Optimize Human Performance

Spotting Hidden Talent Easily

by
“Selecting people based on job fit increases employee and customer retention and profitability.” Jeannette Seibly

Did you know hidden talent can be easily spotted using a well-designed job-fit selection system?

While everyone is complaining about the difficulty in finding “hidden talent,” the reality is that the person could be right in front of you! However, your biases often get in the way of seeing their hidden talents. Other blocks that can get in the way include lack of objective data, unrealistic expectations … the list goes on and on.

Bottom line: We miss spotting hidden talent due to a lack of good, reliable, and objective data when making our hiring, promoting, and job transferring decisions.

Here Are Ways to Avoid These Common Pitfalls

Prepare Job Applicants. Send them a helpful video about your interview process and what to expect. Remember, for many, this is their first time talking with your company. Provide several interview questions (and be sure to ask at least one or two of these questions) so they feel comfortable with your selection process. I would also recommend sending them a link to the brag book: “The Secret to Winning the Job:  Start Bragging!” Many applicants have hidden talents that they need to learn how to share effectively!

Use Valid a Honesty/Integrity Assessment. These direct admission tools can only be used for pre-employment purposes (not current employees) can help weed out those job candidates that are good at selling themselves, but have things to hide. They also help provide safer workplace environments. Be sure to check with local and state statutes to avoid asking inappropriate questions (e.g., age, marital status, children, etc.).

Conduct Phone Screen Interviews to Gather Objective Data. Ask questions designed to reveal the facts of their past employment and education. Remember, verifying and documenting is essential. Too often, job candidates fail to get honest about job fit… they want the job. (For help in creating questions, READ Chapter 10, Hire Amazing Employees)

How many times have you hired someone and 2 hours or 2 weeks or 2 months later realized who you interviewed was not the person who has showed up for the job!

Use a Qualified Job-Fit Assessment. It’s crucial to see the “whole person” (e.g., thinking style, core behaviors, and occupational interests). Using the wrong assessment allows applicants to show themselves as they want to be seen, not as who they are. With over 3,000 published assessments available, selecting ones not designed or complying with the Department of Labor for pre-employment and selection use is easy. How do you know the difference? Ask for a technical manual and check for distortion, predictive validity, reliability, and validity coefficients. (See Chapter 9, Use the Right Assessments and Skill Tests, Hire Amazing Employees). Using the correct assessment, the right way makes all the difference in the selection process!

Interview for Job Fit. Too often our beliefs in the skills required are sabotaged by our subjective biases (e.g., since they are good in math, they will be good accountants or financial consultants; since they were friendly during the interview, they’ll be great bosses; etc.). Ask job-related questions and listen! Deep dive into their responses using the “Rule of 3” to determine the depth of their skills. (For additional insights about “Rule of 3” and creating job-related questions, READ Chapter 10, Hire Amazing Employees)

Conduct Due Diligence. It’s not uncommon for applicants to provide education, job titles, and companies that don’t exist! Make sure to conduct background, licensing, education, and other checks. Many times, using a third-party provider ensures a thorough and consistent process. (SEE Chapter 17, Types of Checks, Hire Amazing Employees)

Require Onboarding for Best Results. Start when the job offer is accepted and will continue over a period of months. Otherwise, your newest talent will “leave” while remaining on the payroll. (READ: Chapter 20, The Success of a New Hire Is Up to You! Hire Amazing Employees)

©Jeannette Seibly 2024 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a Talent Advisor/Leadership Results Coach with over 32 years of experience guiding leaders and bosses to improve their hiring, coaching, and managing practices and produce amazing results! And yes, it always starts with having the right people in the right jobs! She has been an Authorized PXT Select Partner for over 33 years. Contact Jeannette to learn more about this state-of-the-art job-fit assessment tool or how to coach and manage your people to achieve amazing results.

A note from Jeannette about discovering hidden talent: Often, we miss spotting hidden talent due to the lack of good, reliable, and objective data when making our hiring, promoting, and job-transferring decisions. With a well-designed job-fit selection system, let’s make let’s make this year a great one. Need help? Have questions? Contact me now!

It’s time to get honest and real! Are there days you dread managing people, projects, and your team’s financial performance? You’re not alone! Everyone has their blind spots! NOW is the time to get the guidance you need to make the right changes for 2024. I have extensive experience and wisdom guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams successfully. The bonus … they achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs.

Healing Our Inner Power Creates Leadership Success

by
“Healing our inner power is important to create a healthy and wealthy career.” Jeannette Seibly

What is inner power? It’s a: Quiet force within you that knows when to act and when to move and gives you the strength to do so. (Psychology Today)

When do leaders experience a loss of inner power? When you:

Many attempt to hide these types of losses or ignore them due to feelings of guilt, shame, or wanting to look good.

Remember, your inner power helps you stay resilient and resourceful and allows you to bounce back faster. It requires taking the time to recognize, factually, what occurred and your feelings associated with it. Then, do the work to move forward. (An excellent way to objectively discover what happened is to complete the worksheet “What Worked? / What Didn’t Work?)

10 Healing Ideas to Reclaim Your Inner Power 

  1. Make the Commitment. Nothing can genuinely change until you become responsible for where you are now and commit to moving forward. In my many conversations with leaders who have experienced a loss of inner power, they re-presence this declaration. It became the line in the sand of before and after. It’s when they get into focused action to move forward.
  2. Stop Creating Endless Goals. Attempting to pursue more than three goals at a time is usually too much, and why most people fail to achieve any of them. Get real about what you really-really-really want to accomplish. Now, get into focused action.
  3. Hire an Executive Coach (or other appropriate coach (e.g., health, finance)). The best way to move past a business or career loss is to get help. Work with the right coach to guide you in the right direction without the devastating ups and downs of trial and error. Please don’t make the common mistake of trying to do it yourself to avoid feeling shame or guilt. It’ll be more challenging to move on and achieve the needed wins.
  4. Know Yourself. Self-awareness is critical. Many leaders believe they know and trust themselves but are afraid to be seen as they are. It’ll take a toll on your health and well-being if you don’t get honest. Make sure to become aware of your blind spots and inherent talents. Now is an excellent time to discover them and learn new ways to develop your natural strengths. Remember, you cannot build your inner power on weaknesses.
  5. Build Healthy Relationships. Take the time to build positive professional, personal, and family relationships. Spend time with like-minded people by reaching out and taking the time to get to know them. Don’t forget to offer help as appropriate.
  6. Grieve Your Loss, But Don’t Wear It On Your Sleeve. When a loss occurs, take time to grieve. It’ll come out unexpectedly and hurt your progress if you don’t. For example, if your loss of power is due to a job or financial loss, it may be time to review the direction or path you’ve been pursuing.
  7. Hire a Licensed Therapist. It can speed up the healing process and help you make needed changes.
  8. Get Your Brag On! Take the time to conduct a “brag” inventory, and include strengths and successes you’ve experienced. This process helps you focus on “what’s next” instead of living in the past.
  9. Be Mindful. Practice mindful breathing and learn to be present during conversations. It’s where the aha’s occur!
  10. Love Yourself (for who you are and who you are not). Now is a great time for self-reflection. Journalling will help you grow and learn from your experiences.

©Jeannette Seibly 2022-2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for success. As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom can transform those bosses from hated to respected! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about healing an inner loss of power: We don’t know what 2024 will bring us after a year of economic, political, and worldwide upheaval. The key is to reclaim your inner power. It’s something you need to do each and every day. Since this is not an easy process, now’s the time to talk it out and claim it. Contact me for a confidential conversation.

It’s time to get honest and authentic! Are there days you dread managing people, projects, and your team’s financial performance? You’re not alone! Everyone has their blind spots! NOW is the time to get the guidance you need to make the right changes for 2024. I have extensive experience and wisdom guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams successfully. The bonus is that they achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs.

 

Are You Frustrated that You’re Unable to Find and Keep Top Talent?

by
“Are you feeling the stress due to your hiring practices? It’s time to make real changes.” Jeannette Seibly

There are four often overlooked reasons.

Many companies realize they have a problem finding and keeping top talent. They even know it’s due to their hiring managers’ bad habits and practices!

But realizing the obvious (e.g., interviewers need training) does nothing to create a positive difference with your job fit selection system.

How to Improve (not just read about) Your Company’s Retention, Revenues, and Results!

Use the Right Job-Fit Assessment. Legal and scientific (e.g., validity, reliability, predictive validity, and distortion) factors are often overlooked! And most assessments are not designed to comply with the Department of Labor Guidelines for pre-employment and selection purposes. Using the right one will help you achieve real results (e.g., salespeople who can close sales and CPAs/financial planners who enjoy working with financial data). When selecting a job-fit assessment, ask for the Technical Manual. Beware … run the other way if they provide a letter from their attorney. These letters are designed to protect them, not you! (Read Chapter 9, Use the Right Assessments and Skills Test, “Hire Amazing Employees)

Ask Job-Related Questions. Even though most hiring bosses know better, many ask inadequate or inappropriate interview questions. For example, “What’s your favorite movie/book/color/restaurant?” These questions have nothing to do with the job and are illegal! The focus needs to be on questions that address: Can they do the job? Are they willing to learn the job? Will they actually do the job? Can they be successful in doing the job here? (For help designing interview questions: SEE Chapter 12, Pointers for Successful Interviews, “Hire Amazing Employees”)

Recognize Your Competition’s Top Producer May Fail in Your Company. No two companies have identical cultures and values. It’s why a top results producer in one company may fail in another! A well-designed job-fit selection system will reveal whether or not they will succeed at your company. (SEE: Chapter 2, Create a Strategic Selection System, “Hire Amazing Employees”)

Know Your Biases and Judgments Make Little Difference. Yes, we ALL have them! Even you! How do you minimize the negative impacts of the biases and judgments? Recognize them using a well-designed job-fit selection system to hire, promote, and transfer your people! Do this now before the next rendition of the “Great Resignation” or “Great Attrition” occurs in 2024! It will save time, customers, and sleepless nights. (SEE: Chapter 1, The Selection Triad – What Is It and Why Should You Care? “Hire Amazing Employees”)

©Jeannette Seibly, 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a Talent Advisor/Leadership Results Coach with over 31 years of experience guiding leaders and bosses to improve their hiring, coaching, and managing practices and produce amazing results! And yes, it always starts with having the right people in the right jobs! She has been an Authorized PXT Select Partner with Wiley for over 31 years. To learn more about this state-of-the-art job-fit assessment tool, contact Jeannette.

Improve How You Speak to Create Better Results

by
“Your manner of speaking will create followers or detractors.” Jeannette Seibly
  • Have you ever attended a meeting where the F-bomb was used too often?
  • Do you or others use too much jargon or innuendos, leaving people annoyed?
  • Do you stop listening to people who talk for the sake of talking?
  • Have you been uncomfortable when sexist or racial comments are made?
  • Do you need to let everyone know when you are frustrated or upset?

When we’re honest with ourselves, we can all answer “yes” to the above questions.

The truth is that communicating with others can be exhausting when poor speaking habits are used. As a current or future boss, leader, and influencer, improving your way of speaking will create better results for your team, customers, and business.

How to Transform Your Speaking Style to Achieve Positive Results

Start your comments with the end in mind! This will keep your words on point, making you less likely to ramble. When sharing, focus on moving the conversation forward, not rehashing what’s already been said. It keeps your listeners listening!

Stick with common words. Use simple words. For example, use ‘generous’ instead of ‘magnanimous.’ Using common words gets everyone on the same page faster and keeps everyone’s attention. Remember, when writing (emails, memos, manuals, articles, or books), people do not look up the big words and will stop reading if you use more than one.

Stop talking to talk. Many people talk too much and too long. Then, they use inappropriate words, jargon, or innuendos to bring back the team’s attention. Instead, learn to share a personal experience or story. Keep it smart and simple! Really, really, really smart and simple! (Hint: Stay away from the details!)

Define jargon. Use the actual words when using jargon. Example: A/R, A/P, and ROI use Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Return on Investment). It keeps the audience listening to you! Remember, while those listening will say they understand, they are embarrassed to admit they don’t. It also prevents miscommunication when the audience relies on their interpretation.

Refrain from innuendos and gossip. It hurts your credibility since 99 percent of the time, you don’t have the facts. Get the facts and share them with the person who can make a difference (e.g., theft – talk with security or HR; not doing their share – talk directly with the person; poor job of hiring the right people – talk with the hiring boss, HR, and your CFO/Controller).

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom guides clients to achieve intended dynamic results consistently! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about improving how you speak and the results you achieve: Do you want to improve your results and those of your team? Improve how you speak, your choice of words, and pay attention to your audience. Contact me for a confidential conversation about becoming a great communicator! 

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? A great boss works with an experienced executive coach as a sounding board. I have extensive experience and wisdom guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams. Along the way, they achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs. Remember, your effectiveness, influence, and confidence will accelerate when you have a coach.

What Do You Do When Your Team Is Hurting Results?

by
“When a team fails to achieve intended results, bosses and leaders need to look in the mirror first for answers!” Jeannette Seibly

No one likes to think their team is hurting results. But dismissing the issue, believing it’s unimportant, and failing to take responsibility for the systems and outcomes is a no-win for teams, bosses, customers, and leaders! Remember, finding new customers and talent costs a lot of money. And it overlooks the necessity to improve quality and your team’s reputation!

Tips to Discover and Improve Results

Get into Action. Ask questions to get to the core of the issue. Use an objective process: “What Worked? / What Didn’t Work?” Debrief as a team. This exercise will end the usual finger-pointing or the blame game. During this process, use acknowledgment for the “good things that did happen.” Appreciation encourages viable solutions!

Be in Communication. Keep your team and co-workers apprised when there is an issue. Ask questions after conducting your team debrief to see what else may be missing. Do this immediately, BEFORE talking with the customer or other people affected. Keep everyone up-to-date while valuing their input! Promise to resolve the issue(s). (Very Important Hint: Don’t drop the ball … people have long memories when promises are not kept! These memories can stifle your co-workers and team from working with you in the future.)

“Excuses don’t help make things better. They only offer a rationale to avoid trying.”

Simon Sinek

Bring in Outside Expertise. Everyone wants to hide that they failed to achieve the intended results, fearing embarrassment and humiliation. Consider that bringing in outside help takes the pressure off you to have all the answers. (Hint: You don’t; others may not value your opinions right now.) Work with these experts to diagnose the actual issue. Listen. Make appropriate changes. Don’t forget that ongoing and consistent training is crucial when developing new habits!

Use a Qualified Job Fit Assessment. When teams and team members fit their job, it diminishes miscommunication, factionalism, and other mischief! Often, issues can be resolved by using people’s strengths and placing them in the right jobs! First, refine job descriptions and job responsibilities. Second, develop the skills that impact the quality of the results: communication, critical thinking, and team management.

Top-Down Challenge. When results fail, many bosses and leaders focus on the bottom-up (employees v. management). Consider the issue may be you! While many bosses and leaders believe they are above reproach, their rigid perspectives and do-as-I-say mindset get in the way. Remember, it’s not business as usual anymore! Bring in an executive coach/consultant to improve the management team’s coachability and ability to coach others for results. Then, empower each boss and leader and provide the tools to make the necessary team changes.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom guides clients to achieve intended dynamic results consistently! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about when your team hurts intended results: Set aside the normal finger-pointing! Now, create conversations and solutions to create win-win-win outcomes. Contact me for a confidential conversation about how to have conversations that produce intended results.

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? Great bosses work with an experienced executive coach as a sounding board. I have extensive experience and wisdom in guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams. Along the way, they achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to achieve intended results for you and your teams!

Factionalism Hurts Retention, Revenues, and Results in Any Company

by
“Eliminating factionalism positively impacts your company’s revenues, results, and retention.” Jeannette Seibly

Factionalism is: A condition in which a team or company is split into two or more smaller groups with differing and often opposing opinions or interests. (Dictionary.com)

We expect teams and departments within any company to work well together all the time. This expectation can be unrealistic. In reality, every company will have conflicts here and there. It’s when those disagreements don’t go away that factionalism erupts. It creates dysfunctional workplace cultures and hurts employee satisfaction, customer retention, and the bottom line.

What Causes Factionalism?

When leaders cannot satisfactorily resolve animosity, competition, indifference, and ongoing disputes, teams, co-workers, and bosses often take on bad attitudes, take sides, or blame others.

Factionalism erupts due to:

  • Negative attitudes by bosses and leaders toward each other or a small group of people
  • Hiring, promoting, or job transferring people that don’t fit the job responsibilities
  • Pitting departments or groups of employees against one another for competing needs
  • Adversarial mindsets (e.g., sales reps blame customer service or operations when a customer is lost)
  • Allowing egos to get in the way (e.g., “we” v. “I” OR “us” v. “them”)
  • Forgetting about the importance of the mission and vision of the company
  • Withholding important information
  • Not holding remote and hybrid workers to performance and company standards
  • Blaming the customer or group of employees for mistakes or problems

How to Be the Solution to Factionalism and Not the Contributor to the Problem

Communication, Communication, Communication. There are many bosses and employees who are not good or great communicators. Poor communication causes people to take sides with “he said this” v. “no, she said that” v. “I thought it meant this.” As the boss or leader, ask questions to uncover the true intention and facilitate win-win-win outcomes. Remember, factionalism often begins as a small solvable concern before it erupts into an impenetrable mountain.

Solve Conflicts Immediately. When someone deliberately and consistently impedes progress creating confusion or chaos, s/he needs to be coached or removed from the job or team, or conflict will escalate.

Examples include:

  • Withholding information and resources
  • Ignoring emails or advice
  • Making the solutions more complicated than necessary
  • Blocking issues from being fixed
  • Hostility towards others’ ideas
  • Refusal to take advice that can make a difference
  • Failure to admit mistakes
  • Unwillingness to resolve team conflict

The truth is that when your team members (or you) lack the communication, project management, and people skills required, change is necessary. Hire an executive coach and use a performance improvement plan to ensure they are making progress.

Get Real. Gossip, myths, and lack of critical thinking impede the truth. Also, the lack of top-down or down-up conversations (communication) hinders addressing the real issues. You must realize that when customers and top talent leave, it’s important to tell yourself and co-workers the truth about resources, company and people changes, and customer requirements.

Hold Team Retreats and Inter-Team/Department Discussions. Training in communication, team building, team meetings, and confidence building are just a few examples that help everyone keep the lines of communication open to reduce factionalism. When your employees or teams get territorial about their work and systems, it’s usually because they do minimal work to get by (e.g., quiet quitting) or fear asking for help. Hire an outside facilitator to create insightful group discussions, ensure everyone is heard, and keep everyone engaged.

Use Job Fit Assessments to Understand Differences Objectively. When you or your team blame others for not thinking and working like you do, it’s time to understand “why objectively.”

In my experience, using a qualified job fit tool can reduce factionalism. It helps everyone understand and appreciate differences objectively; productive conversations and communication open up too. Job fit assessments have the highest scientific validation and reliability and provide more accurate data. They can eliminate miscommunication, blaming or nitpicking, or other disrespectful behaviors and attitudes that create factionalism.

Fulfilling Expectations. When you expect others to get along AND make your own effort to get along with others, you will reduce factionalism. Enforce policies and procedures, set clear guidelines on ‘no-tolerance policies’ (e.g., choice of words, favoritism), and refuse to allow your team to bypass others, citing the need for expediency. (Hint: It’ll actually take longer to resolve when the detour is discovered!)

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? With Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom, she guides clients through sticky situations and challenging relationships for dynamic results! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about factionalism in your workplace culture: As bosses and leaders, it starts with you! You set the example and the tone within your teams of how to get along and work well with others. Get involved. Listen to concerns. Have conversations for win-win-win outcomes. Contact me for a confidential discussion about how to reduce and eliminate factionalism.

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? Great bosses work with an experienced executive coach as a sounding board. I have extensive experience and wisdom in guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to manage, lead, and influence others.

Bosses impact everyone’s ability to love their jobs, enjoy learning new skills, and work well with others. To accelerate your team’s results, use the PXT Select to see the “whole person.”

Tough Times Require Resilient Bosses to Achieve Results

by
“Bosses … resiliency during tough times is the key to achieve amazing results and future career opportunities.” Jeannette Seibly

Today’s workplaces are undergoing tough changes and need resilient bosses! But, instead, many bosses allow their frustrations and inability to transform relationships and situations to get in the way.

Do you:

  • Believe hiring for job fit is nonsense and takes too much time?
  • Believe your team should get their jobs done faster by doing it your way (aka micromanaging)?
  • Feel your customers demand too much from you? Your team?
  • Hate your team constantly bringing you problems and making your job more difficult?
  • Believe it takes too much time to get others’ input, especially when you won’t use it anyway?

If you are being truthful, you will answer yes to at least one of these questions.

As a boss, it’s usually easier to achieve intended results during the good times. But it’s during the tough and uncertain times that team members will either value and follow you for your resiliency and “can-do” attitude, or post negative ratings!

How to Build Your Resilience to Achieve Results

Develop Your Inner Power. Your self-esteem is important. It’s a reflection of your inner power and resiliency when mistakes occur and problems arise. Take the time to work with an executive coach. Also, consider talk therapy with a licensed therapist. Take part in workshops focused on developing your confidence and communication skills, while upgrading your project and people management talents.

Ask for Help and Feedback. Now, more than ever, you cannot go it alone, especially during tough times. Learn how to ask for help and ask for feedback from your team, co-workers, boss, and others when making decisions. Make sure you’re really listening! Be open to expanding your point-of-view … remember, it’s not business as usual. Example: When a customer is unhappy, ask for specific feedback of what didn’t work! Now, get the team in focused action to create and implement solutions, not excuses!

Hire for Job Fit. Job fit is why teams excel! But too many hiring bosses believe anyone can do any job successfully. The problem is, if the person doesn’t have the interest, thinking style, or core behaviors, they will fail to achieve intended results. Poor job fit often results in miscommunication, conflict, and other mischief (aka a lot of extra problems, work, and sleepless nights)!

Coach and Manage for Quality Results. Stop settling for mediocrity and accepting excuses, especially when you can make a huge impact during uncertain times. (Think, your competition has already given up.) Learn to ask good business questions designed to get your team thinking outside the box, and critically thinking about how to fulfill customer demands. Learn to brainstorm and do not dismiss off-the-wall ideas! (Hint: They are usually the best ones!)

Mindfulness and EI are Still Important. Your emotional intelligence (EI) and ability to be present during conversations are the marks of a good boss. Life and business are never easy all the time. Example: It requires continually developing your resilience and willingness to say, “I/we made a mistake … this is how I/we plan to fix it.” Then, get it resolved immediately!

Don’t Shy Away from Tough Conversations. Remember, your voice matters! Stop going into meetings believing your ideas won’t matter! Instead of being defensive in these meetings, state your commitment and concerns first. Second, ask questions to discover and uncover others’ true hesitations or differing opinions. Listen. There will be areas of agreement that you can build on. Be a parrot when necessary, and don’t become emotionally attached to the outcome. Remember, the goal is win-win-win.

Keep Developing You, Your Individual Team Members, and Your Team as a Whole. Guard your budget dollars to ensure ongoing training and development. Now is not the time to dismiss developing everyone’s skills because you cannot afford it! If there’s a will, there’s way (think, taking initiative and being resourceful). Remember, tough times don’t last, but tough bosses do!

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? With Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom, she guides clients through sticky situations and challenging relationships for dynamic results! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about being a resilient boss during tough times: Remember, tough times don’t last, but tough bosses do! Do you know how to be resilient when you want to pull the covers up over your head and call-in to take a personal day? This week, discover and put into action at least one tip to develop your resiliency. Contact me for a confidential conversation about hiring, coaching, and managing for profitable success during tough times.

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? Great bosses work with an experienced executive coach as a sounding board. I have extensive experience and wisdom in guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching increases your resiliency and has you succeed during tough times!

Bosses impact retention, revenues, and results each and every day by how they engage employees. To improve your bottom line, use the PXT Select to see the “whole person.”

Are You Sabotaging Your Employees?

by
“Good decisions will not sabotage your employees.” Jeannette Seibly
  • Are you a leader that believes you make good decisions?
  • Are you aware of the times your decisions have sabotaged your employees and others?
  • Have your employees and customers had to clean up issues caused by your bad decisions?

As a boss and leader, you must make decisions in the best interest of the company, its customers, and employees. But, often, due to limited/mediocre/poor critical thinking, playing favorites, or not understanding the core issue, these decisions sabotage your employees and negatively impact others.

Good Decisions Need These Critical Factors

It Starts with Clarity. What is the core issue of the problem? Once it is identified, wait! Before you implement a solution, conduct your due diligence! While you may believe you’ve answered the pros and cons, there is a bigger, often overlooked question, “How does this decision impact my employees now and in the future?”

Ask for Input! While it may seem like an excellent decision, it does not mean others will agree. Talk with employees and customers to better understand the core issue from their perspectives instead of relying on rationalization or circular thinking! Brainstorm possible solutions.

A company needed a better technology application for its core program. The problem? Their solution did not include input from the salespeople that use it, sabotaging sales!

Listen! Instead of pushing your agenda, talking over employees’ objections, and ignoring customers’ and coworkers’ concerns, listen! Or, they will covertly (and overtly) sabotage you! Don’t overlook or ignore the hard questions. For example, “What is the #1 challenge for getting everyone onboard?”

Plan for Impacts. When designing the plan, consider the well-being of your employees. Stress and mental health challenges are at an all-time high. So, plan for the number of hours expected, changes in workflow, and new skills required.

Focus on Creating Win-Win-Win Outcomes. Focus on alignment for the solution, not consensus building. Consensus building often sabotages efforts due to the fear of change and office politics.

Keep Everyone Up to Date. Use all forms of communication (emails, internal newsletters, and chats) to keep everyone apprised of the process and results. Include the challenges and wins. Good communication minimizes sabotaging or unexpected changes.

Get Real and Don’t Insulate Employees. When there are tough (and unpopular) decisions to be made, talk straight. Address the alternatives considered. Share the upside and downside of your decision. The worse things you can do are: be silent, hide, or make assumptions (or all three).

Compassion and Sensitivity. This can go a long way towards having your decisions well received with minimal disruption and sabotaging of your employees.

Most Importantly! Don’t Blame Your Employees. Every decision-maker has made bad decisions. But great leaders and bosses understand they must take responsibility for them. What can you do to correct them? Start first by talking with your executive coach and an internal company mentor before doing anything. Otherwise, you can make the outcomes of a bad decision even worse!

(c)Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Right Reserved

If you’d like to help employees to be talent ready, explore using the PXT Select to ensure job fit now and for future opportunities.

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? Her wisdom guides clients through sticky situations and challenging relationships for dynamic results! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about sabotaging your employees: You and other bosses frequently make decisions believing they are in the company’s and customers’ best interest. But, at times, these decisions can and do sabotage or negatively impact your employees. Contact me for a confidential conversation about how to avoid sabotaging your employees!

Have you considered the benefits of strengthening your superpowers and becoming a great boss? It’s not complicated, but it does require an experienced sounding board. I have extensive experience guiding bosses and leaders to work with and through their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to make better decisions and prevent sabotaging your employees.

Use Qualified Assessments to Ensure Talent Readiness

by

A note from Jeannette about using qualified assessments for talent readiness: Attracting scarce skilled job candidates and preparing current employees is critical for talent readiness. Using suitable job fit assessments and skills testing are vital, but require using the correct ones. Contact me for a confidential conversation about how to get started.

  • Are you tired of hiring and promoting the wrong people?
  • Are you finding it challenging to find skilled, qualified job candidates?
  • Are you frustrated because you keep hiring people for the wrong jobs?

The biggest challenge facing many employers today, and in the foreseeable future, is talent readiness! Skilled workers are scarce. And many employees need upskilling and reskilling to meet technological, economic, and greener business practices. (ERE|Recruiting News & Information)

It’s time bosses, and leaders got serious about using qualified assessments and skills testing. These are essential to ensure your employees and job candidates are talent ready. As a leader, you can no longer avoid using qualified assessments without losing customers, top talent, and profitability.

Assessments Are Important to Ensure Talent Readiness

According to Talent Board’s 2022 research, candidates and employees, regardless of gender, race, and age, expressed higher perceived fairness when companies used job-related assessments. It also improved the company’s reputation as a good employer; supported diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives; and improved hiring, promotion, and job transfer results.

Choosing the correct pre-employment assessment is difficult. Too often, leaders and bosses rely on assessments that are only appropriate for team building and communication development. However, they failed to conduct research to ensure the assessment(s) meet Department of Labor (DOL) guidelines for PRE-employment purposes, and post-employment promotions and job transfers. Using the wrong assessment can get you in trouble.

Assessments that meet DOL guidelines have higher validity, reliability, and predictive validity. Some also provide cognitive abilities and occupational interests information. When used as directed, the correct assessments provide superior insights for talent readiness. (READ: Use the Right Assessments and Skills Tests, Hire Amazing Employees, Chapter 9)

Tips to Improve Talent Readiness

Use Qualified Tools. Many hiring managers overlook great candidates and employees by not using qualified tools. Using the right assessments removes the mystery of assessing for actual skills and job fit. Using high-quality assessments and skills testing shows who employees and job candidates are, not how they want to be seen. For example, many job candidates and employees want jobs in sales because they believe it’s where they’ll make the most money. The challenge is they can talk the talk but fail to produce the required results of prospecting, presenting, and closing sales.

Deep Dive Now. Focus on what is actually required for your workforce to be talent ready. Poll customers, talk with employees, and network with industry peers to help determine current and future requirements.

Train Your People. Training for hiring bosses and recruiters is often overlooked due to time and money, and egos. But failure to get real and use and follow a strategic selection system will hurt your company’s agility and survival. Savvy job candidates and skilled talent will leave due to being overlooked for the right jobs and opportunities.

Stop Requiring College Degrees. Focusing on talent readiness predicts job performance more than hiring based on education and past work experience. Employees who don’t feel they are utilizing their skills are 10 times more likely to seek a new job. (World Economic Forum)

Ask Job-Related Interview Questions. It’s a bad practice to rely on pseudo-psychology type questions like, “What’s your favorite color?” “Who’s your favorite author and book?” These do not support talent readiness and can create employment liability issues. Focus on the job skills required and the person’s interest and aptitude to learn the job.

Know Your Employee and Job-Candidate Skills. Use valid skills tests to determine the depth and breadth of job candidates and current employees’ proficiency in using the skills. Contrary to popular myths, employees and job candidates enjoy well-design assessments and skills tests to help them develop and improve their skills and employability.

Clarify Education and Training Required. Provide ongoing training to upskill and reskill your people. Remember, a certificate is not an indicator of the employee’s capability to use critical thinking and create solutions. It’s why skills testing is required. (Consider a recent conversation with a customer service rep who lacked the interest or skills to use the company’s system to resolve your issue. Frustrating, wasn’t it?) Don’t overlook developing communication, critical thinking, teamwork, and resiliency skills too.

Ask an Often-Overlooked Question! Ask job candidates and current employees, “What are your career goals now and in the future!” Their opportunities to pursue career and life goals are crucial indicators of long-term job satisfaction, and will impact your company’s retention. (Talent Board) Develop a personalized career path program, including the necessary education and training required to help employees succeed.

(c)Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Right Reserved

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

A note from Jeannette about using qualified assessments for talent readiness: Attracting scarce skilled job candidates and preparing current employees is critical for talent readiness. Using suitable job fit assessments and skills testing is vital, but it requires using the correct ones. Contact me for a confidential conversation about how to get started.

Have you considered the benefits of strengthening your superpowers and becoming a great boss? It’s not complicated, but it does require an experienced sounding board. I have extensive experience guiding bosses and leaders to work with and through their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one hour coaching program. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to be talent ready.

Great Results Require Winning Attitudes!

by
“A healthy relationship with ‘winning’ is required to blast through circumstances.” Jeannette Seibly

Winning isn’t everything, but developing a winning attitude is required to achieve amazing results, especially in the face of negativity, misperception, and other limiting circumstances. The bonus? It feels great!

However, many people today have conflicted feelings and attitudes about winning. They find it more comfortable to conform to peer pressure, not exceed others’ expectations, and not rock the boat. Unfortunately, this attitude gets in the way of winning for them and their teams. While it keeps them from overshadowing others, there is a huge personal and professional cost (e.g., being overlooked for promotions, not being selected for key opportunities, low self-esteem, confidence, etc.).

Why is having a winning attitude vital for you?

  • It creates healthy self-esteem while improving your results.
  • It builds your confidence and mindful awareness.
  • It provides you the courage to ask for help, hire a coach, and influence others.
  • It increases your ability to take the initiative, be coachable, and be resourceful.
  • It makes you promotable while having more fun and making more money.

Remember, especially when you want to throw in the towel and say, “I give up,” it’s not about whether you win or lose. It’s about your attitude toward winning. It’s about enjoying the process of gaining new knowledge, skills, and awareness that comes from a winning attitude. And these experiences are priceless.

How to Create a Healthy Winning Attitude

  1. Do the Work Instead of Creating Excuses. We all love our excuses. But they get in the way of winning! When the process isn’t working, don’t let it deter you from achieving the goal! Don’t change the goal; instead, change the process. Remember, the process rarely looks like you think it should! It requires stretching outside your comfort zone and developing a new one.
  2. Take Initiative. Too often, people dream the dream but fail to honor the commitments required. They blame other people and situations. Instead, make a good plan and follow it. To achieve any goal, focus on what’s important to you. Now, get in the game and go for it! That’s taking the initiative and getting into focused action.
  3. When Obstacles Occur, and They Will, Become Resourceful! Everyone hits a wall. Sometimes it’s a massive one. But giving up isn’t an option. Instead, be flexible, resourceful, and resilient. Adopt the winning mantra, “I can do this, and I do it.” Now, take it moment by moment, step by step, and day by day as you move forward. Yes, there will continue to be bumps in the road. But don’t let them stop you.
  4. Celebrate the Wins with Gratitude, not Ego. When you win, it’s important to celebrate and acknowledge your accomplishments! Add the achievements to your resume and bio. Bragging in a humble manner works! Don’t forget to say, “Thank you!” to those that helped you along the way! (You didn’t achieve it without them!)

©Jeannette Seibly 2021-2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has guided the creation of three millionaires and countless 6-figure income professionals. As an award-winning international executive and family business management consultant, keynote speaker, and author for over 30 years, she guides others to make a positive difference. Feel stuck in a political work situation? Want clear advice on how to get out of it? Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.

A Note from Jeannette about having a winning attitude and achieving amazing results: Too often, we rely on our excuses for not achieving intended results. The truth is that we need to stop accepting mediocrity and develop a winning attitude. It’s not hard, and there is work to be done. The rewards are: It feels great and can offer external rewards too (e.g., promotion, new home, etc.)! What do you want to accomplish? It’s not too late to get started! Let’s Chat!

Are you frustrated because you are a results producer and now not producing the intended results? It’s time to find out “why” and get back into the game. It requires seeing your blind spots and hiring a coach! I have extensive experience guiding bosses and leaders to work with and through their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one coaching program over 13 weeks. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to win.