“Live your life as an experiment.” – Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Viewing entries in
#wayfinding
“We only see what we look at. To look is an act of choice.” John Berger, Ways of Seeing
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates
“Seeing too much is seeing nothing.” – Kai Wong, director of the China: Through the Looking Glass exhibit at the MET
Read more by Jennifer Davis about finding your focus.
Marketing holds the potential to drive business strategy and growth for the long-term, but only if you have the right talent in your organization.
I had a chance to share some thoughts and techniques on how to hire marketers with great strategic thinking and business skills to build out your leadership teams. This keynote presentation is now available on OnConferences, a virtual conference featuring business leaders across multiple industries and functional disciplines.
In this talk, I share the advice I give to CEOs when they are hiring marketing talent. This same advice applies up and down the organization to make sure you have the strategic horsepower to fuel your growth.
“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” – Terry Pratchett
“You don’t make mistakes. Mistakes make you.” – from The Last Word movie
Read more by Jennifer Davis about making mistakes.
“What and How nearly never work without knowing first the Who and the Why” – Jennifer Davis
Growth stops when you lose the tension between where you are and where you could be.”
When an organization needs to add leadership, especially in times of growth and change, the process is fairly straightforward: the senior leader crafts a job and gets help from HR or an executive recruiter to find the best candudate. But what if it worked differently?
What if you helped recruit and hire your own boss?
It is not uncommon for staff to be involved in the interview process and some companies incent employees for referrals, but I am thinking beyond that. What if you thought about what you wanted in a manager and what you thought the business needed in a leader, and actively helped recruit that person into your organization?
Here is 7 reasons why reverse recruiting makes sense.
1. You can make sure there is a fit
Each person comes to the job with certain strengths and interests. You have yours and your colleagues have theirs. Who better to recommend the kind of leader that will compliment and cultivate these strengths than you? What are you looking to develop and in what areas do you want to be mentored? Hiring your boss is a great way to ensure that you are getting what you need from your career. It is a wonderful thing when the development path of individual employees and the business needs align, for a long time. And being involved in hiring your manager can start building this tenure and growth into your career at your current employer.
2. You can be more successful
If you select the manager that is the right mix of mentor and challenger, you will be successful which will translate into more opportunities for you, and your colleagues. And if there is a good fit and complimentary skills, you may find yourself being able to focus on the parts of your job that you excel at, making you even more successful longer term.
3. You will be happier
Extensive research, like this article in Forbes, has been done on why people leave companies and the analysis shows that people rarely leave companies, they leave managers. Employee engagement begins, and can end, here. Your direct manager has more impact on your job satisfaction than virtually any other factor in your work life, more than compensation, work environment, or specific responsibilities. Choosing wisely, can have an impact on your life, stress-levels, and overall career success.
4. You position yourself as a leader
Let’s say you are a senior marketing director for a company who needs a Chief Marketing Officer, a Controller, or a head of operations at your company. Do you want to wait until the CEO appoints a new leader or brings in a few final candidates for you to interview or should you be more proactive? To make a recommendation for a new hire is a risk, but no matter how they ultimately end up doing in the role, you having a conversation with leaders in your company to make suggestions on what they should hire and giving them some people to consider, helps position you as a leader and someone committed to the cause of growth. If you go proactively to the CEO to find out more about the role and how you can help recruit the best candidate, it shows that you are a committed, ambitious, and high-performing employee who connected in the community.
5. You learn more about your business and the objectives of your boss
When you ask senior leadership what they are looking for in a new hire and how their performance will be evaluated, you are getting a fresh perspective on what a successful candidate might look like and how you can help them be successful once they are onboard. Many functional leaders or individual contributors are surprised to hear how much of their boss’ performance measures are based on things like enterprise value (ie, stock price, market share) rather than on successful execution of activities. This perspective can make you a better leader in the business, as well, able to tie your own activities with the overall business goals.
6. You can influence the company
Those conversations about the role and success measures, can also put you in a position of influence. What is missing from the job description that you think is critical, but that the hiring manager might not be aware? What competencies would make this person successful leading your team? Want more diversity in your organization? Hire a woman or person of color. Ask what is changing in the function or market that might cause the company to want to adapt what they are looking for and recommend accordingly.
7. You broaden your network
When helping to recruit, don’t stop with the people you already know. It is always better to build your network before you need it and there is no better way to do so than to reach out to see if people are interested in working for your company. You have something to offer them. If they aren’t interested, they might know someone who is who they can introduce you to. Ask your college professors for recommendations, see who serve on non-profit boards that you respect, attend networking meetings or industry association events and ask around. Scour LinkedIn. Referrals will lead to referrals and pretty soon you have met a dozen people who might be your next boss, at your current employer if things go well, or elsewhere in the future. Or maybe some of them may go to work for you someday.
In his book, Under New Management, David Burkus describes how teams are built at IDEO, the legendary industrial design firm. The teams pick their leader, the leader doesn’t pick the teams. The talent gets to pick their place in the organization chart, under the manager and on the projects that make the most sense to them. Managers who find themselves without teams, can’t execute projects and are probably not in the organization long. I imagine those with too many employees, find themselves with more interesting work and bigger responsibilities and reward. What started as an experiment years ago, still permeates the culture. Perhaps it is time for your organization to do an experiment of its own.
This article was originally published on LinkedIn Pulse.
You own the problems that create problems for your customers. They might not be your fault, but they are your problem.
For more about your relationship with customers, read "Customer Feedback."
Several years ago, my young daughter was helping me organize my work office after a move down the hall. The stacks of business books that I had accumulated over the years (and referred to periodically and wanted to keep handy) promised us a very long evening. Then I considered explaining to her how to organize them, by theme or if we should painstakingly alphabetize them. It occurred to us that the easiest (and dare I say, the fastest) way would be to organize them by spine color in rainbow series. Red book covers lead to orange, then yellow, green, blue, purple, and then white and, finally, black. It took only a few minutes to organize the books this way and it had a few surprising and pleasant consequences.
It turned the practical into art: I can’t tell you how many people have walked into my office and commented on my books. “Did you organize your books by color?” they would ask as they smiled. This library of business books became an art installation which people wanted to talk about. It really does look great and brings a smile to my face, and to office guests, every time. Books became a conversation piece and helped my guests and colleagues get to know me better, not just because of the titles on the shelf, but how they were arranged. And I can tell you that I really like authors who write red books and orange books are trending.
It made things easier to find: Come to find out, I can rarely remember the exact title or the name of the author, but 9 times out of 10 I can picture a book’s cover. This narrows the search considerably and within a few seconds I have the volume in hand. I know others’ might not have this kind of visual memory, but I suspect many of us do. Forget the Dewey Decimal System, this is the hue-ey decimal system (I couldn’t resist). This is especially useful as I have recently relocated across the country to Atlanta, and found it was easy (and fun) to set up my home office for maximum productivity using this now familiar system.
It sparked my imagination: As art often does, my book arrangement sparked new ideas. I am working now on a system to organize my Outlook calendar to align appointments, meetings, and blocked time to my goals using color cues. For me, new business development work is green, one big project is yellow, family priorities are purple, and, naturally, any time spent building out my new network in Atlanta is red (the ubiquitous color of the Falcons, Hawks, Atlanta United, UGA, GSU, and classic Atlanta brands like Coca-Cola, Chick-Fil-A, and newcomer, Honeywell…need I go on?). Perhaps for the freelancer or consultant reading this article any paid “billable hour” work is blue and any office work is orange. You can do this manually or using conditional formatting, it can be done auto-magically as you create or accept calendar entries. You can use a more sophisticated time or task tracking tool (like a CRM) for even more insights. Turning my calendar into a visual dashboard of how I am spending my time is generating new insights and changing my behavior. The adage is true that you manage what you measure. Try it yourself and at a glance, you can see if you are investing your time – your most precious and limited commodity – fully to your goals and priorities.
Now you might be asking a different question: why do I hold on to these physical books in a world of instant Internet searches, ebook readers, and, frankly, when often the Harvard Business Review synopsis of the book is better than the long form? It is because I know it works for me. I like books. I dog-ear the pages and write in the margins. Sure, I sometimes snap quotes into Evernote for future blog posts, but in the meantime, I like them stacked on my night stand and standing in a colorful array in my office.
And, I hope that one day when I write my New York Times best seller, you will all still have bookshelves, maybe even sorted by color, and will appreciate the hue of the book jacket I chose.
_________
This article was originally published on The Buzz on April 6, 2017. Special thanks to Jeff Hilimire from Dragon Army for renewing inspiration to color code my calendar.
“Only a mediocre person is always at his best.” – W. Somerset Maugham, Playwright
According to extensive research into success and performance, each one of us approaches our work with a unique formula. When we are at our best, we tap into some natural talents, abilities, or experiences that we have honed. In his book, StrengthFinders, Tom Rath uses Gardner's research and outlines 34 themes or traits that show up in different combinations in these success recipes.
I recently took mine again and was amazed at the consistency from previous times I have taken the assessments under different circumstances, in different cities, and for different purposes. It seems that each of us have a "go to" recipe that becomes our signature dish.
Mine are Strategic, Maximizer, Positivity, Activator, and WOO (winning others over). This time Communication made it back onto the list as well.
So, what do these mean?
For me, they combine to create this recipe.
I see the big picture. I know how to make it better. I am positive it will work.
How soon can we start? Who's with me?
When I first articulated this, a long-time colleague joked that this was the pattern of most of the emails she received from me. I suspect she was right.
Those familiar with the assessments know that one of my themes is in the Strategic Thinking category, one is in Relationship Building, and three are in Influencing. Using my kitchen analogy, this represents my balance of salty and sweet. The Strategic and Maximizer seek out data, insight, and analysis until actionable patterns begin to emerge. Those patterns build confidence with Positivity and momentum with Activator. Activator also indicates my comfort with (and, frankly, need for) experimentation. We often can only start with a minimum viable offering or a test, but that then informs our strategy and our confidence for further investments. And throughout, with communication and influence, I am "Winning Others Over" (WOO). Creating the motivation to bring customers or colleagues in alignment with the new vision.
I can point to dozens and dozens of examples in my career where my recipe delivered great results. It is the common theme up and down my resume. Not everyone would have approached the problems or situations in the same way, and in fact, those perspectives are critical for strategic planning and action (and must be actively sought out, especially from those who are quiet in group settings or need more time for analysis). But underlying the successes is a creativity, energy, and conviction that prompts people to action and helps the business achieve more than it thought it could. It's my winning formula. It's my signature dish.
What is yours? I am curious to know what others have found in their StrengthsFinders assessments and how they are utilizing it to play more to their strengths every day.
Next week, I am attending a workshop where this and other assessments will combine to create a clearer picture of purpose and vision. For someone who likes to see the big picture and collaborate towards making things better, this is perfect. It just can't come soon enough.
This seems like a simple question. One that would be easy to answer. But for those of us in a customer-facing and customer-impacting role or with big ambitions for our career, it is the kind of multiple choice question that leads to new insights and creates different day-to-day priorities and strategies.
WHO Do You Work for?
Option 1: You work for your employer. This is the most obvious one. You are employed by an organization from which you receive a paycheck. You have a boss (or several). Your boss might have a boss. Your goals are aligned to the financial or strategic goals of the business and the goals of those bosses. And your primary job is to advocate for the company with customers to create enterprise value for the investors of your company and the leadership who is advocating their interest. With this mindset, the importance of “managing up” is clear. Internal relationship building and being visible in the organization is critical. Whether your manager is collaborative, a micro-manager, or empowering, this view dominates the work landscape.
Option 2: You work for your customers. For marketing professionals and other customer-facing roles, this can be a very useful perspective for day-to-day prioritization. Customers ultimately pay the bills and drive growth and profit in the company. Often customer advocacy and resulting business results can lead to personal rewards. If your goals are aligned to the business goals of your customer, this can lead to great partnership and can optimize long-term customer value. Customer experience and customer service are paramount and are driving enterprise value (not the other way around). With this mindset, the importance of customer relationship building is clear. You need to spend time with your boss, after all. And your primary job is to advocate or the customer within the company.
Option 3: You work for yourself. Perhaps you are self-employed, consult, or rocking the gig economy, but even if you are not, it is helpful to consider this perspective. Even if you are an employee, you own your own career. You own your own development. And for most of us, we own how we apply our time and energy to the various problems and opportunities we face daily. Ultimately, you choose to join companies, which customers or markets you focus on, and how you pursue your personal passions over time. And with this approach, your primary job is to advocate for yourself with customers and the company, to align their goals with the work you want to pursue. In my experience, this perspective comes to the forefront in times of transition or discontent, but otherwise is under-prioritized.
As you consider your answer, know that it truly is a multiple choice question. Your answer will likely be a mix of all three and will vary over time as needs and priorities changes.
In any case, I highly recommend you spending time, being mentored by, and really understanding the needs of all three of your bosses - your employer, your customers, and yourself – to ensure that you are performing up to your fullest potential. We often don’t listen to ourselves or give ourselves the same compassionate and honest advice we would give to colleagues or our employees, even though we could benefit from the self-reflection. And most of us don’t ask or receive advice frequently enough from our employers or our customers and we should regularly seek out the gift of feedback. Armed with these insights, we can confidently answer the question and focus on the highest impact priorities.
This article was originally published on LinkedIn Pulse.
On the advice of a friend, Angela Naphin, whose recent podcast on personal branding, encouraged it, I Googled myself. Despite the popularity of my name, I was pleased to see that I was the 5th most popular image for Jennifer Davis and my blog ranked up there. Behind the runner-up Miss America. Behind a surgeon. Behind an artist. Behind an ambassador. I am in good company, it seems.
According to the US Census Bureau, and their very entertaining HowManyofMe.com website, there are 6,050 women named Jennifer Davis in the US alone. And there over a million women named Jennifer in the US. The name ipeaked in popularity around the time of my birth, which is why all of us Jennifers are about the same age (ie, think Jennifer Gardner, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jennifer Lopez, and all the Jennifers you know, are related to, and work with).
But back to my point, my name alone is not distinctive enough to be a brand. Lucky for me it isn’t hard to spell or pronounce. It is easy for people all over the world to say. But it is not unique. It isn’t some celebrity baby name that some might read as strange, but is memorable. My name sounds like someone you have met before and perhaps you have. When I lived in Portland, Oregon, I was told all the time that there was a ticket agent who works at the Portland airport and a high school administrator with the same name. My only hope was that they were outstanding citizens who didn’t end up with our name splashed in a negative newspaper masthead. I think we have generally avoided all of that and as a group we have worked for good.
In the final tally, I am not any of the following Jennifers, but we may share some characteristics.
- I am not Jennifer Davis the ambassador, although I am diplomatic and strategic
- I am not Jennifer Davis, the ballroom dance instructor, although I strive to mentor
- I am not Jennifer Davis, the artist, although I am creative
- I am not Jennifer Davis, the surgeon, although I do focus my expertise to help others
- I am not Jennifer Davis, the real estate agent, although I do live in Atlanta
- I am not Jennifer Davis, the beauty queen, although, I too, wish for world unity
And the 6,049 others who share my name...are not me.
You, too, should Google yourself. Think about what makes you unique among your name-sharing peers and what make you similar. And then be you!
“Accurate self-assessment is essential to great career choices.” – Tom Monahan, Norton Street Capital
For more on self-assessment, read Know Thyself: The Toolbox.
“Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.” – John Kenneth Galbraith
Economist John Kenneth Galbraith illustrated well the first step to change: the openness to change one’s mind. Without that, it is all defensiveness and resistance.
