“I’m thinking that I need to prep my references now that I’ve started my job search campaign. But I’m not sure who and how many I need should I be asked for them. What do you think?”, asked Fred, a senior financial executive. “So how many do think would work for you?” I asked. “Well, how does about three to five sound?” he responded. “Otherwise, what?” I followed. “Well I feel anymore would be overwhelming to those I’d provide them to.” “No doubt, my friend”, said I. As we continued to discuss the subject of his work references, we brainstormed some of the following that solidly advanced Fred’s job search and raised his confidence considerably.

• Fred needed to pick people he knows well, who can talk with confidence about his professional and personal strengths. 
• Choose those associates that are great fans of his, avoiding those who are not.
• Include former bosses who can speak to Fred’s demonstrated track record of results and contribution
• Preferably those references who are in a position to speak about his recent 3 to 5 years of deliverables . . . not old stuff.
• Include those who themselves are senior managers and executives
• Those selected should be articulate and effective at promoting Fred
• He should also consider other key superiors, team members, peers, subordinates, and quite possibly some clients/customers

 ”So once I’ve identified these folks, then what?” Fred asked. “Well, what pops into your mind?” I quickly retorted. “Questions, questions!” he whined, and then with a smile on his face he said, “Well it would make complete sense to make sure my chosen references know my target job market, my experience, skills, strengths and weaknesses.”, said Fred.

“You think?” I mischievously remarked, then added, “how would you go about doing this?” Fred frowned and then smiled again, speculating “I’m thinking about preparing a one page document covering the points we mutually brainstormed, something that my selected referees could refer to if and when approached for a reference check. Yeah, they would probably welcome the opportunity to be in my corner, be pleased that I’ve saved them valuable time, and be in a strong position to communicate my key points in a clear, positive and credible manner. Yeah, I love it!”

So there you have it, Fred was now in the position to positively and powerfully move forward with this aspect of his job search campaign strategy. What was the gold nugget in this for you? We would love to hear your thoughts and gain your perspective. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Two senior associates, Debbie Robbins and Frank Wagner recently published the following superb article in the Huffington Post that I believe you will find both interesting and intriquing titled ‘It Takes Human Contact to Create Success’. Enjoy.

If you made a list today of your top 25 business relationships and asked yourself, “How much full-on human contact have I had with these people this year?” we (Frank Wagner and I — Frank is also a top leadership and executive coach, an expert on leadership behavior) think you’d be shocked to discover that 95 percent of it may be solely digital: e-mail, Facebook, texting or Twitter. Frank and I have stopped tweeting each other the number of times weekly we beg our clients to simply pick up the phone! We recently sat at a business dinner where, despite the opportunity for unimpeded face time, the two executives at the heads of the table were texting one another while we ate!

Up until 1990 the phone was the equivalent of e-mail, and CEOs were always telling their employees to hang up and have meetings. Now it’s a win to get to voice contact. What’s so powerful about full-on human contact is that it engages all aspects of our ability to access information and make informed decisions. Most meet-ups will include writing, reading, seeing, hearing, speaking and doing. 

Yes, technology has expanded our network of relationships. People brag about how many friends they have on Facebook or the size of their network on LinkedIn. Yes, technology has expanded our capacity to communicate in writing. Twitter has made communication almost ubiquitous and omnipresent. Yes, technology allows our thoughts to be transmitted instantaneously at the speed of our wireless networks. It’s easy. It’s seemingly efficient. That is the good news. 

The not-so-good news is that the side effect of all this technology is the loss of genuine connectedness. As humans we have always found in-person interaction meaningful, rich and complex. Face-to-face relationship-building also deflects the possibility for miscommunications and misunderstandings. With less physical data to interpret because of the heavy use of digital communication, more and more problems are arising between colleagues and consumers. 

Psychology Today did a great piece about a social psychologist and Northwestern University law professor named Janice Nadler, who paired Northwestern law students with those from Duke University and asked each pair to agree on the purchase of a car:

Researchers instructed each team to bargain entirely through e-mail, but half the subjects were secretly told to precede the negotiation with a brief getting-to-know-you chat on the phone. The results were dramatic: Negotiators who first chatted by phone were more than four times likelier to reach an agreement than those who used only e-mail. In the study, which appeared in the Harvard Negotiation Law Review, subjects who never spoke were not only more likely to hit an impasse, but they often felt resentful and angry about the negotiation.

Our personal favorite is the famous New Yorker cartoon that shows a dog sitting on a chair in front of a computer. He turns to his doggie friend sitting on the floor and says: “On the internet, no one knows you’re a dog.”

Be honest — electronically, you do not really know who the person is on the other end of your digital exchange. You can’t hear their voice, which is robust with clues. You don’t know how they are receiving your words or even when they are getting your message in physical-time reality. You can’t assess their body language or observe their responses. The sense of professional “intimacy” we depend on is, at best, only utilizing 10 percent of our communication cues, tools and competencies. The more we rely on e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and texting as our primary ways of communicating, the less likely we are to be known by those with whom we are interdependent for our success.

What to do:

1. Assess who is important to you in your professional life, those people with whom you will need a relationship strong enough to weather any storm. 
2. Consciously monitor how much e-mailing, texting or tweeting you rely on for building these relationships.
3. Make sure that at least once a month you either speak with these people by phone or see them in person! The latter is better, even if it entails travel.
4. When you do connect in person, leave enough time to communicate in greater depth so that it really strengthens your relationship. Enjoy yourself when you get this chance to be up close and personal (it is contagious).
5. When you are in human contact, keep any electronic devices far enough removed so that these devices do not interfere with the conversation. Even the slightest eye movement to see who is texting, e-mailing, etc. gives the other person the impression that someone else is more important to you.
6. Find media-free time each week to counter your addiction to staying connected online. You will probably find out you like it.
7. Stay vigilant in your efforts; technology is amazing, but it is also seductive.

When babies aren’t physically touched, they develop severe emotional challenges. E-mail does not qualify as touching, even if your fingers are on your computer or mobile key pad.

We would enjoy hearing your observations and insights. In the meantime, take care!

Jim, an executive with a large mining firm, asked a question in a recent coaching meeting relating to his search for a new position, “What do you know about working with search firms?” My initial response was that they can be a very valuable resource if you know what they are about and how to work with them.

There are essentially two approaches that an executive can take in their job search strategy. The first is working with the informal market using social networking . . . . where most of your opportunities actually exist. The other is the formal market which is where there are far less opportunities and where everyone and their uncle are competing with you. One area of the formal marketplace that is available to work with are retained search firms. These usually include retained executive search firms, contingency recruiters and employment agencies. Jim’s focus would definitely be on working with retained executive search firms.

By the way, the fee for retained search firms is normally paid by the hiring organization and can range between 24 to 40 percent of the first year’s starting compensation for a particular position.

When it comes to retained search firms, few executives seeking jobs actually obtain such positions through retained executive recruiters. However this aspect of the formal market is well worth including in your job search. Know that executive recruiters  will typicallyonly give you serious consideration if you meet the job specs required for a search that they currently have underway, if they specialize in your industry, if you are currently in a ‘hot profession’, or you’re considered an ‘expert’ in your field.

Some quick tips I shared with Jim should he decide to include retained executive search firms in his job search strategy include:

• Executive recruiters are not magicians . . . you need to be realistic!
• Honor executive recruiters very limited time.
• Understand the business relationship between executive recruiters and their corporate clients.
• When you receive an offer let the executive recruiters know.
• Going around a recruiter to a potential hiring organization is an absolute no-no!
• Know that the executive recruiter is in the ‘drivers-seat’ at all times when working with a corporate client who has retained them.
• Be positive, precise and realistic about your professional background and aspirations.
• Understand the search time-lines that executive recruiters are working with.
• Immediately follow up with a thank you communiqué after each and every in-person interview.
• Ensure you clearly understand the position your being considered for . . . . is it what you really want?
• Work with multiple executive recruiters . . . check out the Directory of Executive Recruiters.
• Always have a fresh, up-to-date professional resume . . . your professional brochure . . . and have it ready to go.
• Constantly keep your executive recruiter list up-to-date, letting them know of any significant changes in your search . . . including acceptance of a job offer.

I trust you will find these insights and tips Jim and I discussed of some value. Any related thoughts, feelings, experiences or suggestions you may have would be most appreciated. All  the best with your job search campaign! Take care

“What happens if you walk out the door and get hit by a bus?” It is not unusual when dealing with leaders in our coaching conversations when a question similar to this surfaces. There’s usual a bit of chuckling involved and an exchange of humorous comments before we get down to where the client wants to go . . . the serious five-sixths of the iceberg below the surface of the initial discussion. There is a tendency for some leaders (not you of course) to feel infallible and indestructible. This can get in the way of building greater capacity in those who report to us.

The metaphor of ‘the bus’ comes in many forms. If a version of the bus does in fact unexpectantly run over you (note Schultz’s Law: Murphy’s an optimist), then who is able to seamlessly step into your shoes should you find yourself temporarily out of the game . . . on the sidelines as it were? Are you ready my friend for such an event? Quickly filling the leadership pipeline is one of your major responsibilities . . . your organization should not expect less! As an executive coach who works with clients around the world, I have the slight luxury of a broader perspective of organizations . . . both private, public and not-for-profit sectors. In fact, this year to date I have seen three key senior leaders be unexpectedly moved over to the sidelines in their respective organizations. One leader, a Vice President – Operations, recently reflected on just such an experience. They shared just how thankful they were for the executive coaching support that was in service of their ability to see the value of changing their leadership behavior of shifting from a high need for absolute control to that of developing a greater capacity in others to grow, develop and increase their skills and abilities to take on increased accountability and delivery of high quality results . . . not to mention dramatically enhanced levels of professional and personal satisfaction. The value of succession planning for this particular leader has taken on a whole new level of importance, not to mention for the organization. 

Letting go of the reins of control can be exceptionally challenging for any leader, yet the return on the invested time and resources for the leader, key staff, other stakeholders and the organization typically exceeds all expectations when (not if) the inevitable reality of an unplanned highly stressful event occurs and readily takes the leader out of the game.

Should the inevitable surface for you, are you or your organization able to operate at you’re the most effective levels? Are you truly able to successfully step back and confidently address the presenting issue when temporarily sidelined? I would be most interested in hearing your thoughts, your truth, when the bus comes screaming through your world.

We received a call the other day from Tony, a CEO of a major oil and gas company, who shared with us that he was quite concerned about one of his key executives. He said that Frank  had been recently promoted to replace a key member of the ELT (executive leadership team) who had retired about nine months ago. He bluntly stated, “Frank doesn’t appear to be working out the way I had hoped and is quite frankly derailing! Can we explore the situation and help me better understand why some leaders derail and and some don’t? What can I do about it?”

These are not uncommon questions that are raised by our corporate clients from time to time. In our executive coaching conversation with Tony, it was noted that The Centre for Creative Leadership found that approximately 50% of high potential managers and executives derail. Contributing to this is the fact that the initial technical and problem solving skills that had fomerly served a number of these derailed leaders well now can’t be relied on to address the increased complexity of operating at a more strategic leve, nor the resulting demands placed on their leadership that are typically changing from day to day, never mind month to month, or year to year.

Further, research has indicated that those leaders who are in fact successful in their leadership roles exhibit some of the following characteristics:

1. They tend to be highly flexible and responsive to change
2. They have a powerful ability to navigate through ambiguity and complexity
3. They pick things up very quickly and in a variety of circumstances
4. They are able to coach, facilitate, coordinate and develop their teams in a variety of circumstances with many different types of people
5.  They are highly grounded, self-manage themselves and work with others well under highly stressful circumstances
6. One of their mottos is ‘Feedback is the breakfast of Champions’ and thus constantly seek it out from those all around them
7.  They are quite aware that their strengths when overused in fact become their weaknesses, and those identified become their primary focus of professional/personal development
8. They readily acknowledge and champion their people, no matter how small the contribution or how challenging the initiative(s)
9. They are able to authentically share their thoughts, feelings and wants in equal amounts with their staff, colleagues, boss(s) and customers/clients, encouraging reciprocation, and do so with a strong sense of empathy and compassion toward others

Leaders having the potential for derailment include: the overly ambitious, the perfectionist, those who go it alone, over-managing, over-loyal to the organization, those who are over-controlling and 0ver-results oriented, single minded, too focused on technical detail, unduly personable and relying solely on relationships to get things done, having excessive fire in the belly, having too many things on the go, overly dependent on others, won’t be pushed off the mark, caught up with escalating-commitment, the constant need to be right, and loves to scrap with others beyond having constructive differences. 

To avoid derailment or to rerail, the leader needs to learn thoughtfully and constructively how to develop the team; strengthen strategic thinking and decision making; clarify specific expectations around deliverables and follow up; be self-aware and self manage under stress while at the same time being empathetic towards others; creating the right balance between collaboration, independent action and delegation; manage strategic alliances, assure functional strategic alignment and effectively manage differences vertically and horizontally. 

What’s been your experience? What have you learned as result and what did you do with it? What have you done with these insights? We would love to hear your thoughts and feelings on the subject. Take care.