Leaders: are they born or are they made? Here are my thoughts on this “age-old” question. What are yours?
Personality, communication, negotiation and leadership
85% of your financial success depends on your personality, the way you communicate, negotiate and lead. Only 15% depends on your technical skills. Knowing this it is essential to focus on improving those essential skills while building your networks and friendships. While in some career technical skills will be of greater value and impact, as you grow and advance up …
Best job interview advice: be yourself!
Job interviews are an important and (for most) unavoidable process in transition between your current place of employment and the next chapter of your career. While I have made a video about in-person interview tips, I want to take a moment to focus on the most important advice of them all: be yourself! No matter what happens or what you …
Don’t trade your character for the corner office
As we grow, advance and ascend to positions of greater responsibilities, it is essential to remain grounded and stay true to yourself. No matter what happens and where you end up in your career make sure you remain who you are as a person, as a human being. While I do understand that certain positions may require adjustments to protocols …
Stay true to yourself
Don’t change or compromise your beliefs for someone else’s gain. When I say this, I obviously reference your positive morals, your high standards and your quality performance. Should you have any negative or detrimental habits or beliefs, by all means, feel free to change those. 😉 Your ethical standards are your compass in life and as such they will keep …
Lead with your heart
Treat others the way you want to be treated. Show compassion, empathy, understanding and support. Now, this doesn’t mean be a softy all the time and let others take advantage of your kindness, but it means don’t go out of your way to make lives of others miserable and unnecessarily difficult. As a leader, one of your primary responsibilities is …
Hire people for their personality, character and abilities, not prestige
As you are expanding your team or replacing an employee who has recently left the company make sure to focus on the personality and abilities of that new individual, not the prestige they may bring. While the education and previous employment are absolutely important, don’t become enamored with “glamorous” companies or universities such as MIT, Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Stanford, Cambridge…as …
When hiring, trust your instincts
Trust your instincts at all times. They are here to protects, alert and warns us of what is happening around us and how we could and should react to potential opportunities or threats. These instincts also come in very handy when building a team and hiring new staff. During this process focus a bit more on personal traits, character and …
Leaders: born vs. made
Are exceptional leaders born or are they made? We have heard this question asked and discussed at length and it is my belief that truly exceptional leaders are a combination of both. Yes, they learn, grown and advance through their careers, but one’s DNA (for lack of a better acronym) must be predisposed for leadership. While majority of methodologies, tips, …
Hire better than you
Whenever possible, hire people who are better than you. Hire those who are the best you have ever seen within the domain of services or products that your team is responsible for. You want quality over quantity and you’ll want it every single time. Additionally, you don’t want the rest of your team to be doing someone else’s job in …