Living Thankfulness

Being thankful should not just happen on the fourth Thursday in November. This is akin to only going to church on Easter and Christmas. The big man knows if your heart is in it, or if you are merely going through the motions. But, what exactly is being thankful anyway? Is it saying thanks for something you have received and then just going about your business? I believe that if we open our minds enough here to say “no, it’s more than that!”, we will see that being thankful is not just giving or saying your thanks, it is about living your thanks. It is showing through actions rather than telling through words.

Look for Empathy in Your Future Leaders

Almost every organization I work with is trying to hire better leaders than the ones they have right now. I say almost every one, because they all say that they do, but some act in completely opposite ways. The battlefield for acquiring true leaders is ferocious as we head into the back half of the Gen X era leading this country. Here is the problem I see. Again, every company wants better leaders, but most can’t understand what a leader even is. That is why there are so few transcendent organizations, and elite levels of success are so hard to come by. We often get seduced by sexy dollar signs when trying to define leadership. I can say this forthcoming statement with 100% conviction. The very best organizations I work with do not try to train people into leaders. They identify leaders, and help develop them into greater leaders.

Is Your Resume up to Date? It Sure Should Be! Here’s Why….

Okay, I get it. You’re not even looking for a job. So what? Having an updated resume isn’t just important when searching for a job. It’s about self-awareness of what you do. It answers the following questions with absolute certainty:

Interviewing Pitfalls, Part 1: Handling Tough Questions About Your Past

The old adage of “you are what you are” is really very true. What happens in the past is written into history in ink and cannot be erased. We remember fondly the great times, and tend to flush away the painful memories. There is nothing wrong with that necessarily, it’s just that, a first interview is typically a screening out process, and certain questions are posed in order to aid this process. Answering technical questions is likely going to be the easy part of an interview. It’s the stuff about our imperfect selves that is really hard answer for most of us. Here are some common landmines to step around.

Top 5 Reasons Your Offers Get Turned Down

Nothing in my job is more deflating than to deliver an offer to a candidate, only to have it turned down. The worst part, I almost always know it’s going to happen before it does. In sports terms, it’s like tripping and breaking your leg 100 meters from the end of a mile long race. Uggh! Painful indeed.

Most of my clients tell me that the hiring process, especially at the strategic levels, is painful enough. Finding a candidate you like, and feeling like you are closing in on bringing them aboard, only to have the rug swept out from under your feet has to be terrible. Point being, as a recruiter, I empathize with your pain when this happens. Great news though! All of it is 100 percent avoidable.

The Power of Fear in Making Career Decisions

Nothing plays so strongly as the element of fear in any important decision. This is really evident when making any kind of expensive purchase. I had a guy in my house recently hawking a machine that is guaranteed to remove all allergenic and pollutant particles from the air in my home.

I was intrigued with the product, but the only reason he made it in the door was the free mp3 player. What can I say? Mine recently broke and I needed a new one. That being said, I do suffer from allergies, and the product seemed to be a good one. So, I watched in feigned amazement as this self anointed “best in-home sales professional in the U.S.” worked his way through his schtick. All the way asking me questions like, “How important is the health of you and your family?” And, “If you could improve the health of your children, would you?”

Why Conduct an Exit Interview on Every Departure?

It’s Friday afternoon and you are starting to wind down from a long and busy week. The call of a relaxing weekend is making the last few hours pass slowly by, but the loose ends you are tying up are keeping you busy. Without warning, one of your most important employees drops into your office and asks for a few minutes. This individual sits down and hands you a signed letter that states what they are about to tell you….they are resigning with notice for a different employer. This is clearly not the way you had imagined your week to end, or your weekend to begin. So, what to do next?

Defining and Finding Talent

We talk about talent every day. Where to find it. What kind to find. Where to place it. More elusive; however, is how to spot it. What exactly is talent? Talent defined is “an unusual natural ability to do something well, especially in artistic areas that can be developed by training.” That makes sense. Think of Michael Jordan flying effortlessly through the air, Michael Vick sprinting from defenders toward the goal line, and Tiger Woods curving the ball next to the pin from 250 yards through the trees.

This kind of talent is unmistakable to the eye and easily linked to a sense of artistry. The rarity of skills possessed by these freaks of nature is what makes them “talented”. The eyes tell us that supremely talented athletes are doing things that we know few others can do.

In the business world, and more specifically the world of “talent” acquisition, we too are looking for rare skills that are absolutely essential to make our organizations elite. The type of talent we are looking for does not always tantalize the senses like an artist or an athlete though. We must be more cognizant of subtleties in an individual that makes them truly talented. Here are three traits I find consistently in talented people.

“Attitude of Gratitude”: Treat your Employees Like They are Your Clients

My best friend’s father and I became friends as I got to know him during college and beyond. His go-to phrase was, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” He always said it in a way that you knew he meant it. He was an amazing man.

In his 30s he ran a major investment corporation on the west coast, and in his 40s he took over the family lumber business in Kansas City, which was the largest in the KC metro area and the only place to go before the dawn of Home Depot. The recession and housing crisis of the 80s killed his business and he lost everything but a little bit of land and real estate he owned.

I often asked this man about his life, what he had seen, and where he had been. He never so much as whispered a word of regret or despair for losing his wealth. He simply thanked the world for the opportunity to be alive and have the relationships he had. I knew him in his 50s and on into his 60s after he had essentially retired and became a humble candle-maker who enjoyed a round of golf and the close friends he made living on Charlotte Street in midtown Kansas City.

The story of his life, which ended much too early, is indeed a story unto itself which included close personal friendships with famous actors, musicians, and politicians. Through it all, his rise to the top, and his fall from riches, he maintained something authentic to him that any leader can employ: an “attitude of gratitude.”

Defining the “It” Factor in a Great Employee

Think of your best employee or co-worker. Now, think about their most prominent traits. What makes them the valued business partner that they are? If they are a game changer in your organization it’s likely that there isn’t just one characteristic that sets them apart. There must be, however, a few ties that bind it all together. These overriding qualities displayed by the elite professionals you know are the “it” factor and are the traits that have you pining for more individuals just like them.

We decided to ask our top clients, across varying industries, this question recently: What are the top three soft-skill (non-technical) traits you find in your highest performing employees? Here is what we found, in order of frequency: