10 Habits of Remarkably Charismatic People

Some people instantly make us feel important. Some people instantly make us feel special. Some people light up a room just by walking in.

We can't always define it, but some people have it: They're naturally charismatic.

Unfortunately, natural charisma quickly loses its impact. Familiarity breeds, well, familiarity.

But some people are remarkably charismatic: They build and maintain great relationships, consistently influence (in a good way) the people around them, consistently make people feel better about themselves--they're the kind of people everyone wants to be around...and wants to be.

Fortunately we can, because being remarkably charismatic isn't about our level of success or our presentation skills or how we dress or the image we project--it's about what we do.

Here are the 10 habits of remarkably charismatic people:

1. They listen way more than they talk.

Ask questions. Maintain eye contact. Smile. Frown. Nod. Respond--not so much verbally, but nonverbally.

That's all it takes to show the other person they're important.

Then when you do speak, don't offer advice unless you're asked. Listening shows you care a lot more than offering advice, because when you offer advice in most cases you make the conversation about you, not them.

Don't believe me? Who is "Here's what I would do..." about: you or the other person?

Only speak when you have something important to say--and always define important as what matters to the other person, not to you.

2. They don't practice selective hearing.

Some people--I guarantee you know people like this--are incapable of hearing anything said by the people they feel are somehow beneath them.

Sure, you speak to them, but that particular falling tree doesn't make a sound in the forest, because there's no one actually listening.

Remarkably charismatic people listen closely to everyone, and they make all of us, regardless of our position or social status or "level," feel like we have something in common with them.

Because we do: We're all people.

3. They put their stuff away.

Don't check your phone. Don't glance at your monitor. Don't focus on anything else, even for a moment.

You can never connect with others if you're busy connecting with your stuff, too.

Give the gift of your full attention. That's a gift few people give. That gift alone will make others want to be around you and remember you.

4. They give before they receive--and often they never receive.

Never think about what you can get. Focus on what you can provide. Giving is the only way to establish a real connection and relationship.

Focus, even in part and even for a moment, on what you can get out of the other person, and you show that the only person who really matters is you.

5. They don't act self-important…

The only people who are impressed by your stuffy, pretentious, self-important self are other stuffy, pretentious, self-important people.

The rest of us aren't impressed. We're irritated, put off, and uncomfortable.

And we hate when you walk in the room.

6. …Because they realize other people are more important.

You already know what you know. You know your opinions. You know your perspectives and points of view.

That stuff isn't important, because it's already yours. You can't learn anything from yourself.

But you don't know what other people know, and everyone, no matter who they are, knows things you don't know.

That makes them a lot more important than you--because they're people you can learn from.

7. They shine the spotlight on others.

No one receives enough praise. No one. Tell people what they did well.

Wait, you say you don't know what they did well?

Shame on you--it's your job to know. It's your job to find out ahead of time.

Not only will people appreciate your praise, they'll appreciate the fact you care enough to pay attention to what they're doing.

Then they'll feel a little more accomplished and a lot more important.

8. They choose their words.

The words you use impact the attitude of others.

For example, you don't have to go to a meeting; you get to go meet with other people. You don't have to create a presentation for a new client; you get to share cool stuff with other people. You don't have to go to the gym; you get to work out and improve your health and fitness.

You don't have to interview job candidates; you get to select a great person to join your team.

We all want to associate with happy, enthusiastic, fulfilled people. The words you choose can help other people feel better about themselves--and make you feel better about yourself, too.

9. They don't discuss the failings of others...

Granted, we all like hearing a little gossip. We all like hearing a little dirt.

The problem is, we don't necessarily like--and we definitely don't respect--the people who dish that dirt.

Don't laugh at other people. When you do, the people around you wonder if you sometimes laugh at them.

10. ...But they readily admit their failings.

Incredibly successful people are often assumed to have charisma simply because they're successful. Their success seems to create a halo effect, almost like a glow.

Keyword is seem.

You don't have to be incredibly successful to be remarkably charismatic. Scratch the shiny surface, and many successful people have all the charisma of a rock.

But you do have to be incredibly genuine to be remarkably charismatic.

Be humble. Share your screw-ups. Admit your mistakes. Be the cautionary tale. And laugh at yourself.

While you should never laugh at other people, you should always laugh at yourself.

People won't laugh at you. People will laugh with you.

They'll like you better for it--and they'll want to be around you a lot more.

Want to become a better, smarter, more effective team builder and communicator? Join us at Inc.'s upcoming Leadership Forum June 10 to June 12 in San Diego. Visit leadership.inc.com for details.

Jeff Haden learned much of what he knows about business and technology as he worked his way up in the manufacturing industry. Everything else he picks up from ghostwriting books for some of the smartest leaders he knows in business. @jeff_haden

http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-12

9 Tips for Mentoring Next-Generation Leaders

May 22, 2013

A study of next-generation leaders shows that managers have several concerns about the young people they employ. One of these concerns is that young people aren't getting the coaching and mentoring they need to equip them to lead in complex environments.

Many business owners don't have a strategy for preparing these future leaders. Research shows that only one in eight companies have a written plan for leadership continuity. Many think that writing a plan is too much, too soon. Scarce training budgets and limited resources are also contributing factors of neglecting such a crucial aspect of any business. When succession planning takes a backseat to day-to-day operations, the months and years go by without addressing this strategic imperative. This will inevitably leave you with a team of leaders and managers who aren't ready to take charge.

What can we do? Mentoring is the answer. It's a low-cost and extremely effective way to prepare future leaders early on. Mentoring is as simple as a gentle push in the right direction. It's also an easy way to preserve the intangible assets of your company—the minds and capabilities of the key young people who are the future face of your brand. Mentoring increases retention of your best and brightest, builds your reservoir of talent, speeds employee growth and shortens the learning cycle. It also engenders loyalty.

Don't continue to ignore the need for this. Here are some pointers on how to get started.

1. Establish two-way, cross-generational mentoring. When we think of mentoring, we conjure up the image of a wise, senior executive mentoring a young professional. While there's no doubt that this is one of the most beneficial mentoring situations, it's no longer the only model. As The Center For Creative Leadership study outlines, young employees are generally willing to learn and eager to make a difference. They are technology savvy, highly adaptable and comfortable with the rapid pace of change. They also have multicultural awareness. Companies need these skills from all their employees and leaders. Younger employees can mentor their long-tenured bosses and colleagues in these areas, while established leaders can help the younger ones channel their ideas and enthusiasm in ways that promote innovation.

2. Support informal mentoring. Being mentored in a formal mentorship program doesn't work for everyone, and some employees resist it. Studies even seem to suggest that informal mentoring works better. If this is the case with some of your employees, support informal mentoring relationships that occur spontaneously throughout an organization. You can do this by offering education and training.

3. Offer flexible mentorship programs for millenials. Jeanne Meister, co-author of The 2020 Workplace, explains that the mentorship program for millenials is different from traditional mentorship. For example, mentoring for this group should be expanded beyond the face-to-face model by using social media. As she writes in her book, "Millenials respond better to innovative and mature management, suggesting the importance of experience in management while using more up-to-the minute techniques." On-demand, online mentoring appears to be a top preference for millenials. It matches the mentee with a mentor outside the organization using psychological testing to profile the mentee. The entire mentoring experience is then online, and anonymous, for both mentor and mentee. It can be short term or last up to a year.

4. Use external mentors. In addition to using internal company mentors, consider expanding your program to give people an option to be mentored by leaders in other organizations. At Instill Corp., a B2B technology company for the food industry, CEO Mack Tilling has developed a highly successful mentoring program where all executives are required to choose a mentor they admire—usually an executive at another company—who is in the same functional area. This does not need to be limited to senior executives. Consider setting up a similar program for your young key employees. Peer mentoring with equivalents in other companies provides powerful opportunities for learning and cross pollination.

5. Keep it democratic. Take inspiration from Intel's mentoring program. At this company, anyone can mentor, regardless of position. One of the star mentors mentioned in the article is a senior administrative assistant, and she's a great mentor because she has skills that are vital to Intel. She is a master at tapping into informal communication networks that make the company tick. Take a look through your entire company, comb each department—from HR to engineering—and see what universal skills and abilities can be passed on to others.

6. Make mentoring a part of the organizational strategy. Encourage all leaders to look at their followers and commit to helping them grow in their jobs. This should be applied to everyone, not just those who opted for formal mentorship. We owe it to younger leaders to guide them and pass on expertise and wisdom. To solidify this, include a commitment to mentoring in the performance appraisals.

7. Encourage people to seize mentorship moments. No matter how good your mentoring program is, help mentors understand that the most important part of leadership development occurs in everyday actions, outside of formal programs. Encourage mentors to seize the opportunity when they see a mentoring moment. It can be in the hall, in the elevator or just after a meeting. People need to understand the value of letting it happen serendipitously.

8. Identify the skills and wisdom needed. Evaluate what skills and knowledge are needed to sustain your organization in the future. Consider, as well, the research on attributes required of leaders to come. This study looks at global trends in leadership challenges and outlines the skills and knowledge needed to address any challenges ahead. Some of these are business acumen, conflict management, effective communication, flexibility to adapt to environment and people, innovation, internal and external accountability and performance appraisals. Take these into account when you set up your monitoring program so you can equip your people for the future.

9. Follow the best practices. Make sure to follow all the required steps for establishing a proper mentorship program. Some obvious (but important) reminders: being clear about the purpose and potential outcomes, setting reasonable expectations, matching the right mentor with mentee in terms of strengths and affinity, defining roles and responsibilities, developing a mentoring agreement, and stressing confidentiality, to name a few. Qualcomm has made its Mentorship Toolkit publicly available, and you can also access resources at The International Mentoring Association.

Bruna Martinuzzi is the founder of Clarion Enterprises Ltd., and the author of two books: Presenting with Credibility: Practical Tools and Techniques for Effective Presentations, and The Leader as a Mensch: Become the Kind of Person Others Want to Follow.

http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com

(C) 2009-13

Is college worth it?

Careers May. 17, 2013 - 05:02AM JST ( 5 ) NEW YORK —

The message that everyone should go to college does a disservice to the 60% of students who do not finish their degrees within six years, according to new research from Brookings Center on Children and Families, a non-partisan research center in Washington.

These students end up with debt that is not recouped by higher salaries later in life. And for low-income families, the impact is even worse.

“On average, getting a college degree is a good decision, but it isn’t good for everyone. It’s whether you finish, where you go, what you major in it, and what you do,” said Isabel Sawhill, one of the authors of the report.

At the most selective schools, there is an 88% graduation rate over six years compared to 35% at non-competitive schools. That is why Sawhill was especially concerned with the return on investment from community college programs.

“They’ve been much celebrated as an alternative form of education, often with an occupational focus. But 70% are dropping out before getting a degree - that’s totally unacceptable,” Sawhill said.

The Brookings report also found that someone working in a science-oriented job with only a high school diploma can expect to earn more over a lifetime than someone with a bachelor’s degree working in a field like education or the arts.

Overall, 14% of high school graduates make at least as much as those with a bachelor’s, and 17% of those with a bachelor’s make more than those with a professional degree.

An April study from Payscale.com, a data firm based in Seattle, ranked 1,500 educational programs on their return on investments for 2013. There were 74 schools that showed a return of $1 million or more on the investment in an education, while 30 schools had a negative return on investment - meaning the cost of attending was more than what the students would make up with increased wages, even over a 30-year period.

The top-ranked schools all focus on engineering, including Harvey Mudd College, California Institute of Technology, Polytechnic Institute of New York University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and SUNY - Maritime College.

At the bottom of the rankings was the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, which had an opportunity cost of $155,000 to attend in 2012, including living expenses and lost wages from not working. The school had a graduation rate of 37% while its 30-year net return on investment was projected as a loss of $228,000, Payscale.com said.

Both Brookings and Payscale said they intended their reports to inform students about the long-term earning prospects of certain institutions and college majors. The release of the data was timed to when most students make their college decisions.

Payscale also releases an annual report in September, when students typically choose majors, to help them make informed choices about the long-term value of the careers they choose to pursue.

Katie Bardaro, lead economist for Payscale, said this survey also measures the “meaningfulness” of various degrees, rather than just the cold calculus of a salary.

“A lot of the jobs that don’t pay well do have a societal benefit,” she said.

The key is for students to know the monetary impact of a program so they can have reasonable expectations.

“Most people don’t think about it. They choose based on name-brand factors and the availability of extracurriculars and they think about fun. But a lot of those benefits are temporary, and earnings are permanent,” Bardaro said.

Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences had the most-satisfied students, with a 97 percent ranking of high job meaning. A typical mid-career graduate, usually in a nursing field, earns $71,000.

Resources to find top programs include the Institute for Education Sciences College Navigator web site and the College Scorecard by the U.S. Department of Education’s College Affordability and Transparency Center.

http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com

(C) 2009-13

LinkedIn looks to build on its impressive resume

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California —

LinkedIn and Facebook will celebrate the anniversaries of their IPOs just a few days apart this week. But their experiences as publicly traded companies couldn’t be more different.

LinkedIn promotes its service as a stepping stone to a more enriching career. As it turns out, the professional networking company’s initial public offering was a great place to start a rewarding investment portfolio, too. LinkedIn’s stock has nearly quadrupled in value from its $45 IPO price on May 20 two years ago.

LinkedIn is emerging as the standout performer among its cohort of hotly anticipated IPOs from Internet companies that connect people with common interests. The company is growing faster and yielding far better shareholder returns than the rest of a class that includes online deals maker Groupon Inc, web game maker Zynga Inc and business review site Yelp Inc, as well social networking leader Facebook Inc.

With the exception of Yelp, the stocks of all those other companies are stuck well below their initial public offering prices. Although Groupon and Zynga have fared worse, Facebook has been the highest-profile disappointment.

But for all its success, LinkedIn still hasn’t immersed itself into people’s lives and reshaped technology as profoundly as Facebook has. Although LinkedIn has been attracting more frequent visits since its IPO, people still spend far more time on Facebook and share more of their lives there. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn hasn’t become a hub for other online services, ranging from games to music.

Even among its fans on Wall Street, LinkedIn is seen as little more than an online hunting ground for opportunistic employers on the prowl for talented workers.

But that could change if LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner and Executive Chairman Reid Hoffman realize their ambitions. As the 10-year-old company heads into its second decade, its two top executives want to establish its website as an integral part of the global economy.

“It would be a representation of every economic opportunity and every skill required to attain those opportunities,” Weiner said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “We would have a digital profile for every company in the world and a professional profile for every one of the 3.3 billion people in the (worldwide) workforce. We would then be able to overlay professionally relevant knowledge for each one of those individuals and each one of those companies.”

LinkedIn still has a long way to go before it’s that pervasive. The service currently has profiles of some 225 million people and 500,000 companies.

But the odds of LinkedIn fulfilling its aspirations may be less of a longshot than the one Hoffman faced when he first started pondering a professional networking service in the midst of the dot-com bust in 2000.

At the time, Hoffman was worried about losing his job as a top executive at online payment service PayPal. The company had just burned through most of its cash, prompting Hoffman to mull other ideas with PayPal co-founders Peter Thiel and Max Levchin during a retreat at his grandparents’ house in Gualala, California along the Pacific Ocean’s coastline.

A rough concept for LinkedIn came up then, but Hoffman didn’t pursue it at the time because PayPal started to thrive.

After eBay Inc bought PayPal for $1.5 billion in 2002, Hoffman plowed much of the money that he made from that deal into LinkedIn. He started the company in May 2003 with several former colleagues from his pre-PayPal days — Allen Blue, Konstantin Guericke, Eric Ly and Jean-Luc Vaillant. The group debated several potential names, including Netra, Wellconnected, Bizrep and Connex, before settling on LinkedIn.

Hoffman’s gamble paid off. As LinkedIn’s controlling shareholder, his stake in the company is currently worth $3 billion.

LinkedIn now has market value approaching $20 billion and employs about 4,000 people. It’s expanding so quickly that it is running out of space at its Mountain View, California headquarters located down the block from the home of Google Inc. There will be space for nearly 3,000 more LinkedIn workers once construction is completed on its new corporate campus in nearby Sunnyvale next year.

Things might not have worked out so well if Hoffman, 45, and Weiner, 43, hadn’t been introduced to each other at a technology conference in early 2008. They hit it off immediately, something Hoffman remembered a few months later when he began thinking of replacing Dan Nye as LinkedIn’s CEO.

Hoffman had been LinkedIn’s CEO during the first four years of the company’s existence, and he knew it wasn’t something that he wanted to do for another extended period — an aversion that differentiates him from other Internet visionaries such as Google’s Larry Page, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Salesforce.com Inc’s Marc Benioff, who all relish running the companies they founded.

“I like solving business strategy problems and I like creating whole new ecosystems for people,” Hoffman said. “I am not passionate about leading a 3,000-person plus organization and all the work that goes into doing that in a world-class way. I always knew I didn’t want to be CEO forever, but I still wanted to get LinkedIn to where it needed to get.”

That’s where Weiner came into the equation. Weiner had recently ended a seven-year stint as a key executive at Yahoo Inc and was helping out various startups on a part-time basis as an entrepreneur-in-residence at venture capital firms Greylock Partners and Accel Partners.

After Hoffman persuaded him to join LinkedIn as its president in late 2008, Weiner was promoted to CEO six months later.

The partnership has proven highly productive. LinkedIn’s membership has increased sevenfold from the 33 million members that had set up free profiles on the service at the time Weiner came on board. Revenue this year is expected to approach $1.5 billion, 19 times more than the $79 million generated before Weiner’s arrival. The company’s profits are also steadily rising. Analysts predict LinkedIn’s net income will rise about 20 percent this year to $26 million.

LinkedIn has made a habit of topping analyst projections. That is something the company has done in every quarter since its IPO, helping to propel its stock.

Yet LinkedIn remains in Facebook’s shadow. Since 2008, Facebook has grown even faster as the number of people using its social network swelled 11-fold to 1.1 billion and annual revenue soared 25-fold from $272 million last year to a projected $6.7 billion this year.

But LinkedIn has been outpacing Facebook during the past year, both in terms of user growth (LinkedIn’s membership is up 35% versus 23% at Facebook) and revenue (LinkedIn’s first-quarter revenue rose 72% versus 38% at Facebook).

The secret to LinkedIn’s success? The company has turned its service into an easily searchable database, a treasure trove for employers and their headhunters. The company makes most of its money from the fees it charges for analytical tools and better access to individual profiles. About 18,000 companies now pay LinkedIn for its so-called “talent solutions.”

Most employers rely on LinkedIn to find so-called “knowledge” workers who can fill positions that require a college degree or other specialized training. Think: computer programmers, website developers, scientists, accountants, lawyers and executives. Although McDonald’s is unlikely to turn to LinkedIn to find a cashier, a coffee shop might use the service to recruit a barista. A ski resort might scour the site in search of ski instructors.

“They are not even scratching the surface of what they might eventually be able to do,” said Wedge Partners analyst Martin Pyykkonen.

LinkedIn is expected to generate even more revenue by selling more ads to accompany content such as professional insights from famous executives such as Richard Branson and Jack Welch, as well as other compelling content that induces its membership to visit the site more frequently and dwell for longer periods.

LinkedIn is also working on more analytical tools to sell to sales representatives who are “looking to turn a cold call into a warm prospect,” Weiner said.

Almost everything will have to go right for LinkedIn to support its lofty stock price. Investors are currently paying about $121 for every dollar in LinkedIn’s estimated earnings this year and $13 for every dollar in projected revenue. By comparison, Facebook’s stock is selling for $47 for every dollar in projected earnings this year and $10 in every dollar in projected revenue.

“You really have to buy into the idea that LinkedIn’s revenue is going to grow 10-fold from here to justify its valuation,” Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said. “It’s a good company with an expensive stock.”

LinkedIn’s success also could attract more competition. The company’s biggest threat, of course, is Facebook, which already knows where most of its users work and where they went to school.

Weiner isn’t worried about Facebook expanding into LinkedIn’s turf because the company’s research indicates that most people want a dividing line between their professional and personal identities.

Facebook hasn’t yet shown any desire to open a professional networking channel, but Pachter thinks there is a greater likelihood of it happening if LinkedIn continues to do well.

“Facebook could just say, ‘Hey are you tired of going to LinkedIn? Just enter all your professional information here and we’ll code it so only your business friends can see it,’” Pachter said.

Another alternative would be for Facebook to buy LinkedIn. But Pachter doubts that will happen now that LinkedIn is worth so much.

http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com

(C) 2009-12

There Are Only 4 Jobs in the World -- Are You in the Right One?

Lou Adler              I've been involved in creating more than 2,500 different job descriptions over the past year. I can conclude that there are only a few different jobs in the whole world.

For the past 30 years my company has been involved in creating over 2,500 different performance-based job descriptions that define the actual work a person needs to do to be considered successful. Based on preparing these performance-based job descriptions for jobs like camp counselor at the YMCA, accountants and engineers from staff to VPs, mid- and senior-level executives in industries ranging from automotive and aerospace to construction and consumer products, I can conclude that there are only four different jobs in the whole world.
Everything starts with an idea. This is the first of the four jobs – the Thinkers. Builders convert these ideas into reality. This the second job. Improvers make this reality better. This is the third job. Producers do the work over and over again, delivering quality goods and services to the company’s customers in a repeatable manner. This is the fourth job. And then the process begins again with new ideas and new ways of doing business being developed as the old ones become stale.
(Note: due to the interest in the concept of work types I'll be hosting a complimentary webcast on May 8 @10:30AM PT. Space really is limited, so sign-up right away.)
As a company grows and reaches maturity, more of the work gets done by the Producers and Improvers. However, without a culture of consistent improvement, the Producers soon take over and implementing change becomes slower and slower until it stops. Long before this the Thinkers and Builders have left for some new venture. Improvers soon follow to join their former co-workers and hire new Producers to add some order to the newly created chaos. The old Producers who aren’t continually evolving, learning new skills and processes, are left behind to fend for themselves. Maintaining balance across all four work types is a constant, but a necessary struggle for a company to continue to grow, adapt, and survive.
Every job has a mix of all four work types dependent on the actual work involved, the scope and scale of the role, and the company’s growth rate. To ensure balance and flexibility, all of these four work types should be taken into account when preparing any new performance-based job description. Here’s how:
Producers: these people execute or maintain a repeatable process. This can range from simple things like working on an inbound help desk and handling some transactional process like basic sales, to more complex, like auditing the performance of a big system, writing code, or producing the monthly financial reports. Producers typically require training or advanced skills to be in a position to execute the process. To determine the appropriate Producer performance objectives, ask the hiring manager to define how any required skill is used on the job and how its success would be measured, e.g., “contact 15 new customers per week and have five agree to an onsite demonstration.“ This is a lot better than saying “the person must have 3-5 years of sales experience selling to sophisticated buyers of electro-mechanical control valves.”
Improvers: these people upgrade, change or make a repeatable process better. Managers are generally required to continually monitor and improve a process under their responsibility. Building, training and developing the team to implement a process is part of an Improver’s role. Improvers can be individual contributors or managers of teams and projects, the key is the focus on improving a existing system, business or process. A performance objective for an Improver could be “conduct a comprehensive process review of the wafer fab process to determine what it would take to improve end-to-end yield by 10%.”
Builders: these people take an idea from scratch and convert it into something tangible. This could be creating a new business, designing a complex new product, closing a big deal, or developing a new process. Entrepreneurs, inventors, turn-around executives, deal-makers, and project managers are typical jobs that emphasize the Builder component. Ask the hiring manager what big changes, new developments, big problems or major projects the person in the new job would need to address to determine the Builder component. An example might be, “lead the implementation of the new SAP supply change system over every business unit including international.” This is a lot better than saying “must have five years international logistics background and strong expertise with SAP."
Thinkers: these people are the visionaries, strategists, intellects, and creators of the world, and every big idea starts with them. Their work covers new products, new business ideas, and different ways of doing everyday things. Ask hiring managers where the job requires thinking out-of-the-box or major problems to solve to develop the Thinker performance objectives. “Develop a totally new approach for reducing water usage by 50%,” is a lot better than saying “Must have 5-10 years of environmental engineering background including 3-5 years of wastewater management with a knack for creative solutions."
Now for a little secret. Recognize that every person is comprised of a mix of each work type, with one or two dominant. Likewise for every job. Most require strengths in one or two of the work types. As you select people for new roles, it's important to get this blending right. This starts by understanding the full requirements of the position, the strengths and weaknesses of others on the team, and the primary objective of the department, group or company. In the rush to hire, it’s easy to lose sight of this bigger picture, emphasizing skills and experience over performance and fit. This is how Builders get hired instead of Improvers and Thinkers get hired when Producers are required. While there are only four work types, hiring the wrong one is often how the wrong work gets done.
______________________________________________________
Lou Adler (@LouA) is the Amazon best-selling author of Hire With Your Head (Wiley, 2007) and the award-winning Nightingale-Conant audio program, Talent Rules! His latest book, The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired, is now available on Amazon. You might want to join Lou's new LinkedIn group to discuss this and related hiring issues.

http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-13

Turn a Good Worker Into a Great Manager: 6 Steps

Paul Spiegelman

Apr 29, 2013

It's noble to promote from within, but irresponsible if it's without preparation. Here's what you should do.

I'm sure this is familiar. You have a great employee, who does strong work, and is ready for more responsibility. So you make him or her a supervisor, manager, or leader of others, and you're happy you did. "Congratulations, you're now a manager," you say, with all sincerity.
But then, you live to regret it. And you realize, it wasn't that the individual did something wrong. You're the one who forgot something: to help lay the foundation for that newly-crowned supervisor to succeed. You didn't train him or her to become a manager.
I remember a number of years ago when my team and I were looking for supervisors for Beryl's call center. Naturally, I thought, we found people who had been great at answering phones and handling customers, and so we promoted them into the new advisor positions. A couple of years later, when productivity was suffering, I heard a common refrain from senior leaders: the problem lay in the call-center supervisors. They thought I should get rid of the existing group, and start fresh.
While a new group sure sounded good, I knew that wasn't the answer. The supervisors weren't the problem; it was me. I failed to give those promoted employees the tools and training they needed to be successful. Rather than looking at them, I needed to look in the mirror, and so did the whole senior leadership team. So I challenged leadership to invest the necessary time and energy to give the call-center supervisors the training they needed--and we got great results.
It's noble to try to "promote from within," but irresponsible to promote without preparation. In some cases, you may not have the resources available to train your next leaders, and when that happens, it may of course be necessary to look outside. Or maybe you hire someone who can train your next generation of leaders.
If you're going to commit to advancing the careers of your best workers, and one of those opportunities moves them into a leadership position for the first time, always do the following:

• Give them a mentor for a period of time.
• Invest in either internal or external training.
• Guide them in how to be an example to others.
• Teach the difference between management and leadership.
• Check in often to help them with  new issues they'll deal with.
• Make sure they enjoy the new role.

Remember middle managers or supervisors have tremendous influence, and you can't underestimate the importance of their roles. Equip and empower the employees you promote, and it will pay big dividends down the road.
http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-13