – 11 CEOs share the Bad Habits they Want to Ditch in 2019. Great Read!

While you’re busy making lofty resolutions for 2019, it’s important to also think about the things you don’t want to do in the new year. Whether you’re spending too much time fielding emails or reading the news, chances are you could be more productive—or simply happier—by making a few tweaks in and out of the office. We asked a number of CEOs about the habits they hope to kick in 2019.

MULTITASKING IN AND OUT OF THE OFFICE

It’s no secret that your productivity suffers when you multitask—a habit multiple CEOs said they want to cut back on. Hussein Fazal, the CEO of travel startup SnapTravel, notes that people often spend “downtime” checking work emails and messages—and then spend their “work time” looking at personal emails and messages. (Perhaps this sounds familiar?) “It is super important to compartmentalize these time blocks,” he says, “to ensure maximum productivity while working and to minimize work distractions while enjoying downtime.” To that end, Fazal has turned off nearly all notifications on his phone and frequently keeps his phone on “do not disturb” mode.

But even when you don’t let personal agendas interrupt your workday, it can be difficult to truly focus on one task (and one tab!) at a time. That’s why Heidi Zak, CEO of lingerie startup ThirdLove, no longer brings her laptop to meetings. “I’ve found I’m much more engaged and present,” she says. Cheryl Kaplan, cofounder of shoe startup M.Gemi, says that because she often finds herself multitasking, in 2019 she wants to “focus on being present,” whether it’s at work or at home. “Face time is precious, but sometimes it gets difficult to focus on what or who is in front of me,” she says. “My goal is to put all my attention on the conversation or task at hand, instead of trying to give partial attention to a few different things at once.”

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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TAKING YOUR PHONE INTO THE BEDROOM

If you’re dreaming of more peaceful sleep in the new year, you’re on the right track. “Stop trying to be a ‘hustler’ who works 24/7 and never sleeps,” advises Peter Shankman, the CEO of The Geek Factory and an author who has written and spoken extensively about living with ADHD. “Take care of yourself first and foremost. You can’t make a million dollars if you’re dead.” Founders like Tara Foley, the founder of beauty startup Follain, plan to make sleeping well a priority in 2019—even if it means not finishing work. “I get a more restful sleep if I get in bed earlier, and I get more done with my day if I’ve gotten enough sleep,” she says. Alana Branston, CEO of the retail startup Bulletin, intends to start going to bed before midnight.

For some CEOs, sleeping more soundly means unplugging. “I am working on creating a phone-free bedroom environment,” says investor Anu Duggal, who started Female Founders Fund. And Ariel Kaye, the CEO of bedding startup Parachute, is already on her way to a bedroom devoid of screens. “This is extremely challenging for me,” Kaye says. “I’ve started using an alarm clock and charge my phone outside of the bedroom. I’m already seeing the benefits—not only do I sleep much more soundly without the blue light from my phone, but I’m now in the habit of reading at night.”

Plus, the better you sleep, the less likely you are to hit the snooze button—a bad habit that Shankman cautions against. “Getting up a half hour earlier will radically improve your life in countless ways,” he says.

STRETCHING YOURSELF TOO THIN

One way to address both multitasking and sleepless nights is to take on less and say no more, as Eunice Byun—the founder of cookware startup Material—hopes to do in 2019. “As an entrepreneur with an under-one-year-old business, I catch myself feeling like we need to be ready to seize every opportunity,” she says. Over time, she has realized that when she is “more purposeful and intentional” about where she spends her energy, it is easier to stay true to her company mission. “It’s fun and exhilarating to be in hyper-growth mode, but saying ‘no’ can be just as important to growing long-term,” she adds.

As a founder, doing less also means delegating effectively—something that can be difficult if you have built a company from the ground up. “The single worst habit I have—that I continue to work on—is micromanagement,” says Zahir Dossa, CEO of beauty startup Function of Beauty. “It isn’t easy to detach from the day-to-day tasks that I was once used to occupying. The most important thing that leads me to let go of things, however, is trust in the people [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][who] now lead these initiatives.”

NOT COUNTING YOUR WINS

Vivian Shen, founder of coding startup Juni Learning, says that in 2019, she wants to focus on creating good habits. One of those is making time to take stock of positive developments. “Given all the negative news throughout the past year, I believe it is more important than ever to practice gratitude,” she says. “We so often focus on what went wrong or what we could have done better. We don’t intentionally take the time to reflect on and truly celebrate the wins at work or in our personal lives. As a CEO, I feel that consistently showing appreciation for our team’s accomplishments needs to be core to our company’s DNA if we’re going to build a successful, long-term company.”

Pavithra Mohan is an assistant editor for Fast Company Digital. Her writing has previously been featured in Gizmodo and Popular Science magazine.

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FastCompany.com | December 26, 2018

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#Leadership : 5 Insights from a Classic Leadership Book by an Executive Coach Who’s Helped over 150 CEOs … If you’re Set on Progressing in your Career, You’ve got to Commit Yourself to a Course of Personal Development, Which will Likely Be as Uncomfortable as it is Rewarding.

What Got You Here Won’t Get You There highlights the 20 workplace habits that keep business leaders from success.  Author Marshall Goldsmith, a top executive coach who’s worked with more than 150 CEOs and been named multiple times to theThinkers50 list of influential management thinkers, published the bestselling book with Mark Reiter in 2007.

marshall-goldsmith

Marshall Goldsmith.YouTube

His goal was to help managers at all levels pinpoint exactly which behaviors they need to change and how to do it.  The thrust is that just because you’ve been able to get by with your counterproductive habitsdoesn’t mean you’ll be able to reach the top of your field with those same tendencies.

If you’re set on progressing in your career, you’ve got to commit yourself to a course of personal development, which will likely be as uncomfortable as it is rewarding.

Below, Business Insider breaks down the book’s five most important insights on becoming an effective leader:

1. Don’t fall into the ‘superstition trap’

Your destructive habits — from taking credit for others’ efforts to constantly making excuses — probably aren’t what helped you reach this level of success, and they definitely won’t help you get further.

Here’s Goldsmith:

“One of the greatest mistakes of successful people is the assumption, ‘I behave this way, and I achieve results. Therefore, I must be achieving results because I behave this way.’

“This belief is sometimes true, but not across the board. That’s where superstition kicks in. It creates the core fallacy necessitating this book, the reason that ‘what got us here won’t get us there.’ I’m talking about the difference between success that happens because of our behavior and the success that comes in spite of our behavior.”

 

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2. Technical chops aren’t enough for leaders

Interpersonal skills get more and more important as you climb the corporate ladder.

Here’s Goldsmith:

“At the higher levels of organizational life, all the leading players are technically skilled. They’re all smart. They’re all up to date on the technical aspects of their job. …

“That’s why behavioral issues become so important at the upper rungs of the corporate ladder. All other things being equal, your people skills (or lack of them) become more pronounced the higher up you go. In fact, even when all other things are not equal, your people skills often make the difference in how high you go.”

3. Your effectiveness as a leader is based on others’ perceptions of you

What you think of yourself doesn’t matter as much — so stop trying to conform to some arbitrary notion of your unique self.

Here’s Goldsmith:

“It’s an interesting equation: Less me. More them. Equals success.

“Keep this in mind when you find yourself resisting change because you’re clinging to a false — or pointless — notion of ‘me.’ It’s not about you. It’s about what other people think of you.”

4. Listening to what other people say is the most important skill for a leader to develop

That’s especially true if you’re trying to change your habits.

Here’s Goldsmith:

“The only difference between us and the super-successful among us — the near-great and the great — is that the great ones  [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][listen] all the time. It’s automatic for them. For them there’s no on and off switch for caring and empathy and showing respect. It’s always on. They don’t rank personal encounters as A, B, or C in importance. They treat everyone equally — and everyone eventually notices.”

5. You need to pick and choose your areas of improvement

It’s best to focus on what’s causing the biggest problem among the biggest group of people.

Here’s Goldsmith:

“Take a look around your office. Someone’s the best salesman. Someone else is the best accountant. Someone else is the best manager. No one is the best at everything.

“This isn’t a license for mediocrity. It’s a reality check. It’s your permission to deal in trade-offs and pick one thing to improve upon rather than everything.”

 

Businessinsider.com | August 26, 2016 | Shana Lebowitz

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