Ready to learn how to get rid of your Executive Blues?
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IN THIS TUTORIAL SERIES, YOU'LL LEARN...
#1 reason why success is causing your Executive Blues
Why your Executive Career Narrative needs an overhaul
3 steps to (FINALLY) becoming the Energized Executive
ABOUT YOUR PRESENTER
J.T. O'DONNELL IS THE FOUNDER AND CEO OF WORK IT DAILY. SHE HAS 18+ YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROFESSIONAL HR TOOLS AND RESOURCES. SHE'S BEEN FEATURED IN SEVERAL PUBLICATIONS INCLUDING INC. MAGAZINE, FAST COMPANY, THE NEW YORK TIMES, AND MORE.
Are you terrified of screwing up a job interview? Does the thought of writing a cover letter horrify you? Are you scared to network with others? What do you even say, anyway? If you're struggling to overcome your job search fears, this live event is for you.
We get it. Looking for work can be scary, especially if you’ve been at it for a long time and haven’t gotten any results.
Understanding which fears are getting in the way and how to overcome them will make all the difference. Sometimes you might not be aware of which obstacle is getting in the way of your goals. If you want to overcome these fears once and for all, we invite you to join us!
In this training, you’ll learn how to:
Utilize strategies for coping with your job search fears
Be confident in your job search—from writing your resume to networking
Face your fears and move forward
Join our CEO, J.T. O'Donnell, and Director of Training Development & Coaching, Christina Burgio, for this live event on Wednesday, October 5th at 12 pm ET.
CAN'T ATTEND LIVE? That's okay. You'll have access to the recording and the workbook after the session!
Hiring the right person to do the job is even harder than it sounds. While many companies use their human resources department to hire new employees, for higher-level positions, or in smaller companies, the hiring decision is often made by executives. But sometimes even executives hire the wrong person for the job.
We recently asked our successful leaders what they think is the biggest mistake executives make when hiring talent.
Here are their responses...
John Schembari, Senior Education Executive
When hiring educators, particularly in this time of shortage, districts have been taking almost anyone. However, it is in a district's best interest to hire candidates that understand their community. This is the number one mistake districts make—forgoing this check. References inform a district about work ethic but they might not indicate if the teaching candidate can support the needs of their specific students.
In addition to reviewing references, schools should have EXTERNAL teaching candidates review non-identifiable student scholarship data and indicate how they will address this within their classroom. Further, have candidates conduct a "demo lesson" with actual students. Afterwards, ask students about the experience. Lastly, involve current educators in the hiring process. Have current staff use checklists/rubrics to rate the quality of incoming resumes and determine who will be interviewed. Internally, consider "grow your own" programs to elevate paraprofessionals to teaching roles. GYO programs also help promote equity particularly in urban schools.
John Schembari is a current K-12 teacher/school leader academic improvement coach and former school building and district administrator. He loves to draw, travel, swing dance, and read nonfiction.
Ana Smith, Talent Architect & Global Learning Strategist
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If you're human, you're biased. Every last one of us makes judgments and decisions based on the collective influence of our upbringing, our experiences, our education, and our societies. That “gut feeling” you have about anything from how your food looks to the impression you get when meeting someone new? That’s nothing more than a collection of biases manifesting themselves.
This can be potentially valuable in social interactions. Where bias can truly become disastrous is in hiring!
As a hiring manager or executive in charge of making hiring decisions, you are not free from bias. It’s truly 100% impossible to be completely free of bias. The best you can do is to take steps to minimize the effect bias has on your decision making and be aware of what you cannot eliminate to mitigate it. This requires self-awareness.
Examining your hiring process and your decision making to see if any of these are present and taking action to adjust for them is key.
Ana Smith helps people & organizations achieve their full talent potential by developing and co-creating people strategies and customized solutions, and turning them into impactful outcomes and collaborative relationships, using coaching as the "red thread."
Carla Biasi, Personal Stylist
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I believe the biggest mistake is focusing strictly on qualifications. Of course, skills and talents are needed in any role. But the focus should be on the whole individual. Other considerations when hiring the right candidate should be personality, attitude, disposition, and emotional intelligence.
Companies have certain cultures that represent the aesthetics of their workforce. Within those organizations are teams/departments that must work well together for the company to succeed. Goals are established, roles defined, and tasks given. The goal is a well-oiled machine with high productivity, but if there is discourse on the team, it's disruptive.
I recommend meeting the team you will be working with during the interview process. If you are in a role, talk to management about team-building exercises to help create a strong team.
Remember that an individual is made up of many different skills and attributes. Discover all the wonderful things a candidate has to offer and match it to the job responsibilities and goals of the team for everyone's success.
Carla Biasi is a personal stylist living on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She currently has her own business and works part-time at an upscale women's boutique and as a virtual and kit stylist for a women’s specialty brand.
Andrea Markowski, Marketing Executive
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The number one hiring mistake is to bring in someone who can fully execute the role.
Sounds crazy, right?
Instead, hire someone who can fulfill most of the job basics, but who is also willing to grow into the position.
A manager once told me during a review to not feel bad when I expressed frustration at not exceeding every expectation.
“If you’re 100% successful, you have nowhere to grow. You’d be overqualified and unhappy,” he said. “As long as there’s space to develop and you’re willing to learn, you’re on the right track.”
His message really resonated years later when I was at a different company. In this new case, I was, indeed, overqualified.
I was hired because I could do everything in the job description, and more. However, it was a bad fit—for precisely that same reason. I didn’t stay long because I wasn’t challenged.
I’d caution against hiring someone fully qualified, especially if they express no interest in expanding their skills. You’re better off with the candidate who’s intrinsically motivated to learn what they don’t yet know.
Andrea Markowski is a marketing director with specializations in strategy development, digital tactics, design thinking, and creative direction. She has superpowers in presentations and public speaking.
Jim Black, Engineering & Technical Executive
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Number one mistake in hiring... hiring for a resume and not for behaviors.
Never hire someone who has a perfect resume and gives you pause in their behavior. The person's skills may be a perfect match for your needs, and yet, something feels off.
In my past, I have hired for perfect skills, and I have paid for it each time. On paper, the person is great! In day-to-day life, they do not fit.
I will always hire based on a person's behaviors. I can teach technical skills if the person is grounded in good behaviors: willingness to learn, hungry for answers, improvement oriented, and enthusiastic to work with the team. These attributes create great employees who can develop the necessary technical skills needed to succeed.
Hiring for the “perfect” skill set has costs me much more in the long run.
Jim Black is an engineering professional focused on the development of technical professionals. He is also a professional bass player.
Lisa Perry, Global Marketing Executive
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We’ve seen more changes in the remote workplace in the last two years. The Great Resignation of 2021 is now turning into the Great Uncertainty, with layoffs affecting the tech sector, cryptocurrency, and Wall Street.
Selecting a new employee is a critical decision. Time and again, people are hired who are either not qualified or are not a culture fit for the company. The number one mistake executives make when hiring talent in this new work environment is not taking a look at their team and the broader organization first. There’s great opportunity in leveraging underutilized talent to fill open positions. You may find that individuals can take on new responsibilities to expand their role or someone is ready to be promoted into an open position. Your employees are also your best recruiters. Utilize them to promote job opportunities to including them in your marketing assets.
Lisa Perry helps companies build leadership brands, driving loyal customers & delivering profitability. She does this through a process that builds brands consumers love. Her goal is to help companies develop, monetize, and grow their brands.
What do you think is the biggest mistake executives make when hiring talent? Join the conversation inside Work It Daily's Executive Program.
How do you get a promotion? It's a good time to start thinking about growing your career and positioning yourself for one.
Here are six tips to get the promotion you want at work:
1. Under Promise And Over Deliver
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With many companies leaner than they were several years ago, there are probably many internal voids. You want to identify and fill them. We recommend looking at how you can informally be of service.
For example: ask your supervisor or team members how you can step in and support them as well as identify where you see hiccups in efficiency. Approach the appropriate person with a case for how you can step in and help.
At the same time, make sure you do not commit to work you know you cannot complete efficiently and to the best of your ability.
2. Be An Intrapreneur
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An intrapreneur is someone who uses an entrepreneur's mindset, relationships, skills, and behaviors within an organization's four walls to develop new, innovative ways of working, new products, or new services.
Whether you are developing a new corporate social responsibility initiative or a new procedure for onboarding entry-level talent, elicit the support of all key stakeholders, do your homework to set yourself up to succeed, and set clear, mutually agreed-upon criteria for success.
By launching a new venture within your company's four walls, you may just create your new position. And when you succeed, you will have evidence of your leadership experience.
3. Get Your Internal Networking On
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It's important to develop mutually beneficial relationships within your department and team as well as throughout your company. Don't forget to connect with your co-workers, old and new, and continuously try to network with those outside of your immediate office or work environment.
To put yourself in line for such an opportunity as a promotion, set the time to get to know all of your colleagues. Be curious about their work and the opportunities they foresee on the horizon.
4. Balance Short-Term And Long-Term Thinking
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This is another important muscle to flex when positioning yourself for a promotion. While it's important to have an eye on your goals so that you stay on top of your chief responsibilities, you also want to pay attention to how your work plays into the bigger picture.
Get clear on your department or organization's one, two, and even five-year goals, and work with your supervisor to make sure that how you are spending your time and energy is moving you—and the company—in the right direction.
5. Zap Negativity
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People want to work with happy people. And—let's face it—right now, too many workplaces are seas of persistent complaint.
Senior leaders also want emerging talent who see opportunities rather than obstacles. Not only does a Negative Nelly or Negative Ned kill moral, but she or he also comes across as someone incapable of solving problems and inspiring others toward solutions, which are keys to positioning one's self as an effective leader.
If you want to get that promotion, focus on being positive at work. Your encouraging nature will show your manager you have the right attitude for a leadership position, therefore making you that much closer to getting promoted.
6. Ask
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This might sound obvious, but we can't tell you how many people know a position is open in their companies and fail to advocate for themselves or hope that a supervisor will read their minds and make them that offer they can't refuse.
This is particularly important for women.
Men initiate these kinds of conversations about four times as often as women! You don't want to under promise and over deliver forever. Once you know you have laid the foundation for your ask, set a specific day and time to talk to the appropriate person about your aspirations, and make sure you facilitate the conversation in such a way that you are creating a compelling story about what you have achieved in your previous position and what you believe you can achieve moving forward.
Most promotions won't fall into your lap. If you want it, sometimes you just have to ask for it.
Remember, sometimes the greatest impediment to our upward mobility is ourselves. Take this advice and position yourself for a promotion today.
