Bob spoke about the four critical factors any hiring manager and their boss’s manager must consider in the candidates they are reviewing for an open position. The four factors are Experience, Talent, Culture and Time Span. Of these four factors, Time Span is the most critical and Experience the least critical. Bob’s provides a great overview of this concept in the interview. He also made some great recommendations on the preparation the management team must do to avoid the high costs of a poor fitting hire.

For a short time only, a complimentary replay of this interview is available – Hiring The Right Person

No longer brushing them under the rug but instead placing the issue square in the center of the table for discussion. It means not shying away and instead being genuine and direct about issues that may be affecting people’s hearts and minds. Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great, states, that good-to-great companies infused their decision making processes with “the brutal facts of reality.”

He further shares that Pitney Bowes executive Fred Purdue was quoted as saying “My job is to turn over rocks and look at the squiggly things, even if what you see can scare the hell out of you.” Are you talking about the ‘scary squiggly things’ that might impede your or your organization’s future? Claim your copy of my ebook, 101 Reasons To Be A Passionate Leader: Why Developing Your Leadership Is Critical Today!

Are you dealing with your own career issues? Are you looking at your personal and professional life balance? Are you performing with the level of confidence that will drive your success? Take a look at my upcoming Leadership Coaching Program starting soon… Living Confidently!

Please go there now and read through the curriculum to
preview the material. This transformational (really!)
4-part teleseries with Blair Singer starts tomorrow Tuesday, February 9th.

All recordings and notes will be available if you can’t make
the calls live. The deadline to register is Monday, February
8th at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Get registered now
to get a headstart with the PDF version of the book so you
can prepare for Module 1.

Learn how to …
Master Your Little Voice

Hope to see you on the call!

Thank you for reading this blog post…

… because I think I do know these two things about you:

1) You have a “Little Voice” deep inside you

- and -

2) That “Little Voice” doesn’t always support you

Isn’t that true? I know it is true for me and sometimes that “Little Voice” starts talking at the most inconvenient times. Do you know what I am talking about? Whether you feel it’s true or not, take a moment and read the “Open Letter” my friend,Blair Singer has written for you …

Click your mouse to learn more here:
“Little Voice Mastery”

The training Blair does is masterful. I attended training with him last October and was really impressed with his content and his commitment to others learning what they need to be their absolute best.

At this moment, you’re just ONE click away from getting access to “Little Voice” Mastery techniques Blair has taught for over 20 years. It takes a little practice, but in about 30 seconds, you too can learn what it takes to live into an extraordinary life by mastering your “Little Voice.”

This February, you and 9 of your closest friends, colleagues or team members have an opportunity to discover “Little Voice” Mastery techniques that are life changing.

Buy ONE slot and get NINE free (I did) at:
“Little Voice Mastery”

I hope you join me (and my friends) on the call with Blair for:
“Little Voice Mastery”

What if I told you that anyone who has the desire can become a leader by taking a step by step approach? Yes, if you be willing to invest the time it takes to go through eight simple steps you can grow into the leader you want to become.

How do I know this? I am like you. I wanted to make a real difference in people’s lives, I wanted to inspire others. And I wanted to be successful. But I didn’t want to sacrifice my personal life. I wanted to feel fulfilled both at work and at home.

To meet these goals, I developed my own personal leadership development plan and I want to share it with you. In just eight sessions, I will share with you this same proven system and show you, step-by-step in my home study guide. Not only do you receive these proven steps with a $100 Holiday discount, you also receive my book, The Advantage of Leadership and access to Late Night with Susan coaching program for free.

Step One is about making a commitment and answering some fundamental questions. Are you ready to change your life? Click here to get started or call me personally at 1-800-809-2721.

“Most people think they know what they are good at. They are usually wrong… And yet, a person can perform only from strength.” – Business guru Peter Drucker (1909 – 2005)

As many of you who already subscribe to my Leadership Power Tips know, one of my favorite books is Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton. When coaching my clients, we talk a lot about Strengths and seek to gain clarity on what theirs’ are. I just completed reviewing my Strengths after reading Strengths Finder 2.0, the upgraded version by Tom Rath. The goal of Gallup Management and the authors “was to start a global conversation about what’s right with people.”

I fell in love with this goal and overall philosophy right away. My passion is to have more leaders really understand who they are by being more aware and observant of the impact of their actions. What do they do well and what do they not do well. Becoming clear on both is really important to leadership development. Focusing on what is a strength as a leader means you will have an opportunity to make a dramatic difference for yourself and your employees. As a leader, I support building on who you already are and being aware of who you are not, managing your weaknesses.

The research Gallup has done “discovered that people have several times more potential for growth when they invest energy in developing their strengths instead of correcting their deficiencies.” Their research also indicates “that people who do have the opportunity to focus on their strengths every day are six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life in general.”

In these tough economic times, it is already challenging without the added dynamic of not being able to use your strengths and do what you do best everyday. As Gallup’s extensive research has found (and you and I know from experience) when you are not able to use your strengths at work, chances are that you:

• hate going to work
• have more negative interactions with people at your work
• treat customers poorly
• speak negatively about your company to your friends
• achieve less
• have fewer positive and creative moments

So, if you are experiencing any or all of these, please take the time to pick up this book, Strength Finders 2.0 and begin to confirm your strengths, your natural talents. As 2009 comes to close, now is the time to review what you will focus on in 2010. Why not start out with building on your strengths?

My top five Strength themes are Relator, Maximizer, Positivity, Learner and Intellection. What are yours?

Over the last 18 months, I coached many employees, managers and executives in a very dynamic environment where growth was happening very fast to, unfortunately, where decline rapidly took hold and seemed to spiral out of control. After hiring almost 70 people and watching them enthusiastically take on the launch of a new program, I was several months later laying off all the people I hired plus many more. I witnessed hope, contribution and commitment and then despair, fear and anger.

From the beginning, change was very apparent – new people working together building a team; new processes to be learned and enhanced; new offices being opened and performance being reviewed. Some people thrived on the change and some resisted the changes. It was an amazing time for me to be involved as a coach, a HR manager and an observer. I loved helping employees deal with the new demands; coaching managers to motivate employees and bring clarity to their expectations. Then as the business revenues began to decline just when expenses were increasing, change took on a whole new look – people being laid off; offices closing; programs being shut down and services being eliminated. I also was grateful for helping the employees deal with losing their jobs; coaching managers to make and deal with the results of their tough decisions; and listening as all levels of the organization tried to sort out what the changes meant for them and their families, the company and the clients. Many thanked me for the straightforward approach and compassion I brought to difficult conversations.

In my many roles in business, I have initiated change, been a “victim” of change, and embraced change. For me, I know it is my perspective that drives the how I will handle change. Call it the wisdom of my years (or the hard knocks of experience) but thankfully I no longer am a victim of change. Yes, I may have a few moments of regret, disappointment and even anger reflecting how come, why me, why now… The key for me has been to acknowledge my feelings, giving myself permission to feel bad for whatever I need – 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes – and then I move on… looking for “what’s next” with the intention of making all change beneficial.

Being a leader means you will become familiar with all of the aspects of change and how you handle it will begin to define who you are as a leader. So how are you doing in handling change?

I have come to learn that when I begin reading a lot and when I begin seeking out training courses, I am ready for a change. And usually a big one! That is how it has been for me since March of this year. I have been actively involved in several training courses and have read… let me count…11 books. Wow, I even surprised myself by how many I have read in a few short months time. I will have to share with you which ones are the best… check out TheLeadershipResource.com/Leadership-Books.php

The training I have attended has been outstanding. The first course is a year-long course called Wisdom Unlimited. This course is about Transformation. I love how individual transformation allows you to take on and live at a new level of power and effectiveness. This course as Landmark Education describes “is designed for those interested in growth and development as an ongoing part of their lives. It is for those who want their lives to be as great as they can be, to live as productive members of a community, to grow in wisdom, to develop themselves in ways that open up new avenues of exploration in living full, contributing, and happy lives.”  And it is about “play—such as curiosity, wonderment, invention, and engagement – with the maturity and wisdom of adulthood.” This course has delivered on its objectives for me! Play and Contribution are very present for me at a whole new level.

More to come on the other training I have taken… but now I want to ask you a question? Are you bored? Are you looking to spark your own growth and development? Are you being the best leader you can be or are you ready to take your own development to a new level? What action are you going to take…

When was the last time you shared something new that you learned? (Not acting as if you had known it all along.)

As a leader, we must model self-empowerment. This is a small step to creating an environment where not knowing everything and learning are accepted. I love hearing bosses tell their employees what they learned from a customer, co-worker or another employee, or what new tool they are using to improve their effectiveness. Employees then begin to wonder what they should be learning.

Just recently, I have begun learning sign language so I can more effectively communicate with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. It is very exciting to be learning a new language and also very humbling to have to ask people to slow down and repeat the signs so I can understand. It shows my vulnerability; yet persistence. One of my employees has already come to me to discuss what she should be learning and figuring out what would be the next opportunity for her. She said you have me thinking in new ways about my own job.

Engaging employees to help direct their own development, take ownership in increasing their skills ultimately benefits the Company. So I ask you… what self-development are you participating in? How can you begin to model self-empowerment?