Category: Coaching

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[Tips for Job Candidates] The Kindergarten Open House

Analogues from which job candidates can learn exist almost everywhere. While sometimes the lessons don’t fully translate, you can glean tremendous insight from some situations that you can use when you’re in the hunt for a new job.

Last night’s open house for parents sponsored by my son’s grade school was one such situation. In the crazy kindergarten application process that exists in San Francisco – where 30% of kids go to private schools and supply grossly outstrips demand – the ways that applicant families can do well or do badly have lots of lessons for job candidates.… Read the rest

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[Coaching Tips] Why and How You Should Say “No” – Even to Your Boss

Sometimes saying “no” is tough, even when there are all sorts of good reasons to do so. But if you are always saying “yes” to things you can’t or won’t be able to do, you’re setting yourself up for failure or dodgy performance downstream.

There are three areas where it makes sense for you to say no; 1) things that you should not do; 2) things that you can’t do;  and 3) things that you prefer not to do.… Read the rest

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The End of “High Potential” Employees: What Does It Mean for You?

My doctor Michael Sdao practices what he terms “evidence-based” medicine: he puts his faith primarily in approaches and procedures that have been validated by substantiated research. While it’s not necessarily the most daring of approaches,  in the main the outcomes (knock on wood) have been pretty good.

Organizations, on the other hand, are pretty hit and miss as it pertains to using human capital systems and processes that have been validated by evidence based research.… Read the rest

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[Coaching Tips] 3 Key Things You’ll Want to Get from Your Performance Review This Year

As my colleague Margaret O’Hanlon has blogged at the Compensation Cafe, merit budgets in 2009 are tiny: the upshot is that most employees won’t see a salary increase. At a time of 10.2% national unemployment, the goods news for the folks who have them is that they have a job – the bad news is they’ll see no compensation reward for hard work and performance this past year.… Read the rest

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[Lunch with Harry] Predicting Success

The holy grail of management development programs is being able to assess skills, and predict who will – and who won’t – succeed. The hits and misses of what it takes line the walls: IQ and schools attended have become big misses, perseverance in trying and “grit” have become big hits. While work by researchers such as Carol Dweck, K.… Read the rest