professional development

Are You Open to Listening?

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“Are you open to hearing what’s being said? If not, you’ll lose out on many new possibilities, opportunities, and solutions.” Jeannette Seibly

Most of you would say, “Of course.”

But earlier today, when a co-worker or employee needed to talk, you played Spider Solitaire or let your thoughts wander while they spoke. Then, when they asked a question, you replied, “Could you please repeat that? I wasn’t listening.” You do that more than once.

I remember coaching a young man whose company had asked me to support his leadership growth. During the call, I suspected he wasn’t listening. I asked what he was doing.

He twitched and said, “Listening.”

“No, what are you really doing?”

He gave a sheepish grin and admitted he was watching a newsfeed on his phone.

“You do remember the purpose of these calls is to prepare you for a promotion, correct?” He nodded.

“As a leader, you need to learn how to truly listen—especially when you don’t want to hear what someone is saying.”

He asked, “Why? If they’re boring or I’ve heard it before?”

I responded, “Because in your listening, you and others can hear something new … a solution … new opportunity … new possibility. It’s how you develop your leadership—and your people. Otherwise, your legacy might be, ‘He never listened.’”

Several years ago, I was walking in the one-mile parklike setting where I live. There are usually plenty of people out with their dogs. Sometimes, they’ll even talk with you!

I recognized a dog, so I stopped to pet her. I asked the woman, “How are you doing? How’s Sadie?” She’d adopted the dog just a month earlier.

She said, “I’m good. Sadie’s doing well, too.” I smiled. Then she added, “I had been visualizing this dog. Other opportunities fell through, but I kept visualizing. Now, here she is.”

Why was this important to me? My cat had just passed away. I wasn’t sure if I wanted another. But in that moment of being open and listening, I knew I did. Later, I started visualizing. Even cut out a picture. Within a short time, I adopted Remy from the local humane shelter.

It happened because I was open to listening.

What Do You Need to Do to Improve Your Openness to Listening?

  • Be Curious. You don’t know it all. You never will. When you bring curiosity to your listening, you learn, grow, and develop ideas or dreams.
  • Ask Questions. There are books filled with conversation starters. They’re helpful. When using these ideas, these prompts can also unlock deeper thoughts you’ve been mulling over. If you don’t have a book with question starters, use your curiosity and ask open-ended questions. This is much better than gossiping—or recycling the same old ideas.
  • Humble Up. Your ego will try to protect you by refusing to listen. When you hear new ideas, you might feel excited… then uncomfortable… then fearful. That’s a good sign. It means the ideas are nudging you forward. Acknowledge your feelings—and keep the ideas flowing. Then, take focused action on one of them! What opened up?

Here’s another way to look at it: Wouldn’t it be better if your legacy said, “He was a great boss because he really listened,” rather than, “I hated going to work each day because he never listened to anything I said.”

©Jeannette Seibly 2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a legacy-driven Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Amazon Best-Selling Business Author. For over 33 years, she has empowered thousands of executives and business leaders to achieve sustainable success through strategic hiring, values-based coaching, and intentional leadership development. Her work blends clarity, accountability, and soulful impact—activating performance and purpose at every level.

Ready to elevate your openness to positively impact your next chapter? Let’s talk.

From Guesswork to Clarity: Hiring with Job-Fit Assessments Improves Revenues and Results

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“Job fit assessments take the guesswork out of your hiring process to improve revenues, retention, and results.”

In today’s hiring climate, speed often masquerades as strategy. Managers are urged to act fast—yet when the “right” candidate doesn’t surface, your hiring strategy often goes out the window.

Beneath the urgency and hesitancy lies a deeper tension:

  • Will this hire stick?
  • Will they elevate the team—or disrupt it?
  • Are we measuring what matters?

When clarity falters, misalignment follows. Promising candidates walk. Loyal customers drift. And retention, revenue, and results quietly erode.

When hiring decisions rely on urgency or intuition alone, managers often struggle to identify candidates who:

  • Have vague or inflated skills – that don’t translate to performance
  • Avoid accountability – by justifying shortcuts or disregarding rules
  • Resist feedback – rationalizing poor choices and showing little willingness to learn
  • Lack the long-term attitude or behavior needed – to support team growth and client retention
  • Require hands-on training – but resist being shown or told how to improve

These blind spots lead to failure and building a resilient, high-performing team. Without objective data from validated job fit assessments, better hiring outcomes remain out of reach.

Tired of interviewing a person and having them change their personality within two to 90 days? Keep reading.

What is a Job Fit Assessment?

It’s a screening tool that helps managers hire with purpose—defining roles, aligning expectations, and selecting candidates who truly fit.

Using “whole person” data—thinking style, core behavior, and occupational interests—reveals who a candidate is beneath the polish, not just how they want to be seen.

A job fit assessment shifts hiring from reactive to intentional, offering reliable, replicable insights that meet Department of Labor guidelines for both hiring and promotion.

Please note: Assessments are just one-third of the decision. Interviews (1/3) and due diligence (1/3) complete the trio.

Why are “qualified” job fit tools often overlooked? Most importantly, not all assessments are equal. A “qualified” job fit tool used for hiring and promotion must meet distinct scientific and legal standards. Most assessments don’t.

To be “qualified” and effective, these tools must:

  • Be scientifically validated and reliable, with proven predictive validity
  • Minimize bias and promote fairness
  • Deliver objective data for consistent, defensible decisions
  • Be easy to interpret and apply across roles and teams
  • Align with actual job performance

Why Are Job Fit Assessments Critical to Your Company’s Success?

Clarify Role Expectations. Most job descriptions list tasks, but few articulate a role’s impact on finances, systems, and people. A qualified job-fit assessment helps managers move beyond vague responsibilities to define true accountability about what success looks like (e.g., hiring salespeople who close deals, not just educate prospects; hiring financial planners who enjoy working with numbers).

Define Success Metrics. Hiring isn’t just about filling a seat—it’s about fueling performance. Job-fit assessments help managers identify what matters and avoid repeating costly mistakes:

  • What are the candidate’s natural strengths?
  • What skills need development?
  • How can we best support their success?
  • Are they coachable and open to feedback?

The insights provided by a qualified job fit assessment shape interviews, onboarding, and coaching—and reduce bias by anchoring decisions in data, not assumptions (e.g., eliminating bias tied to gender, age, education, or experience).

Align with Team Culture. Skills get candidates hired. Culture keeps them. The right assessment reveals how a candidate’s values, work style, and decision-making align with the team, company, and role—revealing synergy or friction before the hire.

Paired with honesty-integrity direct admission tools, managers gain deeper insight into values (e.g., drugs, theft, attendance), supporting trust-building from day one.

When managers hire with clarity, everything shifts:

  • Interviews become focused and strategic
  • Onboarding becomes purposeful and personalized
  • Teams align around purpose—not just performance
  • Objective data drives measurable outcomes (e.g., retention, revenue, results)
  • Employees engage more deeply when their roles fit
  • Customer satisfaction and team cohesion grow stronger

In short, qualified job-fit assessments aren’t just tools—they’re catalysts for sustainable retention, revenue, and results.

©Jeannette Seibly 2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, has guided thousands of executives and business leaders to achieve remarkable success over the past 33 years. Her specialty is delivering innovative solutions for hiring, coaching, and leadership challenges—with excellence and accountability at the core.

How can I help you select the right job fit assessment to improve retention, revenues, and results?

Want to Hire Job Loyalists? First, Evaluate the Costs and Benefits

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“To grow, a company’s leadership must embrace change and hiring job loyalists can create positive legacies.” Jeannette Seibly

Many GenXers and Millennials who have been job hoppers are now looking for an employer for “life.” As an employer and as a ‘job loyalist,’ it’s important to become aware of the costs and benefits of job longevity.

Many GenX and Millennial leaders who have spent their careers job hopping every 3 to 5 years are now seeking to find a home or in other words become a ‘job loyalist.’ A job loyalist is intending to stay, contribute, and construct a legacy with a purposeful role. This shift resembles a trend of job hugging; however, job huggers typically plan to pursue new opportunities once economic or external conditions improve.

Job loyalists aim to find one final employer where they can stay and retire—ideally for 10 to 20 years – from job hopping to job holding. Often, this decision is influenced by family needs, health considerations, or personal life pursuits.

Yet both employers and job loyalists frequently overlook a critical reality: those who crave new and exciting work often possess traits such as independence, unconventional thinking, and a need for new challenges – otherwise they become bored. Also, these same traits can mask leadership blind spots that undermine long-term success and the ability to stay with one employer for a long period of time without developing deeper leadership skills.

In today’s fast-paced environment, companies and leaders must balance experience with fresh perspectives, strategic risk-taking, and cultural adaptability to remain competitive. While job loyalist with deep industry knowledge can provide these insights, companies must ask: Can this job loyalist continue to grow without compromising innovation, agility, or strategic clarity?

Costs of Job Loyalists

Being aware of the following pitfalls can help avoid hiring a job loyalist looking for an interim safe place to land.

  1. Risk Aversion and Complacency. Long tenure can foster comfort over courage. Leaders who once embraced bold change may now avoid disruptive innovation to protect their position.
  2. Stagnation in Decision-Making. Without fresh perspectives, strategic choices may default to legacy thinking rather than future readiness. Leaders may prioritize being liked over being effective.
  3. Reduced Agility. Lifelong roles can slow organizational pivoting. Reassigning or reimagining roles becomes difficult when longevity is the job loyalist’s goal. Top talent, your future leaders, will exit if this occurs.
  4. Saboteur of Evolution. Job loyalists may resist cultural evolution, especially in areas like DEI, tech adoption, or emerging leadership styles. “We’ve always done it this way” becomes a silent saboteur.
  5. Complacency on the Job. Remaining in the same company and similar roles may feel comforting to the job loyalist, but it can quietly erode the agility, innovation, digital literacy, and growth every company needs to thrive.
  6. Former job hoppers—now aspiring job loyalists—once thrived on frequent raises, new titles, and fresh challenges. When promises made by new employers are forgotten, ego and lack of trust may prompt them to start job hopping again.

The Benefits of Keeping Job Loyalists and Future Leaders Engaged

Remember, use a strategic job fit selection system including qualified job fit tools to ensure the quality of hiring (including Boomerangs (rehires)), coaching, and managing.

Create Career Pathways and Career Ladders. Talent bottlenecks can be caused by job loyalists. Provide new career pathways and ladders to prevent career blocks for emerging talent and keep current leaders agile. For example: Rather than relying solely on the traditional career ladder, transition executives into board roles or company-affiliated foundations. This opens up new responsibilities and creates opportunities for rising leaders.

Update Current Workplace Culture. Ensure your workforce prioritizes purpose, flexibility, resilience, idea generation, and growth over permanence. Without this shift, attracting top talent becomes increasingly difficult.

Keep Skills Current. Long-tenured employees may avoid reskilling or adapting to changes in technology, human development, finance, and operations. Job loyalists often prioritize personal comfort over company-wide changes, leading to mismatches between role demands and stakeholder expectations. Make skill adaptation and accountability non-negotiable across the company.

Keep Succession Planning Current. Sudden exits can create leadership vacuums and operational disruption. Never assume someone will always remain in a role—or that the #2 person is ready.

One individual served as the #2 for over a decade. When promoted to #1 after his boss retired, he lacked decision-making and critical thinking experience at the enterprise level. He was fired six months later by the board of directors. As an independent consultant, his lack of tech and leadership skills led to closing his consulting business within a year.

Reframe From Keeping a Lifelong Job to Being a Lifelong Contributor. Instead of anchoring leaders to longevity, companies can:

  • Promote lifelong learning and legacy-building by requiring ongoing management development through symposiums or conferences (e.g., encourage leaders to share ideas and facilitate breakout workshops that activate strategic thinking and peer engagement).
  • Encourage role evolution through horizontal or vertical job expansion to meet new business demands (e.g., lead AI initiatives, spearhead wellness programs, drive goal completion, and transform employee development).
  • Design contribution pathways that honor experience without stifling innovation (e.g., mentoring, college and trade school presentations, onboarding support). Ensure the job loyalists have developed engaging and talent-attracting presentations by requiring public speaking training (this applies to all presenters).

©Jeannette Seibly 2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, has guided thousands of executives and business leaders to achieve remarkable success over the past 33 years. Her specialty is delivering innovative solutions for hiring, coaching, and leadership challenges—with excellence and accountability at the core.

Remember, use a strategic job fit selection system including qualified job fit tools to ensure the quality of hiring (including Boomerangs (rehires)), coaching, and managing.

Bridging Communication Gaps to Unlock Better Results

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“Bridging communication gaps aligns your team to unlock better results.” Jeannette Seibly

For many bosses and leaders, bridging communication gaps or resolving communication issues feels like an overwhelming challenge they’d rather avoid.

Instead, they wait, try to control or manipulate their team members, or shift responsibility—and blame—to someone else.

Why? Because they either don’t know how to fix it, fear making things worse, or hesitate to ask for help and follow through.

But when you bridge communication gaps, you foster stronger working relationships, reduce project errors, and boost retention and revenues. In other words, your results become truly remarkable.

5 Key Strategies to Align Your Team and Achieve Intended Results

Each letter in ALIGN stands for a strategic step that turns communication breakdowns into collaborative breakthroughs and drives your team toward intended, impactful results:

Action and Description to Align Team:

Appreciate Differences. Utilize objective job fit assessments to identify hidden strengths and mitigate conflict. The right tool brings clarity and answers the “why” behind people’s behaviors and motivations.

Listen to Learn. If you already have an answer when someone is speaking – you’re not listening! Take time to share goals, budgets, and timelines openly, and invest in training teams to communicate and strategize effectively. This is critical to fostering stronger buy-in and commitment to excel.

Include All Ideas. Acknowledge all contributions to build trust, even though not every idea can be implemented. To quell naysayers, create five ways an idea could work—and truly listen. “Ah-Ha” moments often come through attentive listening and off-the-wall ideas that spark new threads of thought.

Generate Solutions. Facilitate brainstorming by starting conversations with open-ended questions to stimulate thought and dialogue. Allow space for unconventional ideas and set aside judgment to discover fresh possibilities. Remember, the thoughts and attitudes that created the problem will not solve it!

Name the Wins. Celebrate successes and reflect on what worked and what didn’t. This exercise helps teams get unstuck, recognize contributions, and fully appreciate efforts—individually and collectively—at project milestones, during weekly reviews, or at quarterly checkpoints.

Bridging communication gaps isn’t just about addressing what was said and done—it’s about building a culture where every voice is heard, every strength is valued, and every challenge becomes an opportunity for growth. When you align your team, you empower them to move beyond conflict and confusion toward collaboration and meaningful results.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023-2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, boasts over 32 years of hands-on experience. Her expertise helps leaders and bosses refine their hiring, coaching, and management practices to achieve their intended results. Along the journey, she has guided the creation of three millionaires and numerous six-figure earners, all while guiding those ready to elevate their game to new heights.

Ready to bridge your team’s communication gaps and unlock their full potential? Begin with a job fit assessment or schedule a clarity session to set your path. Reach out anytime at SeibCo.com/contact/ I’m here to help you create lasting impact.

Avoid Scapegoating to Improve Results

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“When you inspire others to achieve intended results, you do not need to create scapegoats.” Jeannette Seibly

Remember a time when you were blamed for a poor result, interaction, or situation? It happens to all of us.

  • How did you feel?
  • How did your attitude and behavior change?
  • What did you do next?

Unfortunately, some bosses and leaders resort to scapegoating. It hurts results and relationships. Team members lose trust in leadership.

Being scapegoated humiliates and diminishes a person’s feeling of value to the team and company. (Note: Humiliating anyone is rarely forgotten nor forgiven!) The team or team members withdraw, stop being innovative, and avoid accountability! They adopt a mindset of “going along to get along” until they find a better boss and employer.

When a leader or boss feels the need to blame others and designate scapegoats, it creates a toxic workplace culture of mistrust and distrust – sabotaging results now and in the future.

What is Scapegoating? In a business context, a scapegoat is an individual or group unfairly blamed for problems, failures, or negative outcomes within a company.

Scapegoating is one of the most destructive actions bosses and leaders can take. It can be individually targeted or systemic, where entire departments or roles are unfairly targeted.

When leaders fall into the malicious trap of scapegoating, it’s to avoid feeling like a failure. They attempt to deflect accountability from themselves and deflect focus from the true issue(s). This is especially prevalent during crises, the loss of major clients, or team failures to achieve intended results.

And, beyond team morale, scapegoating can lead to costly turnover, reputational damage, and even legal exposure.

By understanding when and how scapegoating occurs, leaders can foster a more transparent, accountable, and supportive work environment.

How to Stop Scapegoating

  • Hold Yourself Accountable: As a boss/leader, you need to hold yourself accountable for your team’s results. Conduct a deep dive into “What Worked?” and “What Didn’t Work?” to create an objective overview. Ask open-ended questions of the team, co-workers, and executive management to explore what changes could have been made or what issues were ignored.
  • Be an Effective Communicator: When you own your mistakes, it sets the tone for the team and company. Honest communication and straight talk encourage innovation, agility, and profitability, where everyone is engaged and not fearful of becoming a scapegoat.
  • Focus on Resolving Conflict: Resolving conflicts requires your involvement to ensure people are asking open-ended questions and actively listening. When scapegoating occurs, it’s time to stop so you don’t overlook the core cause of the issue or conflict. Ensure team training is provided (e.g., project management, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, etc.) for ALL team members (including you).
  • Build Ongoing Trust: Mistrust and distrust are rampant in a toxic environment where everyone blames everyone else. To build trust, talk straight. Acknowledge every team member’s contribution to the results. Leaders need to make this a daily practice to build and maintain trust with their teams.

What will you do today to foster accountability and eliminate scapegoating in your workplace?

©Jeannette Seibly 2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, has guided thousands of executives and business leaders to achieve remarkable success over the past 32 years. Her specialty is delivering innovative solutions for hiring, coaching, and leadership challenges—with excellence and accountability at the core.

Are Your Employees Aligned for Business Today?

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“Aligning employees with today’s business needs is an ongoing effort for every leader.” Jeannette Seibly

A long-time employee asked his boss, “Do you even know what we’re doing anymore?”

This question revealed more than frustration—it exposed a leadership gap. When change happens but communication stays static, people lose their sense of purpose. External demands, shifting priorities, and unclear messaging breed confusion, erode engagement, and drain morale—even your best employees feel it.

What’s missing? Clarity. Connection. Strategic alignment. Being on the same page.

Why is alignment missing in business today?

  • Unclear priorities – too many external challenges
  • Siloed and factional communication – we impact others when making ad hoc changes
  • Change fatigue and disengagement – leads to mediocre quality of products and service

What You Can Do—Starting Now

Clarify Purpose and Performance. When teams are aligned, there are measurable improvements in productivity, retention, and customer satisfaction scores. These aren’t just numbers—they’re proof that clarity and consistency matter.

  • Remind people why their work matters and the difference the company makes for its customers.
  • Hold people accountable for following policies and procedures – this creates a foundation that employees can trust.
  • Communicate stats about the number of customers, increase in sales, safety, and other metrics that are meaningful to employees and the well-being of the company. 

Communicate with Impact. Lead with empathy by acknowledging that change is hard.

  • Ask employees how they’re doing—not just what they’re doing. This builds trust and keeps morale strong.
  • Talk straight by sharing goals, changes, and expectations clearly. Keep your comments short and on point!
  • Don’t make promises that you cannot keep.
  • Acknowledge team members individually and as a group. Do this frequently.

Delegate Work and Train Appropriately. This allows you to concentrate on resolving challenges and pursuing possibilities.

  • Encourage cross-team collaboration and don’t allow silos or factions to consume everyone’s time and energy.
  • Invite employees to lead mini-projects or suggest improvements – that way, alignment becomes a shared responsibility.
  • Offer training that aligns with new business needs. Make these online and onsite workshops available to anyone wishing to improve their job skills: communication, decision-making, AI experience, personal financial goals, etc.

Strategic Selection Based on Job Fit. Make hiring, promotions, and job transitions based on objective data, and stop relying on subjective rational. Too many times, employees say “yes” not fully comprehending the changes required (e.g., relocation, longer hours, or full-time in the office).

For example, if someone has a high interest and skill in working with financials, train them to take over budgeting or cost analysis duties.

How to Keep Moving Forward Together

As a leader:

  • Conduct regular check-ins with each and every employee
  • Provide feedback – 1:1 and in groups
  • Listen and get the facts — don’t make decisions based on assumptions or emotional reactions
  • Ask open-ended questions, and look for patterns in feedback that reveal deeper concerns or missed opportunities.
  • Remember, silence does not mean alignment!

***

Final Thought

Aligning employees with today’s business needs is an ongoing effort. The question to ask is, “What am I doing today to make sure my team is truly aligned?”

©Jeannette Seibly 2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, has guided thousands of executives and business leaders to achieve remarkable success over the past 32 years. Her specialty is delivering innovative solutions for hiring, coaching, and leadership challenges—with excellence and accountability at the core.

Empower with Confidence: Host the workshop: “Get Your Brag On!” to help your team articulate their value, align personal strengths with business goals, and boost morale. Several of my clients have hosted these brag sessions quarterly — these offered clarity, acknowledged contribution, and built confidence in times of change. When employees know how to articulate their value, they’re more likely to stay engaged during the process of change. Contact Jeannette for further information.

The Leadership Upgrade: Turning Blind Spots into Breakthroughs

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“Identifying your blind spots and overcoming these hurdles is critical to developing your savvy leadership.” —Jeannette Seibly

Leadership isn’t static—it’s a continuous upgrade. And the most powerful upgrades begin when you’re willing to confront what you haven’t yet seen.

🌟 Emerging Blind Spots in Today’s Leadership Landscape

As leaders, we’re navigating more than just team dynamics—we’re steering through shifting expectations, hybrid work environments, and the pressure to “always be on.” These changes have introduced new blind spots that weren’t on our radar five years ago. And if we’re not paying attention, they’ll quietly erode trust, impact, and results.

Here are a few blind spots noted by research that I’ve seen surface in recent coaching conversations:

Favoritism. With hybrid working options, are you unintentionally favoring the team members you see more often than others? Many publications have talked about the assumption that visibility equals productivity – but that’s a blind spot. (Harvard Business Review and Inc.com)

Leadership Upgrade: Build scheduled check-ins and recognition systems that include everyone, regardless of location.

Fixed Leadership Style. Studies show that 54% of managers default to a single leadership style (e.g., collaborative, directive, or hands-off) (Blanchard LeaderChat). This often leads to micromanaging or a lack of employee and team engagement.

Leadership Upgrade: Flex your style. Ask yourself: “What does this situation need from me right now?” Not “What do I usually do?”

Digital Perfectionism. In a world of polished Zoom calls and social media posts, attempting to hide behind a perfect image will often backfire when they meet you!

Leadership Upgrade: Leadership isn’t about being flawless—it’s about being real. (OurMental.Health and Arxiv Research) Sharing your process is just as important as sharing the results you’ve achieved. Let them see the truth of your leadership journey — it builds trust.

“Blind spots aren’t flaws—they’re invitations. When you’re willing to see what you’ve been missing, you unlock a deeper level of leadership.” —Jeannette Seibly

🔄 How to Flip Blind Spots into Savvy Leadership

Here’s how to turn blind spots into strengths that elevate your leadership:

  1. Use Assessments and 360-Degree Feedback. Leverage tools that reveal how you want to be seen, how you actually show up, and how others perceive you. These insights offer a powerful trifecta of clarity. But the real transformation begins when you partner with an executive coach to interpret the results, create a focused action plan, and engage in hands-on conversations over a period of time.
  2. Hire the Right Executive Coach—and Listen. Being coachable is key. A skilled and experienced coach helps you bypass trial-and-error and zero in on what truly needs attention. Avoid overanalyzing your blind spots—just listen, adjust, and implement. Your coach isn’t there to fix you—they’re there to help you see what’s been hiding in plain sight.
  3. Engage with an Industry Mentor. Mentors offer insider knowledge about your company, team dynamics, and industry politics. Together with your coach, they help you navigate complex situations and accelerate your growth. The key to effective mentorship is to show up, listen up, and do the work!
  4. Welcome Feedback from Your Team. Your team wants you to succeed—but you must create a safe space for honest feedback. Use structured 360 assessments to gather insights, then act on them with intention.
  5. Dial Up Your Humility. Participate in emotional intelligence workshops and leave your ego at the door. Mastery requires authentic practice, effective coaching when using the

skills, and a willingness to grow.

  1. Sharpen Your Communication Skills. Strong communication is non-negotiable. Take workshops to uncover biases and build confidence in how you write, speak, and connect with others.
  2. Identify Triggers and Biases. We all have them. Work with your coach—and if needed, a licensed therapist—to uncover subconscious patterns and develop healthier responses.

🚀 Ready to Lead Today with Impact?

Leadership upgrades don’t happen by accident. They happen when you choose to see, listen, and act with intention. What blind spot are you ready to transform today?

With over 32 years of experience, I’ve helped leaders get out of their own way and into focused action—transforming blind spots into stepping stones for savvy, results-driven leadership.

📩 Contact me to learn more about my one-on-one coaching programs and PXT Select® job-fit assessment tools.

© Jeannette Seibly, 2020–2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, has guided thousands of executives and business leaders to achieve remarkable success over the past 32 years. Her specialty is delivering innovative solutions for hiring, coaching, and leadership challenges—with excellence and accountability at the core.

When Is It Time to Adjust Your Goals?

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“Goals aren’t just tasks; they’re trust-building exercises with yourself.” — Jeannette Seibly

The end of July has come and gone. Less than five months remain in 2025. While many of us have written down goals, just as many are contemplating ways to ignore them—if we even remember that we had any.

Too often, goals are drafted, printed, and filed—never to be seen again until shredding day.

On a network call last week, I heard something familiar—yet still striking: the quiet detour people take from their goals. Several spoke of changing or setting them aside. While this isn’t new, it prompted deeper questions: Do we abandon the effort too quickly, missing what the process of working toward a goal could unlock? Or is it simply unfeasible this year due to shifts in life or business, like caregiving responsibilities, job changes, new company mandates, or health setbacks?

A goal isn’t just an endpoint. It’s a stretch. It asks us to reach beyond habit and into growth—where inner strength, clarity, and confidence can be revealed.

No doctrine says you can’t change a goal. No rulebook says you should. The difference? It’s personal. It depends on what your commitment to shift, create, or move forward—and how urgent it feels. (Example: If a boss asks you to join a team, you comply asap; if a doctor advises weight loss and exercise, you act with urgency—or face the consequences.)

Throughout the remainder of the year, opportunities will arise to abandon, postpone, or fully commit to your goals. The question that must be answered is: Are these goals designed to satisfy my boss, client, or family? Or, are they serving my deepest intentions: financial freedom, improved health, and stronger relationships? Then, what is the cost of waiting?

Every goal requires an evolving process to be fulfilled—you won’t be able to predict every twist, relationship shift, or unexpected circumstance. Yet the goal itself often remains the gateway to growth, and the confidence that emerges along the way is invaluable.

The key? It’s up to you.

🧭 Definitions to Anchor Your Focus

Review your goals and ensure these three keys are included. If not, consider rewriting and pursuing.

  • Goal: A desired result requiring purpose and action. Keep it under 10 words and assign a timeframe. → Achieve $10,000 pay increase by 12/31/2025 → Lose 10 pounds walking 3x daily by 9/30/2025
  • Intention: A clear commitment fueled by personal meaning and direction. It’s the “why” behind your goal—the energy that drives it. Again, 10 words or less.
  • Milestones: Measurable checkpoints that track progress (10 words or less). These build your confidence and remind you that success is unfolding, even when it’s not immediately visible.

My advice? Keep going. Only change your goal if it no longer aligns with your life’s direction. For example, if a job offer falls through, staying in your current role might be the best choice for now—but that doesn’t mean you stop exploring new opportunities. Choosing to stay isn’t a failure; it’s a moment of clarity and focus. It may also be the perfect time to set a new goal—one that genuinely excites and inspires you.

What will you proudly say you achieved in 2025? The next five months will fly by—and before you know it, it’ll be 2026. Make sure you can look back and say, “I did that.” The most meaningful wins often come from the goals that required you to stretch. (Congrats—early!) And remember, you don’t have to do it alone. Lean on your coach, your team, and your circle of support. Trust yourself—and trust others to help you stretch.

© Jeannette Seibly 2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, has guided thousands of executives and business leaders to achieve remarkable success over the past 32 years. Her specialty is delivering innovative solutions for hiring, coaching, and leadership challenges—with excellence and accountability at the core.

For those navigating the 55+ transition, goals aren’t just about productivity—they’re about rediscovery. This stage invites a deeper alignment between values, lifestyle, and legacy. Whether you’re refining your career path, relocating, or reimagining what fulfillment looks like, the right goal can act as a compass—guiding you toward clarity, confidence, and meaningful impact. Contact Jeannette now.

Change Management: The Biggest, Costliest Mistake Many Leaders Make

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“Hiring the right person for the wrong job equals poor job fit. And no amount of training and development will make them a superstar.” — Jeannette Seibly

🔍 Due Diligence for Systems vs. People

Organizations routinely invest time and resources into vetting changes to systems, operations, technology, and financials. Yet when it comes to hiring, promoting, or transitioning employees, decisions are often made based on gut instinct, biased assumptions, or incomplete data—leading to costly missteps.

“Hiring the right person for the wrong job equals poor job fit. And no amount of training and development will make them a superstar.” — Jeannette Seibly

💥 The Cost of a Misguided Promotion

A bank promoted a young man deemed a “future leader” by upper management. What did they fail to uncover? He lacked respect from both clients and colleagues. Within six weeks, he was fired. The fallout included lost trust, team disruption, and reputational damage.

This could have been avoided by using a strategic job fit selection system and a validated assessment to objectively measure leadership potential, decision-making style, and interpersonal effectiveness.

🧠 Hire with Eyes Wide Open

Promotion and transition errors are a hidden, costly drain on performance, trust, and compliance. The uncomfortable truth? Leaders often stumble for preventable reasons:

  • Gut over data. Nearly 62% of hiring decisions are influenced by managerial bias rather than objective performance indicators (Harvard Business Review, 2023).
  • Resumes are increasingly unreliable. With 45% of job seekers using AI tools (ResumeBuilder, 2024), the résumé is often a polished illusion.
  • Performance appraisals are broken. 66% of employees say reviews are unfair, and 95% of managers are dissatisfied with the process (Gallup, 2022). People are promoted due to politics, not performance.
  • Boomerang hires rely on memory, not metrics. Approximately 35% of new hires are returning employees, yet few organizations analyze the reasons for employee exits or their readiness for current roles (Workforce Institute, 2023).
  • Assessments must meet federal standards. The EEOC and DOL require pre-employment tests to be validated, job-related, and non-discriminatory. Many are not.

💸 Fact: 82% of companies promote the wrong person into management, leading to productivity loss, morale damage, and client attrition—costs that ripple far beyond salary figures (Dove Development).

📈 Promotion: Beyond Performance

Promoting someone based solely on past performance—like a top salesperson to a manager role—often backfires. Leadership demands empathy, communication, and delegation, not just technical skill.

Without proper evaluation and coaching, these transitions frequently lead to disengagement, increased turnover, and missed revenue targets. Objective tools give leaders clarity about who’s truly ready to step up.

🔄 Job Transitioning: A Strategic Imperative

When employees relocate, shift roles, or take on new responsibilities, success hinges on job fit. Often overlooked:

  • Career pathing offers a structured roadmap aligned with organizational needs and personal aspirations
  • Personalized development (mentoring, coaching, tailored skills-building) helps talent thrive
  • Onboarding plans bridge early gaps and reinforce role clarity and cultural alignment

Together, these elements form the backbone of a strategic job fit selection system that improves role transitions and strengthens succession planning.

💸 Fact: Poor promotions and misaligned job transitions can cost organizations up to 10x the employee’s annual salary, especially in leadership roles—making clarity and fit essential to long-term success (Lucent Global, HRMorning).

🚀 Call to Action: Elevate Your Leadership with Strategic People Decisions

The alternative isn’t guesswork—it’s strategy. Smart leaders don’t gamble—they build infrastructure that earns trust and delivers results. They implement a strategic job fit selection system that ensures every promotion and talent transition is intentional, data-informed, and compliant.

That includes:

✅ Validated job fit assessments to predict performance, leadership readiness, and interpersonal strengths

✅ Structured, compliant hiring and promotion processes—standardized interviews and role-specific decision criteria

✅ Manager training to reduce bias and support confident decision-making

✅ Intentional promotion and job transition planning to build trust, reduce turnover, and align talent with long-term success

Your systems are only as strong as the people running them. Let’s make sure you’ve got the right ones in the right roles.

© Jeannette Seibly 2025 All Rights Reserved

🔗 Ready to initiate your next chapter—or refine your role as a powerful contributor? Jeannette specializes in coaching leaders who are ready to build legacies, embrace reinvention, and lead with clarity.

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, has guided thousands of executives and business leaders to achieve remarkable success over the past 32 years. Her specialty is delivering innovative solutions for hiring, coaching, and leadership challenges—with excellence and accountability at the core.

🔗 Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation about smart hiring, insightful promotions, and intentional transitions.

🧭 How to Reduce the High Cost of a Poorly Designed Job Fit Selection System

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“Poor fit isn’t just inconvenient—it’s disruptive to morale, momentum, and mission.” Jeannette Seibly

Hiring isn’t just about filling a role—it’s about shaping the future of your organization. When leaders rely on outdated or misaligned selection systems, they invite costly consequences that echo across departments, customer relationships, and organizational culture. A poor fit isn’t just inconvenient—it’s disruptive to morale, momentum, and mission.

When organizations rely on flawed selection processes, the ripple effects extend far beyond hiring missteps:

  • 🚫 Overlooked Talent: Qualified candidates are often missed due to vague criteria or unconscious bias.
  • 📉 Lost Loyalty: Customers leave when service suffers from underqualified or mismatched employees.
  • 💸 Financial & Legal Risk: Frequent hiring and firing cycles damage reputation, increase turnover costs, and heighten liability concerns.
  • 🧠 Bias-Driven Choices: Selection decisions reflect unresolved beliefs and emotional residue, not data-driven clarity.

💡 How to Improve Hiring Precision and Integrity

To build a hiring process that honors both excellence and equity:

  • 🎯 Clarify the Role: Develop clear job specifications and descriptions to define success on the job—not just tasks, but traits and mindset.
  • 🛠️ Use Validated Tools: Employ legally compliant, scientifically sound assessments and structured interviews for hiring, promotions, and transitions.
  • 🔍 Treat Intuition as a Signal, Not the Verdict: Gut instincts offer clues, but they can’t answer who, what, where, when, or why. Let data and dialogue do the heavy lifting.
  • 📅 Prioritize Onboarding: Even returning employees (Boomerangs) need a fresh launch. A 180-Day Plan ensures integration, accountability, and cultural alignment. (See Hire Amazing Employees, Chapter 6 for practical tools.)

🧩 In Summary

A well-designed job fit system is a leadership imperative. When we align roles, tools, and onboarding strategies with clear standards and inclusive practices, we create space for true potential to emerge. The payoff? Stronger teams, greater customer trust, and a workplace built on confidence—not guesswork.

©Jeannette Seibly 2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, specializes in delivering innovative solutions for hiring, coaching, and leadership challenges. Over the past 32 years, she has empowered business owners, bosses, and leaders to achieve remarkable success. With a steadfast commitment to excellence, Jeannette champions those eager to elevate, expand, and excel in their results.