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Are You Using Your Talents Effectively?

April 15, 2024 by Jeannette Seibly

“Why does 30 to 40 years seem like a long time to work? Because you are not working in a job or career that supports your natural talents.” Jeanette Seibly

Many would say, “sort of.” Or, “I guess.” Or, “I don’t know.”

The challenge? Many people today are unaware of their talents, gifts, and natural abilities! This includes everyone at every level in a business, nonprofit, entrepreneurship, or other workplace.

Unfortunately, most people fail to recognize and develop the skills and strengths necessary to support their natural talents. Instead, too many people waste time wishing for, being frustrated by, and being jealous of others’ talents.

If they spent that time learning about their own talents, they wouldn’t have to spend money on coaching and training to support goals that don’t honor their talents (e.g., 1099 employee v. W2 employee). The result? They feel like failures instead of winners!

Talents are natural abilities that someone is born with, while skills are learned abilities that come from practice and experience. Upwork

A financial planner worked hard to become a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and accomplished her goal. She commented, “If someone studied that hard to become a CFP, they must be in the right job.”

Sadly, no. People can achieve degrees and certifications because they must keep their jobs or be eligible for promotions. Or it is due to parental or others’ expectations that they do so. Or because their friends or people on social media said it was the best career choice! (It may have been for that person – but not for you.)

The truth is if you want to grow in your career and life, focus on developing your unique talents, gifts, and strengths to pursue your goals. But first, ensure the goals you are pursuing honor you!

How to Honor Your Talents

It’s essential to identify your natural talents and strengths through:

Self-Reflection: Ask yourself what activities, tasks, projects, classes, and interactions give you joy and satisfaction. They usually feel engaging and fulfilling, and time passes very quickly. You want more of them.

Example: If you love crafting, gardening, or coding, ensure your job or hobbies include a creative outlet!

Feedback from Others: Talk to friends, family, co-workers, mentors, and bosses who know you well. They can provide insights into your strengths and talents that you might need to be made aware of. But don’t buy into everything they tell you since their advice may be more of a reflection of how they achieved their success.

Example: Years ago, a CFO asked if I would work for him in his department. I said, “Thank you, no.” While I have excellent math skills, crunching financials wouldn’t use my talents or support my interests. Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean it’s the career path for you.

Job Fit Assessment:

Take a job-fit assessment that provides objective data: occupational interests, thinking style, and core behaviors.
Review your strengths with an executive coach.
Beware of myths that often get in the way of recognizing your talents.

Examples of Myths:

Buying a franchise is easy and guarantees you success. The reality? Too many people buy a franchise and fail. Why? They are uncoachable and think they know how to run a well-established brand better! (Hint: Their thinking style, need to be creative, and/or do it their way got in the way.)
I’m good at math, so I should be an accountant, engineer, or financial planner. Too many people believe this, and what is often overlooked is that they don’t have the interest to do that type of work. (Hint: There are so many occupations that require logical thinking and the ability to use numbers and metrics; don’t narrow your options!)
I’d love my job if I had the right boss. That is categorically incorrect! (Hint: If you don’t enjoy your job responsibilities and fail to use your talents, it won’t matter who your boss is or how much you like them.)

Example of Honoring Your Talent: A woman worked hard to graduate as an engineer because her parents and teachers believed it was “the right career” for her. When she received her degree and got her job, she quit two months later. In a moment of insight, she realized she needed to follow her true passion and got a position in human resources where she could work with people daily.

Recognizing Moments of Being in the Zone: Reflect on times when you’ve been so involved in an activity that you lost track of time. These moments can indicate a natural talent, skill, and interest. Look specifically at what you enjoy about the task or project. What is the best way to incorporate this into your current or future job aspirations?

Example: Auto, bike, or computer repair. Working with your hands is a valued talent that pays very well.

Exploring Your Passions: Your passions can often lead you to your natural talents. Think about what excites you and how you can pursue those interests further. Talking with a career coach or executive coach can also be very helpful.

Example: You are great at attracting money for your favorite animal shelter. What would it take to do this full-time or in other nonprofits?

Jeannette Seibly is a Talent Advisor/Leadership Results Coach with over 31 years of practical experience guiding leaders and bosses to improve their hiring, coaching, and managing practices and produce amazing results! And yes, achieving business success always starts with having the right people in the right jobs! She has been an Authorized PXT Select® Partner for over 32 years. Contact Jeannette to learn more about these state-of-the-art job-fit assessment tools or how to coach and manage your people to achieve incredible results.

A note from Jeannette: Are you using your natural talents, gifts, and strengths effectively? Finding work that honors your talents is important to enjoying your job! If you’re frustrated or confused about how to discover your talents, let’s talk. I have 31+ years of guiding people to uncover and pursue their talents, gifts, and strengths. Contact me now!

It’s time to talk it out! 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 during 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.

This book (“Hire Amazing Employees”) can help you improve your hiring process, by Nancy Schick, NY Employment Attorney and Mediator. I met Jeannette Seibly a few months ago In this Together Round Table, where I also learned about her book, Hire Amazing Employees. Since my clients frequently struggle with this task, I bought myself a copy and gave several as gifts. The book contains many helpful tips for avoiding the impact of hiring errors. Read the full testimonial here.

Shameless Self-Promotion is Key to Achieving Results

April 8, 2024 by Jeannette Seibly

“If you cannot self-promote your achievements, you cannot sell your ideas, products, or services…or be taken seriously.” Jeannette Seibly

Many women and men today downplay their value, success, and awesomeness! Why? It’s not socially acceptable to share what you’ve accomplished. However, the good news is that this is quickly changing!

“Although self-promotion (communicating one’s past accomplishments and positive characteristics) is important for obtaining career and educational opportunities, women feel uncomfortable when doing it, which limits their self-promotion success.” (Sage Journals, 2019)

In my many years of delivering the award-winning “Get Your Brag On!” presentation, many men have also shared that they lack the skills to promote themselves effectively.

The misconception that you can rely on others to promote your achievements has proven to be a costly mistake for many. It’s led to missed job opportunities, lost sales, and overlooked awards, all because they didn’t take the initiative to showcase their own worth!

Stop Downplaying Your Accomplishments!

Why? We’ve been taught since we were very young that it’s wrong to brag! Baby Boomers and GenXs were often shamed by their parents, teachers, and others when they promoted themselves. Millennials and GenZs have peer group pressure to maintain the “We,” excluding the individual “I” from recognition.

Today, self-promotion in interviews, sales presentations, and award nominations is critical. Using “I accomplished” is also important. Yet, many deserving people shy away from doing so and, as a result, are not offered the job or contract or win recognition. Often, less qualified people achieve these results because they brag in a business-savvy manner.

Fill the Confidence Gap. In my experience, both women and men fear sharing their accomplishments. (I continue to emphasize both genders since many articles only focus on women.) While there are gender biases (e.g., men need to talk powerfully, but when women speak powerfully, they are seen as bossy), shameless self-promotion does build natural inner confidence when done in a business-savvy manner.

Inner power and mindful awareness naturally communicate confidence; most people want to work with winners!

I didn’t say it was easy … or that others would readily acknowledge your successes. I’m saying stand up and speak up about your accomplishments. It makes a significant difference in getting pay increases, job promotions, and closing sales.

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. Let go of your fears. If someone doesn’t like you, bragging won’t change their opinion. If others are jealous of your success, they won’t suddenly want you on their team. Get over trying to win others’ positive opinions.

Remember, do you only want to be liked and make friends in business? Or do you want to make money and achieve needed results? The irony is that when you build your true inner confidence, people are more likely to like you and do business with you!

Get Guidance on How to Share Your Successes with Others. One reason potentially successful people fail to brag is that they don’t seek out an industry mentor or hire an executive coach to help them learn the art of self-promotion. And it is an art! The other challenge is that many overlook the need to know their numbers, metrics, and other accomplishments. Instead, they take the latest saying or blurb and attempt to fit their accomplishments into it. The problem? It lacks authenticity and truth!

Start by completing the 5 simple exercises in the book “It’s Time to Brag!” Then, work with a good marketing or executive coach to fine-tune. Remember, the key is to differentiate yourself so that others readily understand what you’re saying and who you really are.

Saying, “I’m a coach.” It does not differentiate you since there are 1,000s of coaches.
“I’m a coach that inspires business professionals to succeed and win.” It uses words that are overused and fails to differentiate who you are.
Saying, “I’m a Leadership Results Coach and, along the way, guided the creation of 3 millionaires.” It brags! Focuses. Differentiates. Attracts clients.

Be Authentic, and Don’t Exaggerate. Recently, I presented “Get Your Brag On!” A woman in the audience was livid and stated emphatically, “Everyone lies and cannot tell the truth about their accomplishments! They over-exaggerate!” In my experience, I find that most people struggle to be authentic and tell the truth about what they’ve accomplished. The lesson? Be honest – if someone finds out you lied, it will hurt your credibility now and in the future.

While many people are taught to tone down their achievements (or dumb them down), doing so is usually at their own expense. You want to keep your self-promotion and smart without using words that most people don’t readily understand (e.g., generous v. magnanimous). Plus, use accurate numbers, metrics, and estimates that reflect your successes.

Remember your goal — acknowledge your greatness, then share your self-promotion effectively.

Grab my book, “It’s Time to Brag! Business Edition,” and start bragging and self-promoting today!

A note from Jeannette: Learning to self-promote or brag about your accomplishments is critical to winning the opportunity, job, sales contract, or well-deserved award. But too many people downplay and hide their achievements at their own expense. If you’re stuck (and most people are), contact me now for 1:1 coaching (after doing the exercises in the book “It’s Time to Brag!”) or to schedule me for the award-winning presentation Get Your Brag On!

This Book (“Hire Amazing Employees”) Can Help You Improve Your Hiring Process, by Nancy Schick, NY Employment Attorney and Mediator. I met Jeannette Seibly a few months ago In this Together Round Table, where I also learned about her book, Hire Amazing Employees. Since my clients frequently struggle with this task, I bought myself a copy and gave several as gifts. The book contains many helpful tips for avoiding the impact of hiring errors. Read the full testimonial here.

Want to Improve Your Leadership? Ask Open-Ended Questions!

March 25, 2024 by Jeannette Seibly

“A good boss or leader asks open-ended questions and listens to the responses!” Jeannette Seibly

Good leaders ask open-ended questions. Then, they listen to the responses and use the feedback proactively! This leadership skill is critical to unleashing your team’s power and generating the solutions needed to resolve problems.

In my recent article, How to Ask the Right Questions to Achieve Results, I outlined how to ask questions. In this article, we’re focusing on encouraging conversations and discussions by asking open-ended questions.

We’re not wired to ask open-ended questions, and this limits our results. When you use open-ended questions and have at least three questions ready to keep your team talking, it’s amazing what you can learn and the new ideas that are generated, especially when the team or conversation is stuck (e.g., circular logic, same-old excuses, stories, and ideas).

(Hint to get started: Create a “cheat sheet” by writing down the open-ended questions listed below. Keep this with you for every phone call, sales call, interview, etc. As you start conversations, pay attention to whether or not you’re using an open-ended question. If you’re not using open-ended questions, a lot of information, insights, and sales opportunities will be left undiscovered. Remember, like any new skill, this takes practice!)

If you’re not asking open-ended questions, you’re limiting solutions, new ideas, and resolving issues because when employees feel valued and heard, they work harder to get problems resolved and are willing to talk out ideas!

What are open-ended questions?

Cannot be answered with a yes or no
Cannot be answered with one-word responses
Do not have pre-defined answers
Allows team members to provide insights that have not been considered
Promotes in-depth discussions
Energizes conversations and meetings

Incorporating open-ended questions allows your team members and others to elaborate and share their ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

How to begin asking open-ended questions:

Start with: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How type questions. Using these words at the beginning of a question will open up opportunities for others to respond.

Examples:

Who should be involved and why?
What are the hidden costs of this idea?
When is a good time to start, and why?
Where are good places to host this event?
Why is this important?
How do you propose we move forward?

This method works well during brainstorming, offering feedback, job interviews, or generating new ideas when the team is stuck.

Other ways to start open-ended questions:

Tell me about …
Please describe …

Where you can use open-ended questions (remember to listen):

Hint: You can use them EVERYWHERE!

More specifically:

Job Interviews: Asking open-ended questions during job interviews can give you insights into candidates’ skills and personalities.
Meetings to Debrief or Provide Feedback: Participants feel more open to providing important information when open-ended questions are asked.
Social Get-Togethers: When meeting others, ask open-ended questions to begin a conversation. “Why do you enjoy this xxx?”
Networking Events: Asking open-ended questions encourages others to share their experiences, interests, and other tidbits of information. “What brought you to this event?” (Works exceptionally well if you are an introvert or talking with a shy person.)
Sales Calls: Going beyond the yes or no responses, you can uncover the hidden elements needed to help the client and close the deal.
Brainstorming or Idea Generating Sessions: Open-ended questions open opinions, thoughts, and other creative gems.
Resolving Team Conflicts: These can be tricky. It’s important to be non-accusatory and listen critically. First, ask: “Tell me about what you believe is the #1 issue.” Then, ask, “Why is this important?” (Note: Be responsible for using “why” to begin the conversation, and use it after they’ve shared their concerns.)

Remember, asking open-ended questions invites better conversations and provides more fulfilling interactions. So, go ahead and embrace the art of asking open-ended questions! What would you have to lose?

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, achieving business success always starts with having the right people in the right jobs! She has been an Authorized PXT Select Partner for over 31 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 extraordinary results.

A note from Jeannette: Asking open-ended questions is a skill most bosses and leaders need to use. Why? It takes time. Yet, the truth is … it takes less time to find out now (aka pay now or pay later). Want to become an influential boss or leader? Get on the fast track by tapping into my 31++ years of experience in developing them! Contact me now with your questions!

What could you accomplish by unleashing your inner leader now? 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.

14 Tips for Leaders to Positively Influence Their Future Leaders

March 18, 2024 by Jeannette Seibly

Photo Credit frankpeters from Canva.com — “When you positively influence your employees, they want to become future leaders.” Jeannette Seibly

Today, 33 percent of employees don’t want to be bosses, while more than half are happy not climbing the leadership ladder. Many of these employees desire a work-life balance and flexibility over pay or the power of a job title. 2024 Randstad Workmonitor study

Why does this matter? This can hurt the company’s retention, growth, and profitability goals!

Take a moment:

Think about the worst boss you’ve ever had.
Now, think about the best boss.
What was the difference?

Many of you would say the difference was how the best boss applauded their efforts and ideas, while the bad boss was dismissive and negative.

Now, consider bosses are leaders in the company. Leaders influence employees by how they interact with them. Good leadership practices include listening to new ideas, guiding them through challenges, and encouraging them to meet (and exceed) customer demands.

If you are a good leader, employees want to take the initiative required to become leaders. If you are a bad boss or leader, they will only focus on doing their jobs and avoid becoming future bosses or leaders! This will hurt the company’s retention, growth, and profitability!

Create a Positive Influence with Your Employees

Build Confidence. Point out progress. Focus on only one challenge at a time. Guide progress to overcome inevitable challenges.
Brag on Them! Share with others about the team’s results and individual accomplishments.
Be Courteous. Say “Please” and “Thank you.” Ask, “Do you have 5 minutes to talk?”
Learn from Mistakes. When you help your employees learn from mistakes rather than berating them, their confidence will grow.
Handle the Politics. Every company has internal politics (aka factionalism, unresolved team conflict, elephants). Protect your employees by stopping gossip, addressing complaints, and dealing with microaggressions. Remember to keep confidential issues confidential!
Ask Questions. Instead of assuming you already know everything, be open to learning something new!
Get Both Sides of the Story. When a problem arises, get both sides by asking questions without sounding like an interrogator. Only then will you learn the truth.
Provide Real Goals. Provide stretch goals instead of just providing tasks camouflaged as goals.
Be Fair. Don’t have favorites when handing out assignments. Build on team members’ strengths; this builds a stronger, more cohesive, and more agile team.
Support Personal and Professional Goals. Be a resource and guide to help them achieve both.
Be Ethical. Show a good work ethic and be the type of leader that is honest. Remember, your employees and current bosses and leaders will mimic you!
Think Bigger! Be open to thinking beyond the norm and welcome each team member’s ideas. Encourage all team members to take part when brainstorming.
Trust and Value Them. Allow your team to do their work without being micro-managed. If problems arise (and they will), keep your door open. Trust and encourage them to work with and through others to create viable solutions.
Use Objective Data to Develop Their Strengths. Using qualified job fit assessments can provide leadership insights that clarify areas where they have natural abilities and how to improve their effectiveness.

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, achieving business success always starts with having the right people in the right jobs! She has been an Authorized PXT Select Partner for over 31 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 extraordinary results.

A note from Jeannette: With over 51 percent of employees not wanting to climb the leadership ladder today, a good boss or leader takes responsibility for changing this mindset. Future leadership that is ready to lead is critical for company retention, revenues, and results. Contact me for a confidential conversation if you want to talk about where to start.

It’s time to unleash your inner leader! 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.