GenZ boss

Resilience Requires Leaders to Step Up

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“Successful leaders must strengthen their resilience to achieve results.” Jeannette Seibly

Traditionally, resilience was about being mentally tough, stoic, and silent about your true feelings. In other words, don’t say anything and hide your reactions.

The American Psychological Association defines resilience: Resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands.

I’m amazed by the number of younger employees who hate their jobs and say, “I’d rather be unemployed.” They jump from one position to another and are often surprised that there is no relief. Many older employees may not love their job responsibilities either. But they have developed a healthy resilience to adapt and become flexible to their jobs’ typical external and internal demands.

This is resilience today! Leaders need to acknowledge their feelings or emotions when triggered and not let them run the show! And, while it is healthy to express yourself, verbal dumping doesn’t work and only creates resentment, not resilience.

Resilience requires taking responsibility and addressing your reactions in a positive manner with your team. Doing so allows for new ideas, resolutions, and solutions to appear.

7 Tips to Create Resilience

Breathe. When you notice you are triggered, breathe in for 5 counts. Pause. Exhale for 5 counts. (Or any number that works for you.) Repeat this breathing pattern 3 times. Breathing reduces the fight, flight or freeze stress response triggered in your brain. Breathing also allows you to take responsibility for your reactions (aka triggers) and is critical before attempting to resolve any issue.

Self-Care. Self-care is essential today for leaders to strengthen their resilience. There are many changes occurring in jobs and workplaces where you have no control over the impact (e.g., loss of employment, work responsibilities, etc.). If you’ve experienced a loss (family member, pet, job, finances, etc.), take the time to grieve. Remember, you do have a choice in your reaction and the attitude you choose.

Get to the Heart or Core of the Problem. Conflicts between you and your team, or between team members, need immediate resolution. This requires a commitment and resilience to work through the apprehension and fear that often stop you and others from achieving the intended results.

Be Responsible for Your Communication Style (most people aren’t)! As a leader, take responsibility. It strengthens resilience. When you are responsible for how you communicate, you show others they can trust you.

Examples:

  • Apologize and stop using words or terminology that others don’t understand.
  • Ask team members questions when they present new ideas and be curious.
  • Remember, when presenting a new solution you’ve been thinking about, it’s the first time they’ve heard it.
  • Keep in mind that people learn at different rates of speed. So take it slow to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Have Reality-Based Conversations. Team members may hold onto upsets, exaggerate them, and use them to justify their poor job performance. Resilience and straight talk with compassion require having tough conversations. Before these conversations, get the facts. Then, talk with your executive coach, boss, or human resources to clarify how to create a positive outcome.

Learn How to Forgive, Even When You Don’t Believe You Should. As a leader, you will have arrows aimed at you when team members feel frustrated or upset. But resilience is vital. While this is easier said than done, forgive those that gossip about, criticize, or blame you. Remember, forgiveness is for you. Remember, don’t say, “I forgive you,” to the offender. This often only worsens the situation since they believe there is nothing to be forgiven for.

Hire the Right Coach. When you’re resilient, you can expand your point of view and step up as a leader. If sticky situations or political relationships are not going well, immediately talk with your executive coach to strengthen your resilience. Listen and learn. You can make things worse and sideline your career if you attempt to do it alone. The same mindset or lack of awareness that created the problem will not resolve it!

©Jeannette Seibly 2020 -2023 All Right Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. With over 30 years as an award-winning international executive coach, speaker, and business author, Jeannette’s clients effectively work through sticky situations and challenging relationships to become positive influencers. Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion. PS: She’s also a three-time Amazon Best-Selling Author!

A note from Jeannette about strengthening your resilience: Being aware of your feelings and emotions is essential. When you verbally dump on others, it’s damaging and demonstrates a lack of resilience on your part. Contact me for a confidential conversation to strengthen your resilience.

Consider: Strengthening resilience takes time and the experience of successfully working through challenges. I have extensive experience guiding leaders (current and future) to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me if you want an in-depth, one-on-one hour over 13 weeks. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to excel, starting with strengthening your resilience.

Have you met a challenge you’ve not been able to work through? Many managers and directors have, and their bosses may not be of much help. Now’s the time to develop your resilience and ability to achieve intended results! Waiting will not make a positive difference. Take action and contact me for a confidential conversation.

Want to Improve Productivity? Improve Your Meetings!

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“Ineffective meetings drain productivity and results.” Jeannette Seibly

Harvard research found that 70% of meetings keep employees from doing productive work. The same study found that employee productivity was 71% higher when meetings were reduced by 40% … also, employee satisfaction improved by 52%.

But before you throw out the importance of meetings, be clear about their purpose: communicating, getting everyone on the same page and in the same book, and solving problems (current, past, and future). The biggest challenge? Too many meetings are poorly planned and facilitated!

We’ve all attended bad meetings (in fact, most of them). But, unfortunately, the negativity sticks with you! It creates a meeting recovery syndrome that hurts your productivity and drains you. But before you blame the facilitator, look at the three fingers pointing back at you! Everyone has a role in conducting effective meetings, one-on-one or group, and onsite or virtually.

These 8 Factors Improve Meetings and Increase Productivity

The biggest question to ask yourself before scheduling a meeting is: “Can I send an email instead of hosting a meeting?” In many cases, the answer will be “Yes!” Do that instead!

MEETING PREPARATION

Before the Meeting. Send out an agenda of specific items for discussion and include all documentation for review. Plan on keeping the meeting short and on point. Remember, some issues are better handled 1:1 or in small groups.

Start and End on Time. This requires everyone to be ready to begin 5 minutes before the actual start time. Turn off all distractions: electronic gadgets, phones, and mind wandering!

If you are the facilitator or presenter, arrive even earlier to ensure:

  • The room is set up physically, or the virtual meeting (or hybrid) is ready to go
  • Ensure PowerPoint presentation works
  • Printed materials are distributed (it’s best if they are emailed the day before)

Come Prepared. Everyone is responsible for coming prepared — that means reading all documents, agendas, and other materials before the meeting and having them readily available to refer to during the meeting. (NOTE: Remember, simple graphs with short narratives are the easiest to understand). Write down questions. Or, better yet, get the questions answered before the meeting!

MEETING PROTOCOL

Take Turns. Make sure you hear from everyone! Unless each person contributes, ideas get missed, important nuances get overlooked, and conflict can erupt! Team members will not voice their concerns if they fear ridicule! Remember, conflicts should not be ignored… there is usually a valid point no one wants to hear. But it’s pay now or pay later!

LISTEN! This is the most critical factor in improving your meetings now. Listening requires active involvement. It includes hearing things you don’t know, don’t agree with, or don’t believe in. Active listening has three components: 1) hearing what is said verbally, 2) hearing what is not said, and 3) being aware of non-verbal cues (e.g., attitude, tone, physical). Good listening skills can resolve old issues and formulate new ideas for products and services. It’s a skill everyone needs to develop.

State Your Point Upfront. Most attendees will stop listening when others talk too long, share gossip, or use technical jargon. Avoid monologues or lengthy responses by starting with the point first, then providing any supporting information to reinforce the point presented.

Ask Questions. Too often, we don’t ask questions to learn more. Instead, we believe we “get it” and then misuse the information. Or, we judge the idea or information as irrelevant without further investigation. Or, we don’t want to ask questions because we feel stupid. (Get over it!) Instead, learn how to drill down and clarify by asking questions out of a commitment to resolve the issue or move the project forward. Stay away from sounding like an interrogator – it puts everyone on the defense.

Reach Alignment. Consensus is non-productive since too much time is spent wooing a person(s) to agree with the majority, creating groupthink. When you reach alignment, you and the team have taken the best information available and made a decision.

Then consider the following:

  • Can everyone live with this decision?
  • Is it workable and doable?
  • If not, what needs to be added or changed so everyone is on the same page moving forward?
  • Then, stand firm and respond factually to the naysayers.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016-2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. With over 30 years as an award-winning international executive coach, speaker, and business author, Jeannette’s clients effectively work through sticky situations and challenging relationships to become positive influencers. Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion. PS: She’s also a three-time Amazon Best-Selling Author!

A note from Jeannette about meetings and productivity: Did you know most meetings sabotage productivity and employee satisfaction? The reasons: poor facilitation and quality, and they are time-consuming. It actually creates a “meeting recovery syndrome” where people feel drained and non-productive. It’s time to develop the skills required to hold productive meetings and hold less of them! Contact me for a confidential conversation about a training program!

Consider: It can be challenging to facilitate meetings as a manager or director (or anyone else, too!). I have extensive experience guiding meeting facilitators to improve their meeting management skills, virtually and onsite. Learning this skill takes time and practice. Contact me if you want an in-depth, one-on-one hour over 13 weeks. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to trust yourself and get results.

How’s your leadership development progressing? Are you moving forward … or a tad stuck? Do you need a “nudge” or “kick-in-the-butt?” Want to accelerate and soar your results? Then, get into action by contacting me for a confidential conversation.

Waiting to Choose and Develop Your Successor Can Create Brouhaha

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“Waiting to choose and develop your successors only causes brouhaha.” Jeannette Seibly

There comes a time when you must choose and develop your successors. Usually sooner rather than later! But, too often, leaders and business owners wait until it’s too late and brouhaha ensues!

While you may be a very good leader, the problem is you haven’t taken the time to develop the future leaders or have refused to do so. Instead, you:

  • Thought you had time
  • Have done a poor job of hiring for job fit and no one is able to fill your seat
  • Have narcissistic traits and your ego (male and female) believes you are the only one that can do your job
  • Have a disability or diminishing mental acuity

Brouhaha will happen without a succession plan. Also, failure to choose successors and develop their management and leadership skills will hurt the company’s future. While many companies, especially family businesses, don’t believe conflict within the company will create a negativity, it does. Just read the social media and other media posts. Yes, it can happen to you too!

What Do You Need to Do and Know to Choose the Right Successor

Start Now by Talking It Out. Whether it’s a family member, favored key employee, or outside hire, have many conversations, starting now. During these conversations, learn about their goals and aspirations. If they are not interested or hedge, move on. Tap into your network. Remember, while some leaders have good leadership skills, it may camouflage a poor managerial style. Develop them now. If they refuse, remove them from the written plan.

Remove the natural urge to find a “mini you.” Businesses grow and change and you need the right person who is flexible and resilient.

Hire or Promote for Job Fit. It’s insane to promote a family member, favored friend or employee, or hire from the outside into a role when the person doesn’t fit the job. For example, taking a top operations or finance vice president and promoting them to a #1 position. This can cause havoc if the person lacks the qualities necessary to lead a large group of people across many difference disciplines. Remember, you cannot coach, train, or manage someone into fitting a job if they are a poor fit with the responsibilities!

Pay Now or Pay Later. There is a science to qualified assessments … they are not created equal. Some are designed for job fit use, while most assessments focus only on training and development. Use the right qualified 360-feedback and job fit assessments. These provide clarity about inherent strengths and weaknesses, leadership blind spots, and emotional intelligence. Read how to select the right one: Chapter 9 in Hire Amazing Employees.

 “People are promoted to their level of incompetence!” Peter Drucker (Please, reread … I’ve seen this happen way too often! It is preventable!)

Honor Your Promises. I’ve seen successors hired, but the owner or #1 person refuses to relinquish their role. This can be difficult for many reasons: poor job fit of the newly hired successor, fear of leaving, or unexpected business changes. Have the conversations up front acknowledging changes may happen. Also, provide an exit plan for each of you to avoid any litigation or company brouhaha.

Ensure Coachability. It’s critical the future successor is coachable. Are they willing to learn from you? Are they willing to do the work with an executive coach and develop their mindfulness, decision-making, and interpersonal skills? Remember, while they have been coachable as #2 or #3 in the organization, it is very different being #1. (Too often, #2’s or #3’s success depends on #1 telling the person what to do.)

Can You Get Out of the Way? Letting go of the reins for any reason can be difficult. You’re human and have emotional attachments that get in the way of objectivity, especially when you’ve grown or developed a great business. Be coachable and let go of the reins while you can still enjoy watching and smiling at the next generation’s progress! Getting out of the way requires soul-searching of whether or not you’re ready.

Conduct Internal and External References. While this can be part of the qualified 360-feedback process, beware! Some employees give bosses and leaders high marks because of their likeability. But that does not equate to having the qualities required to be the right leader.  Listen and learn by asking employees (current and past), vendors, and customers for their input.

Start Now and Update Every Two Years. Put the plan in writing and update! Share with the key leaders. Remember, people’s goals and company focus will change. Even a slight shift can cause a big disruption if the wrong leader takes the helm. So, don’t be afraid of modifying as appropriate.

REMINDER! Use this article as a wakeup call if you’re still on the fence. Call me for a confidential conversation. You would hate to have people shaking their fists in anger or stomping on your grave because of your refusal to get real. You have a moral responsibility to honor your employees, vendors, and customers to ensure they are well taken care of. Create your succession plan now and develop those successors today!

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. With over 30 years as an award-winning international executive coach, speaker, and business author, Jeannette’s clients effectively work through sticky situations and challenging relationships to become positive influencers. Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion. PS: She’s also a three-time Amazon Best-Selling Author!

A note from Jeannette about developing your successor: Too often leaders hang on too long. Then, life happens and there is not a successor(s) to continue and move the company forward. Waiting is not the answer! Get into action now! Contact me for a confidential conversation about what is in your way of moving forward.

NOTE: It can be difficult making the right decisions and the right changes. I love coaching and supporting current and future leaders during critical and strategic situations. Contact me if you want an in-depth, one-on-one hour over 13 weeks. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to trust yourself. This, in turn, influences your team for unprecedented results that others applaud.

How’s your leadership development progressing? Are you moving forward … or a tad stuck? Do you need a “nudge” or “kick-in-the-butt?” Want to accelerate and soar your results? Get into action by contacting me for a confidential conversation.

Honor Your Grief Now

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Honoring your grief can be difficult as a leader and normally strong person. Throughout our careers, we’re taught to be stoic, mentally tough, and strong in the face of adversity. Unfortunately, these traits and others fail to support us during life’s unalterable challenges.

When my cat, Gracee, passed away suddenly two weeks ago, I was devastated. My counselor said, “No more work for the next two days.” This was despite my excuses. She added, “Do not make life decisions at this point either. You need time to honor your grief.” I followed her advice and can see (and feel) the difference.

The death of a spouse, parent, child, sibling, family member, or pet can be devastating, even when we believe we are ready for it. A professional woman denied that people needed to feel and deal with their grief. She thought she was completely prepared and too strong to experience grief … until her mother died. Then, she understood that grief happens to all of us regardless of our opinions about it.

The following are some other ways you may experience grief due to fear and not feeling safe in today’s world (the list is not intended to be inclusive):

  • Divorce and loss of home
  • Job loss or working in a job you hate
  • Natural weather disasters
  • Health issues
  • Loss of money
  • Failure at work
  • Outside factors (e.g., pandemic, school shootings, political rhetoric, and economic uncertainty)

Here are ideas to help you honor your grief:

  1. Talk with a therapist or grief counselor. They are skilled (and licensed) to guide you through the five common stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. These stages can happen all at once. Having an experienced counselor to talk through your challenges can help you avoid making decisions that are not in your best interest.
  2. Take Time … Grief Is Not a Quick and Easy Process. You may need to take time beyond your company’s bereavement policy. If it is a job loss, work with a career counselor after taking time to process your anger and cry. Talk with a business advisor if it is due to a business loss. The key is to honor, and not ignore, the grief while taking the actions required to move forward.
  3. Journal for your eyes only. A University of Michigan study has shown that writing can engage the brain differently. This allows you to dig deeper to find peace. Remember, do not send out your letters. To repeat, these are for your eyes only. For me, it helped me realize Gracee was now well and at peace and to be grateful for our time together.
  4. It’s OK to Cry. Yes, tears do help and can erupt at any time. Allow them to do so now to avoid additional stress in your body. For example, if you are in a meeting, excuse yourself. Cry. Then return to your meeting if you can and be present. I stopped wearing mascara for three days.
  5. Set Up a Tribute or Memorial. There are so many ways of doing this. Social media makes it easier. Be sure to talk with other family members first. In last week’s newsletter, I included “In Memory of the COO in my life” and included a cute cat picture of Gracee. It really helped.
  6. Health Wise. Self-care is essential during this time. Exercise, rest, and eat appropriately. Yes, it may be challenging to do so … but not doing so can hurt your health and well-being.
  7. Stay in Communication. Reach out. If you’re unable to talk, simply listen. Work with your therapist or let a friend know if you need to vent. Be responsible for not making judgments or burning bridges that could hurt your job or career in the future.

Something to consider: An executive refused to grieve after surviving a natural weather disaster where she lived. Months later, she experienced an executive meltdown and lost her job. This might not have happened if she had taken the time to honor her grief.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. With over 30 years as an award-winning international executive coach, speaker, and business author, Jeannette’s clients effectively work through sticky situations and challenging relationships to become positive influencers. Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion. PS: She’s also a three-time Amazon Best-Selling Author!

A note from Jeannette about honoring your grief: Many leaders and other normally strong people don’t take the time to grieve. They believe it hurts their credibility and can create a loss of respect. But failing to honor your grief will come out at some time and somewhere if you don’t honor it now. Contact me for a confidential conversation when you’re ready to move forward. (I’m not a licensed therapist.)

NOTE: Life has a way of throwing you challenges that move you into unknown situations at work and in life. I love coaching and supporting current and future leaders during these transitions. Contact me if you want an in-depth, one-on-one hour over 13 weeks. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to develop the confidence, competence, and clarity required to be a great leader.

Your managers need your help! They are being held accountable for results and people, and many don’t have the skills to do it well! Therefore, they fail to achieve the intended results! It’s time to provide an Effective Manager and Director Workshop and ongoing coaching. The company’s increase in retention, revenues, and results will thank you! Contact me for a confidential conversation.

Producing Effective Results Requires Trusting Yourself

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“Trusting yourself requires experience, resilience, and the willingness to learn from your mistakes.” Jeannette Seibly

Wanting to be a leader, boss, team member, and good citizen requires trusting yourself to take the right actions and asking for help on what to do to create effective results. What you do or do not do impacts others’ ability to trust you to make win-win-win decisions.

How often have you decided and second-guessed yourself because you didn’t trust yourself? Too often, we realize that if you’d asked the right questions or knew what you now know, you’d have made a better decision. But we didn’t trust ourselves, and every leader has been there.

So, how do we learn to trust ourselves?

Important Traits Required to Trust Yourself

Tell the Truth! We love to rationalize, justify, and lie to ourselves and others that we’re doing our best. Trusting yourself is built by asking for help when you don’t know what to do.

Example: What are you doing to make it difficult for your team members to trust you to achieve intended results or to ask you for help (e.g., gossiping, withholding resources, blaming others, etc.)?

Honor Your Word. This can be difficult for many people, including leaders. But, remember, while you may not believe your word impacts yourself or others, it does … and builds or diminishes trust.

Example: Pick up the phone and talk directly with the right person to solve a team conflict or other brewing issue (e.g., HR, boss, or coach). Then, follow through!

Stop Relying Solely on Intuition or Gut Feelings. Too many people rely on feelings, social media rants, and other lousy information and cite these as intuitive or gut reactions. While scientific studies indicate intuition and gut reactions are important, we can’t rely solely on them when making decisions.

Example: Too many hiring bosses rely on intuition and incorrectly use job fit assessments when selecting the right person for the job. This creates losses in retention, revenues, and results.

Learn the Rules. Many people today flaunt or ignore the rules; they are there for a reason. While they may need changing, complaining about them or signing a petition doesn’t make a difference. Building trust in yourself means being accountable for what you say and do with others.

Example: Are you working within your company’s policies and standard operating procedures? Or do you hope no one notices you aren’t? Learning the rules prevents you from planning your excuses if there is a huge and costly mistake.

Learn to Apologize for Mistakes. Instead of relying on your excuses when you make a mistake, genuinely use these words, “I’m sorry.” “I apologize.”  By trusting yourself to apologize for your mistakes, you will build trust with others so they know you take responsibility for your actions.

Example: A woman failed to show up twice in meetings she’d requested, set up with the same person, and then refused to apologize for being a no-show. This is what it looks like when you don’t trust yourself; it encourages others not to trust you.

Be Coachable! The fastest way to learn to trust yourself and encourage others to trust you is to be coachable. While no one can know what to do in every situation, trust yourself to seek the right person to coach you through the best way to resolve issues. Listen and follow the advice of your coach and boss.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. With over 30 years as an award-winning international executive coach, speaker, and business author, Jeannette’s clients effectively work through sticky situations and challenging relationships to become positive influencers. Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion. PS: She’s also a three-time Amazon Best-Selling Author!

A note from Jeannette about trusting yourself: Many leaders like to think they trust themselves. Yet, they don’t. How do you know? Watch their actions, which speak louder than words. Contact me to assess how to trust yourself more for better results.

NOTE: Learning to trust yourself requires making the right choices and the right changes. I love coaching and supporting current and future leaders during critical and strategic situations. Contact me if you want an in-depth, one-on-one hour over 13 weeks. Remember, coaching accelerates your ability to trust yourself. This, in turn, influences your team for unprecedented results that others applaud.

How’s your leadership development progressing? Are you moving forward … or a tad stuck? Do you need a “nudge” and “clarification?” Want to accelerate and soar your results? Contact me for a confidential conversation.

How Do You Quietly Hire Employees?

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Quiet hiring is a way to develop talent without hiring new employees or moving current employees to work when you cannot hire the right people. It was declared a new trend by Gartner, a technological research and consulting firm: Quiet hiring will open up new doors for retaining talent without the cost of a lengthy recruitment process.

While “quiet hiring” is new, the strategy is not. Wise companies have used “internal mobility or upskilling” to keep top talent for many years.

But before you jump on this “newest trend,” here are the issues to address before considering this strategy.

How to Use Quiet Hiring

Quiet hiring is how employers fill positions with current employees and leverage current talent. Normally, it’s done on a temporary basis, or you risk employment law issues.

For example:

  • If your company is a bank and needs someone at the teller window for several hours a day, it’s an excellent opportunity for a loan officer to learn more about the bank and its customers’ needs.
  • If your insurance company needs help in the claims department for a month, you may have one of your underwriters work there temporarily.
  • If your company is in any industry and needs help auditing for a quarter, you may place one of your IT people in that role.

What Are Three Criteria to Implement Quiet Hiring?

  1. It would be best if you had buy-in from your employees. Remember, any change can be scary to them. Be sure to communicate the intention, what is expected, and the benefits to everyone, not just those being “quietly hired” into new roles. Remember, it’s a temporary change and will not affect their benefits and compensation plans.
  2. How to Start the Conversation. You may say, “We/I value your contribution and would like to temporarily use you in a different role (or to take on additional responsibilities). Are you willing to do so?”
  3. Stay Connected. If there are problems before or after the transition, it’s essential to address them immediately. Remember that different teams have different work styles, and bosses have different work expectations (e.g., remote v. onsite, punctuality v. lateness).

How You Use Quiet Hiring to Improve Your Employees’ Skills

  1. Provides Skill Development. It’s a great way to help broaden an employee’s knowledge of the company. It allows them to experience how their normal position impacts the temporary one. Acquiring these new skills prepares them for promotions, new work teams, and other future opportunities.
  2. Reduces the Need for Layoffs and Terminations. It’s a great way to keep good employees by temporarily moving them into different roles or departments.
  3. Helps Them Understand the Impact of Work Quality and Decisions. The added benefit of quiet hiring is that they can learn about the impact they create when making changes in how they do their work or when making decisions. For example: Moving a sales rep into customer service is a great way to experience the aftermath of how the company’s products and services work with customers. (Also known as cross-training.)
  4. Training is Critical! Like anything new, it’s essential that you provide a training program and on-the-job training coach to ensure consistency in how work is done. Remember, they are transitioned to the new position temporar If they make any changes, it can inadvertently impact the entire company and its customers.
  5. Participate in Job Rotation or Job Sharing. These are more formal ways that “quiet hiring” top talent can develop the skills required for future opportunities.

Beware of “Quiet Hiring” Pitfalls

  1. Job Fit Issues. Placing a good employee in a position that does not fit their capabilities means you will lose a good employee. Use a qualified job fit assessment to reduce these types of issues. Remind them it’s temporary. However, if there are consistent problems, you must move them back to where they were doing well.
  2. Unwillingness to Move to New Position. If the move requires the person to be onsite or the person has other concerns such as commute and flex time, address them upfront. It costs time, money, and energy to train people in positions they usually don’t work in; since it’s only temporary, it may not be worth the effort or upset.
  3. Keep the Same Benefits and Comp. If you don’t, you will risk employment law concerns. Contact your HR or employment attorney to determine local, state, and federal impacts — also the same for international employees.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has over 30 years of award-winning international experience as an executive consultant, speaker, and business author. Her clients surpass the norm by working through sticky situations and challenging relationships to become positive influencers. Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about Quiet Hiring: This old employment practice of moving people temporarily into different positions now has a new name: Quiet Hiring! Before you jump on this latest trend, understand the legal, practical, and employee impacts before using! Then, contact me to talk through your hiring and selection challenges!

NOTE: Do you want to win? All leaders who are winners have coaches! I love coaching leaders and have for over 30 years! Contact me if you want an in-depth, one-on-one hour over 13 weeks. Having a coach speeds up your ability to influence others, hire the right people, and coach your team for unprecedented results.

Announcing New Workshop! Traditional leadership (e.g., formal, metrics-driven) is being replaced with human leadership (e.g., focus on the human dynamics that impact results). For example, “That’s how it’s always been done.” vs. “Great idea. How do you recommend we implement it?” However, your managers and directors are being overlooked regarding the training required to be an effective boss and leader. Read about my newest workshop: Are Your Managers and Directors Effective Leaders?

Hey You! Are You Ignoring What Needs to Be Changed?

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“When you continue ignoring the need to make a difference, you’ll lose your ability to influence change.” Jeannette Seibly

Many leaders claim to be too busy and ignore the big picture and the details of a project or team. But the reality is, if you don’t pay attention, you will be even busier putting out fires, losing top talent and customers, and negatively impacting performance and profitability.

Definition of Ignore by Oxford Languages: “Refuse to take notice or acknowledge; disregard intentionally; fail to consider; reject as groundless (legal).

To stop ignoring, you need to stop relying on excuses.

Instead:

While you cannot change the aftermath of the pandemic, economic upheaval, or industry changes, if you stop ignoring issues, you can influence and impact how you lead your teams.

5 Tips to Stop Ignoring What Needs to Be Changed

  1. Hiring the Right Person, the First Time. When you ignore or overlook best hiring and selection practices, you will keep hiring the wrong type of person who fails. This costs you retention, revenues, and results each time! Example: One employer, each year, told a hiring consultant, ‘This year we had 40% turnover from firing or people leaving. So now we’ve got the right team.’ This was the same explanation each year for three years! The bottom line: nothing changes unless you stop ignoring how you hire and address the core issues!
  2. Resolving Team Conflict. Neglecting to care for the team and their relationships and resources will erupt into team conflict. Take the time now to resolve disagreements, personality differences, and differing points of view. Stop hoping and praying it’ll go away on its own because it won’t! Examples: 1) If it is a perception issue, use a qualified job fit assessment, which objectively shows people’s differences. 2) If it’s an issue with a process or system, brainstorm solutions by ensuring every voice is heard. Yes, they both take time! But it saves hours, days, weeks, months, and yes, sometimes years when you address the issue and stop ignoring it.
  3. Train Your Team. With companies watching their bottom lines, training is the first item slashed. This is very short-sighted. Make sure training skills are not ignored. Reinforce listening, asking questions, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and project/system design, to name a few. Ignoring these essential skills will cost you!
  4. Develop Yourself. All successful leaders have a coach! (Yes, reread if you don’t already have one!) Unfortunately, many current and future leaders don’t see the need to hire a coach, practice daily ‘soft skill’ training, or behave as participants in workshops with team members. However, when you reject the training and ignore its benefits, you will lose credibility and the ability to influence anyone, anywhere.
  5. Impact of Your Decisions. Being an ostrich and putting your head in the sand will only cause you to ignore the impact of your decisions. Instead, collect and use objective, reliable, and valid data and avoid relying solely on your feelings or gut. Otherwise, if you don’t, the negative impact on customers, employees, work teams, finances, systems, etc. etc. etc. will cause leadership and career derailment!

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She’s celebrating 30 years as an award-winning international executive consultant, speaker, and business author. Her clients value the listening and positive difference she brings to any conversation. As a result, they can work through sticky situations and challenging relationships to become positive influencers. Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion. PS: She’s also a three-time Amazon Best-Selling Author!

A note from Jeannette about ignoring situations, relationships, and results: Many leaders need to stop ignoring things they can and should impact. They will lose out on leadership and career opportunities if they don’t. Contact me to discuss what you’re ignoring and how to make the necessary changes. It’ll impact your ability to influence results and keep your job!

This week’s PODCAST: Listen to How to Be an Effective Advocate and Be Heard with my guest, Jill Tietjen, on The Entrepreneurial Leader.

NOTE: Do you have changes that need to be made but don’t know where to begin? I love coaching current and future leaders to support them in making important and strategic changes. Contact me if you want an in-depth, one-on-one hour over 13 weeks. It will accelerate your ability to influence others, coach your team for unprecedented results, and make changes that others applaud.

What Do You Need to Do for Your Team to Trust You?

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“Trust only happens when you say what you mean and mean what you say.” Jeannette Seibly

Only 40% of leaders and human resources experts say their company had high-quality leaders — a 17% drop from last year — with less than half saying they have confidence in their immediate supervisor, according to DDI’s recently released 2023 Global Leadership Forecast. (Forbes)

Being a leader with the right title does not make you trustworthy. On the contrary, trust is earned over and over, day after day.

Yet, today, we continue to see too many leaders in the media focused on themselves. They are unable to treat customers and employees as VIPs and dismiss important issues as not their problem.

“Team members that work for trusted leaders are far more innovative and achieve top-notch results.” Jeannette Seibly

How to Build Trust and Be an Effective Leader

Know Your Blind Spots. A blind spot is an area of weakness or limitation in an individual’s perspective or behavior that they are not aware of. When you are unaware of your blind spots, you’ll continue making the same mistakes and poor decisions. Teams and team members will stop trusting you, especially if you rely on using the same old excuses. Stop the vicious circle! Hire an executive coach and use a qualified job fit assessment to get real about why you do what you do! Make the necessary changes now.

Trust Your Team. First, you must trust your team members. It doesn’t mean you overlook half-truths, missed deadlines, or poor quality. It means if someone says they cannot get a task done by a specific time, listen and ask, “What do you need from me?” Teams that trust and feel supported by their leader are more likely to go beyond the norm to get the intended results.

Learn from Mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, including you! Yelling or expressing frustration at team members is not the way to build trust! Instead, together, conduct an objective review of “what worked/what didn’t work?” Acknowledge things they did well. Specifically, focus on two things to improve. Then, take what you learned, develop a game plan, and manage for results.

Allow Them to Resolve Issues through Your Listening. Poor listening skills interfere with effective communication and relationships. They lead to misunderstandings and conflict, which diminishes trust. When you develop an ear to listen, your natural curiosity and good questions guide you on what to say. Allow your team member or team to get to the source of the problem through your listening! It builds trust that they can count on you because you are there for them.

Embrace Tough Conversations. If you’d rather avoid them, hoping and praying the issue (aka team member or customer) will disappear, your team stops trusting you! Your job is to make the workplace a safe and comfortable place to excel.

Be Known for Straight Talk. Say what you mean and mean what you say. (Yes, I’m repeating this … that’s how important it is.) This makes THE difference between your team trusting you to look out for them or feeling manipulated by you to get the job done. When making a promise, follow up and follow through. When a project has not met the customer’s needs, tell the truth about why. Stop the practice of making yourself look good at the expense of others. It’s the fastest way to lose trust!

Brag about Your Team! Sharing the successes of each and every team member makes a positive difference. This requires being aware of each team member’s contribution … no matter how small. By paying attention, you will build trust and strengthen their willingness to work with you!

©Jeannette Seibly 2020-2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has over 30 years of award-winning international experience as an executive consultant, speaker, and business author. Her clients surpass the norm by working through sticky situations and challenging relationships to become positive influencers. Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about building trust as a leader: Being a leader today is more challenging than ever! The biggest detractor is your team’s ability to trust you! Too many leaders focus on themselves. They are unable to treat customers and employees as VIPs and dismiss issues as not their problem. Contact me to discuss trust issues you have with your team and what they have with you!

This week’s PODCAST: Listen to “Best Practices When Working Remotely” with my guest, Ronald Beach, Ph.D., on The Entrepreneurial Leader.

NOTE: Do you want to win? All leaders who are winners have coaches! I love coaching leaders and have for over 30 years! Contact me if you want an in-depth, one-on-one hour over 13 weeks. Having a coach speeds up your ability to influence others, hire the right people, and coach your team for unprecedented results.

How to Test Your Hiring Process to Eliminate Costly Problems

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“To hire the best, you must consistently use best hiring practices!” Jeannette Seibly

Many job seekers love to share their stories about their horrible experiences when applying for jobs. Or, thankfully, share about losing out on a job due to the hiring boss’s poor interviewing behavior.

Stories hiring bosses love to share include nixing a person because they didn’t carry a pen to not hiring candidates that failed to answer non-job-related questions with responses they wanted to hear (e.g., most recent books read or movies seen).

As a hiring boss, you may not be aware of your biases. But they exist, many times unconsciously. And cost you time, money, and sleepless nights. (Example: Making your decision in 4 to 15 minutes of meeting people whether or not to hire them.)

Here’s a great way to determine if your company’s hiring and selection process needs help: use secret job seekers. (Similar to retailers using secret shoppers.)

How to do it: Secretly, without letting hiring bosses know, have friends, trusted employees, and business associates apply for open positions. Have them change their names on their resumes; use fictitious company names, job titles, and educational degrees; and provide pay-as-you-talk cell phones.

Most likely flaws you’ll uncover:

  • Difficulties using your ATS (applicant tracking system)
  • Inconsistencies of questions asked during interviews
  • Not using qualified job fit assessments (Note: Not all assessments are created equal and most do not comply with Department of Labor guidelines for pre-employment use).

The surprises (or maybe not … but now you have factual data required to make needed changes): you will discover the costly mischief about your company’s hiring practices and what is causing the company’s bad reputation.

Common issues will include:

  • Promises made during interviews and not kept when making job offers
  • Having too many interviewers or having team interviews with people not on the same page
  • Job descriptions are too long and uninspiring
  • Job postings are boring
  • Links and QR Codes don’t work
  • Inconsistencies when hiring managers conduct interviews (e.g., asking inappropriate questions or not asking the same structured questions of candidates for the same job)
  • Poor due diligence practices due to not thoroughly checking the backgrounds of all candidates

The key to fixing these issues is to design a strategic job fit selection process and use the best tools (e.g., ATS, structured interview formats, qualified job fit and core value assessments, and consistent due diligence practices). Note: Guidance on how to select the best tools can be found in Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues, and Results.

This is critical and often overlooked! Conduct training programs for all hiring bosses, and provide intra-company access to all required tools and procedures to ensure consistent hiring practices. Also, have a key executive hold all hiring bosses accountable for following all the policies and procedures in the spirit of hiring the right person for the right job the first time!

Training will reduce costly hiring problems and ensure the best hiring practices.

The results? When you implement this secret job seeker program, you will attract and hire better candidates that stop ghosting you! As a result, your company will thrive by increasing retention, revenues, and results. And you may become the best employer in 2023.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has over 30 years of award-winning international experience as an executive consultant, speaker, and business author. Her clients surpass the norm by working through sticky situations and challenging relationships to become positive influencers. Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about testing your hiring practices to eliminate costly (and avoidable) issues: It makes good business sense to ensure your company uses consistent, reliable, and valid hiring practices. Contact me to talk through hiring challenges and how to overcome them. It’ll save you time, money, and your customers!

This week’s PODCAST: Listen to Grow your side hustle into a full-time job with my guest, Bobby Crew on The Entrepreneurial Leader.

NOTE: Do you want to win? All leaders who are winners have coaches! I love coaching leaders and have for over 30 years! Contact me if you want an in-depth, one-on-one hour over 13 weeks. When you have a coach, it’ll speeds up your ability to influence others, hire the right people, and coach your team for unprecedented results.

Become Present to Your Accomplishments

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“Being present to your accomplishments creates a natural confidence and ability to share your results.” Jeannette Seibly

You often forget about the tasks, situations, and interactions handled during the day. These activities go by without you being present to what you’ve accomplished!

Why is being present to your accomplishments important?

  • First, it impacts the quality of your work performance, job satisfaction, and ability to build credibility and influence others (to name a few).
  • Second, it also helps you be proactive in creating a career you enjoy and not just sitting around and waiting for something new to happen.

#1 Tip on Being Present

Be Focused. Stop Multi-tasking. When doing your work, set aside negative feelings about the task, stop replaying old conversations, and don’t allow other distractions (e.g., social media posts and electronic pings). When listening, stay focused on the current discussion.

5 Tips for How to Use These Accomplishments

  1. Quantify Performance. Keep track of your accomplishments and any outside-the-norm situations. Use metrics and facts to describe them. Examples: Saying, “It felt good to work with the customer.” It is not impressive. Saying, “Saved the customer $100 in fees.” It is very impressive.
  2. Keep Boss Informed. The boss does not know all you’ve accomplished and the value you’ve added to the company, client, or team. So share the highlights of your accomplishments during your 1:1 meetings or in short emails.
  3. Include with Your Performance Appraisals. If there is a self-assessment process, include vital stats on your performance appraisal. If not, have a 1-page description of accomplishments listed in a bullet format (20 words or less) and attach it to the performance appraisal.
  4. Brag to Win Promotions and Pay Increases. When pitching or negotiating for new opportunities, select 3 key accomplishments to share. To determine these, read the job posting and/or job description. Then, talk with others already working in that area.
  5. Share Ideas with Boss, Co-workers, and Customers. When sharing your ideas, include a key “brag” to build your credibility. For example, “When I used this approach last time, I saved 30 minutes.”

PS: When sharing your accomplishments (aka brags), even though you may be uncomfortable, be open to hearing others’ congrats! I promise you it’ll feel good.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She’s celebrating 30 years as an award-winning international executive consultant, speaker, and business author. Her clients value the listening and positive difference she brings to any conversation. As a result, they can work through sticky situations and challenging relationships to become positive influencers. Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion. PS: She’s also a three-time Amazon Best-Selling Author!

A note from Jeannette about being present to your accomplishments: You’ve achieved significant results in your work and life! So why is it important to be present and share? First, it builds confidence! Second, it’s a great way to build influence. Third, it improves your performance appraisal ratings and paychecks! Contact me if you’d like me to conduct the award-winning “Get Your Brag On!” for your team, company, or association meeting.

This week’s PODCAST: Listen to the Mastering Communication Skills with my guest, Meredith Bell, on The Entrepreneurial Leader.

NOTE: I love coaching current and future leaders to support them in leading, managing, and hiring their teams. Contact me if you want an in-depth, one-on-one hour over 13 weeks. It will accelerate your ability to influence others, hire the right people, and coach your team for unprecedented results.