Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
The world continues to be an interesting place, and Quora – the online question and answer site – is my current favorite place to find interesting things.
From the sincere (“What do you think about startups founded by Japanese college students“) to the ridiculous (“What should we think about Jon Stewart when he called Barack Obama ‘dude’.… Read the rest
I’m having lunch and a close-out conversation with an exec coaching client in Silicon Valley today. She has made obtained great results with small changes; her boss thinks she’s doing great and frankly so do I.
And she’s got a lesson or two that you can use.
One of the things she’s done is slowed down and let her direct reports (and a colleague or two) lead part of the conversation.… Read the rest
Malcolm Gladwell had Sandy Nininger. I have March Madness. The results are the same.
Mere talent is taking a beating.
Gladwell’s writings – built in part on the work of people like Carol Dweck and Angela Duckworth – have shown that raw talent – smarts as we like to say in the business world – is overrated.
Gladwell demonstrated in The Talent Myth that hiring by collegiate pedigree – shorthand for smart – gave us the Enron fiasco (with McKinsey & Co’s significant backing).… Read the rest
There are lots of ways to make a good first impression.
Here are some ways – all which happened recently – to make make a bad first, second, and continuing impression.
Every job candidate’s dream is to have several job prospects that meet your job specs and simultaneously produce offers when you’re ready to make a decision.
Sometimes it really does work out that way; most of the time it doesn’t. And what you’re left with, as the anonymous poster on Quora this morning noted, is a “way to extend a job offer” so they can see what other offers surface?… Read the rest
The cost to hire a good senior exec (think CFO, GC, COO, CMO, CEO etc.) is pricey.
The people are talented, can be really good at what they do, and the market in some sectors is seriously hot.
To compound things, talent poaching – the recruiting of a senior exec from one firm to another – is increasing and multiple offers to execs are on the upswing according to the Wall Street Journal.… Read the rest