Leadership

Optimize Your Selection Process to Attract the Best

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As a business leader, it’s important now, more than ever, to have a well-defined selection process, regardless of your company’s size and revenues. Attracting the right people in a job market where job seekers have become more selective can make it more of a challenge to hire the best candidates. Remember, the right employees will help you build a sustainable and profitable company. The wrong ones will have you close the doors, lose a lot of money or have you wanting to leave your own company!

The challenge today is many job seekers have become critical of how a company recruits and selects the best ones. They are focused on your ability to communicate the company’s vision well, have written expectations and have transparency about who you are and what you do. They will also have their own questions that need to be asked and answered before joining your team.

7 Keys to Attract and Hire the Best

To shorten your time-to-hire, be on the lookout for great talent, anywhere and anytime. Invite them to apply at the time you talk with them.

1.Use an on-line applicant tracking system (ATS) that is easily accessed via mobile platforms. This will help you track those interested in working with you now and in the future. Stay in communication by inviting them to connect via social media. Review your application to ensure it is in compliance with local, state and federal statutes. For example, asking “Date of Birth” is not legal. Asking are you older than 18 is.

“70% of job seekers say the application process experience impacts their decision to accept a company’s position or not.” 2015 Hiring Trends, Jobvite, August 2015

2.Use a qualified direct-admissions core value assessment. Spending time interviewing someone with what appears to be great resume (most have over 71% inaccuracies), is a colossal time waster if they don’t possess the integrity and honesty (core values) you require. You will also overlook great candidates, with less impressive resumes, when not using this high-value, inexpensive tool.

3.Follow-Up and Follow-Through. First impressions impact a candidate’s interest in continuing in the company’s selection process. Immediately respond to their application and provide promised information. Stay in contact and provide candidates updates on the interview process via your ATS. Beware, these traits also impact their decision to buy your products and services!

4.Keep your social media fed proactively. Currently LinkedIn and Facebook are the leading venues used when searching for applicants! Use these media outlets to keep applicants interested by sharing PR posts; favorable employee comments; and other socially relevant interests to tell the story about your company.

“People are like icebergs: they only let you see what they want you to see – what you don’t see is more significant than what you do see!” John W. Howard, PhD

5.Job-fit is important. Use qualified assessments to ensure who you are talking with in the interview is the same person that shows up on the job! Hiring the best person the first time helps companies achieve their intended results faster and keeps other top performers.

6.Ask the right questions. (And, legal ones.) Ask questions focused on the job, work requirements, and other important considerations. Today’s applicants, specifically millennials, are savvier and pickier about who they will work for. Asking meaningless questions or those with an underlying intention of “analyzing” them usually will back fire. Use qualified core value and job fit assessments and ask the interview questions contained in those reports. Be prepared — gone are the days of “winging-it” and having one-sided interviews.

7.Job offers. Compensation is the top reason candidates will select your job offer over others. Younger employees only plan to stay for 1 to 3 years before finding their next job. To keep them, ensure they have a great boss, and interesting and challenging work. Keep your compensation, benefits and other perks up-to-date and meaningful to your employees.

By using the best selection process, you will attract the best.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2015

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she guides the creation of new solutions for business challenges and is the author of Hire Amazing Employees (http://BizSavvyHire.com). Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com or contact Jeannette at http://SeibCo.com/contact

10 Career Mistakes You Will Make

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I recently talked with a company president, who wasn’t enjoying his job and doing what he did best, sell. As a result, the company was suffering because he wasn’t happy. With my help, he hired a general manager and focused his attention on developing his sales team to sell. He learned by correcting his mistake and moving forward with intentionality — enjoying his job again. The company quickly regained profitability.

Throughout my 23 years of executive coaching, I discovered there are business professionals that quickly excel, and some that take longer than others to “get it.” Some never get there and relive their mistakes, instead of learning from them. Those that move forward in their careers faster know it requires self-awareness, willingness to roll-up your sleeves to learn the job and ability to work with and through others to achieve the intended results.

The common factor for those who moved forward and excelled quickly is they hired an executive coach – to talk and walk them through their career mistakes. Whether you believe you will make mistakes or not – rest assured you will make them. By working with an executive coach, you will be able to identify mistakes quickly and use them as learning opportunities.

10 Key Traits that Make a Difference

  1. It’s not about you. This is probably the biggest error you will make. You will allow your ego to get in the way, and make the career journey all about you — your wants and your desires. Focus on developing your people by practicing humility and appreciation for others.
  2. Be respected and liked. While it’s important to be both, you will probably focus on being liked at the expense of being respected. Unfortunately, likeability is fickle. In order to attract and keep great clients and top employees, learn how to make tough, and at times, unpopular decisions.
  3. Do the right things the right way. It requires taking the time to investigate, ask the right questions and ensure the workability of any idea or change. Too often in your haste — mostly due to lack of experience and failure to listen — the expedient route is taken. This quick fix derails results and deters people from following your leadership.
  4. Patience is not a virtue. While everything is not urgent, having too much patience will actually send the wrong message to your team, clients and bosses. Develop the ability to get priorities done in a timely manner. Design systems to ensure the customer (internal and external) are consistently served in a timely way. Be sure the procedures and policies are being followed.
  5. Healthy conflict. Become a healthy leader by knowing how to disagree without creating a battle, or war. Be comfortable sharing differing ideas and concerns through brainstorming to ensure everyone is heard. This is a great opportunity for you to become a strong facilitator that ensures win-win outcomes.
  6. Build trust. Elicit the best in others — it will build loyalty. Stop using language like punish, discipline and other demeaning words. People do not take well to threats of losing their job, pay raise, bonus, etc. Employees are adults. It’s important for you to treat them as peers.
  7. Compassion. It’s important to empathize with others and their challenges – personal issues will occur. Allow them opportunities to process their grief and upset in a manner that doesn’t detract from the group. However, be aware of employees who create mischief or have too many excuses for not getting their work done. They are often in the wrong job.
  8. Entrepreneurial mindset. Too often you love to talk about the “big” picture, believing you have the greatest insights. However, all talk and no action limits your career. Roll-up your sleeves, brainstorm ideas, create the right team, and design workable action plans. Then, manage the milestones along the way to ensure intended results, optimal performance and profitability.
  9. Take responsibility. With the title and paycheck comes the responsibility for how well your team achieves the intended results, and the process of how they get there. Without micro-managing, check in and ensure people are on-track, customer complaints are handled effectively, and any problems are quickly resolved before they become future elephants.
  10. Have fun and celebrate. Daily, weekly, monthly and/or quarterly take time to acknowledge any and all achievements with the team. Objectively review those items that didn’t work out as expected. Create do-able goals for the next time period and know that together the people on the team can achieve anything.

If your career is not moving upward, talk with an executive coach to help you focus on the issues that will make a positive and powerful difference for you, your team and company.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2015

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she guides the creation of new solutions for business challenges and is the author of two books, Hire Amazing Employees (BizSavvyHire.com) and It’s Time to Brag! (Time2Brag.com). Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com or contact Jeannette at http://SeibCo.com/contact.

To get career fit, contact SeibCo today: http://SeibCo.com/contact

To purchase the book, “It’s Time to Brag! Career Edition” go to: http://Time2Brag.com  

How to Create a Sales Smart Team

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Top sales performers sell up to six times more than their average team members. They fit their jobs and are business savvy when building relationships, facilitating the buyer’s decision-making process, and delivering as promised. Also, they have taken the time and have the interest to learn how to use the company’s products and services correctly. Hiring and developing top sales performers create sales smart teams — they make the difference between an adequate bottom line and a great financial outcome.

4 Actions to Create a Sales Smart Team

1. Disregard old myths. Too often we hire for perceived job skills and fire for poor job fit. Many sales managers still rely upon their gut to determine a candidate’s ability to sell their product or service. When hiring, many sales managers are seduced by a candidate’s verbal ability to talk the talk or believe younger candidates have higher energy levels than older people. As a result, sales managers fail to hire the right people. They also lose top performers, who want to work with winning teams.

Take the time to discover the true costs of your hiring mistakes and conduct a utility analysis on your current team. This information will provide clarity on where you need to focus your attention in order to create a sales smart team. (Contact SeibCo for the complimentary tools http://SeibCo.com/contact)

2. Job fit is key. Use scientifically qualified assessment products to accurately assess job fit. Can the sales person sell? How will they sell? What will they sell? These tools will make all the difference in hiring the right person and providing coaching information you can readily use. If they don’t fit the job, you cannot change and fix them. Studies have found that assessing for thinking style will account for 50 percent of a person’s success. The other 50 percent is a combination of core behaviors (can they prospect, engage and close?) and occupational interests (do they possess up-to-date info?). All three are essential and will provide a clear snapshot of the whole person and his/her ability to sell your products and services.

3. Utilize on-line due diligence. Use an on-line application process, knock-out questions and core value assessments to attract more of the right candidates. Before conducting face-to-face interviews, conduct initial phone screens and use job fit assessments to determine their sales strengths. These simple steps will save you a great deal of time, money and energy in the long run.

4. Focus on the whole picture for sales smart results. Metrics are important and can help you gauge the effectiveness of your sales team. However, this will not tell you the whole story about your team’s results. Investigate: Are your sales people following your system? Are they generating enough leads? Are they getting in front of the right people? By utilizing the coaching information from the qualified assessment, you can provide the clarity required to develop and train with laser-like precision.

Sales smart companies understand that job fit is the number one reason they are able to create sales smart teams. Are you ready to enjoy exponential sales growth, while having fun?

©Jeannette Seibly, 2010-2015

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she guides the creation of new solutions for business challenges and is the author of Hire Amazing Employees (http://BizSavvyHire.com). Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com or contact Jeannette at http://SeibCo.com/contact.

Do you need caffeine to do your job?

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“Your best performance of today must become your normal performance of tomorrow.” James Arthur Ray, author of the book, Life Unleased: A Blueprint for Ultimate Human Performance

 

According to a Gallup poll, over 71 percent of us get up every morning and go to jobs we hate.

Having a job you enjoy, engaging in work responsibilities that keep you awake and excelling in your career is a gift to you, your family and your employer! It reduces the ever-present need for caffeine to stay awake. It also helps you avoid boredom and surpass your norm—which can be very inspiring to you and others!

5 ways to stay off the caffeine

How can you use your current position to build a career that fits you and provides a positive difference in the quality of your life—professionally and personally?

  1. Learn the basics of the job, company and industry. Many of us fail to learn the basics of any job assignment. The key to learning any job is drilling down to the finer points. This requires rolling up your sleeves and not hovering at 30,000 feet. By doing so, you will uncover new opportunities and be able to incorporate technology to make the job easier and create new efficiencies. Don’t forget to inquire about the legal ramifications, P&L, ROI and other business metrics, and other important data required to make better decisions. Learn how to use this information effectively and communicate it appropriately—it will advance your career quickly.
  2. Build on the basics to develop mastery in your work—however beware of jumping from 0 to 100 and skipping all the steps in between. Learning your job is a process, and overestimating your skills and knowledge will create internal chaos and stress for you and others.
  3. Get out of the office and become a business partner. Meet with others during their coffee break. Never eat lunch alone. Set up one-on-one meetings. Interview other employees and management about how to improve the services and quality your department provides to achieve the company’s mission and vision.
  4. Network outside your company and develop a reputation of being the go-to person. Get to know others in your profession and industry, including their challenges and solutions. This will keep you out of “know-it-all” thinking that is often internally bred and can derail future career choices and options.
  5. Join a trade or professional organization—attend meetings and participate in events. Talk with others to expand your thinking and how to address ever-present issues and develop new solutions.

Ensure you’re on the career path that fits you and prepares you for future opportunities

The Pathway PlannerTM, based upon the world’s largest validation and reliability studies, uses the same assessment information that thousands of companies use to hire. (For more information, contact http://SeibCo.com/contact.) This educational and career planning tool helps people discover what career possibilities best suit them at any age (16++). The key, like anything, is taking action and learn about different career paths that may fit. SeibCo provides the how-to in the book It’s Time to Brag! Career Edition, (Time2Brag.com). This book also includes networking and interviewing advice for success.

To get career fit, contact SeibCo today: http://SeibCo.com/contact

To purchase the book, It’s Time to Brag! Career Edition, go to http://Time2Brag.com 

Jeannette Seibly is an award-winning and internationally recognized business advisor. For the past 23 years, she has helped thousands of people work smarter, enjoy financial freedom, and realize their dreams now. She has an uncanny ability to help her clients identify roadblocks and help them focus to quickly produce unprecedented results. Each client brings their own unique challenges; Jeannette’s gift is helping each one create their success in their own unique way. Along the way, with her commitment she helped create three millionaires.

It’s Time for a Breakthrough — Stop Being a Critical Manager

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  • Do you always find fault with whatever someone does?
  • Do you believe your way is the only right way?
  • Do you praise privately but rebuke openly?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, it’s time for a breakthrough. Your attitude and behavior can make it difficult to work with you and nearly impossible to learn from you.

5 ways to stop being a critical manager … and, start transforming your ability to lead a high functioning group

1) Look for opportunities to praise. Acknowledge others for a job well done, even if it’s a small step or contribution. Consider ideas that may initially seem off-the-wall, or inappropriate, and acknowledge contributions in a positive manner. Your openness will encourage everyone to stretch their thinking and behavior to improve their skills.

2) Learn from their mistakes. Every mistake can be turned into a learning moment. It’s important to understand the difference between a Zero Tolerance Policy for unacceptable behaviors, versus, a tolerance for mistakes. Employees will inevitably make some mistakes when they learn a new task, take on a new project, or work with new clients. Ensure your systems are up-to-date, and all your employees are well-trained to minimize errors at repetitive tasks. Develop an infrastructure for creating and executing non-repetitive opportunities.

3) Make 2-2-2 your paradigm. Acknowledge two positive things they have done well. Then, share very specific areas for improvement, no more than two. Wrap-up with two positives they have done well. This makes feedback easier to give, and receive!

4) Walk around. Get out from behind your desk and talk with people. Your intention is to listen and learn from others – without offering your opinion about how they should be doing their job – if there is a problem, talk with their supervisor.

5) Hire a coach. It’s important for your own career and business development that you learn to effectively work with and through people to get the job done. Effective management practices produce win/wins on a regular basis.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2010-2015

Jeannette Seibly is a business advisor for business owners and executives of $5MM to $30MM enterprises creating million dollar results, and along the way guided the creation of three millionaires. Contact her at JLSeibly@SeibCo.com for a free consultation of how to achieve amazing results.

Handling Devious Corporate Foxes

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(Originally posted on July 31, 2013)

“Foxes are devious—have you given one of them the keys to your office?”

Last Friday I had someone tweet me in response to the above posted caption. The person had given trust to another, and it turned out to be bad news. I’m sure many of you can personally and professionally relate to this experience. I know I can.

Unfortunately, foxes are devious and manipulative creatures. It’s simply their nature. But for people, being devious is often unconscious and based on fear of failure. The key is to become aware of devious people as quickly as possible by listening to your inner leader, or voice. Don’t second-guess yourself based upon your most recent interaction with the person, or your fear of not being strong enough to handle the situation.

Don’t immediately fire someone without conducting proper due diligence, stick your head in the sand hoping it will go away on its own, or jump into a new project, career, or job. These types of knee-jerk reactions will follow you.

First, look within to see what the life lesson is. Second, discuss the situation with your business advisor or executive coach for any additional insights. Now, make your decision and follow through on making the appropriate changes from a place of inner strength and leadership.

How have you successfully handled a devious fox in your company? How did it impact your career?

©Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

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“I don’t know what I want to do!”

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“If you don’t know where you want to be in five years, you’re already there!” Elizabeth Gilbert

 

“When my daughter graduated from college years ago, she was uncertain what she wanted to do.  She had worked in an office and a restaurant. Now, she was looking for a career, not a job.

Due to her initiative and her conversations with me, I referred her to Jeannette Seibly, SeibCo. (Jeannette had been helping my company with hiring and management concerns for several years.)

In less than a month of working with Jeannette, she was ready! She had clarity of what she wanted to do, would be good at and the type of companies to look for. Armed with all this information and coaching, she chose a position in sales. Because of her career preparation, she only considered companies that provided training that fit her interests.

It’s now 11 years later and she has worked in three different sales positions in two different industries. She has earned a six figure income for many of those years and has always been one of the top two performers in each company.

Because she took the time to clarify her career direction and utilized the right tools, she had the information she needed to get on the right career path for her – and, she’s had a very successful career. Jeannette customized the process for my daughter — worth every penny.  My daughter’s initiative has paid her (and me) back 1,000 fold.”   DP, Executive and Very Happy Mother

Many employees today are unhappy and dissatisfied with their careers, work responsibilities and job prospects. Statistically, about 63 to 79 percent are in the wrong job, career, industry, profession, company, etc. Yet, many fail to take the time, expend the energy and make the investment to find the right career path that fits them for the long term. They believe in the myth that there is a right time to find the right career path; and it will happen … someday … in the future. Or, they are waiting for their employer, parents or others to provide that information to them. The problem is, it never happens without taking the initiative and doing the right things for ourselves.

The solution to determining career fitness

The Pathway PlannerTM uses the same assessment information (based upon the world’s largest validation and reliability studies) that thousands of companies use to hire. (Contact http://SeibCo.com/contact.) This educational and career planning tool helps people discover what career possibilities best suit them at any age (16++). The key, like anything, is taking action and learn about different career paths that may fit. SeibCo provides the how-to-do-it in the book, It’s Time to Brag! Career Edition, (Time2Brag.com). This book also includes networking and interviewing advice for success.

To get career fit, contact SeibCo today: http://SeibCo.com/contact

To purchase the book, “It’s Time to Brag! Career Edition” go to: http://Time2Brag.com 

©Jeannette Seibly, 2015 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is an award-winning and internationally recognized business advisor. For the past 23 years, she has helped thousands of people work smarter, enjoy financial freedom, and realize their dreams now.  She has an uncanny ability to help her clients identify roadblocks, and help them focus to quickly produce unprecedented results.  Each client brings their own unique challenges, and her gift is helping each one create their success in their own unique way. Along the way, with her commitment, she helped create three millionaires.

Hiring Assessments Can Revive Your Bottom Line

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 HireRight“If it weren’t for assessments, I would hire the way I always do and  get the same bad results!” — President, Engineering Company

 

Many companies today are focused on increasing sales, saving money and improving profitability. They spend a lot of time evaluating equipment and systems to ensure the best ROI. However, they fail to take the same amount of care when selecting the right resources to hire and manage their most important asset – their employees!  The result is, they miss many opportunities to hire the right people, and often lose top talent and customers due to their mistakes – costing them time, money and market share.

Cost of Poor Hiring Practices

Many executives know their turnover rate – some are proud that they are below industry standard. However, they have not quantified the financial impact to the bottom line and are in denial that they can do anything to improve it.

When you take the time required to tabulate the cost of a bad hire, promote the wrong person, or lose a talented employee, you will realize you must objectively assess potential job candidates for job fit, core values and required skills.  Using qualified assessments can significantly lower theft, cost of turnover, workers’ compensation, unemployment and other employment/liability claims when used appropriately. Remember, include intangible costs such as loss of reputation, quality, customers, vendors and other important factors in your calculations, since all of these can negatively impact your bottom line.

Select Qualified Hiring Assessments

There are over 3,000 publishers of assessment products in the market. Most assessments do not comply with the Department of Labor’s guidelines for pre-employment use (See: Testing and Assessment: An Employer’s Guide to Good Practices, Department of Labor). High-quality tools will have technical manuals (not just a letter from a law firm) to ensure each assessment meets the validity and reliability specifications for pre-employment and selection purposes. Ask for the technical manual and refuse to use an assessment for pre-employment purposes without one.

Assessments with High Validity and Reliability are Incredibly Accurate

Many assessments used for training or coaching purposes will show differences in people. However, they usually do not comply with higher statistical requirements for pre-employment tools. Not only is using the right assessment of legal importance, using tools that actually have the highest validity and reliability will measure people accurately and objectively – a requirement to predict future success. The best assessments provide you the ability to become a laser-like coach. Also, due to their accuracy, you will improve your selection process and reduce costs. Remember, any tool, system or process used during the hiring or promotion process must comply with pre-employment requirements.

When you select the right qualified assessments and use them as directed, they work and will positively revive your bottom line.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2015

Source: “Hire Amazing Employees,” Chapter 11, Assess for Job Fit—Use Qualified Assessments http://BizSavvyHire.com

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she guides the creation of new solutions for business challenges and is the author of Hire Amazing Employees.  Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com. Or, contact Jeannette @ http://SeibCo.com/contact

Can you make six-figures in sales?

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Yes, if it’s the right career for you.

According to a Glassdoor Blog, some of the highest paying jobs are in sales!

Sales people are the backbone of any company — they are instrumental in making or breaking the success of any product and service the company provides. However, before you fly onto the job boards to find a job in sales, conduct a critical analysis of your thinking style, core behaviors and occupational interests by using a qualified career fitness assessment*. Know upfront, and objectively, whether or not you have what it takes to sell and the type of company that will help you succeed. Remember, many sales people fail to achieve 6-figure incomes due to poor job fit and the unwillingness to develop the discipline required.

How do you find the right job for you in sales?

Step 1: Determine if sales is the right career path for you. Are you able to “sell” by “closing a sale” on a consistent basis? Do you possess similar traits that highly successful sales people have? This can only be ascertained by using a qualified career fitness assessment* and looking at your past sales metrics.

Step 2: Find the right type of sales position. There is a BIG difference between handling incoming orders vs. finding sales opportunities through cold calling and networking contacts. Don’t forget to investigate customer service, marketing and account executive/manager type jobs that may provide better job fit and are normally paid hourly or salary plus commission. Be sure you have the required interests in the product or services, willingness to learn the company systems, excellent people skills and discipline to consistently network. Success in these jobs requires lots of patience, follow-up and follow-through when answering questions, educating customers, and resolving system/product/service issues.

Step 3. Armed with your career fit information, research the industry, company’s culture, and types of products/services offered. Clarity, based upon feedback from your career fit assessment*, will let you know if you have the level of competitiveness, tact and team attitude required. Also, determine if the pay structure (e.g., straight commission vs. base + commission; and, type of bonuses and other perks) works for you. If you are risk-adverse, be sure the base is bigger than the potential commission.

Step 4. Know the company’s hiring practices. Beware that many companies do a poor job of hiring anyone, particularly in sales. Too often hiring managers rely on the candidates’ ability to sell themselves, tell them what they want to hear, and look the part! Being offered the job does not guarantee a six-figure income. You may or may not fit the culture or job requirements.

To increase the probability of succeeding if you are hired, spend time networking for insider information (not found on the Internet) before the interview and conduct your due diligence during the interview(s) by preparing good questions. (For help, read Chapter 12 in the book, It’s Time to Brag! Career Edition, http://Time2Brag.com) Remember to ask about training programs and on-going coaching to help you develop your skills in lead generation, relationship building, prospecting, and closing techniques. If the job is offered, be willing to say, “No, thank you.” if it doesn’t appear to be a good career fit for you. Be honest – taking the job and losing it makes it harder to find the next one.

Ask yourself the most important question.

Do I want a job and career where I will be happy and satisfied? If the answer is yes, studies have shown that you are more likely to be happier and more satisfied when your job responsibilities fit you. The truth is, many times sales people job hop, or are laid off because they were unable to meet monthly or quarterly quotas, or due to territory or company restructuring. Finding the right career (whether or not in sales) will provide greater financial rewards in the long-run. There are no short-cuts to getting rich quickly. Expect to put in the time, learn the company, industry, product/service, and develop long-term relationships regardless of the job.

*The solution to determining career fitness.

The Pathway PlannerTM uses the same assessment information (based upon the world’s largest validation and reliability studies) that thousands of companies use to hire. (Contact http://SeibCo.com/contact.) This educational and career planning tool helps people discover what career possibilities best suit them at any age (16++). The key, like anything, is taking action and learn about different career paths that may fit. SeibCo provides the how-to-do-it in the book, It’s Time to Brag! Career Edition, (Time2Brag.com). This book also includes networking and interviewing advice for success.

To get career fit, contact SeibCo today: http://SeibCo.com/contact

To purchase the book, “It’s Time to Brag! Career Edition” go to: http://Time2Brag.com

For companies wishing to improve their hiring processes, go to: http://SeibCo.com/contact

©Jeannette Seibly, 2015 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is an award-winning and internationally recognized business advisor. For the past 23 years, she has helped thousands of people work smarter, enjoy financial freedom, and realize their dreams now. She has an uncanny ability to help her clients identify roadblocks, and help them focus to quickly produce unprecedented results. Each client brings their own unique challenges, and her gift is helping each one create their success in their own unique way. Along the way, with her commitment, she helped create three millionaires.

 

Does the quality of your presentations elicit the best?

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It’s critical for leaders (and those aspiring to be leaders) to learn the skills required to conduct high quality presentations and facilitate well-run meetings. It not only reflects on you professionally, it also builds a positive reputation for your company, department and team. Developing the right skills helps you attract clients and team members that want to work with you, receive promotions and pay increases, and build new career opportunities. One of the most important indicators of professional success (regardless of your occupation) is your ability to speak, listen and share the spotlight in a way that elicits the best from others.

Practice the right things, the right way.

Developing excellent skills takes consistent practice of the right things, the right way. For example, continuing to practice the piano playing the wrong notes, will not improve your ability to play the right notes when it counts – at a recital or in a competition. While learning presentation and facilitation styles may not seem important when you are young or in your current profession, consider taking the time now so you don’t miss golden opportunities to accelerate your leadership growth.

4 Key Behaviors that Make a Difference

Practice is required for all endeavors, and developing excellent presentation and facilitation skills is required in many jobs. When preparing for a presentation, write down an outline of the key points and practice in front of a mirror. Ask for feedback from others, before and after the program. Winging it usually means you don’t understand the importance of engaging an audience — remember you may not get a second chance to cause a favorable impression, win the contract or resolve a company issue.

Discipline is created by following a structure that works and by scheduling repetitive practice, on a consistent basis. Attending Toastmasters is one example. It provides the opportunity to learn and practice the right skills – it also teaches proper etiquette for managing the stage, room, podium, handouts, seating, mic, etc. Developing a style that works for you and engages everyone in your audience is the ultimate goal.

Coach-ability is very important. Thinking you know-it-all (so you don’t have to practice or listen to others’ suggestions) will quickly impede your progress. Welcome the feedback from others and consider it valuable. Hire a coach, attend a workshop, and ask your boss or co-worker to critique you –you’ll be surprised by the progress you make by being coachable.

Learn from your mistakes. Shake it off when you make a mistake, apologize if needed and move on. Most people won’t even know you made a mistake – however, there will be some mistakes that are not as easily overlooked (e.g., using a four-letter word, gossiping, etc.). After your presentation or meeting, take time to identify two areas of improvement with your coach. Don’t forget to solicit feedback from the organizer of the event, by asking “What worked?” and “What didn’t work or could have been better?” When conducting training programs, written evaluations can be helpful to ensure the main points and concerns were addressed. Remember, one bad review doesn’t mean you did a bad job! However, pay attention when you have had several similar comments.

Again, as a leader, it’s up to you to elicit the best from your audiences — employees, industry professionals and others. It requires disciplined practice, coach-ability and learning from your mistakes in order to conduct well-received presentations and facilitate well-run meetings.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2015

Jeannette Seibly is a business advisor who creates million-dollar results for business owners and executives of $5MM to $30MM enterprises. Along the way, she has guided the creation of three millionaires. http://SeibCo.com

Learn how-to sell yourself, your products and services, It’s Time to Brag! (http://Time2Brag.com)