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, …
LinkedIn endorsements
Endorsements should be honest and sincere. Please only endorse people and their skills which you have witnessed first hand and can attest to. This video is prompted by a trend where people are endorsing skills on LinkedIn (among other social networks) of people they have never worked with. While everyone enjoys and appreciates recognition and support, I don’t understand the …
Our leaders lack self awareness
Self-awareness is essential for everyone, and it is even more important for those in leadership positions with strategic responsibilities. Leaders must know what their strengths are and even more importantly they must know what are the areas where they are not as comfortable at this time. Continue educating yourself, continue expanding and building your experience portfolio, but be aware of …
Major accomplishments are marathons, not sprints
Accomplishments require effort, commitment, focus and skill. Major accomplishments require more of each of those attributes and then some. Keep focusing on making progress each day even if that progress are small steps, as one day, all of those small steps will be added together into a successfully completed marathon. Now, that I have reminded myself of that as well, …
Age is just a number, don’t let it limit your growth
Your experience, skills and education matter more than how old you are. The quality you bring to a team depends on your past performance and your track record, not when you were born so please stop using it as a self-limiting factor in advancing and moving forward. You are never too young or too old to make a career move. …
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 …
Stop faking it
Contrary to a popular saying, don’t fake it ’til you make it. Focus on what you know, have experience in and enjoy doing. Please stop pretending to be someone you are not, especially when it comes to work. Leverage your strengths to provide value to others and by doing so you will be providing value to yourself.
Leverage available expertise
Work with your colleagues, peers and counterparts across different functional areas in order to produce contributions of the highest quality. None of us know everything so it is time to act that way and leverage available expertise within our organizations and invite others to contribute and share both the work and rewards.
What will be your legacy?
What will be your legacy? Have you asked yourself that question lately or ever? Does it even matter to you? This topic was brought up by a colleague of mine this morning and it stuck with me long after the conversation was over. What do we all do each and every single day; is it something worthy of our skills, …
When possible, promote from within
When possible, promote from within as this keeps employees motivated and it shows there’s room for growth and opportunities. Organizations should also focus on mentoring employees by helping them discover their strengths. Additionally, promoting from within will greatly aid in creation of the culture of collaboration, effort, commitment and the overall success. Having said that it is important to note …