Talent Journey

It is no secret that organizations today are looking for ways to make better decisions about the people they hire and promote. Most leaders understand that soft skills are just as important as technical skills in determining who will be their strongest contributors. In fact, according to the Center for Creative Learning, soft-skill deficiencies account for seventy-five percent (75%) of career “derailers.” Some example career limiters include conflict resolution, interpersonal and influencing skills. The ability to successfully determine and evaluate your candidates’ skill proficiencies against the critical skill requirements of your jobs is key to good hiring and promotional decision-making. In this article, we bullet-point four simple strategies that enhance success in selection of talent.

1. Identify the Job Skill profile: Not all jobs in your organization require the same set of skills to be successful. A sales job requires a much different set of skills than a quality assurance engineer. Before you begin the hiring process, you want to identify the key skills most important for success in your unique job. We call this the JOB PROFILE. Creation of the job profile should also include consideration of technical and soft skills important to your team and organization’s overall success. Keep in mind that not all organizations function in the same way and with the same set of values. A candidate that has been successful in another organization does not guarantee success within yours. Success is determined when there is a match between your unique job profile and the skill proficiency of a candidate.

2. Create Behavioral Questions for the Candidate: After you have identified the job profile, you create a set of behavioral based questions that will measure your candidate’s proficiency against those key skills. The best interview questions ask candidates to describe a situation where they actually used the skills in your job profile. For example, if you identify “influence” as a critical skill, you might formulate your questions like this: “Tell me about a time that you had an idea that you wanted to implement. How did you go about influencing your decision-makers and what happened as a result?” Creating strong technical and soft skill behavioral questions lays a strong foundation for success in the hiring process.

3. Rank the Candidate Responses and Get Consensus: During the interview process, interviewers rank the candidate responses (using a rating scale such as ineffective, effective or superior) against the requirements identified in the job profile. Next, the team gathers together to share those ratings. Candidates that gave answers demonstrating the highest level of proficiency across the skill set outlined in the job profile become the final candidates for the job. Regardless of whether or not the interview team is able to reach consensus on the top few candidates quickly or after some significant discussion, the time invested is well worth the reward. The leader is responsible for keeping the consensus meetings focused on how well the candidate demonstrated proficiency in the key skills areas.

4. Finalists Participate in an objective Assessment tool: Before making a final selection decision, ask your top candidates to take an objective assessment. (Please read this month’s article on “Assessment & Evaluation” for documented evidence of assessment value in the hiring process.) Remember, an assessment should measure your candidate’s skill against the job profile. When that happens, the tool greatly improves hiring and promotional success rates. According to an Aberdeen Group study (Talent Assessment Strategies: A Decision Guide for Organizational Performance: March 2010), organizations using assessments achieved the following results:

• 75% greater year over year improvement in hiring satisfaction
• 75% year over year decrease in hiring costs
• 2.5 times greater year-over year increase in profit per full time equivalent

Obviously, these types of results magnify the importance of imbedding assessments within your hiring process. The assessment can also be used throughout the career of the hired employee. It should be incorporated into all stages of the integrated talent process — including on-boarding, performance management, career development, and succession planning.

Creating a rigorous hiring process following this 4 step process guarantees better quality hiring decisions. We utilize this approach in our own organization and help our clients implement it as well. As the research indicates, the investment pays for itself. When you get the right talent and put them in the right job, the rest of leadership becomes much easier. Star performers thrive when they can use their best skills to get results.

Author: Diane Brown at TJ Associates LLC (Talent Journey). Copyright protected, all rights reserved worldwide.

In August 2005, Business week printed an article that called out an important 21st century paradigm shift occurring in business today. They labeled it the “Creativity economy.” They asserted that just as Frederick Taylor’s scientific management concept revolutionized the 20th century, creativity and innovation will be the impetus to success in the 21st century! A 2010 survey conducted by the Bloomberg/Business Week/Boston Consulting Group (BCG) confirmed Business Week’s contention. They found that 72% of today’s corporate leaders place innovation as a “top three” strategic priority.

So, what is creativity and how is it different from innovation? Creativity is simply the ability to generate something new. Innovation, on the other hand, is the ability to create something new that fits the strategic initiative of an organization. Innovation applies creativity to a real business/customer desire and produces positive ROI.

We believe there are two core types of innovation. The first type is evolutionary. Many of the leaders in Jim Collins’ book “Good to Great” described innovation in this way. As organizations incrementally leverage one small idea upon another, breakthrough mushrooms forth. Evolutionary innovation is often nearly transparent to the internal company; ideas are consistently implemented until a tipping point occurs which sparks recognition of the breakthrough. The second type of innovation is revolutionary. It is best described by Frans Johansson in the “Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at the Intersection of Ideas, Concepts, and Cultures.” Medici is the last name of the family largely responsible for birthing the Renaissance in fifteenth century Italy by assembled talented people across many disciples and cultures together in one location. This cross-pollination unearthed novel and unique breakthrough concepts. Johansson argues that work environments that provoke collaboration across career vocations, departmental functions and diverse cultures are poised to unleash similar breakthrough innovation. While the second type of innovation can be more dramatic than the first, both are necessary and lead to successful and important innovative outcomes.

In order to compete in the 21st century, we believe leaders must encourage, inspire, and champion both types of innovation. This will be a challenge as many organizations are still immersed in cost cutting efforts, which produce lean staffs with too much to do. Nonetheless, resourceful and creative organizations will overcome these limitations. 21st century organization MUST cultivate and inspire new ideas, processes and products/services in order to survive and thrive. Those that fail to do so will end up smothered and choked out by those that do. Too much is happening too quickly to allow your organization to stagnate in the ruins of economic constriction. As is true in all victories, winners find ways to step up and break-through in the midst of challenge. We want to encourage, inspire and provoke you to that end!

Author: Diane Brown at TJ Associates LLC (Talent Journey). Copyright protected, all rights reserved worldwide.

Many of us feel pressure in our workplace roles because of the downsizing of resources and upsizing of expectations in today’s marketplace. Resourceful and effective leaders strive to utilize all available assets, especially the most cost-effective ones. A very accessible, yet often overlooked asset is untapped talent among the staff within organizations!
Most of us have experienced a season in our career when our best talents were not utilized. We felt the disappointment, disillusionment, and apathy that surfaces when we are stuck punching a time clock rather than contributing in meaningful and fulfilling ways. Obviously, most leaders try to bring out the best in each team member. However, people are multi-faceted and complex. Understanding what makes people tick can be difficult to discern without tools and it takes some additional effort and time.

The secret to engaging people is finding that perfect fit between what attributes a job requires and a person’s natural strengths. To help with this, many organizations are now turning to objective and validated assessment tools to help ascertain people’s strengths. The tool provides additional insight about candidates BEFORE a job offer, project assignment, or promotion is extended. Not only do assessments provide rich and often concealed information about candidates, they also unveil information that allows you to quickly know and understand the person you are assimilating into the team.

Well designed assessments predict performance success by evaluating three important attributes:
1. Personality style: “HOW” employees will operate within your organization.
2. Motivational drivers: “WHY” employees engage and contribute.
3. Skills/Talents: “WHAT” natural soft skills and talents employees possess

Simply understanding the unique “how”, “why”, and “what” of each employee helps leaders to leverage existing and future assets. It also enables leaders to optimize the whole team’s talents.

Utilization of structured interviews, along with personality and cognitive assessments increased performance predictability by 35 times.
- Industrial and Organizational Psychology (2008)

Try a Complimentary Assessment. If you are not utilizing an assessment tool, we invite you to try Talent Journey’s complimentary assessment. We use the most validated assessments in the world, and are a global leader in assessment-based solutions for selection, on-boarding, retention, team building, leadership, sales, customer service and more. Try it without obligation or risk and experience the rich benefits. Please contact our office, (760) 471-2703.

In today’s economy, we’d all agree that identifying ways to save billions of dollars might be worth a “listen”. According to Dr. Lyman Steil, every American worker commits at least one $10 listening mistake a year, collectively costing our nation more than one billion dollars a year!

What is a listening mistake? It is when active and accurate listening are not practiced and communication breaks down. The good news is that with a little practice and desire, everyone reading this article can become a more excellent listener.

Think about a time you were having a conversation with someone and they seemed disinterested, uncaring or simply incompetent. Did you walk away feeling you had wasted your time and would probably have to repeat yourself again? This happens to me too often when calling my utility companies, credit card organization, and more recently my mortgage lender. After repeating my request several times (to several people), the heat begins to rise and I find myself frustrated with someone who may be hearing my request for the first time.

Effective leaders and service-oriented employees strive to minimize these feeling when working with customer, internal or external. It is critical to hear and translate what someone is saying in to meaning resolution. Some easy ways to practice your active listening skills are:

• Ask questions
• Listen wholly and then respond –Check your emotions – control them
• Stay open (not defensive) See from their perspective, not your own
• Stay engaged with a mindset to resolve the issue
• Identify their desired outcome (what do they want?)
• What is their hurt? Identify their pain or hurt
• Figure out how you can help?

In the absence of active and accurate listening, we often times find ourselves attempting to resolve issues or problems that are not really what the other person cares about. When we listen well, the resolution to a problem is often times much simpler than we anticipated. When we diffuse emotion and ask the right questions, the other person can often times help us find an acceptable positive outcome. Without effective listening, we’re often left feeling confused about issues, concerns, and needs. Organizations lose a lot of emotional energy and operational productivity simply because of poor listening skills.

I recall an example of when I was a liaison for staff at a university and we decided to have a suggestion box put in the break room. We got some wild requests but we addressed every item mentioned. Although we were not able to implement all the requests, we were able to help staff feel they had a voice. Our workroom and break room were a large room with no way to designate one from the other. One of the requests was to put up a room divider so that those braking or having lunch were not disturbed. It was amazing how many more people used the break room and were grateful for the privacy this simple solution provided.

We want to challenge all of our leaders to practice active and accurate listening this week. Where can you help diffuse an emotional situation by listening for the underlying needs and desires of another person? Where can you engage another person in resolving their concern by asking the right question (s)? How can you set aside your own perspective and see life completely through the eyes of another person? Listening with this type of purpose and generosity is a precious gift to give someone else. Try it and see what happens as a result!

Author: Alane Taylor at The Talent Journey. Copyright protected, all rights reserved worldwide.

Most companies follow a common hiring process when soliciting candidates for an open position. That process probably includes creating a job advertisement, posting the position in the newspaper or a job board, sifting through resumes, and identifying the candidates to interview.

Although accepted as common practice we have found that many gaps exist in hiring that can be bridged with some minimal additional efforts at the front-end. By identifying core job success attributes, also know as the “job benchmark”, the entire hiring process flows more smoothly and has greater success.

Here a just a couple of our job benchmarking successes:
* Success Story – 50% of a company’s new hires were lost during the training program. After benchmarking the job, they were able to hire the right people and increase retention to
80%.

* Success Story – An organization had a 74% turnover in their sales force. After benchmarking and debriefing, they retained 100% of the sales force for the last 18 months.

The job benchmarking process is successful because it helps avoid some of the more common hiring pitfalls many organizations face. A few good examples of this include:

• The risk that the person screening the interviews may not be familiar enough with the job requirements to differentiate great from good or poor resumes.
• Leaders may not ask the right questions to determine whether or not the candidate possesses all the right attributes to be successful in a job. (In fact, most interviewers focus on the technical requirements of jobs. However, research indicates that 3/4 of hiring failures are actually due to soft skill deficiencies — such as poor interpersonal, influence, and conflict resolution skills.)
• Leaders may rely strongly on testimonies of prior colleagues or trusted friends of a candidate in making hiring decisions. Although it can be great to have that type of insight, other aspects of the organization including size, leadership style, and organizational culture may influence the potential success of that candidate. Not all candidates perform equally well in all environments.

How do you avoid these hiring pitfalls?

We recommend first analyzing the job to determine which attributes are most critical for success. Job benchmarking is simply analyzing the success factors for a job BEFORE taking any other hiring steps. This analysis includes determining which competencies (technical and soft skills), behaviors, and motivators will most effectively deliver the key accountabilities for this position. Once you’ve “let the job talk” by clearly articulating the technical and soft skill requirements of the job, the rest of the hiring process flows more effectively. Obviously, the best candidates will possess the attributes that fit the specific requirements of your unique job, team and organizational culture. Our performance fit model provides a pictorial of this concept:

The next step is to measure the candidates against that job benchmark. This approach minimizes the gaps mentioned in the common hiring process. None-the-less, interviewers must be well trained in structuring and objectively assessing candidates against the job benchmark within the interview process. We recommend composing some targeted and objective interview questions that ask candidates to provide specific examples of those job success attributes. For example, if conflict management is a key success factor, you might ask the candidates to share an example of a recent tough conflict that they encountered at work and describe how they handled it and what happened as a result.

As a final check, we recommend inserting a validated assessment tool at the end of the hiring process. Before extending a final offer, an assessment provides an objective measure of your candidate’s FIT with the benchmarked job attributes. Here is how that works:

Once you’ve narrowed your field of potential job candidates to the top 3-5, candidates are asked to take a three part assessment. A good assessment measures three things: the behaviors, motivations and competencies (soft skills) of the candidate compared to the job benchmark profile. The objective assessment provides a check on the interview process and can effectively raise red flags about the candidate that may not have been revealed during the interview process. In the end, investing a little extra effort in the objective assessment provides peace of mind, reduced hiring errors, and significant improvement in choosing star performers.

~ © Copyright protected, all rights reserved worldwide. Co-authored by Diane Brown and Gary Sorrell.

In today’s organizations, much Human Resource focus goes toward making the right hiring choices and building teams to ensure success. We agree this is mission critical! We also assert that a rigorous succession management system marks the distinction between very good and legacy great companies. In fact, Jim Collins (“Good to Great”) found that the best leaders (Level 5) cared more about the legacy they left behind then the name they created in the present!

The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.
- William James

Why is succession management so important? It is part of the strategy organizations use to create sustainable leadership through the natural course of departures, terminations, and retirements from your organization. Just as a personal will protects your family’s future, succession management provides clear guidance and continuity for your organization’s future. This ensures that the mission, values, momentum and success you have built thrives in the future.

History provides both good and bad succession management examples. For example, most people remember the ancient story of Moses in the Bible. Moses was a legacy leader. He spent years developing Joshua as his successor. When Joshua stepped into leadership, the transition was nearly seamless and the Israelites prospered immediately. Unfortunately, Joshua did not recreate this seamless transition. Joshua failed to develop a successor and Israel struggled for over 300 years after that without an effective leader.

What was true in the ancient days still holds true today. State Farm Insurance is known for their rigorous succession management system. Their website features numerous leadership, diversity, and community awards: http://www.statefarm.com/about/careers/awards_recog.asp. Many of the awards call out State Farm’s renowned succession management and development process. On the other hand, we can all think of a plethora of poor succession processes. One recently poor transition occurred at Bank of American when the former CEO Kenneth Lewis announced that he planned to retire within 3 months, surprising the board. Responsible board and leadership teams prepare years in advance for leadership transition.

Clearly, succession management is MISSION CRITICAL. So, why do so many organizations either fail to implement or under-engage in managing succession? The first obstacle is leadership focus. Most of us keep plenty busy managing today’s urgent issues and have difficulty getting around to succession management. The second reason fuels the first. Many leadership teams perceive that the succession management process is cumbersome and time-consuming. In reality, however, Succession Management is simple to implement. We want to show you how!

The process can be explained in just 4 steps:

1. Identify the key leadership/technical roles within the organization. These key roles are those the company cannot afford to leave vacant or under-employed. Any role mission critical to the future strategy should be included.
2. Identify the top talent in the organization. These can include high potentials (superstar performers), and experts (technical, scarce talent, or those with historical knowledge).
3. Assess your talent for competency. This step would include review of past performance and work history, evaluation of advancement potential, and an objective assessment of leadership competency. We also recommend evaluating the intensity of a potential successor’s desire to lead and the depth of their commitment to the vision and values of the organization.
4. Create and implement development plans for key talent. Some development activities might include training, special stretch assignments, participation in Executive Staff meetings, rotational assignments, and coaching.

With proactive succession management, organizations minimize risk and disruptions in the business. Succession management also makes transitions reasonably seamless and optimizes the opportunity for growth and legacy within the organization. Overall, planning for succession creates positive momentum in all parts of the business for decades into the future and leaves a legacy that endures.

Author: Diane Brown at TJ Associates LLC (Talent Journey). Copyright protected, all rights reserved worldwide.

Many NFL sports fans (especially those in San Diego) predicted that the Chargers would play in the Superbowl this month. They were, by all accounts, an extremely talented group, arguably among the most proficient in the NFL. Yet, their season ended prematurely in heart-wrenching defeat. Why?

LaDainian Tomlinson may have provided rich insight into one possible answer. He said that he didn’t feel “connected, as far as the team, the unity, the togetherness, family” this past season, and said many players were more about “me” than “faith, family, football.” Whether Tomlinson is expressing sour grapes or reality, his comments hit upon a potent point: talent ALONE is not enough to win the big game.

What is true in sport is also true in business. Although technical expertise, knowledge, and experience are critically important to organizational success, those things alone cannot sustain market share and customer loyalty. In today’s global and competitive economy, the “players” of an organization must be aligned around a core mission, set of values, and principles of behavior. This alignment is what Tomlinson was referring to in his comments about connectedness. Alignment, along with technical competency, composes the complete ingredients for success.

Each organization shapes its own alignment factors. In today’s workplace, prudent leaders carefully scrutinize a candidate’s ability to “fit” these unique alignment factors. Employers are at an advantage right now since many very skilled people are seeking employment. It is a prime time to ensure you make right selection decisions regarding both technical competency and the soft-skills alignment factors.
Increasingly organizations are turning to assessment tools to help predict performance success. Such tools provide organizations with objective and comprehensive information about hidden soft skill potential as it relates to job requirements.

Some of the information these assessments can provide include:
• Communication and problem solving style
• Reactions to conflict and stress
• Ability to manage problems and emotions
• Ability to influence
• Intensity of accountability and results orientation
• Motivational style, including preference for recognition and rewards
• Strengths in interpersonal, operational and strategic thinking

Studies indicate that a comprehensive and validated assessment tool increases your organization’s ability to predict “fit.” In fact, when a comprehensive assessment (including personality, motivation and competency) was compared to an unstructured interview alone: the assessment predicted performance 25 times better! (Scott Lighthouse in Industry and Organizational Psychology 1, 2008, pages 333-342.)

Utilization of assessments in the hiring process is without a doubt a prudent strategic decision. The important question becomes, “which one do you choose?” Before you can determine which assessment tool will meet your organizational needs, it is important to clearly define your objectives and implementation strategy. We have put together a few critical questions to consider when selecting an assessment tool:

1. What is the purpose of the assessment process? If you are using an assessment to improve performance predictability in hiring, make sure the instrument has been validated for selection.
2. What are you attempting to measure? If you are hiring for a lower level position, matching the right personality and motivational driver to the job might be sufficient. However, if you are selecting a technical expert and/or leader, you will also want to assess the candidate’s abilities against the soft-skill competencies required for that job. Compare the attributes being measured by the assessment against those required for the job and your critical alignment factors (mission, values, and principles of behavior).
3. What ongoing support will you receive? You want to look for vendors that will provide active ongoing support and will not simply administer the assessment and deliver the results. Although these both hold value, a trained professional in the assessment brings it all together and provides insight that comes from experience. So, once you have identified the best assessment tool, also choose a reliable and personable business partner.
4. How is the system priced? It is important to clearly understand the fee schedule as it relates to the manner in which you plan to use the test. Ask vendors to outline up-front fees for system design and configuration, as well as ongoing usage fees. Remember, the assessment tool is an investment that enables you to choose the absolute best candidate for your job, team and organization. It is similar to investing in maintenance of machinery or website optimization. Investments return increased productivity and profitability.

We see incredible opportunity for organizations to build teams and increase success this year. As the applicant pool is deep and rich, take time to search for candidates with strong organizational “fit”. Don’t settle for candidates based solely upon technical talent. Pursue those that also are emotionally intelligent, work collaboratively, and contribute innovative and creative ideas. Your organization deserves workers that are aligned and committed to your mission and culture. Utilizing a comprehensive assessment within your hiring process enhances your ability to make an objective and informed decision about candidate “fit” within your unique organization.

Author: Diane Brown at TJ Associates LLC (Talent Journey). Copyright protected, all rights reserved worldwide.

Regardless of the size, industry, or product-mix of an organization, there are three equally important thinking perspectives to be mastered for an organization to reach its greatest potential for success. The three perspectives balanced within an organization will yield results that unbalanced companies could never attain.

The Three Thinking Dimensions are:

Strategic Integration Defining and communicating company visions, mission, values & strategy and integrating/aligning those across the organization

Operational Excellence Executing strategy by creating efficient infrastructures and implementing strategy through people

Relationship Ability Enable and Equip high performance and organizational success

A simple internet search will yield thousands of results for books, seminars, and the like – all going into depth on each one of these thinking dimensions. Business gurus tend to specialize in one these areas, although the one they focus on varies. It is clear, however, that ALL THREE thinking perspectives are essential for full organizational success. Talent Journey offers leaders insight into how to leverage and develop these critical thinking perspectives within a team or organization. We have found that most organizations (and almost all leaders) demonstrate strength in one or two of these dimensions and weakness in the third. A simple, clear definition of what each thinking dimension entails* will help to identify which are currently strengths in your organization:

1. Strategic Integration focuses on future possibilities and integration of the whole organizational structure. Leaders that are strong in strategic thinking are quick to evaluate market trends, technology changes, demographic shifts, etc. in terms of their future impact on the organization. They take a “helicopter approach” and see the big picture, including how the operational parts of the business fit together.

2. Operational Excellence focuses on the practical elements of the business. Leaders strong in operational thinking adeptly assess people and processes; they maximize resources for efficiency and results. Such leaders take a sky-scraper view of the organization, focusing on the day to day execution of strategy and goals.

3. Relationship Ability focuses on selecting, motivating, developing, and retaining high performance at individual, team, and organizational levels. Leaders that are strong in this thinking dimension earn people’s respect and followership. They take a tribal view of the organization. Understanding individual, team, and organizational needs, they motivate, encourage, equip and develop people and teams to contribute their best toward the organization’s strategy and mission.

A foundational knowledge of these three thinking perspectives provides the platform for practical application. Some good questions to ask in assessing your organization include:

1. Where are you strong/weak as a leader?
2. How can you utilize the strengths of teammates to compliment your strengths?
3. Where is your team strong/weak?
4. How can you leverage certain members of the team or bring in additional talent to supplement this weakness?
5. Where is your organization strong/weak?
6. How can the organization’s weakness be strengthened (e.g., leverage/develop those that demonstrate strength in your weak area or hire it in from outside)?

The first step is recognizing that although your organization may be experiencing success today – you could move to the next level of success by bolstering your weak area. Effective leaders are always searching for ways to improve their organization, internally and externally. The combination of these three perspectives provides that opportunity. Insights into which of these three perspectives are already mastered, and which may need more attention can easily be identified by doing the above self-assessment (or Talent Journey can conduct the assessment for you). The goal is to honestly answer the questions posed above and seek resolutions. In this new year, with ideals of economic revival, moving forward with a balanced thinking perspective will grow your opportunities for maximum success throughout the year.

Here are some competencies/talents that demonstrate strength for each thinking perspective:

Strategic/Systems Ability
• Strategic Planning
• Customer Acumen
• Product/Service Portfolio Decision-making
• Conceptual and Integrative Thinking
• Managing Change
• Establishing Organizational Culture
• Continuous Learning

Operational Excellence
• Accountability for Results
• Goal and Performance Performance Management
• Infrastructure Development
• Problem Solving
• Continuous Improvement
• Resilience
• Metrics and Reporting

Relational Intelligence
• Authenticity
• Building Trust
• Communication Skills
• Interpersonal Ability
• Influence
• Leading Others
• Developing Others
• Team Building
• Conflict Management

An absolutely essential trait of a good leader is the Art of Persuasion. Persuasion is defined as “the ability to influence others to believe and engage in a common goal or idea.” Some may think that persuasion involves the use of master tactical skills or manipulation of others for personal gain. Persuasion is actually the opposite of manipulation. It flows naturally when three noble concepts converge:

1) Setting a clear outcome,
2) Creating concrete detail, and
3) Operating within an environment of trust.

It’s worth a brief examination of these components because the lack of one or more may be diluting your ability to persuade those you are currently leading.

The first component of the art of persuasion is setting and communicating a clear understanding of your destination. Determining exactly what you are trying to accomplish and what the end result will be is critical in painting an accurate and consistent future picture. Communicating that clear picture within your team will provide both direction and a common purpose. Think back to a discussion you had with people of differing opinions. Was the end goal of the discussion communicated? You will achieve a far greater success rate if each person starts with the desired outcome in mind. When leaders provide an understanding of what they really care about and want to see achieved, it is far easier to persuade like-minded individuals and attain a successful result. Knowing the desired result also reduces distractions or the tendency of some to hold on to irrelevant points.

The second component in persuading others is to provide concrete details. Include enough detail to make your goal or idea both appealing and tangible to the audience. The art of this component comes from knowing your audience and what is important to them. Imagine that you are trying to persuade a friend to attend the new movie “Blind Side.” Which argument would be more effective?

•The new movie has reaped over $125 million at the Nation’s box-office in the first two weeks of release? Or,
•This new movie is about a topic you deeply care about (at-risk youth). It tells a story about a family that adopts the homeless teen, Michael Oher, who is now a rookie tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. Astonishingly, the story has risen to number 1 on the charts over the last few weeks.

Although both examples use concrete facts, the second example is more compelling to an audience that cares about the future of at-risk youth and also wants to enjoy a well-crafted film. Someone who typically enjoys this kind of film will be persuaded by those facts much more easily than by revenue statistics. Alternatively, if you were trying to convince the heads of a large movie studio to see the movie, the first fact would be more compelling given their goal to make similar movies that earn comparable revenue. In generating concrete details, seek to consider the needs, motivations, and objectives of your audience.

The third component in persuading others is operating within an environment of trust. It is critical to build strong relationships with those you want to influence. We cannot overemphasize that relationships are foundational to a leader’s ability to engage and influence others. The key ingredients of respect, rapport, honesty, and credibility will also reap the benefits of open communication, good listening, reciprocal care, and win/win approaches. If a relationship does not yet exist, much greater effort is needed to successfully persuade others. Also, take care when persuading within relationships that have experienced hardship. Past hurts or offenses can easily lead to poor communication and self-protection. When tensions are not resolved, trust is diminished and the opportunity to successfully persuade is often unachievable.

Art is truly in the eye of the beholder. A leader’s art of persuasion will be determined by each person in the audience. As the leader develops these three core competencies, new doors of opportunity will emerge. Yes, it requires time and effort to master the art of persuasion, but without a doubt, followers will readily embrace and support a persuasive leader.

2009 Worldwide Copyright TJ Associates, LLC Diane Brown. Do not use without permission.

As all organizations continue to seek ways to optimize talent and ensure success in the future, leaders are turning to tools and processes that help identify and develop potential leaders quickly and cost effectively. One area of focus for many organizations today centers on the selection and quick-start assimilation of leaders into new roles within an organization. Whether the leader is an internal or external candidate, getting the right person up and performing quickly in the new job helps ensure the individual, team and organization’s success. The activation of this intentional process is called Accelerated On-Boarding.

Why is accelerated leadership on-boarding important?

Effective on-boarding is important in getting leaders acclimated to all aspects of the job and culture as quickly as possible. Although eager and very capable, research shows that more than 75% of the time, it takes at least three months for new leaders to become “productive” contributors to an organization. A more likely scenario is that new leaders need six months to be truly effective and instrumental in their role. Astonishingly, this research also indicates that at least 1/3 of top leaders do not meet company expectations even within the first 2 years on the job. With well designed accelerated on-boarding, companies create an environment where productivity comes about more quickly. This is even more important when considering the impact leaders have on those around them, including direct reports and peers.

What does accelerated on-boarding look like?

Firstly, the organization must specify the role and competencies needed for the leadership position. These core competencies will align with the vision and mission of the organization. Secondly, the leadership candidate must FIT the job requirements specified. This fit includes the right match of both hard and soft skills. It is common for hiring panels to hire on technical skills and then later release ineffective leaders due to interpersonal gaps and issues. See our website at www.thetalentjourney.com for additional insight in to common hiring mistakes and ways to avoid typical hiring pitfalls. Lastly, proper assimilation of leaders requires providing tools and resources to ensure success. Assimilation includes, but is not limited to an effective company orientation, formal/informal mentoring, executive coaching, and other informative resources.

The power of accelerated on-boarding cannot be overstated.

Every organizational culture is unique. The people, the nuances and even the challenges are all important components of the culture. Cultures are never easy to master. If you can remember what it was like when you first integrated into your spouse’s family system, it will remind you of how unsettling it can be to move into a new culture. In a familiar situation (our own family system, for example), things seem easy to navigate. Insiders understand the unconscious systems, ways of being, and acceptable patterns of interaction. People new to the culture do not have this subtle knowledge without intentional information sharing from those that do. Again, even if the leader is transitioning from within to a new leadership position, there are often many distinct subcultures that operate within a company. Learning to navigate those systems is absolutely critical to successful on-boarding efforts.

What are some best practices for accelerated on-boarding?

The institute of Executive Development in conjunction with Alexcel Group just released a comprehensive study regarding some best practices for accelerated on-boarding. The research indicated that executive coaching, customized and proactive internally developed assimilation programs and mentoring or “buddy” networks are the most effective methods to accelerate productivity and success. These processes involve time and effort by those invested in the new leader’s success. This early investment pays dividends in rapid productivity, reduced turn-over, enhanced team morale and overall organizational success.

Bringing it to Life (A Testimonial)

A leader friend of mine just transitioned from a start up organization into a large manufacturing organization. As you can imagine, she left a rapid-paced, feet to the fire, everyone does everything type work environment and transitioned into a slower paced, more regulated, and role defined organization. The change in dynamics was not a surprise and by virtue of size, was expected. What did come as a surprise to her was the degree of cautious decision-making in the new organization. Within the first six months, she learned that chain of command was a powerful force. When a leader above made a decision, those below implemented, often without much discussion or information. Mavericks were heavily frowned upon. After about eight months, she learned the rules of navigation with the system, got alliance and support, and successfully learned to manage up. She said, “there are so many subtle patterns that I misread early in my transition. Had I understood this sooner, I could have generated significantly more positive contribution within my team. I’m just thankful that my peers were patient and forgiving while I learned the system.” Not everyone is as fortunate or street wise as this leader. Good on-boarding assimilation programs help mitigate against frustration and productivity loss. It is best to be intentional about accelerated on-boarding so that your new leaders are poised for rapid success.

Worldwide Copyright TJ Associates, LLC Diane Brown