Being the Best Leader You Can Be

While the challenges of the past year have been many, the topic of leadership and what it takes to be a leader in the current environment is one that needs further examination. Many organizations have not spent an adequate amount of time examining the minefield of maintaining proper leadership in business today. Leadership in my mind includes: hiring, directing, guiding and developing your team or organization.

While this is too large and exhausting a topic to fully cover in a single blog, I’d like to share some of the characteristics I feel are important to have as a leader. I have gathered these from countless conversations with Owners, CEO's, President's, Mangers and staff personnel. Several themes are consistent regardless of the level of individual I hear from.

Whether you are an individual contributor or manage many, take some time to reflect on your leadership style and think about ways to improve in the coming year.

Below are some of the qualities I feel are more important than ever to have as a successful leader:

1) Accept your Role
Employees are looking for leadership and for someone to advise them on how to be most successful in an organization. People are hungry for direction and a leader to communicate this to them. Commit yourself to studying the dynamics of successful leadership as much as you do to the day to day aspects of specific job. If you are a successful leader business success will follow.

2) Be Proactive
Don’t lead from a reactionary mode – anyone can do that. Get ahead of the curve. Understand the difference between tactics and strategy and plan for both the long-term and short-term future. Consistently reassess your plans and strategy to make sure they are still on point and that your goals and direction are still applicable.

3) Drive Change
Your competitors’ leaders are always looking for a way to do things differently. If you aren't willing to change they will pass right by you. Don't fear the failure that may come with change. Accept that as part of leading. People aren't looking for perfection from their leaders, just answers.

4) Be Human
Create commitment from others by recognizing them, communicating honestly and rewarding them.

5) Be a Sponge
I know the information age seems overwhelming at times. However, we must take advantage of it. Learn new business and technical skills. Are you using social media to your advantage??? LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook are only the beginning. We must use the resources around us.

We must ask ourselves:
*What are we doing to develop and improve our leadership skills?
*Are we doing enough to help those around us improve their leadership abilities?
*If we are taking some steps, what more can we do?

I hope you have found some items to reflect upon as we approach 2010.

Enjoy the Holidays!
David Lammert

Keeping Motivated During Your Job Search

It can be difficult to stay focused and motivated if you are out of work and are seeking a new opportunity. During the transition period between jobs there is typically an abundance of free time. Managing this “found” time can have a tremendous impact on your mental well being, as well as your ability to find new opportunities.

This blog is dedicated to providing you tips to staying fresh and motivated:

1) Stay Focused
This is not the time to become a cable news junkie, reality TV junky, or to start your Netflix account. Finding a new job is a full-time job all on its own. The time and investment it will take to become employed once more will likely be far more extensive than you might expect. Today, the average job search takes from 4.5 to 14 weeks. The higher you have been and are looking to be on the food chain, the longer it will take. Plan accordingly.

2) Polish Yourself
Rejection will be plentiful. My recommendation is to find an activity where you know you can achieve success and better yourself at the same time. Spend some time in the gym or acquire a new skill that will be relevant to your career. Surround yourself with positive people and activity.

3) Stay Current
Keeping in tune with events within your industry is extremely important. Attend ASIS meetings, reconnect with industry colleagues, and study new trends in your industry. Stay connected to avoid feelings of isolation and to remain relevant.

4) Identify Your Specialty
The work place is becoming more and more specialized. Do you know what you are really good at? If you don't, how can you market yourself to recruiters and employers? Many on-line self-assessments can help you identify your talents. One of my favorite experts on this subject is Markus Buckingham. Check out the book by he and Donald Clifton titled “Now, Go Discover your Strengths”.

5) Find balance
This is a stressful time. Do your best to find balance between activity related to finding your next position and taking some time for yourself and allowing yourself some moments of mini- vacation.

I look forward to your feedback and hearing what you or someone you know has done to help get through a job transition. Please send me an email at david@pinnacleplacement.com with your tips and suggestions.

More to come!
David Lammert

Ten Keys to the Correct Hire

Okay Mr. Employer, you have identified a candidate who has the basics skill set and qualifications you are seeking to hire. Now it's time to delve a bit deeper. Have you done all the due diligence necessary to insure that this will be a good hire? What else should you look for to help you select the proper candidate?

After a week off on vacation and week off of blogging, this week’s blog will spend some time looking into key areas of concern to make sure that this candidate is the right candidate.

1) Problem Solving Skills
Let's face it, no matter what the job title says, problem solving is a key role of every position. You need players who can adapt on the fly to the constantly changing parameters and challenges of customer needs, competitors practices or organizational changes. Those who are resistant or slow to react will keep you from achieving your goals.

Ask candidates to identify specific situations of how they solved a work-related challenge. Allow them to explain the details of their response to a crisis and how their response assisted the organization they were working for.

2) Overall Contribution
Plain and simple, you hire employees to increase revenues or to decrease costs. Identify the metrics which you will use to determine success of the employee. This is easier for some positions than others, but, it can be done for all positions.

Once you have the metrics in place, do your best to select a candidate who has produced similar results. Ask the candidates to explain the metrics for which they were measured in previous roles. If they weren't measured by their supervisor, it is a great indicator of their self awareness and motivation to see if they measured their own success.

3) Previous Work History
Few organizations have the luxury of comprehensive training programs. For this reason, make sure candidates have enough relevant work experience for your position so that they can hit the ground with a running start. Transitioning from similar size organizations and similar cultures will increase the likelihood of success.

Ask candidates to describe the kind of atmosphere in which they do best. Ask them to go beyond generic descriptions such as "it was a team environment" in order to really determine the culture they worked in and whether they will fit into your environment.

4) Enthusiasm and Motivation
Those with sincere drive and initiative will quickly rise to the top of your team. Generally, these individual raise the level of play of those around them making all the members of your team better.

Ask each candidate what motivates them; you might be surprised by some answers. It is desirable for your team members to be motivated by differing elements. Some seek external gratification such as peer recognition or compensation. Others are driven by family motivation or internal fulfillment. Enthusiasm is contagious. Make sure your team has it.

Ask candidates to tell you about a time when they went above and beyond the minimum requirements of their job and make sure to ask what reward they find the most gratifying.

5) Ability to Work as an Individual and on a Team
You are looking for candidates who are able to self motivate and produce on their own as well as being successful working in tandem. We all have experienced the loner at work, as well as someone who cannot get anything done without the help of co-workers. Seek those who have the ability to do both.

Ask which way they prefer to work - alone or as part of a group. Lean towards those who are comfortable in both settings, or at least make sure that your total team has an balance of both.

6) Jugglers
In this day and age when everyone is required to do more with less, target candidates who are eager to learn new things and enjoy variety in the work they perform. Chances are they ambitious and inquisitive. These two qualities generally rank high among successful individuals. Multi-tasking is essential.

Make sure to ask the candidate to cite examples of effectively managing a variety of tasks simultaneously.

7) Cultural Fit
First, make sure you have an accurate perception of the culture of your organization. Then seek to determine if this candidate is an automatic fit, or has the ability to adapt quickly.

Have the candidate describe the ideal cultural fit for them; for example "a company that offers work-life balance" or "a team oriented atmosphere". Ask them to explain and expand on how they would specifically measure that. These terms can mean completely different things from one person to the next.

8) Professional Resume
This is a candidate’s personal brochure and marketing plan. It is a reflection of that individual and it will tell you much more about them then their work history. In my years of recruiting I have found a correlation between the quality of the person and the quality of the resume.

Those who take the time and effort to research, format, and style their resume to convey its intended message will also likely invest the same pride in the work they do on your behalf.

9) Internet Identity
Aside from the background checks and skills testing you may perform on a potential candidate, also take the time to check the social networking sites. You can learn a lot to confirm or deny your instincts about the candidate by what their Facebook picture shows or what they last tweeted.

10) Staying power
If you are investing the resources to successfully hire and on-board candidates from outside your organization make sure they are interested in staying long enough to make it worth your investment in them. Determine their short and long-term career path goals.

Make sure they ask questions during the interview that demonstrate an interest in growing with the company and that their goals are compatible with advancement opportunities in your organization. You do not want them to feel boxed in after a relatively short period of time and then likely to look elsewhere for growth.

Enjoy!
David Lammert