Experience is what we are all after when looking for a new hire (obviously in addition to personality, skill set and education to name a few). However, this elusive experience is not equivalent to the number of years candidates have, but it is much more related to how were those years spent. When looking to hire, ask yourself, better yet, …
How to build your reputation
You are only as good as your last performance. We have all heard this statement or a variation of it and unfortunately, in most organizations, it is partially true. I say partially true as your overall performance and contributions are more important than any single project, service improvement or business development opportunity. Your reputation as a whole is what matters. …
Bad employees: fire them or make them quit?
People matter the most and have the greatest impact on the organizational success and failure. It is (or should be) clear to all leaders that their primary focus needs to be on attracting and retaining top talent and that this should come ahead of policies, processes and technology which are also of great importance. However, at times, we will make …
Job interviews and acronyms
Job searches and everything they entail can be challenging, time consuming and a bit unnerving at times. The crowning moment and the one you are really after is an in-person interview. Once you get there it’s all on you to demonstrate value, share ideas and “sell” your vision. Now, once you are seated in front of the search committee it …
Why leaders are not experts
As a leader one must motivate, inspire, set standards, coordinate, improve, communicate, collaborate and so on, but they should never mistakenly believe and act as if they know everything. There is a multitude of reasons why teams are built with people of diverse backgrounds, experiences, knowledge and education in order for them to complement each other and cover all responsibilities. …
Attract the best talent, then do your best to retain them
Talented people are hard to find and they are even more difficult to retain long term. They have options and they know it. Having this in mind, it is important to invest in people ahead of anything else. Get the best folks you can and focus on quality over quantity. Once a team is built, then shift your focus towards …
Leaders think and speak clearly
Leaders listen to ideas, consider them, and then make their own decisions based on collective experience, knowledge and available information. While you should always be considerate, professional and respectful to your colleagues you should not agree with ideas and courses of action that you don’t believe in. If your experience, education and knowledge advise you against a particular idea then …
Invest in people
Education, training, growth and other opportunities are among many responsibilities of leaders to provide for their teams and staff. Make sure people are trained in their area of responsibilities and that they have opportunities to continue learning, growing and advancing. It’s always better to have a smaller number of high performing people on your team than a larger number of …
A taste of your own medicine
A taste of your own medicine is just what one may need at times. I say this with respect to the experience your clients go through with your services or products. Use your services, call your IT Service Desk (aka. Help Desk) and use your products in your daily life as that will clearly show you what your customers are …
The world doesn’t owe you anything
Stop with entitlement and earn all you want and need. Be humble, work hard and demonstrate knowledge and experience worthy of those things you seek. Furthermore, all of those who think and behave in a way that only they matter should reconsider their actions and understand that most (if not all) things in life need to be earned and are …