Manager Tools Blog

Behaviour

wendii — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:43:38 -0400

Manager Tools management is based on behavior. But it can be difficult sometimes to work out what behavior is, when we’re so used to drawing conclusions.

One of my favorite blogs is Nicholas Bate’s (http://nicholasbate.typepad.com/)who writes pithy, thought-provoking posts and often in series (his fake powerpoints are very funny too!). He wrote recently, “0825 not 0832”. It’s a very short shorthand for a good attitude (coming in early, not being late), and it is a behavior.

I started thinking about what other shorthand there is, or said differently, what early warnings signals we could spot where early feedback or extra attention in our O3’s might stave off a bigger problem. Coming in late where the person was previously punctual is definitely one. I also thought of:

Previously A+ work now A- work.
A change in the response to ‘How are you’ – even from ‘I’m great’ to ‘I’m ok’.
Moving from ‘Prepared’ to ‘Just in Time’

What else?

Restart

wendii — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:12:46 -0400

If you’ve been around Manager Tools for some time, you might have noticed a trend. Every other question on the forum is answered with feedback, one on ones, delegation, coaching or DiSC. It’s the same at the conferences. People ask convoluted questions and the answer is simple: one element of the trinity.

Mark and Mike are often heard to say management is unsexy, unexciting and repetitive. If, as a manager, you really got these five basics, you’d be head and shoulders above your peers. (We know that’s true, we get emails to tell us so).

Over time we clutter our lives with extra activities, our computers with extra programs and our closets with extra clothes. Going back to basics is a useful, productive exercise which can restart momentum. In the same way, going back to concentrate on the basics of one on ones, feedback, coaching and delegation (at whichever stage you are in the rollout) can kick-start your productivity and relationships.

So who’s going to commit to a restart?

Watching TV

wendii — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:25:27 -0500

An article in November's Success Magazine states that the average US household now has more televisions than people. Neilson's Three Screen report says that American's watch 141 hours of television a month. (And before anyone not in the US starts to feel smug, the UK is the same and Europe not far behind).

The Success article continues: "Even five hours of education programming is still five hours not spent doing other things like reading, socializing, cleaning, working, studying, being outdoors or exercising". This is the point.

You may spend far less than the average 141 hours watching TV, but when did a reality TV programme or a soap change your life? Any of the other activities the article mentions (well, except for cleaning perhaps) has the potential for making significant changes for the better in your life. TV doesn't. Turn it off more often!

Onboarding

wendii — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:50:05 -0500

I've read a lot of articles recently about the increasingly 'web 2.0' methods companies are using in the period between candidates accepting offers and their first day. Onboarding microsites which allow candidates to find out about the company, set up a profile, and see video and other content are becoming more common.

However, whilst some reseach shows candidates like the sites a lot (up to 95% engagement in one survey), we see a danger. Hiring managers could assume that all the work has been done for them. In fact, this isn't much of a change - I've met many hiring managers who think that onboarding is HR's job and abdicate all responsibility.

If you want an employee who is quickly productive and useful to your team, you can't abdicate responsibility to any part of his development, especially onboarding. His whole early experience is colored by the one person he knows - the person who interviewed him. Like many things, onboarding is straightforward but requires some effort and a focus on results and relationships - neither of which are developed through a web 2.0 interface.

Lessons Learned

wendii — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:33:55 -0500

This week's Recruiter magazine has a case study about the actions one agency took to fill a contract in the Falkland Islands. Giving there are only 3000 people on the Islands, they had to find someone who had the right capabilities and was willing to move from the UK to the South Atlantic temporarily. Amazingly, they had someone on their books who had both the right experience, and who had had 'visit the Falkland Islands' on her life's list! The most interesting part of this article, however, is the 'Lessons Learned', aimed at the agency. However, if you reverse the advice, it's as applicable to candidates as it is agencies.

Build Relationships - Keep in touch with your temps and take an interest in them. Knowing the candidate's love of travel helped them identify her as potentially right for this role. If you have a desire to travel, to work in a particular company or industry, let your contacts know. They can't help if they don't know.

A Lucky Challenge - This agency just happened to have the right person on their books. Luck is sometimes a big part of the development of your career. Putting yourself out there - meeting people, being part of associations, volunteering for projects and activities - helps you be more lucky.

Word of Mouth - Talk about hard to fill placements, the person you're talking to might just know the special candidate. Talk to your contacts about your next move - even if you think they can't help, they might know someone who can.

http://www.recruiter.co.uk/south-atlantic-mission/1004511.article

Manager Tools iPhone App Close!

mauzenne — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:47:58 -0500

If you've been following us on Twitter, you know that we're close to rolling out the Manager Tools iPhone app. It's been submitted to the App Store ... hopefully (fingers crossed), we'll get approval soon.

Until then, check out our summary of the Manager Tools iPhone App.

Apology

wendii — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:26:26 -0500

On a recent cast, Mark gave the credit for the book "1L" to John Grisham, a popular lawyer/author, which was incorrect. He was chagrined to be reminded that the book was written by Scott Turow, an even better author/lawyer.

Mark regrets the error.

Smartphones & Conferences

wendii — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:32:44 -0500

One of the recruitment newsletters I read contained a review of a recent HR Directors Business Summit this week. The reviewer noted: "... with the prevalence of BlackBerry’s [sic] etc. it is increasingly tricky to network. What was happening was that as soon as a seminar/talk finished the HRDs would scuttle out and rather than grabbing a coffee and wandering around, they would switch their device on and check/send emails".

We see this at our conferences too - as soon as there is a break, people disappear into corners to make calls and check email. Of course, sometimes it can't be helped, there is a fire at home that requires our attention and those calls have to be made and emails sent.

A number of people have said to me, however, "I wish I hadn't brought this", meaning their smartphone, "It's distracting me". The aim of any conference is to learn, and we don't learn as well if our mind is half at home. And, we don't network effectively when we're hunched over our smartphone.

Be brave. Leave your stand-in with the conference organizer's details. If there really is a fire, they can send someone to get you. If not, you'll learn more effectively, and have time to meet new people. Which was the whole idea, right?

Hiring Trends

wendii — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:36:49 -0500

In a recent Career Tools cast (http://www.manager-tools.com/2010/01/how-transfer-between-states-industr...) we told you that the way to move between states, industries or specialisms was to take small steps, looking first at opportunities within your current organization, and that working your network was even more important than in a 'normal' transition.

A recent hiring trends report from Careerxroads.com shows one of the reasons why this strategy is likely to be successful. 51% of hires in 2009 within their surveyed companies were filled by internal applicants. That number, of course, is inflated in 2009 by the effects of the economic downturn, but it shows that if there are capable internal candidates, hiring managers will take them. There is a common misconception amongst candidates that external candidates are favored. Wise hiring managers know that the ramp-up time of internal candidates is far shorter than for external candidates, and that their existing internal relationships have a value which needs to be taken into account when selecting a new employee. Obviously, the recession increased the wisdom of hiring managers.

The second interesting point in this report (at least as it pertains to the cast - there are many interesting points), is that 26% of external hires are made as a result of referrals. Recruiting departments know that referrals often have a higher quality of hire, and are cost effective when weighed against advertised positions. Referrals often take priority over other hiring sources within the recruitment system. That's why it's important for you to have a network and to use it when in transition. Whilst referrals aren't always the single biggest source of hire, recruiting departments are always trying to make them the single biggest source due to their benefits.

Finally, the report predicts 29% in growth in hiring in 2010. That's good news for everyone.

http://www.careerxroads.com/news/SourcesOfHire10.pdf

Newsletter Archive

wendii — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 05:11:41 -0500

We're always looking to find ways of getting more of our content to you more quickly. That's why we started a second podcast. For our registered members, we also produce a newsletter with more content and links to events and popular items on the website. (If you are a registered member and you haven't been receiving the newsletter, check the settings in your profile. It's possible you've deselected that option).

And now, we're able to give you a link to all our back issues. It's a deliberate policy that we keep as much of our content as possible timeless in order that it will be of maximum use to you. We're expecting therefore, that the newsletter archive will build into as valuable a back catalogue as our podcasts already are. We believe that whether you find them the day after publication or five years later they will have value to you.

All the issues can be found here: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs001/1101184883773/archive/110309258.... We're sure you'll appreciate the convenience of having all the back issues in one place!

The Usual Place

wendii — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:42:14 -0500

My usual coffee haunt is within walking distance of my house. Today, I felt like branching out and went to a Starbucks in the next town over. Downstairs, like my usual place, is full of mothers meeting up with their babies. Upstairs, I was surprised to find five or six people hunched over laptops, quietly working. My usual place rarely has the library like atmosphere there is up here.

It made me think about the times I've worked in big organizations, beavering away at my usual tasks, and never looking up. Elsewhere, decisions are being made about new and old products, about keeping and dismissing staff, about emerging and dying markets. Those decisions are often telegraphed: changes in the amount of information, in expenses policies, in new managers and managers not replaced.

The problem is that we're at our usual place, doing our usual thing and not looking for the signs. That's why it's important to read the intranet and the company newspaper, to read the trade and business press, to have colleagues and associates in other buildings and other divisions. Without them, we assume that everywhere is like where we are. And, as this Starbucks proves, not everywhere is like your usual place.

Power

wendii — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:39:16 -0500

I'm rereading Tom Peter's 'Talent'. In it, he talks about the power you have, even as a very small cog in a big machine to grab hold of cool ideas and projects and make a difference. He says 'Can you imagine Martin Luther King, Jr., saying "Civil Rights is Cool, but I don't have the power"?'. He encourages action, volunteering and experimentation, and he exhorts you to think of every task as one with the potential to be something great.

He says that you are not powerless, and I agree. No matter who you are are, or where you are, no-one can tell you what to think about. No one can stop you experimenting on a Saturday afternoon when it's not office hours. No one can stop you reading, or imagining.

You might spend years in the bowels of some huge organization thinking, experimenting, and imagining, and never get out. But if you don't do any of those things, you will never get out. You're not trapped. You're in the waiting room. Make good use of it.

Salary

wendii — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 06:01:09 -0500

One of the expectations we have when we start work is that over time our salary will increase. It used to be that salary was based on tenure and that every year we got an increase. More recently, salary increases have been based on experience, but there were still an expectation that salaries would rise. Over the years working with people looking for new roles, I have never met anyone who said they would be content on less. When I started as a recruiter they always wanted more, and then in more recent times, at least a level move.

A recent salary survey by IndustryWeek suggests even this isn't realistic any more. Salaries no longer stay level during downturns, but are actually reducing. It would be easy to dismiss this survey as a product of the economic downturn or being confined to the manufacturing industry.

But what if it isn't? What if it is the leading edge of a change: first there was salary tied to tenure, then there was salary tied to experience, and now there is salary tied to the market and market value. How does that change our expectations, and our actions? Even if it is not the leading edge of a change, then changing our expectations and our actions to embrace it as a reality might make us better off overall anyway. And if it is, we'll survive the change more easily.

http://www.industryweek.com/articles/industryweeks_2010_salary_survey_do...

Eggs and Baskets

wendii — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:18:54 -0500

I've been reading the Wall Street Journal's blog 'Laid off and Looking' for a different perspective on the job hunt. Most of the posters are middle to senior managers and have a relatively positive outlook, even though their job search tends to last over six months.

A recent post describes a manager who was called on his first day of unemployment by a recruitment agency. He goes through a month-long interview process, but in this time, he did not do anything about his job search, apart from pursue this one opportunity. He did not get offered the position and has to begin again once this becomes clear.

The old adage about not having all your eggs in one basket applies to job search as well as many other aspects of our careers. Many times, I have seen candidates very excited about each opportunity put in front of them, to the exclusion of all other activity. Rarely, does this end well. Instead, follow another old adage and have many irons in your fire.

http://blogs.wsj.com/laidoff/2010/02/12/getting-rejected-after-the-final...

Communication

wendii — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 08:52:47 -0500

Yesterday morning, I lost my voice. It’s not a smoky Barry White, or even a squeaky Minnie Mouse, it’s gone, completely and utterly.

It’s very strange not to be able to communicate, or at least, not to be able to use words. Even when I’ve lived abroad I’ve had enough language skills to be able get around and get what I need. Now, I can’t say thank you, or please, or apologize for knocking into someone. I can’t make a phone call!

It’s frustrating. It reminds me of other times that I haven’t been able to speak out or speak up. It reminds me of times when I could have and didn’t.

Every single staff survey I’ve ever seen says we want more communication. Staff from their managers, managers from executive and their staff, customers from the business, business from their clients. There is an opportunity every day to tell someone something they need to know, something that will change the course of their day, week or year. If you can, take the opportunity!

Let It Go

wendii — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:59:01 -0500

One of the hardest lessons to learn in your career is to let it go. I used to know this as the 'even a great idea isn't always a great idea' rule, but I've realized that it has wider application.

Early in my career, I would come up with a brilliant idea and pitch it to my boss, and the wonder why she was enthusiastic about the idea but didn't implement it. It took me some time to realize that even though it was a great idea, it didn't fit with the team's needs, our resources, the strategy, or my boss's requirements at the time. Sometimes there was something she knew that I didn't that made it a great idea, but not worth implementing. In time, I learned that I could pitch an idea, and if it didn't go anywhere, let it go and move on to the next.

Recently, in seeing questions on the forums and hearing them at conferences, I've realized that there's events, conversations, meetings, methods and relationships that people get attached to, that they support, that they nag their boss about and get no results. Actually, more than likely there is a result that they don't see: their boss is getting irritated.

If you're about to have the same conversation with your boss about the same subject, let it go. He wasn't persuaded the first time, and flogging a dead horse doesn't help you. It's not easy to leave your favorite topic behind, but be assured, if you are right, or your idea is a good one, then sometime later, it will be revived.

It's Not What You Do

wendii — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:08:25 -0500

I read this article in Real Business with interest, not about the politics involved, but because it provides a lesson in actions which seem reasonable to one, seem unreasonable to another.

http://www.realbusiness.co.uk/news/leadership/5758633/charlie-mullins-ho...

There is a strong argument for politicians, or company leaders taking the most cost efficient means of transport possible, especially during the recession or when their company is trouble. It sets an example, saves costs and gives the rest of the employees a feeling of camaraderie. There is an equally strong argument for them taking the mode of transport which allows them to get most value. If traveling in a chauffered limo and first class allows them to solve problems which may save the company overall, then it's money well spent. For politicians, of course, there is an additional safety consideration.

The problem is not whether leaders fly first class or not. The problem is that others will judge those actions without thinking about the other side of the argument. Like marketing judge accounts, and legal judge operations, and sales judge HR, not thinking about the reasons someone we don't know might do something which seems non-sensical or wrong to us, leaves us angry and bitter. Engaging our critical thinking skills, or asking (nicely) to understand their perspective fosters understanding and collaboration.

Resigning Professionally

wendii — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:37:56 -0500

One of the things I read last week was the story of Richard Charkin, Director of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc and how he didn't get the job of CEO at Oxford University Press. It's disappointing that it's in the Harvard Business Review, which gives it legitimacy as a way to behave. http://blogs.hbr.org/silverman/2010/02/the-day-i-didnt-become-ceo.html

In my opinion, the story is not of 'quitting is enjoyable' but of unprofessionalism. He fails to communicate clearly during the interview process and then spends a friday afternoon trying to find people to resign to 'because I've been wronged'. He follows up with a sarcastic letter making a 'bridge well burnt'.

It isn't professional to quit with no notice, it isn't professional to interrupt other people's interviews so you can quit and it isn't professional to send sarcastic letters to your ex-employers. Richard Charkin may have gone on to a successful subsequent career, but that doesn't mean his behavior should be copied.

Of course, there is a podcast on how to resign professionally: http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/07/how-to-resign-part-1-of-3

The Eight Minute Rule

wendii — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:48:09 -0500

A friend of mine asked last week, what is the perfect time to arrive before an interview? My answer: It’s the eight minute rule.

More than eight minutes is too early. It stresses the interviewer out because they aren’t ready and makes them feel bad for that and for making you wait. If you’re more than eight minutes early, wait in the car.

Less than eight minutes, they start to worry you’re not coming or you got lost and you’re going to be late. If they have a series of interviews in the same afternoon, they worry they’ll end up running late all afternoon, and that doesn’t put them in a positive state of mind about you.

Eight minutes gives you time to sign in at reception, and walk to the interview room if necessary without being late. It gives you time to look at the brochures and newspapers in reception – vital information! It doesn’t give you time to get even more nervous. Eight minutes is perfect.

Manager Tools France (Outils du Manager) Website Launched!

mauzenne — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:47:13 -0500

We are proud to announce that effectively immediately, Manager Tools France (Outils du Manager) will be hosted on it's very own website - http://www.outilsdumanager.com!

To our French listeners: We believe that you deserve a site that feels more like "home" – French language forums, navigational text, etc. We hope this investment provides you more opportunities to deepen your knowledge of management and share your experiences with one another. We also believe that poor management is not a phenomenon unique to the English-speaking world. With this new website, we hope to bring the practices of effective management closer to it's practitioners, regardless of where they live or the language they speak. Obviously, we have farther to travel, but we're excited to take a step in the direction of changing management the world over.

To our Manager Tools hosts, Cedric Watine and Lorry Hanne: We feel immensely honored by your friendship and association with Manager Tools. This new site has been long overdue – we're thrilled that we can now honor you by providing you a venue for continuing to grow your unique audience and to continue to provide your contributions to the art and science of Management.

To our English-speaking audience: We regret you won't (easily) have the opportunity to share in Cedric's and Lorry's wisdom. To those of us who don't speak French, it's a loss. Of course, the solution to that is easy, right? ;-)

And to be clear, the move of Manager Tools France to it's own site is NOT to suggest that anything has changed relative to Manager Tools and our French-language podcast. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those of you familiar with DiSC will recognize our exhortations to communicate in the language of the listener (remember, as Peter Drucker says, communication is what the LISTENER does). Today, we quite literally take the next step in communicating to our Manager Tools France listeners in their language - French.

Planning

wendii — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:55:18 -0500

The problem with projects is they feel so big. The project we recently completed in creating a Manager Tools calendar has been a great idea for a long time. Thinking about it as a project made it sound really hard.

Those of you who have read David Allen’s Getting Things Done will recognize the concept of the ‘Next Action’. Just looking for some information on how to create the calendar is an easy enough action. And once that’s done, finding some instructions on how to download the calendar is easy enough. And once that’s done, entering the data for the first few months is easy enough.

To corrupt the well known saying: what gets planned gets done. But planning doesn’t need to be the end to end project. Just planning the next action is enough to get you on the road to completion.

Something Is Better Than Nothing

wendii — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:31:58 -0500

Have you noticed how many self-development activities there are to do? Read books, read the papers, listen to podcasts, keep up with blogs, read the trade magazines, practice writing, practice technical skills, learn new software…

When I list it out, it’s quite overwhelming. As I’ve said before, we overestimate what we can in a week, and underestimate what we can do in a year. But if you spend 15 minutes a week reading your industry journal and it takes you four weeks to read it, is that a bad thing? Of course not- it probably only comes once a month anyway!

If one day a week you listened to a podcast instead of watching TV while you made dinner, would it be a bad thing that you made so little effort? Of course not! Something is better than nothing.

What other ‘stress-free’ ideas do you have for making self-development easy?

Private Appointments

wendii — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 02:39:42 -0500

Most calendaring systems have the ability to make appointments private, but they are rarely used to maximum advantage. Private appointments make excellent places for reminders of things to do on particular days, especially if, like me, you have an idiosyncratic method of naming tasks that you don't wish to share with the world.

They’re also good for blocking out time to work on particular projects which may not be on your official to do list. For example, you might want to work on an idea you have to make some improvements that that you’re not ready to talk about. You need a block of time to work on it, and a private appointment works. You can use private appointments for working on your weekly boss updates, your monthly self-learning, reading time and other self development tasks.

Of course, booking 37 hours a week in private appointments may raise questions, so there is an upper limit to the extent you can use them. If your boss asks what you’re working on, you must tell him, and if he chooses to realign your priorities, well, that’s his prerogative.

Your Resume and Linkedin

wendii — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:20:00 -0500

Your resume and Linkedin (or any other online profile) are not equal. They are not the same thing and one cannot be substituted for another. Nor should they be linked.

Your resume is focused, adapted from your career management document to demonstrate your suitability for a particular role. You send your resume to someone in response to her requirements. Your Linkedin profile is your ‘shop window’. It’s a more general demonstration of the breadth of your capabilities, displayed in the hope that they will attract someone to you. Keep this in mind when you choose what to write on your resume and your profile.

Don’t include your Linkedin url on your resume because a) you can’t control how Linkedin displays your information or even if the site is up when the hiring manager looks at it and b) because the targeted information on your resume is more effective in securing you an interview.

More Ideas

wendii — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:45:37 -0500

I often get asked how I come up with something to write about three times a week. It’s a bit difficult to describe how: I have a deadline, and so I make the ideas come.

The answer to being more creative and having more ideas is easier. My favorite word is inspiration. It describes that moment when two neurons smash together to create something completely new so perfectly. That moment always seems otherwordly to me. It doesn’t happen nearly as often as you might think.

The answer is, in fact, much more prosaic. Read a LOT. Lots of input seems to help with output. Talk (or write) a LOT. Explaining things to others helps you consolidate them in your own mind and find new ways of putting things together. Get enough rest. Ideas don’t come to tired minds. That’s it, in my experience.

That the answer is prosaic though, is a good thing. It means everyone can be more creative and have more ideas.

30 Minutes

wendii — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 06:06:45 -0500

I spent a couple of hours this weekend clearing out my office. I’m whatever the opposite of a hoarder is and I love a good clean out. While I was clearing my bookshelves, I found the book I put together when I was first a recruiter. I made it from cutting out articles, quoting bits of training, printed things from the internet – everything I could learn from the people who had gone before me.

One consistent piece of advice is that you spend the last 30 minutes of your day planning for the next. You plan who you’re going to make initial calls to, who you’re going to follow up with, who you need to press to make a decision. The idea is that you don’t spend the first hour of the day, when you have the most energy, wondering what to do, you plan that at the end of the day when you have the least energy. You spend your morning energy on making calls, which make money. Even if you’re not a morning person, having a plan the night before will help you through the first hour when you’re waiting for the caffeine to kick in.

When I was a recruiter I found it hard to get into the habit, but when I planned the night before, I was definitely more effective. Have you tried this, and did it work for you?

Faith

wendii — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 05:10:24 -0500

Last week, my phone stopped receiving a signal. In the house, I usually get 4 bars, but suddenly, I had a half a bar if I was lucky and mostly ‘searching’. After a few hours – when it started to be a problem – I called my service provider to see if there was a tower down or some other problem they were working on.

Apparently not. ‘Take the SIM card out’, she said, ‘Rub it on your sleeve, put it back, turn the phone off and on and it’ll work again’. ‘RUBBISH!’ , I thought. ‘No way that’s going to work!!’ Since I didn’t have any other ideas though, I tried it. And, completely illogically to my mind, it worked.

Re-listening to some of our podcasts, and reading the comments we get after them, reminded me of this. Sometimes, the answer isn’t something logical, or in the case of my phone, it’s something so technical, I don’t know it and can’t understand it. Sometimes, we just have to go faith that it might work. If you have a problem, try a solution and it works 50% of the time, are you better off? Of course. And, trying and failing, as Edison taught us, teaches one more way that doesn’t work, and gets us closer to a solution.

Of course, we believe that 100% of Manager Tools and Career Tools advice will work, you’ve just got to have faith and try it.

Satisfaction

wendii — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 05:57:40 -0500

Recent surveys have found that low numbers of Americans are satisfied with their jobs. In one survey, the number had dropped from 61% in 1987 to 45% now. If you follow the common arguments: being asked to do more with less, being asked to take furloughs and pay cuts to keep their jobs, it’s not surprising.

But as Rhett Butler explained to Scarlett O’Hara, there is money to be made in destruction. There is satisfaction to be found, even in these difficult times. Leaner workforces give you more opportunity to expand your range. Lower profits and turnover mean companies need good ideas, ideas you have, more than ever. Flatter workforces mean the opportunity to have a wider network without crossing hierarchical lines.

Being dissatisfied can be a good thing. Having something to chafe against can make us better. Opportunity is all around us. It’s just a case of flipping our thinking to see it and take advantage of it.

http://www.conference-board.org/utilities/pressDetail.cfm?press_ID=3820

Goethe

wendii — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:06:57 -0500

One of the advertisements on the escalators when I caught a tube in London recently was a quote from Goethe, the famous German writer (also attributed to him: “Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!”, one of my favorite quotes).

The one on the underground said: “Nothing is worth more than this day.” It made me think. Today is the only day you can change. Yesterday is done. Tomorrow never comes. Today is the only day to start and get it done.

Whether it’s the project you’ve been putting off, or speaking nicely to the phone company or telling your customer you can’t deliver, do it now. The things we put off loom large in our minds, and just getting them done, makes the tiny. How often have you put something off for weeks, and then found it only took 20 minutes?

Today has the most value because it’s the only one you can affect, right now, while you’re in motion. Make the most of it!

The Wrong Question

wendii — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:58:17 -0500

There’s been a rash of forum posts and emails to show@ asking ‘What can I do about my boss/coworker who is disorganized/lets me down/doesn’t deliver/shots from the hip’ or something similar.

It’s the wrong question. It hasn’t been said on a cast for a while, but one of my favorite Manager Tools’ quotes is: when there’s a problem look for the solution in concentric circles around your own desk. Stop asking ‘what can I do about THEM’ and ask “What can I do to HELP?’. Right now, you’re annoyed and frustrated that you’re not getting what you want. The only way to get what you want (and believe me, as a High D, I learned this the hard way) is to help other people get what they want.

Start asking: “I need to get the report on Thursday. Is there anything I can do to help you achieve that?’, or “You’re going to send it to me tomorrow. Thanks! Do you have my address? Great, then I’ll check with you tomorrow to make sure everything went ok’ or ‘Boss, that’s a GREAT idea. Would it help you if I wrote a draft project plan for you to check so we can get it moving?’. Keep it light, and you’ll be seen as helping not ‘checking up’.

You can never change someone else. We’ve been trying that in our romantic relationships for centuries ☺. Accept it. Direct your energy at helping the other person to meet you half-way.

18 Minutes

wendii — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:05:27 -0500

There’s been a lot of discussion recently on careers, HR and recruitment blogs about a Bureau of Labor Statistics release which revealed the average unemployed American spends 18 minutes a day on the job search. (http://blogs.jobdig.com/diggings/2009/12/28/18-minutes-wtf/).

I can’t find the source of this number – but if it is 18 minutes, or even a couple of hours a day - it’s not enough. Another similar blog post on the number of resumes a single person had sent out (123) had the careers and HR experts up in arms (http://blueskyresumes.com/blog/totally-lost/). 123 is not that many. Seriously. I know it sounds like a big number, but when I was job searching my goal was 10 a day. And it took a month for me to get a new job. That’s 300 applications. In a good economy.

And yes, sending 10 resumes a day means you need to be at your desk for more than 18 minutes a day. It means you need to broaden your mind and look at locations, industries and job titles you wouldn’t normally consider. It means you really have to think about your transferable skills. It means you really have to think about what results you brought to your previous role. It means you have to look in every nook and cranny, talk to everyone you know and use every strategy you can think of (and then ask around for some more).

I know what it’s like to be unemployed. I know what it’s like to have no money for food and be hungry. I know the fear of losing your home. It’s crippling. It makes me want to cry right now. And it makes me want to cry for you. But please, you have to start fighting for it. Because even in a good economy, jobs don’t come to you.

Don't Say No

wendii — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 06:10:47 -0500

Listening to this week’s Manager Tools’ cast on Developing Subordinate Managers I was struck by the first part: It’s okay to ask others to behave the way you do. As a direct, I thought, of course it’s okay for my manager to ask me to do something a certain way. And even if it doesn’t work for me, or I think it’s less effective, I’m going to do it that way because she’s the manager. 'Because I said so' is enough.

The culture of individualism is such that we believe more and more that we should only do things in the ways that work for us. That we shouldn’t be asked to do hard things, or boring things, or things that we think are pointless or stupid.

This is not the way to have successful careers. If your boss asks you to do something a certain way, then just say yes. If he asks you to do something and you don’t even know if it’s possible, say yes and see if it can be done and then come back with options. If you think what you’re being asked to do is stupid, don’t say no. Get on it with it with good grace. Many times, I’ve drawn interesting conclusions from boring work. And if I haven’t getting on with it means it’s done quicker.

Manager Tools Recommended Actions Calendar

wendii — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:06:15 -0500

One of the questions we often get is.. 'you tell us we have to do all
these things at different times, how am I supposed to remember it
all?'. Well, to start the new year off on a good foot, we'd like to
announce: The Manager Tools Recommended Actions Calendar! This lists
all the activities we recommend you do weekly, monthly and quarterly
and we will update it whenever we recommend something new. You can
add it to your personal calendars at work or at home following the
instructions below, or access it on the web here:
http://www.google.com/calendar/hosted/manager-tools.com/embed?src=manager-tools.com_e1r0nndlllghibvibieo21h69o@group.calendar.google.com&ctz=Europe/London

We are sure you'll appreciate being reminded of all the regular
activities which will make you a more effective manager and individual
contributor. We've included the link to relevant podcasts in the
notes for each entry.

Add Recommended Actions to your Google Calendar:
1. At the bottom of the calendar list on the left, click the Add
down-arrow button and select Add by URL.
2. Copy and paste
https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/manager-tools.com_e1r0nndlllghibvibieo21h69o@group.calendar.google.com/private-62c02a47e0e96581c85fd4e444026c76/basic.ics
in the Public Calendar Address field.
3. Click Add.

Subscribe Recommended Actions to your iCal for MAC OS users:
1. Choose Calendar > Subscribe in iCal.
2. Copy and paste
https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/manager-tools.com_e1r0nndlllghibvibieo21h69o@group.calendar.google.com/private-62c02a47e0e96581c85fd4e444026c76/basic.ics
in the Subscribe to field.
3. Click OK, and there you have it!

Alternatively, if you wish to be able to change the days that the
Recommended Actions take place on:
1. Paste this address into your browser:
https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/manager-tools.com_e1r0nndlllghibvibieo21h69o@group.calendar.google.com/private-62c02a47e0e96581c85fd4e444026c76/basic.ics
2. This will create a download and automatically open ical. Either
add the events to an existing calendar or create a new one.
3. All done.

Import Recommended Actions to your Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 (be warned - as far as we know, it's impossible to make changes to these entries once they are in Outlook AND you have to delete them one by one. Be sure before downloading). Updated:*RNTT has tested this and you can make changes in Outlook 2007. Thanks!
1. Open Microsoft Outlook 2007.
2. Click the link
https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/manager-tools.com_e1r0nndlllghibvibieo21h69o@group.calendar.google.com/private-62c02a47e0e96581c85fd4e444026c76/basic.ics
and download the file onto your desktop.
3. Double click the .ics file from your desktop. Voilà!

Import Recommended Actions into Yahoo calendar
1. Copy https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/manager-tools.com_e1r0nndlllghibvibieo21h69o@group.calendar.google.com/private-62c02a47e0e96581c85fd4e444026c76/basic.ics
2. Now, do one of the following:
Create a new calendar for these events by clicking the “+” next to “Calendars” on the left side of the page. Then click Create New Calendar.
Open an existing calendar, click the triangle next to the Calendar’s name on the left side of the page, then click Edit Calendar.
On the right side of the page, paste the link you just copied into the “Browse” window.
3. Click Upload.

We had some help from our friends to make this, so thank you to everyone who contributed.

Behaviour

wendii — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:51:37 -0500

Last night, I was on the phone waiting for my bank to answer. They have one of those notifications which says 'There are 25 people ahead of you'. Well, I was on hands free and I could get on with tidying and it's a free call, so I thought I'd wait. They have quite cool music, so I turned down the sound on the TV and listened, while I tidied and every now and again, glanced at the TV.

I learnt something amazing. Just from 2 second glimpses in between tidying and singing along, I knew exactly what was going on. In fact, if you freeze frame a wide shot, you can give a good guess at who is talking and be right 95% of the time. As human beings we are THAT good at reading a room.

The problem comes when we see something, assume we know what's happening and get it wrong. I see this all the time in interviews - interviewees assume they know why a question is being asked and give a poor answer because of it. Our primal instincts are brilliant, but they can let us down. The trick is to be aware of our auto-response, and consciously check it before we act. Does that scowl really mean the HR lady hates us, or is she just concentrating? Is our direct's nonchalance really indifference or fear of failure? Coasting on auto-pilot can get us into trouble.

(For more on how quickly we assimilate and assess information, Malcolm Gladwell's Blink is excellent - with the downfalls as well as the upsides.)

Opposites

wendii — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 06:00:59 -0500

I was thinking about New Year's resolutions today - as I'm sure many people are. I don't really believe in resolutions, mainly because I've never kept one in my life. And, I believe you can decide at any moment that you are going to change, and you don't need a particular date to do so.

That lead me to thinking about my best friend. She's my opposite in every way. She's never broken a resolution, never had a goal she didn't meet. She is tolerant of people, where I just want stuff done. She remembers everyone's birthdays and buys appropriate christmas presents, whereas I couldn't tell you what season my friend's birthdays are. I love them though!

Despite this, we are both successful in our chosen workplaces. She manages a team, the opposite way I would and yet they are the most successful team in her division. Horstman's Law No. 8 says "The other way often works just fine". We prove that to be true.

So make resolutions, or not. Either way, you'll probably end up where you want to be.

CBS Moneywatch - How To Interview

mahorstman — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:58:44 -0500

Mark was interviewed recently by CBS Moneywatch for a story about how to be successful in interviews. You can find it here:

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/career-advice/article/job-interview-tips-how-to-answer-the-questions/376966/

(BTW: It's not a great story. Some of the other guidance is inaccurate, and some of what Mark said was misrepresented. (Of course, we have a podcast about the press where we told you to expect that! ;-) )

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Engage Your Family

wendii — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:44:06 -0500

Your first action on being laid off, we recommend, is to tell your spouse. Before your resume, before you get another cup of coffee, before anything, tell your spouse. There’s a couple of reasons for this: one, the longer you leave it the harder it is to tell, and two, you need to be in this together. In addition, once you’ve told one person, it makes it much easier to tell the next, and your whole network needs to know you’re looking in order to work for you.

If you’re facing a period of unemployment, even a short one, you need all the support you can get. Your spouse’s encouragement to meet your daily application, networking and health goals will be essential. (You do have daily and weekly goals right?).

This doesn’t only work when you’re unemployed. Perhaps you’re facing a big project and you’ll be working late. Your spouse and children’s support will be there if you tell them what’s going on. Perhaps you have a great new opportunity which means lots of travel. You need to discuss the effect this will have on your family. Man is not an island, as the quote goes, nor is work separate from the rest of our lives.

Finally, for those of us who don’t have children or spouses or other close family ties, we have a family we make – our friends. Their support is as essential and as substantive as those of family, and we need to engage them too.

Early Starters

wendii — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:10:29 -0500

One of my ‘return to’ articles is in the New York Times. It’s the result of interviews with a whole bunch of luminaries as to how early they get up in order to be successful. The time they get up is a bit of a red herring. In truth, getting up at 4.30 isn’t necessary for success in my opinion, but the willingness to do it if it is necessary is. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/13/nyregion/how-early-do-you-have-to-get-...

The real message of this article is that success is hard work. That you have to be willing to give and give and give again, that you have to be willing to work when no one else is, that you have to be willing to work to do what they won’t. There are far too many people in organizations wondering why they are stuck at individual contributor or first line manager because they don’t go the extra mile.

I worry sometimes that we release our podcasts twice a week with a list of actions, and our audience listens, nods and doesn’t DO anything. We want you to be successful – that’s why we do this. But you have to take what you hear and DO something. Please, tell me you are!

Optimization

wendii — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:49:38 -0500

Optimization is the breaking down of a process to its component parts and making each part more efficient. For example, making your morning coffee. If you have the cups at one end of the kitchen, the coffee in the pantry, and the kettle at the other end of the kitchen, making coffee takes longer than it needs to. If instead, you can fill the kettle and set it to boil, and the coffee, cups and spoon are located around the kettle, making coffee in your sleep is easier.

Everything we do, all day, can be optimized. Whether it’s getting dressed, driving to work, reviewing sales numbers, writing a report, or practicing a presentation, there’s a better way to do it. Start with simple things: a sensible filing system that relies mostly on the search capabilities of your computer not 17 hierarchical levels of folders, templates, and booking time for the planning of activities.

Once the basics are there, read up on how to optimize the activities you find hardest. I watched this Tim Ferris video today: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/12/13/how-to-create-a-global-p... , and whilst he doesn’t mention optimizing per se, his ‘don’t take advice at face value but try it and test it’ is an important message to being more efficient.

And, if you have found ways of optimizing your work and life, share with us in the comments. We all need some help.

Getting Mad

wendii — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:01:17 -0500

The publisher’s letter in October’s Success magazine is about taking control of your life. Darren Hardy suggests: “The only way to take control of your life is to take responsibility for it”. Many of you will have heard the story Mark tells of being poked in the chest with an umbrella in an elevator. He said, “Man, that guy made me mad”, and his mate replied, “No, he poked you in the chest with an umbrella, you got mad all by yourself”.

No matter where you are, you have a choice about how to react. Whether it’s your boss, co-worker, spouse or child who is making you mad, you can choose to put aside your feelings and react calmly and with love.

I have found that the solution to the most difficult relationships at work, for me, is to outwardly give a positive, friendly, how can we make this work for each other vibe, no matter how hard it is for me. Sometimes it takes months, but in the face of that, I’ve found, no one can resist. Some days, the only reason I do it is the personal challenge, since every fiber of my being wants to react differently. But it can be done and it works.

To quote Oprah – the one thing I know for sure, is that fighting doesn’t work. Being argumentative does not achieve what I want to achieve. So try the other way. See if you can’t turn those relationships around.

Podcast Awards 2009

wendii — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:43:56 -0500

The People's Choice Podcast Awards 2009 were announced on Saturday and the business category was won by NPR's Planet Money. We'd like to add our congratulations to all those that have gone to them.

We are very happy that Career Tools was nominated in the first year it was eligible and we're thrilled that our members both nominated and voted for us. Thank you!

Like every member, we're currently working on our personal and business goals for 2010 and we're already excited about podcast topics and additional services we have in the pipeline and ideas we have for later in the year. The Manager Tools team is looking forward to serving all our existing and new members even more in 2010.

Look Up!

wendii — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:09:35 -0500

One of the articles I read this week was talking about a manager’s current feelings about the economic downturn and said people have “stopped looking down at their shoes and are looking at the horizon”. It seems like an appropriate metaphor for the way we react when presented with any problem.

The issue with that of course, is that the answer is never on our shoes. One of the things I’ve learnt writing these blog posts is that creative thought never comes from thin air – at least not in my case! I need to read everything I can lay my hands on and to think and talk about it, in order that the flash of inspiration comes.

Thorny problems are not solved by looking at our shoes. They’re solved by looking out for potential solutions everywhere, because they are often found in the weirdest places. By having a constant stream of new input, and time to talk or think about what’s new and synthesize it with our existing paradigm, there comes a time when, suddenly, we have the solution. Stop ruminating and start looking!

What To Say?

wendii — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:00:56 -0500

This post was inspired by one of our members who emailed me some of the shockingly inappropriate and insensitive things said to him when he lost his job. I won’t repeat them here, but like those who find themselves recently divorced or bereaved, Paul’s experience was that many people said whatever came into their head, no matter how unhelpful, hurtful or uncaring that might be.

Years ago, I had a conversation with my mother about platitudes. She told me they exist so at times when it is very difficult to find the right thing to say, we can say something which is not upsetting. We may not be able to find the one thing to say that will comfort our friend, or the one thing that they will remember but we will have expressed our sympathy in an appropriate way. Given that no one sentence is going assuage their grief, looking for perfect is pointless anyway.

Paul went on to say that since he left his job, it’s the only thing many people talk about with him. He wants to have a conversation about football, wine or cigars, and it seems that no-one can get past the fact he has lost his job. So if you do know someone who is in a similar position, feel free to discuss last nights X-Factor, the basketball scores or your vacation. He’s still human and still wants to connect with you.

This post ends with a happy ending. Paul sent me an email yesterday to let me know he has a new job. We hope it goes great for you Paul!

Proxies

wendii — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:57:40 -0500

An article in March’s Wired magazine discusses the problems of Air Traffic Control over New York and the plans to improve the situation. For someone who grew up near Heathrow, where only 1 runway is used for take-off or landings at a time, US airports seem very hectic.

In the article, they describe the testing process for one of the new computer systems which the air traffic controllers will use. One of the observers has developed his own method of analyzing whether system is working: stressed controllers are hunched over their desks. The most upright controllers are managing well, the least – well, be grateful it’s a simulation.

It made me think of the ‘John and the Gate Guards’ cast, where Mark discusses the proxies for the gate guard’s efficiency. It’s often quite difficult to think of a method of measuring for the things we do every day, and yet it’s the simplest things that work. It’s a while since that cast so I wondered if anyone was struggling with finding proxies and if we could leverage the community to help you?

Cost Reduction Again

wendii — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:27:17 -0500

In my reading pile this week, I came across an article which describes the results of a survey of recruitment agencies and their cost reduction efforts during the recent economic downturn.

Of those surveyed, 36% had reduced costs by 11-20% and 5% had reduced costs by 61% or more. 100% of those surveyed reported some cost reductions. Now, there’s obviously a lot more going on than the bald figures here, and admittedly, 42% said they’d been forced to lose employees which they would have preferred to keep, but it’s still astounding that in supposedly ‘lean’ businesses these kinds of reductions can be found.

Most astounding was that 19% had suspended administration processes. Yes, one in five companies found at least one process which added no value to the business, and could be suspended with no ill effect. Makes you wonder what’s on your to do list which could not be done, and no one would notice. More than wonder.. makes me want to go find it!

http://www.recruiter.co.uk/agencies-react-to-the-recession/1003521.artic...

Multiplication

wendii — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:27:44 -0500

An article in a recent Wired magazine discussed Nestle’s water bottle redesign, which saved both plastic (and therefore the environment) and money. The new design takes 12.4 grams of plastic instead of 14.5. When I read that, I thought: “Wow, 2 grams. That’s not very much”. I read on to discover this saved the company buying 65 million pounds of polymer resin annually.

I have no idea how much a pound of polymer resin costs, but if Nestle went to that much trouble to reduce their requirement by 2 grams per bottle, I bet it’s a significant saving.

As we said in the Race, Don’t Chase cast, about budgeting in a downturn, EVERY manager with a budget contributes to profitability. More than that, every person in the company contributes to cost, and has a part to play in cost reduction.

The smallest saving, multiplied by the number of times it’s used, by the number of employees or the number of customers expands to make a significant difference to the bottom line. We all have a part to play. Let’s play it.

Invest in Your Career

wendii — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:16:06 -0500

One of the common questions on our forums is ‘Should I get an MBA?’. Whilst an MBA can be valuable in some circumstances for some people, it’s rarely the right answer.

Firstly, there’s a multitude of drivers we may be seeking to satisfy by going back to school. I have a Masters degree but I went back to University purely because I loved studying for studying’s sake and wanted another year of it. If that’s the reason you want to go back to school, all well and good, but an MBA probably isn’t the right course for you. If you want to increase your employability, there are a very few MBA courses which might help you with that. But you need to go to the right school at the right time and do the right things whilst you are there.

Investing in your career IS very important. But there are a million different ways of investing your career, and very few involve MBA courses. If you decided to spend $1000 year on investing in your career (a fraction of the cost of an MBA) you could buy a lot of books, or take a course in community college on accounting or another relevant subject, or attend a conference on your dime instead of asking your company and being told no, you could fly to meet with a mentor, take an e-learning course, get Manager Tools premium content ☺, write A LOT of thank you notes to people you know who might give you advice, join a professional organization, take a professional exam, buy and learn a specific computer program.

The problem is that people see investing in their careers as a BIG THING and imagine that’s it’s an MBA or nothing. It’s not. Something is always better than nothing. Start with $50 if you need to, but just start.

PS. Feel free to join in the comments with more ways you could spend $1000 on investing in your career.

Perfect Job

wendii — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:22:54 -0500

I was listening to a podcast last week where one of the presenters said, ‘there is no such thing as the perfect job’. I agree. There is no job that you’ll be happy to do from now until you retire. Even my job, working for Manager Tools, which of course IS the perfect job, will change and grow in the time until I retire. It won’t be the same job next year, or the year after.

Many people are afraid when they take an offer that they are limiting themselves. They stay in a job they’ve outgrown because they can’t find the perfect next step. What if it doesn’t turn out to be the perfect job forever? What if it isn’t interesting after 18 months or 2 years? What if I turn out not to like the people or the customers?

No-one can predict the future. Even if this were the perfect job, you could not guarantee the manager you love wouldn’t move on, the company wouldn’t be sold or buy another and change radically, the customer representatives would always be the same.

We live in a world of constant change. If a job is good enough for the next 2 years (which is the average length anyone stays in a job) take it, and throw yourself into it. Suck out every bit of learning you can, and then look for the next step. Unless you are joining a monastery, it’s not forever, so stop looking for perfect.

It's About The Opportunity

wendii — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:02:38 -0500

One of the ‘avoidance’ techniques candidates use when they don’t want to go first when discussing salary is to say: “For me, it’s really about the opportunity, not the salary”. There’s two reactions recruiters have to that:

1) We don’t believe you. We see through you. We know it’s an avoidance technique and we’re irritated that you won’t give us a straight answer.

2) We do believe you. There are some candidates who manage to deliver this line so convincingly that we do believe them. However, these candidates tend to have something that the other candidates don’t: a history of taking interesting projects, a real enthusiasm for this project or area and energy and passion for their work.

Just saying this line because you think salary discussions are a negotiation won’t work. If that’s the reason you’re using it, then say a number. If you really mean you’re interested in the project, the challenge, the opportunity, say it with passion and enthusiasm. We’ll believe you.

Confidence Comes From Action

wendii — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:56:46 -0500

One of the reminders I have written on my whiteboard is ‘confidence comes from action’. Cleaning the whiteboard today, I suddenly made the link between a reminder I have for myself and the behavior we see at conferences when we introduce feedback.

As soon as we start the feedback session, questions start popping up. ‘But what if my direct argues with me’? ‘But I don’t like the word feedback’. ‘But how can I wait 6 weeks to give negative feedback when my direct is doing something terrible now’?

These questions are born of fear. Fear of doing something new, fear of how it will turn out, fear of trusting the process, fear of doing something different in front of our directs. It’s ok. We understand that this is natural human behavior.

But the only way to get the confidence in the process is to take action. Start with starter feedback. That’s why it’s there. Give yourself a non-negotiable target. 5 pieces of starter feedback this week and you can have a donut on Friday. Whatever it takes to induce yourself to break the inertia and take action. Because once you’re moving you’ll get up speed and then it’ll seem easy.