Cincy Recruiter's World

Can an Internal Coach or HR Pro Be Trusted With Your Secrets?

At The Conference Board's Executive Coaching Conference that I recently attended, we spent some time in one of the sessions discussing concerns with HR pros being designated or trained as internal coaches in organizations due to trust and credibility issues. (Note: attendees at the conference were primarily external coaches and OD professionals.)

Here's a tweet I sent out during the discussion:

I guess the discussion made me a bit #sad because as a former Human Resources pro myself, I felt like I was effective as an internal "coach". Whether working with an employee as part of their career development process or providing support to some making it through performance improvement plans, I worked hard to balance their need for confidentiality in the process with my responsibilities to the organization. I took pride in being someone that employees at all levels could talk to and one CEO even referred to me as his Consigliere - which considering some of the bullets I took for him, was kind of fitting.

But I do recall a conversation I had one day with an employee who was experiencing some issues at work. When I offered to listen and provide support, she said "Unfortunately, I can't talk to you about this. It's not that I don't trust you personally. It's the chair that you sit in. You have the authority to fire me. And I can't risk that."

After she left my office, I thought about what she'd said. I wanted to be offended. But I kinda understood where she was coming from. While it was frustrating that she wouldn't allow me to try to help out just because of my position in the organization, I also knew that sometimes it was part of my role to be involved in making decisions about her career. So sharing a weakness or performance problem with someone who has that type of influence could be perceived as a risk.

Fast forward to today, where I work with clients as an external Executive Coach... The feedback I've received from clients is that one of the most helpful aspects of the coaching process is the opportunity to speak confidentially with someone outside of the organization who can listen, support, challenge and guide them. I've listened as senior level clients have shared with me a variety of potentially career damaging things - being afraid of making decisions, that they're intimidated by a peer or they're unhappy in their jobs. We've been able to work through and resolve those issues, but I've often wondered if it would be a challenge for me as an internal coach to have access to that same information.

HR often seems to get thrown under the bus in regards to confidentiality and credibility issues (if you're the one causing that to happen, then please STOP), but I don't agree that credibility/trust of internal coaches is an "HR" issue. I think it's more about the perceived confidentiality that an external coach can provide - no matter how good an internal coach may be.

I think it's hard for employees not to feel at risk when sharing information with people in a position to influence their careers.

What do you think? Can HR pros serve as effective coaches inside their organizations? Do external coaches have an advantage over internals?

The conversation at the conference has caused me to wonder if maybe the employee who was preoccupied with where I parked my derriere each day was on to something...

Executive Coaching: What Are Global Coaching Leaders Discussing?

Recently, at the invitation of The Conference Board *, I had the opportunity to attend their 2010 Executive Coaching Conference in New York City. As an Executive Coach, I was thrilled to be able to attend this event and learn from some leading coaches and global organizations about best practices and current trends. Today’s post is the first in a series where I’ll share some of my experiences, takeaways and observations from the conference. 

Below is an overview of my experience at the Executive Coaching Conference via take-aways and quotes from the speakers that I shared on Twitter using the hashtag #tcbcoaching. (Also included are some tweets from fellow conference blogger Barry Zweibel of GottaGettaCoach! Incorporated). During the conference, there were a number of great points made about internal & external coaches, measuring ROI of coaching and some interesting potential future applications were discussed (texting & Second Life). 

Please forgive the abbreviations and shortened words in some tweets due to the 140 character limit!

Conference Keynote (Marshall Goldsmith - Author & Executive Educator)

• Check out @coachgoldsmith's new book at www.MojotheBook.com - came out this past Tuesday.
• Tons of FREE resources for Coaches and Leaders at http://marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com
• Good job interview question @coachgoldsmith recommends: "Do you love what you do?
• Best coaching advice: Imagine you're dying & you have the ability to go back & talk to yourself. What advice would you have?

Peak Personal Performance Session

• 4 sources of energy - all critically important: Purpose (direction) Physical (quantity) Emotional (quality) Mental (focus)
• "Strategic disengagement" - new way to say "take some rest".
• There are 20,000 moments in every day where you can make a difference. Are you an Eeyore or a Tigger?
• Research shows that having an "attitude of gratitude" can add 5 years to your life.
• "The only difference between a rut and a grave are the dimensions." Important to keep moving forward and stay sharp.
• Powerful things: 1) Craft a Purpose Statement 2) Get clear on Ur Top 5 Roles in Life 3) Define 100 Things U Want to Do in Life
• 80% of heart attack victims never change their behavior. 20% that do? They have someone who holds them accountable for change.
• It takes 21 days to establish a new habit. Invest extraordinary energy in it during that time & build in accountability.

Keynote: The Role of Virtual Coaching – Pros and Cons

• "No correlation between fees that are charged and the Quality of coaching you get"
• So true: "If you know where the conversation is going... It's not Coaching"
• "Really good coach helps redefine a clients goals" (via @ggci)
• "The more detail you put into a definition, the less meaningful it likely is" (via @ggci)
• Most coaches are under qualified - even those chosen by the executive (via @ggci)
• "To be an effective telephone-based coach, you need to first be a good in-person and via-email coach" (via @ggci)
• Case study done on an instance of Coaching by text. Hmmm... does it make me old-fashioned if I don't think that'll work?
• Levels of coaching - skills, performance, behavioral, transformational (via @ggci)
• Clutterbuck suggests not dismissing Second Life in terms of coaching either.
• A broad sense of purpose has a higher correlation to success than goals. Goals are an outcome of your Purpose.
• Important in Coach/Coachee relationship to have enough similarity to create rapport, but enough difference to create stretch

2009 Executive Coaching Practice Survey (results overview)

• Exec Coaching survey: In large orgs, most resp 4 coaching are managed centrally re: strategy. Local takes active role in matching
• Average length of coaching engagements (external coaches) - majority in 6 - 9 month range, very few lasting longer than 1 yr.
• Survey: Majority (50%) of large orgs work with external coaches who have 1 - 5 coaching engagements in their orgs per year.
• Survey: #1 reason for engaging an external coach - Development. 2nd 360 Debrief. 3rd Other assessment debrief. 4th Transition
• Survey: Majority of coaches (0ver 50%) are paid as services are rendered or monthly. Only 2.8% are paid at end of engagement.
• Survey: Internal coaching is on the rise and growing, but in its infancy. Internal coaches tend to be HR prof vs line leaders.
• Survey: Almost 80% of internal coaches spend less than 20% of their time on coaching activities.
• Discussion happening as to whether or not #HR is the right place for internal coaches due to trust/credibility issues. #sad
• "Line business leaders trained as coaches have double the credibility - because they know the business" #HRopportunity

How Coaching Is Being Used With High Potentials (Panel)

• Panelist: It's more important for external Coaches to focus on gaining experience & strong reputation vs specific certification.
• At Amex, coaching evolving into high-touch, targeted investment closely linked to business results. (via @ggci)
• At NY Life, coaching is about culture change, and creating ‘distributed’ and 'principles-based' leadership (via @ggci)
• At Microsoft, coaching program "allows emerging and experienced leaders to learn from each other." (via @ggci)
• At Microsoft, coaching dev plans include more observing/interacting w/senior leaders; building strong networks w/other hi-pos (via @ggci)
• At Amex, "coaching must leave a footprint in the organization that builds our internal capability" (via @ggci)

Identifying & Developing Coaching Competencies for Managers (Panel)

• Very cool job - panelist at #tcbcoaching = Coach at NASA. Challenge of getting highly technical folks to understand "art" of leadership

It’s a wrap!

• Finishing up at The Conference Board's Executive Coaching Conference #tcbcoaching. Top notch event with sharp speakers/attendees. Good info!

* Disclosure: By accepting TCB’s invitation to attend, I’m asked only to help them get the word out about their events and the programs that they offer to leading organizations and senior executives. I’m free to share my opinions (positive or negative) about my experience in attending and comment on the content shared by the speakers at the conference.

Book Review: Find Your Strongest Life by Marcus Buckingham

I’ll admit it. I’ve totally drunk the kool-aid when it comes to the Strengths-based Leadership movement. I’ve bought Now, Discover Your Strengths, GO Put Your Strengths to Work, StrengthsFinder 2.0 and Strengths-Based Leadership. As a self-described Assessment Junkie, I love the instant gratification of taking the online assessments with each book and not only do I scratch my head at how accurate they can be, I’ve found new and helpful ways to apply the information from each book and assessment to my work and personal life. So it was a given that I’d be interested in checking out the latest book from Marcus Buckingham – Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently. Another assessment? Count me in. A book directly to a woman-only audience? Call me dubious…

Before starting the book, I wondered why it would be directed only at women. Can’t we all benefit from finding our Strongest Life? Using his background as a Researcher, Buckingham uses data to quickly bring into focus why primarily women can benefit from the principals discussed within.

“All told, more than 1.3 million men and women have been surveyed over the last thirty years, both here in the U.S. and in developed countries around the world. Wherever researchers have been able to collect reliable data on happiness, the finding is always the same: greater educational, political, and employment opportunities have corresponded to decreases in life happiness for women, as compared to men.”

Wow. Bummer. Thankfully, the book does a nice job of providing some guidance and a framework for women to beat the odds and ensure that the work-life choices they’re presented with and the success achieved (or lack thereof) won’t send them down a negative trend line. Some key takeaways for me included the discussion around the 4 Emotions of a Strong Life, as well as identifying and saying “Yes” to “strong-moments” in your life versus thinking we need to say “No” more often. Buckingham encourages striving for imbalance in your life (focusing more on areas where you’re at your best) versus seeking balance – everything at a standstill – which is impractical.

Of course, I love the Strong Life Test for Women that’s explained further in the book (embedded below for you to take – and it won’t kick you out if you’re a Dude). The Strong Life Test is described as different from the previous Strengths Finder Tests - revealing your Lead Role (and Supporting Role) – which is your “soul’s code” versus pulling out your top talents or strengths. I found the information shared pertaining to my personal Lead Role (Influencer) helpful and I’ll be seeking out more of the types of opportunities outlined in the book where I can make the most of my role in the future.

I also plan to follow the instructions to capture some of my Strong Moments over the next couple of weeks and will see where that takes me. I really enjoyed the book and think the examples shared, as well as the tools presented will be helpful to me as I continue to pursue living my Strongest Life.

My Recommendation: Read it!

Disclosure: I recently signed up to become a Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger - in part because I admire and learn from Thomas Nelson's CEO Michael Hyatt and also because I want to re-develop a habit of reading good books. So periodically, you'll find a book review here at Cincy Recruiter's World and I'll add this Disclosure to each book reviewed as a part of that program. It's important to note that while I'm provided books through the program at no cost, they'll be books that I've chosen to receive based upon my interests and although the program has guidelines as far as posting dates and format, I'm not required to write a positive review - only to share my objective opinions.

Is Stinkin' Thinkin' Keeping You From Getting What You Want?

While flipping through radio channels on a road trip recently, I came across a call-in show where the topic of the day was How to Attract Your Ideal Man. The host of the show was an author of one of the many books on “Law of Attraction” and although I'm not much of a believer in that stuff, I decided to listen in anyway. (Not at all because I'm single - I prefer to call it research.) The first caller to the show - a single mom in her late 30’s – explained how she’d given up on finding a “good man”, as she had a history of attracting only Losers. To help her out, the host asked the caller to describe exactly what she was looking for in her ideal man. She rattled off a few things, such as:

• I don’t want someone who can’t appreciate what it takes to be a single parent.
• I don’t want someone who isn’t kind and considerate.
• I don’t want someone who does not want to be in a committed relationship.

After a few minutes, the host stopped the caller and asked if she recognized that she was creating a list of everything she did not want versus what she did want in an ideal mate. Surprisingly, she hadn’t noticed. He explained his theory that her negative thinking was a huge part of the reason why she hasn’t been successful in finding the “right” man and suggested that she take some the time to write down all of the things that she doesn’t want, then go back and change the wording in each sentence to instead reflect what she does want. By doing this, she would be changing her negative thinking to positive, which would allow her to actually attract her ideal man - who would ride up on a white horse and take her away to live in a castle far, far away where they would live happily ever after. (Ok, so I may have embellished a wee bit with the last part…)

According to the Law of Attraction, thinking about what you don’t want applies energy and focus in that direction and actually brings those things into your life, while applying positive thinking and intentionally focusing on what you do want sends “positive vibrations” out to the universe and attracts those things to you.

I don’t buy the universal positive vibrations mumbo-jumbo, but I do notice when people position things negatively in terms of their businesses and careers and recognize how often that limits their thinking (and mine) to potential possibilities and opportunities. Ask a client to describe an ideal candidate for a position and they might say “We won’t consider someone who has worked in a very large company - they don't fit with our entrepreneurial culture”. Ask a candidate to describe their ideal opportunity and you might hear “I don’t want to be micro-managed or work in a company where there is a lot of bureaucracy”. With each of these statements, I have to guard against going into a negative frame of mind where I start subtracting from a mental list instead of adding to it. I’m also curious to find out more about the bad experience(s) in their past that are likely associated with their concerns and as a result, we end up spending a lot of time focusing on what won't or hasn’t worked instead of exploring what can.

Take a moment to consider how you’re describing to others what you’re looking for in terms of your career, your job search or your business. Ask yourself what your ideal opportunity looks like and then write down your thoughts without self-editing (just do a brain dump). Or, go ahead and make a list of all of the things that you don't want in your ideal opportunity, because those things may be more clear to you than what you do want at the moment. Once you've created your list, go back through it and change any negative words and statements into positive ones. By doing this, when you're asked about your ideal opportunity in the future, you'll not only be prepared to positively describe it, you can also create an action plan to make it happen! You'll find it much easier to create an action plan around what you want to accomplish versus what you don't.

Do you have some examples of how focusing on the negative or what is not desired has affected you or others? Was there a change in thinking at some point followed by positive results? It's definitely possible to get in your own way by being a Debbie Downer in terms of your business or career (or love life).

I don't want that for you.

Scratch that. I want much better things for you!

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What Are the Best Interview Questions to Identify Leadership Potential?

In my role as a Consultant focused on recruiting, coaching and developing Leaders, I think I know a good Leader when I see (i.e. get to know) one. This super-power comes from a combination of my experiences - I've worked with several great Leaders and I've also had exposure to some pretty bad ones too - and the formal and informal training that I've received throughout my career. However, sometimes for me - and I've certainly seen it with hiring managers and clients - it's hard to guard against that "gut feel" you get when you just know that someone has what it takes to be a successful leader. In short, we've all fallen victim to the "I just like 'em" syndrome that almost never is a predictor of actual results. 

Recently, Dan McCarthy shared Three Questions for Potential Managers to Ask Themselves over on his blog Great Leadership. While the three questions Dan posed are good ones an aspiring leader should ponder before pursuing a managerial role ("Why do I want to be a Manager?", "Do I have what it takes to be successful?" and "What do I want to become?"), I found the listing he shared of predictors of leadership success to be of particular interest. Here's a snippet from Dan's post:

We know there are certain skills and attributes that can be demonstrated in a non-managerial role, that if done well, are predictors of managerial success. For example, Development Dimensions International (DDI) has developed a set of criteria that they say will accurately predict executive success, based on their own experience and research, and research by others.

According to DDI, the “right stuff” for future managerial success include:

1. Propensity to lead. They step up to leadership opportunities

2. They bring out the best in others

3. Authenticity. They have integrity, admit mistakes, and don’t let their egos get in their way

4. Receptivity to feedback. They seek out and welcome feedback

5. Learning agility

6. Adaptability. Adaptability reflects a person's skill at juggling competing demands and adjusting to new situations and people. A key here is maintaining an unswerving, "can do" attitude in the face of change

7. Navigates ambiguity. This trait enables people to simplify complex issues and make decisions without having all the facts

8. Conceptual thinking. Like great chess players and baseball managers,the best leaders always have the big picture in mind. Their ability to think two, three, or more moves ahead is what separates them from competitors

9. Cultural fit

10. Passion for results

Try assessing yourself against this list of criteria. Better yet, ask your manager and others to assess you. If you’re lacking in any key areas, that’s OK – most of these things can be improved with awareness, practice, and feedback. Other management skills are learned and mastered once in the role and with experience.

While I think most would agree that no checklist of characteristics will be a 100% predictor of future success as a Leader, I like using this approach as a starting point for both individual assessment and for developing some interview questions when selecting individuals for leadership roles. I can think of several ways to get at these qualities through the ever popular "Tell me about a time.." behavioral interviewing questions, but I'm not a big fan of interviews that rely solely upon those types of questions - especially with non-skilled interviewers.

I'm interested in your feedback and ideas in regards to the questions that you ask candidates, or have been asked as a candidate, to identify potential for success as a Leader. What questions would you suggest asking in an interview to assess the leadership qualities listed above? Hit me in the Comments section with the best questions that either you are asking or have heard and let's do some crowd-sourcing to come up with a great list. And it's o.k. to share your best "Tell me about a time..." questions too - just be sure to use them wisely.

Question Mark uploaded by Marco Belluco

6 Tips For Developing "Executive Presence"

This week, I'm attending the SHRM Annual Conference in New Orleans (read about my first day on RecruitingConferences.com) and this afternoon, I attended one of the Mega Sessions led by Author and Communications Expert Dianna Booher titled "Creating Executive Presence: Communicate with Confidence in the C-Suite". As an Executive Coach working with leaders to improve their skills and grow in their careers, it's not uncommon for me to work with an otherwise successful leader who just doesn't have the charisma or "It Factor" some are blessed with that naturally compels people to follow them. Thankfully, all hope is not lost and Ms. Booher's session provided some great tips about how changing some of the physical aspects of one's delivery style can make an immediate and noticeable difference in communicating with confidence, style and substance.

To demonstrate her point, two members of the audience were invited up onto the stage to give a 60 second presentation about a project they were currently working on to the audience of several hundred. Following their short speech, Ms. Booher would take each person to the side of the stage and provide just 30 seconds of coaching, then they would be asked to deliver their presentation once again using the tips she provided. 

The first brave volunteer walked up to the stage with confidence, but once she faced the crowd and began to speak, seemed to sink into the back of the stage and spoke very softly. When her time was up and the brief coaching was provided, she tried again. This time she looked out into the crowd, walked to the front of the stage and shared her project once again. When asked for feedback on the difference in the two presentations, audience members commented that the speaker was perceived as more confident, strong, engaging - and even "more beautiful". (Huh? Not sure about that one.) The second volunteer shared a brief story about the need to get in better physical shape in order to begin playing tennis with his college age son, so they could spend more time together. While sharing his story, he was casual, smiled and stood right in the center of the stage looking out across the room at the entire audience. He seemed comfortable enough, but after 30 seconds of coaching, he walked strongly to the left of the stage and spoke about his challenge, moved to the right and shared his plan to succeed and also sprinkled in a few bits of humor during his delivery that engaged the audience in his story. Once again, the feedback from the audience was that his second presentation was strong, confident, funny and focused. Unfortunately for him, no comments about his physical appearance, but we definitely liked him.

So what were some of the secrets shared with the audience volunteers in 30 seconds of coaching that made such a difference? Booher's tips included:

• Use random, sustained eye contact with several members of the audience. Focus on a few people here and there while speaking. "If you're looking at everyone in the room - you're looking at no one in the room".
• Make sure that your body language is strong and confident in order to project that with your tone - because your voice always follows your body language.
• Before you start to speak, stand up and stand still for 5 seconds. Doing so will make you look very much in control.
• When addressing a large group from a stage - walk out: stand still for 5 seconds, then start speaking by making eye contact with one person in the far corner of the group to the left, and then one person in the far corner of the room to the right.
• Gesture from the shoulder rather than from the elbow or the wrist because these types of moves make you look more powerful.
• Use your space purposely. Stand still. Make a point. Move as you transition to the next point. Then stand still, make point, move, etc.

Based on the impromptu demonstrations shared in the session today, it was easy to see how implementing these tips into your speaking style can make a difference in how you're perceived by the audience. The really good news is that you're not out of luck if you're not born with "executive presence". Like most things, with intention and practice, it can be developed!

Look Mom! I'm Going to the 2009 SHRM Annual Conference!

Next week I'll be in New Orleans attending the SHRM Annual Conference June 28 through July 1st - and you'll be glad to know that I've already stocked up on anti-frizz products in an effort to control my hair's natural tendency to poof to unflattering proportions in the more tropical climes...

If you've read my Bio or LinkedIn Profile, you know that I spent most of my career as an HR Pro before making a change in 2006 to become an Executive Recruiter/Coach & Consultant. When I worked in HR, every year I would receive the Conference brochures and devour them wishing that I could attend to learn about what was new and happening in HR, as well as to meet some of my peers. But every year, the money either wasn't in the budget, or the few times that it was budgeted, something always came up that prevented me from attending. So I'm super excited about this opportunity to finally make the pilgrimage to the land of 10,000+ HR Pros and also to participate as a Press Blogger!

I'll be tweeting, blogging and vlogging while at the Conference and sharing my learnings and experiences in several places. Kris Dunn, Jessica Lee and myself will be covering the Conference for Fistful of Talent and I'll also be playing the role of "Roving Reporter" for RecruitingBlogs.com and a new website RecruitingConferences.com. I'll link to any shenanigans I post on those sites here on Cincy Recruiter's World, but if you're not already subscribing to these resources - you should be!

At the Conference, there will be a ton of opportunities to learn about all of the areas of "People Strategy" that I'm consistently curious about, including Recruiting, Executive Coaching, Human Resources, Company Culture and Employment Branding and I've tried to select sessions to get my fill in as many of those areas as possible. Here's my tentative schedule so far:

Sunday, June 28th
2:30 pm     Opening General Session with Jack Welch (we're like BFF now that I follow Jack on Twitter)
5:00 pm     Press Briefing

Monday, June 29th
7:00 am     Retention Before Hiring, After Hiring and Long-Term Retention Strategies
10:45 am   Creating a Great Place to Work: Lessons from the 2009 '50 Best Small & Medium Companies to Work for in America'
12:00 pm   Lunch with Kris Dunn & Jessica Lee
2:00 pm     How Your Web Site Can Be Your #1 Recruiting Tool
4:00 pm     Creating Executive Presence: Thinking on Your Feet
6:00 pm     Yahoo! HotJobs VIP Party

Tuesday, June 30th
7:00 am     Strategic Interviewing Practices
10:45 am   How to Give a Butt-Kicking Presentation
2:15 pm     Employment Branding: Branding Your Organization To Attract & Retain A-Level Talent
6:00 pm     Tweetup at Ruth Chris Steak House

Wednesday, July 1st
10:00 am   Become a Talent Magnet: How to Entice, Endear & Engage Top Talent
11:30 am   HR Blogger Panel: Kris Dunn, Jessica Lee, Laurie Ruettimann & Lance Haun

You should also check out some of the other bloggers who will be attending the Conference. I've linked to their Twitter profiles below, as well as their most recent posts about their Conference plans:

Lance Haun - Your HR Guy: Updated SHRM 2009 Schedule

Sharlyn Lauby - HR Bartender: The Big Easy

Jessica Lee - Jessica Lee Writes: New Orleans...Here I Come!

Michael Long - The Red Recruiter: SHRMing Out With Twitter

Laurie Ruettimann - Punk Rock HR: Social Media, Human Resources & SHRM

Mary Ellen Slayter - SmartBlog on Workforce: My SHRM Schedule

Mark Stelzner - Inflexion Advisors: HR Gone Wild - SHRM 2009

UPDATE: Thanks to Brett Farmiloe of Jobing.com for making me aware of his post 5 Ways To Participate in SHRM 2009 From the Office on ERE.net. Good tips for those who must stay home!

You can catch me tweeting as @CincyRecruiter and follow all "real time" Conference tweets via Twitter Search here with the hashtag #SHRM09. (You don't even have to sign up for Twitter to do so!)

If you'll be attending the Conference, I'd love to meet you there! You can get my contact information by texting JENNIFERM to 50500 (via Contxt).

     

Spanning the World - Links You Can Use or Peruse - April 17th Edition

Each day, there's an enormous amount of great content produced by people all over the world and put out on the world wide web. Sometimes it's from a high-profile journalist or weblebrity, and sometimes it's from a little known blogger who took the time to share their thoughts with the few souls who follow them that have taken the time to subscribe to their blog. (Ahem... you can subscribe to this little known blogger's blog via email here or RSS here.)

As a consistently curious consumer of vast quantities of information in the areas of Recruiting, Coaching, HR, Leadership, Career Development, Employment Branding & Social Media, I'd like to share a few links to stuff I found interesting on the Interwebs within the last couple of weeks.

Recruiting

It's almost counter-intuitive to think that recruiting top candidates would be harder in the current economic times, but Auren Hoffman does a really nice job of explaining why that's indeed the case in Why Hiring is Paradoxically Harder in a Downturn. And he uses lots of charts, graphs and data to do it. We have ourselves a smarty up in here folks...

My friend Kelly Dingee - a Sourcing Ninja - published the April 2009 AIRS Sourcing Report. If your job involves sourcing candidates using the Internet, then this free monthly resource is for you!

Speaking of Sourcing Ninjas - the Boolean Black Belt (Glen Cathey) makes me dizzy with all of the ways that he can find potential candidates. Strap on your seat belt... Searching Social Media Requires Outside-The-Box-Thinking.

Times - they certainly are a-changin'...Good perspective for both Recruiters and Job Seekers on The Changing Face of Recruiting from Netshare, Inc.

I'm a serious fan of Chris Hoyt - Associate Director of Talent Attraction at AT&T' - who is probably more widely known (on the web) as the RecruiterGuy. Chris is way out in front in terms of trying and implementing innovative ideas in the recruiting/sourcing space. In 360-Crazy-Sexy-Cool (Recruiting/Sourcing) Part I, he begins a series of posts on a completely mobile and cloud based boxed set of recruiting tools. 

Coaching

Jason Seiden always has a way of getting in your face and daring you to take the actions necessary to grow as a leader or in your career - What "Color" Is My Parachute? Sh*t Brown - Thanks for Asking. I like Jason's coaching style - a lot.

Human Resources

(From RecruitingBlogs.com) Anyone who can quote my favorite movie Jerry Macguire and use the phrase "up at dawn, pride swallowing siege that I will never fully tell you about" to describe the (sometimes) life of an HR Director has me at "Hello".

This week, I spoke at a local SHRM Group on the topic of How HR Can Use Social Media Beyond LinkedIn. Of the 100 or so in attendance, only about 5 were currently using Twitter. Workforce.com shares some of the drawbacks - and opportunities for HR in HR World Not Immune From Twitter Craze.

Leadership

Great leadership advice and summary of Tips from Tom Peters for Leading in Freaked-Out Times on The Practice of Leadership blog.

Career Development

From my perspective, the single biggest issue for many who are searching for a job is not being able to clearly articulate what they are targeting to best utilize their talents and experience. Couldn't have said this better myself - To Get the Job, Get Specific.

Another famous Jerry Macguire quote is put to good use by Kathy Rapp on Fistful of Talent in Help Me... Help You. How Not to Play the Salary Negotiation Game.

Employment Branding

The writers and contributors at ERE.net produce significantly high quality stuff on a daily basis. This week, one of my favorites was Ryan Estis - Employment Branding 2.0 - The 8 C's of My Web My Way.

Social Media/Social Networking

From what appears to be a relatively new blog with some very good content - The Social Executive - check out 9 Tips to Get Executives Started on Twitter.

Here's an awesome post from the LinkedIn Blog about What Recruiters Look For in a LinkedIn Profile: 8 Tips. A similar post appeared on Mashable - with more good tips - Do You Pass the Social Media Recruitment Test? Of course every recruiter is different and these methods may not be applied by all, but it's a good place to start.

Facebook isn't just for poking "friends" and throwing sheep anymore... Check out these 20 Facebook Applications to Assist You In Your Job Search.

If you're looking for some data to convince your CEO why it's ok to allow employees to use social media at work - here's your ticket - Facebook, YouTube at Work Make Better Employees: Study. But make sure he or she doesn't see this - Does Facebook Make You Dumber? Study shows users of social networking site get lower grades. Just a minor detail in the pursuit of happier employees.

Bringing It Home

And finally, a CincyRecruiter shout-out to the social network for HR professionals - HRMToday.com! I was already a fan, but recently winning an iPod Touch for sharing one of my (too many) hiring horror stories has made me love them that much more. If you're in HR - or work with people - join HRMToday and check out my winning submission on how a male stripper once tried to recruit ME during his interview. And you thought you had all of the fun in Accounting...

Until next time, take it away Len Berman

New Day Resolutions - Steps Toward Becoming the Best Version of Yourself

Today's post is a guest post from Thom Monahan, Dream Manager & Owner of The Life Purpose Center of Montgomery in Cincinnati, Ohio. Thom is one of the most positive people I've ever met, and a great example of someone who cares about helping his clients, relationships and friends to be successful in every aspect of their lives. For example - Thom is on a personal quest to locate a Hero that has Type O blood and is willing to donate a kidney to a friend. Although very willing to donate his own, he's not a match, and as a result has made it a personal mission to assist Pat in finding one. You can learn more here. Maybe you're the Hero Thom and Pat are searching for!

Well that time of year where habit wins out over logic, and the New Year's resolutions make their cameo appearance has come and gone again. Before you reconsider that big plunge to stop smoking, lose weight, balance your checkbook or commit to a long term relationship, consider the flaw in the traditional process. The majority of resolutions rarely recognize the month of February for the same reason that our government cannot solve the economic crisis... it's overwhelming. The stroke of the President's pen will no more instantly save the financial industry than will the abandonment of carbs give me the physique of David Beckham. The overwhelming nature of most New Year's resolutions is that our focus is on the end result and not on the individual steps of a journey of a thousand miles. Before you criticize my logic and correct me with the you can hit a target you can't see law, hear me out. I'm a firm believer in having a target that you can see, however I am equally committed to the belief that once you have a long term target you cannot succeed in one fell swoop.

I propose that we do away with New Year's Resolutions and replace them with New Day Resolutions. That's right, let's break our ambitions down to easily attainable steps that can be measured by a 24-hour period. In essence, what we really want to accomplish is to live the only day we are guaranteed with the goal of being the best version of ourselves for that day alone. When tomorrow comes - if tomorrow comes - we will only have to concern ourselves with that day. It's much easier to achieve a one day goal than be focused on the overwhelming lifetime achievement. With this in mind, I propose to you that you are only guaranteed today and everything you do today to be the best version of yourself will get you one step closer to your ultimate goal. The pressure is off when you focus on what you can control.

There is the chance that you look back upon your one day only to realize that you didn't make decisions that resulted in the best version of yourself. I can guarantee that you'll experience those days when your best version doesn't materialize! No big deal, you haven't lost a day, you just aren't one day closer to your ultimate goal. Should tomorrow arrive, you can set your sights on that day alone and give it another shot. New Day Resolutions are not captive to the traditional calendar and as such can be applied at any time. Why wait for January to roll around each year to live each day with purpose? Start today to move toward the best version of yourself! Make your New Day Resolution expire within a 24-hour period and celebrate an achievement every day. Go ahead. You deserve an opportunity every day to pat yourself on the back. If you'd like to share one of your New Day Resolutions with me in the comments section, I'll be happy to pat you on the back!

Thom Monahan has over 27 years of experience in consulting with small businesses and young professionals, and as a certified Dream Manager/Owner of The Life Purpose Center of Montgomery in Cincinnati, Ohio he helps people to connect with their dreams and achieve the best version of themselves. To learn more about becoming the best version of yourself, check out The Rhythm of Life by Matthew Kelly or www.floydconsulting.com.

2009 Sherpa Executive Coaching Survey Results Released

I'm putting my coaching hat on today and sharing with you results from the 2009 Sherpa Executive Coaching Survey - which is the fourth annual survey conducted by Cincinnati-based Sherpa Executive Coaching - an Executive Coach training and certification institute. (The survey is also sponsored by the Executive Education Programs at Texas Christian University and the University of Georgia.)

I always find the results of this annual survey interesting due to its primary focus being on the field of Executive Coaching, and the fact that those who participate are practicing coaches and those who hire them. This year, the survey included responses from 1,500 participants. Also, I'm a fan of the Sherpa team and their coaching process, since I completed the training through the University of Cincinnati Executive Education Program in 2006.

Definition of Executive Coaching

For the purpose of the survey, the sponsors define Executive Coaching as follows:

"Executive Coaching means: regular meetings between a business leader and a trained facilitator, designed to produce positive changes in business behavior in a limited time-frame."

Survey Highlights and Personal Take-aways

• In the early days of coaching, an executive who wasn't living up to expectations was the one most likely to receive executive coaching - but that has shifted to more coaching being devoted to developing leaders and leadership skills.

• "Coaching is widely used as a leadership development tool."

• The Coaching industry is maturing, and seems to be stabilizing.

• In the past, general business and consulting experience was the best way to gain respect as an executive coach, and this year, training and certification as a coach was perceived as more important by HR professionals in larger firms.

• "92% of HR professionals and coaching clients believe in-person delivery is the most effective."

• "61% of executive coaches say a coaching engagement should run six months or less."

• Coaches with more experience make more money - with executive coaches having 5+ years of experience earning over $130,000 per year (down from 2008).

I can easily say that my coaching training has been one of the highlights of my professional career thus far, and what I learned in the program has proven helpful to me not only when I coach - but also in interviewing, meeting with clients and in providing consulting services. Through the training I learned to try to understand situations by asking great questions (a primary focus for a coach) and how to facilitate personal discovery versus providing the answers. 

For more information, you can download the complete 2009 survey results (which includes a suggested ROI calculation for Executive Coaching) here.

Bonus Tip

Here's a few of my favorite "official" coaching questions:

1. So?

2. And?

3. Why'd you do that?

4. How's that working for you?

Now don't go pulling those out on just anybody! Questions like these should be wielded only by skilled and trained professionals...