"The ability to rapidly learn, apply and execute is a common trait among high achievers," Jerry Bernhart summarized ina recently LinkedIn post. Amazon's Jeff Bezos has said that speed is the only sustainable competitive advantage of businesses, so why wouldn't this also be true of leaders?
If this is true, how do you demonstrate learning agility in your career? I contend that it might be best demonstrated by unconventional (and traditionally under-valued) career paths that spanned industries, roles and responsibilities, company sizes and types, locations, and different capital structures. When you see variety like this coupled with success, you see the results of learning agility.
I have wondered how my career might have progressed if I had stayed in one industry segment, one customer segment, one functional discipline, one company type (VC-baked growth companies or big enterprises), or even one city. But considering that it is impossible to A/B test, what I have concluded is that my diversity of background provides me:
- a more holistic strategic perspective to decision making and implementation,
- makes me a better business person, and
- has taught me to how to ramp up fast to make an impact.
Hopefully, it has also helped me create opportunities for others to grow as well as I strive to be a hospitable leader.
Thinking about your own career, where have you best seen your own learning agility develop?
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Career Development
Amazon is a very successful company and is admired throughout the world. In a few short decades, it became a top globally-recognized brand and has influenced countless other businesses to rethink their approach to innovation. Amazon Web Services (AWS) the cloud computing pioneer, is the fastest enterprise software company in the history of the world.
So, what lessons do Amazon’s Leadership Principles and daily mechanisms hold for those who are actively or passively looking for their next career move? A lot.
CUSTOMER OBSESSION: The foundational Leadership Principle at Amazon is a relentless pursuit of understanding durable customer needs and then driving solutions to address those needs. Anyone who has worked there or studied the company knows about the “flywheel” where connected customer needs (for selection, low prices, quick delivery) feed off each other to create customer loyalty. Would be job seekers should apply the same discipline to their search. Rather than applying to every role they see or trying to be “everything to everyone,” they should focus on their ideal customer profile, in this case, a hiring manager at a particular type of company that has needs they can best fill. When you read job descriptions, look for the problems they cite or imply in the description. What are they looking to accomplish? What are their barriers to success? What problem are they trying to solve with this hire?
For ideas on how to do narrowing down, I recommend professor Steve Dalton’s The 2-Hour Job Search (thank you, Gina Riley, for the original recommendation). For those who are in the thought leadership business, see David C. Baker’s The Business of Expertise (thank you, Drew Neisser for that recommendation) and The Thought Leaders Practice from Matt Church, Peter Cook, and Scott Stein (thank you, Marc Wolfe for that recommendation).
WORKING BACKWARDS: The most famous Amazon mechanism is the working backwards process. It is codified in a PRFAQ, which outlines in a fake press release format what you propose to do for that customer need you identified. You can do the same thing for your career. Sit down and write a press release announcing your appointment for your next job. As you might have been taught, start with the headline and the “customer quote” (in this case, the hiring manager’s quote) that outlines why you were such a great fit for their needs. This sounds easy but is very hard, and that is the point. It forces you to think deeply about what you bring to the table, what needs you solve, and why you are better than any alternative (including the “hire no one and try to do the work with the folks you already have” scenario, which is very common). This will give you confidence when networking, applying or interviewing for new roles as you can articulate your value proposition.
For more information on how to write out strategy in this way, see chapter 6 of my book, Well Made Decisions. I also recommend Colin Bryar and Bill Carr’s Working Backwards.
LEARN AND BE CURIOUS: If you find yourself out of work and considering the next steps, don’t forget to apply this critical leadership principle. Take the time to get a new certification, take a course, or learn a new skill. Build a website, start a blog, train for a 5k, dive deep into a technical topic, and add to your toolkit in a way that not only bolsters your resume, but gives you a sense of accomplishment. A job search, especially an active one, can drain your energy, and so many days, you can feel like you aren’t making progress. Focusing on learning daily gives you back that agency and prepares you well for what is next. When you do land your next appointment, you may find it was something that you were not qualified to do before you jumped into learning!
How else are you applying Leadership Principles to your career plan?
I was asked recently what three character traits that have contributed most to my success have been strategic thinking, a sense of urgency, and positivity.
Strategic Thinking: I can see around strategic corners and find ways to maximize or improve anything we are attempting to do. This was well illustrated recently by a rebranding exercise I led for one of our business groups. We were all in agreement that the current way we talked about and positioned the business offering was slowing down adoption, but it wasn’t clear the path forward. Through facilitated discussions, we arrived at a common view of a new for a new business name. I called it giving the business a “handle” that was easier to pick up and carry and share. This led us to a structured naming exercise that resulted in a new brand approach, well received by our stakeholders. I was able to facilitate this by asking questions and broadening the view of the group to the range of challenges we were facing and how best to optimize our outcomes.
Sense of Urgency: I am not naturally patient person, which is something I am working on. But in a business context, I think this “fire in the belly” has helped me set the pace for our teams, pushed teams to experiment more (with incomplete or imperfect information so that we can learn faster), and helped shape the industries of which I have been a part. I served for several years for the Avixa board of directors on their Leadership Search Committee. This trade and industry association, like the industry it serves, has been predominantly male for a many decades. There was a lot of energy about getting more gender, racial, and experiential diversity on the board, but the question was often one of timing. Is this the year to put forward this female candidate over her male counterpart? Together with others on the board (both women and men, I am proud to say), the sense of urgency was contagious and we started making changes. I recently saw a picture of the ribbon cutting ceremony for Avixa’s largest trade show of the year and among the board members holding big scissors were as many women as men and the pipeline for chairman of the board now include several women. Truly, this is a career highlight for me. This is how a sense of urgency can lead to long-term change.
Positivity: I am not always happy (as my teenage children will attest), but I am always hopeful. I can see the silver lining in the clouds on my best days, I can be an encouragement to others who might focus on problems so much that they can’t see possibilities. I recently was talking to someone who experienced a disappointing loss at work and after talking it through she saw it as a “making room for something better.” In business there is a lot of failure and loss. If not, you are doing it wrong and not experimenting enough or taking enough risks. How you deal with that failure and loss, personally and on teams, is critical to the resilience of the organization and how well you take care of customers over the long haul. I consider feedback a gift, even if it is hard to take, as we are all on a journey of growth.
This article is an excerpt of an article originally in Authority Magazine written by Ming Zhao.
The past 48 hours have been a big one for me. I had an op-ed piece on the anniversary of Title IX featured in AdAge, I was quoted in an Adweek article, I was a featured executive on Titan 100 (after being honored earlier this spring in their inaugural Georgia awards program), and a CMO Spotlight podcast also dropped.
It is such an honor to be able to advocate for topics like equity in sports, career development, and decision making and to be able to draw attention to the amazing work of my colleagues at LEARFIELD. I am hoping that these pieces are useful to the readers and listeners and help inform their own plans!
Have you ever witnessed “analysis paralysis”? A lot of business leaders are faulted with cautiously procrastinating decisions until the “best” choice is in full view, and in doing so they become a competitive follower, miss the market opportunity, or create other cultural challenges in their organization.
Leaders will delay letting go an employee who is struggling, wreaking havoc on the company and customers, demotivating other high-performers, and delaying the chance to get someone in that role who will help create real growth and advancement.
Leaders will delay investing in a new market or technology for fear that the return will not materialize, only to find someone else beat them to market forcing them to a play a game for which they did not dictate the rules.
Leaders will observe things about the culture that when replicated at scale will keep the organization from achieving its highest performance (eg, things like lack of honest candor, lack of accountability, misaligned priorities). Letting it go until it demands correction (or takes the sacrifice of the leader themselves to regard).
Leaders might be hesitant to delegate to their teams and employees, communicating a lack of trust and throttling the capacity and velocity of the organization as they are personally involved in too many decisions. I have seen leaders of multi-billion-dollar corporations get involved in picking out the color of lobby furniture, selecting the IP telephony system, or the brand of copiers in the offices, to the detriment of the decisions that only they could make.
Why? Why can leaders behave in these ways that sabotage their businesses?
Ironically, it is because of a false sense of self-preservation that leads to these acts of self-sabotage. Let me explain.
Every business decision, above a certain scale and level of complexity, is a career decision. If you are the one allocating resources and setting priorities (which I would argue is every leader’s responsibility, starting personally and expanding to teams and organizations), then the pressure is on to make the “right decisions.”
All eyes are on you, it would seem, and the organization, shareholders, communities, and customers are counting on you!
That kind of pressure can narrow your focus, can dial up fear, and can cause leaders to try to control what they can. But this is generally the opposite of what is called for in these situations.
The role of the leader is to enable their team to be successful, satisfying the needs of customers. This means having the right talent, making the right resources available, and building a culture of high-velocity learning that differentiates your business long-term.
In my new book, Well Made Decisions, I hope leaders find the tools and most of all, the confidence, to lead their organizations in different ways. By focusing on the process and anticipating and monitoring implementation, only then can they achieve success for their teams, their organizations, and ultimately their careers.
This article originally appeared on wellmadedecisions.com.
Proud to have been able to share some of my experience with Gina Riley for the March issue of Authoritii5.0 Magazine. Read the article here.
“Unless the job means more than the pay, it will never pay more.” – H. Bertram Lewis
“Accurate self-assessment is essential to great career choices.” – Tom Monahan, Norton Street Capital
For more on self-assessment, read Know Thyself: The Toolbox.
As a student and practitioner of career planning, I am always in search of the definition of a successful career. What enables success and how is it defined?
I was reading Amy Poehler’s book, Yes Please, recently and stumbled across her brilliant definition.
"Career is the stringing together of opportunities and jobs. Mix in public opinion and past regrets. Add a dash of future panic and a whole lot of financial uncertainty. Career is something that fools you into thinking you are in control and then takes pleasure in reminding you that you aren't. Career is the think that will not fill you up and never make you truly whole. Depending on your career is like eating cake for breakfast and wondering why you start crying an hour later."
I think she touches on something that each one of us has to wrestle with in our careers: is it going to be our life’s main dish (something that defines you) or is it a nutritious vegetable (something you do because you need to)? Or, for the lucky ones, is it dessert? Something you choose to do because it is sweet and makes the whole meal better?
It was a pleasure to talk with Angela Mezzetti from Women in Leadership about owning your career. Check out the recording of our fun conversation: Own Your Career and Find Balance.
“Have the guts to own your career,” said Art Gensler, the founder of Gensler, the largest architecture firm in the world. “Refuse to play the victim. You have one life and what you do for a living makes up a large part of your time. Make the most of it. Make it joyful and rewarding. Develop a sense of purpose for what you are doing.”
Looking back in the early days of my career, I think about the lessons I learned that have helped me throughout my career. Now that I’m the CMO of Leyard’s international business and vice president of marketing and product strategy at Planar, I’m sharing those lessons in the hopes they will help new employees as they enter the professional workforce.
As a new professional, you’re ready to take on a new set of challenges while working to build your manager’s trust and confidence in your abilities. Yet starting out on a new job can be daunting. Not only are you required to learn a new role, but you must navigate an unfamiliar company culture complete with a new set of processes, politics and personalities. As Michael Watkins, author of the guide, “The First 90 Days” has said, the first three months in a new job are both “fraught with peril—and loaded with opportunity.”* To do well in college, the professor gives you a syllabus and timelines for every assignment. The work world isn’t that way. You have to figure things out for yourself.
Here are seven lessons I learned early on in my career that can help you to embrace the opportunity, while avoiding the peril as you start on a new job:
1. Come prepared
A great way to hit the ground running is to learn everything you can about the company you’ve been hired to work for — before your first day on the job. Follow the company, its leaders and industry competitors on social media. Learn about the executive team. Read recent press releases, blog posts and news articles to learn about the company’s products and services, and where the business is headed. Having that background before you walk through the door will give you a significant head start, helping you to ramp up more quickly.
2. Dress appropriately
How you dress is a part of your personal brand, which combined with your work and behavior, defines who you are as a professional. Look at how the leaders in the company dress, and take clues from them. If you don’t know the dress code, the easiest thing to do is ask. And if in doubt, it’s best to err on the side of dressing more formally and more conservatively than what’s required, especially for young employees attempting to demonstrate their professionalism.
3. Take notes at every meeting
If I had to choose one thing to help young professionals demonstrate that they’re ready for the challenge, it would be pen and paper. By taking notes at every 1:1 and team meeting, you show that you’re prepared for new tasks. When you take notes, you communicate that you’re an active listener who’s engaged in the conversation and focused on taking action. And by documenting conversations, you establish yourself as a resource whom the team can rely upon to follow through on their commitments.
4. Listen and ask questions
Over the years, I’ve noticed that the new hires who adapt the most rapidly are first and foremost good listeners. By listening and observing, you get to know the different players and personalities at your new company, what their interests are, and how they interact. You also quickly learn the priorities of the company—including what has and hasn’t worked in the past. As a new hire, you should also take the time to ask questions. The first 90 days on the job are a grace period during which you’re not expected to know everything. By seizing this time to think strategically about the company and ask good questions, you demonstrate your curiosity while at the same time accelerating your learning curve.
5. Display a positive attitude
Studies show that that almost half of new hires fail within the first 18 months.** Interestingly, the biggest reason for this isn’t lack of skill, but attitudinal issues such as lack of coachability, low levels of motivation and the wrong temperament. By being humble, flexible, energetic and openly receptive to guidance, you will quickly establish a reputation as an employee who’s ready to work. Moreover, you’ll demonstrate that you’re a “can-do” person and a great team player.
6. Form the right relationships
Nearly every job has its share of gossipers and complainers. As you encounter these people, make sure to keep your distance. Instead, form relationships with productive co-workers who are focused on making a positive difference. Ask for guidance from those you respect. And take your co-workers to lunch to learn about the company culture and build a rapport.
7. Ask for feedback
Don’t wait for your manager to offer feedback. Proactively ask for it after you’ve spent a few weeks on the job and have had time to adjust to your new role. What’s going well? And what can you improve upon? By proactively asking for input from your manager, you make sure you’re moving in the right direction. And if adjustments are needed, you can quickly make them so that you exceed expectations in the long run.
With these guidelines top of mind, you will show your employer that you are ready and motivated to do your best work.
This article was originally published on Leaders in Heels blog.
Looking back in the early days of my career, I think about the lessons I learned that have helped me throughout my career. Now that I’m the CMO of Leyard’s international business and vice president of marketing and product strategy at Planar, I’m sharing those lessons in the hopes they will help new employees as they enter the professional workforce.
Congratulations—you’ve graduated and landed your first professional job! There are still many lessons to learn, even if you are starting your career in the discipline you studied. While every office environment is different, there are some things that are important no matter where you work. Here are the top four things I wish I would have known on my first day on the job so I could have done my best work every day, from the very first day.
You are there to do a job
Unlike some roles in which you trade your time for a paycheck even when customers aren’t present, an office job is different. Even if you work hourly, you are expected not just to be there, but to accomplish real work every day. If you are unclear about your job responsibilities and what is expected of you, ask your manager. Observe the respected leaders of your company and their approach, and see how you can model your behavior and habits after theirs.
One of my first jobs was in a retail clothing store, and my boss was an exceptional mentor. She taught us the old retail mantra: “If you have time to stand, you have time to sweep.” The same is true in an office environment. Don’t wait to be told. Find out what you are responsible for and keep yourself busy and focused on the goals of the company.
Understand how your work matters
It’s not enough to just keep busy. You must also understand how your work contributes to the business. Learn who benefits directly from the work you do, what internal and external customers need, and how the business makes money. Having this context will motivate you to excel in your responsibilities, make better decisions and make everyone (including yourself) more successful.
A chief financial officer once told me that even if you do not have an interest in finance and accounting, it is important to know how the score is kept in business. Not knowing would be like playing in a soccer or softball game and not being able to read the score board. Learning to read the score board and how your own activities put points on that scoreboard will help you better understand the value of your work to the company.
Work at the office
Even if your employer has a flexible work-from-home policy, I would advise you to show up to the office. While it may be convenient to avoid the commute, it’s important to get to know your co-workers, for them to get to know you, and to learn from your peers. It is too isolating to be at home, even in today’s modern world. Out of sight is out of mind is something you want to avoid while building your career.
The exception to this is if you are in a field that requires working at the clients’ place of business. If being on location is the best way for you to satisfy customers and grow the business, then by all means, do your work there. Just be sure to regularly connect and update your manager and colleagues so you can continue to build those important relationships even when you are out of sight.
Early in my career, I made a point of visiting my boss at the beginning of every day to check in and tell him my plans for the day. This won’t work with every manager, but if you have a relational boss, this kind of face time could have a positive impact on your productivity and the trust you build with the team.
You build relationships in the office
Get to know your co-workers by showing genuine interest in them. Ask questions. How long have they worked here? What are their responsibilities for the company? Do they have advice for you as you start out on the job? If possible, find a mentor who can serve as a resource for understanding the company and its specific job roles. Building your network within the organization will help you to quickly learn and establish yourself as you work toward your first promotion. Just be sure your interactions aren’t distracting—hanging out at the water cooler all day will not help develop your career!
Following this advice will help you to quickly become a valued member of the team. It won’t be long before you are no longer the new person in the office and you will be in a position to show hospitality and help other employees get to know the organization and their colleagues.
This article was originally published on the Leaders in Heels blog.
Looking back in the early days of my career, there are several things I wish I’d known. Now that I’m the CMO of Leyard’s international business and vice president of marketing and product strategy at Planar, I’m sharing lessons that would have been helpful when I started my career, in hopes they will help recent graduates as they enter the professional workforce.
In most professional environments, email is the most commonly used communication tool. While you have likely used personal email for many years, there are different protocols in the work place. These 10 guidelines will help ensure you are communicating what you want to communicate and how your message is being received.
1. Never use email to criticise or gossip
Never say something on email that you don’t want printed and put on the company bulletin board. Never gossip or take a harsh tone in email. Assume every email will be read by more than the recipient – before you hit send, would you be comfortable sending it to everyone in the company?
2. Never use email to discuss a heated or controversial topic.
Because you can’t read an email and determine the intended tone, it is not a good medium for discussing sensitive things, being sarcastic or delivering feedback. A good rule of thumb is that if there are more than 3 replies in the thread, it is best to take the conversation off-line to a meeting (in person or at least on the phone). You can reply to the thread saying, “It looks like this topic is a good one for us to discuss further. I suggest that we don’t continue in email, but rather schedule a call or meeting. How would tomorrow at 3 PM look for you?” Plus, a measured response demonstrates maturity and self-control, which are always good in the workplace.
3. Use proper language and full sentences
Do not use text slang (do not use LOL, BRB or the number 2 in place of “to” or “too”). In some offices, using this shorthand in messaging applications (like Lync or Skype or WeChat) is okay, but not in email. By using proper grammar and spelling, you are showing that you are professional, intelligent and do not take unnecessary shortcuts.
4. Respond to every email
Unless it says that no response is necessary, reply to all emails addressed to you. It can be with an answer or with more questions. It can be with a simple “thank you” or a message of completion to a project request. If you want to acknowledge the email, but don’t yet have the answer or have anything to report, reply back saying when you will respond. “I wanted to say that I got this request and have begun work on it. I expect to be done on Tuesday and will let you know when it is complete.” Keeping it short is fine, and often preferred. Responding to emails is a way to make and keep commitments while building trust.
5. Set your out of office when you are away
When you are on vacation, travelling for business, or even away from your desk in meetings (if they last longer than when people would expect a reply from you, which varies by job and person), set your out of office message. Most email programs allow you to set your out of office for a particular time and deliver different messages to internal and external parties. Keep it short and professional. Say how long you will be out of the office. Tell them you will get to their message as soon as you can, but they should expect delays. Offer them an alternative contact for immediate assistance, if one is available. Never disclose personal information in an out-of-office intended for external parties (i.e., “I’ll be partying on the beach in Miami for Spring Break”).
6. How to use the To: line: strategically
If you want someone to take action or the email is addressed to them, put them in the TO line. Most emails should be to one person or to a small group where all of the roles are clear and be sure to clarify who you need to respond to which aspects. For example: “Kevin, I am copying you so that you can help me estimate the costs. Gary, can you help me greet our guests at 2 PM tomorrow?”
7. How to use the CC: line: judiciously
Include people in the CC if they need to be aware of the discussion, but are not active participants. If you are sharing good news or a compliment, feel free to copy in that person’s manager. Avoid the temptation to copy the world in on emails, especially if the content is bad or difficult. (And remember it’s often better to handle difficult news in person rather than over email.)
8. How to use the BCC line: carefully
Blind carbon copies are often used to complain or as a way to “cover your tracks”. My advice is to be honest and do not use it to be sneaky. In general, I don’t think it is a good form of communication and I don’t use it. The times BCC is acceptable is sending company-wide email to avoid unnecessary reply-alls, or if someone introduces to you to someone else via email. For example, a good use of BCC would be if Bill thinks you should know Sue and sends an email suggesting you have coffee sometime with Sue. You can move Bill to BCC to thank him for the introduction (telling him you are moving him to the BCC), then remove him from the conversation you and Sue as you figure out when to schedule the coffee.
9. How to use “reply to all”: rarely
Replying to all is rarely a good idea. It clogs up emails and makes people look like amateur communicators. The exception to this is when someone is trying to schedule a meeting or brainstorming to build upon each other’s ideas. But even then there are better ways, such as using the busy/available tool in the calendar.
10. Don’t forget how to write a letter
I like to send hand-written notes. It is bit old-fashioned, I know, but because it is rare, the gesture is genuinely appreciated. I have gotten thank you calls and emails from folks who received a thank you note and felt compelled to respond. It is a great way to build relationships.
This article was originally published on Leaders in Heels.
"You will never climb Career Mountain and get to the top and shout, 'I made it!' You will rarely feel done or complete or even successful. Most people I know struggle with that complicated soup of feeling slighted on one hand to feeling like a total fraud on the other. Our ego is a monster that loves to sit at the head of the table, and I have learned that my ego is just as rude and loud and hungry as everyone else's. It doesn't matter how much you get; you are left wanting more. Success is filled with MSG."
- Amy Poehler, comedian, actor, and best-selling author
According to former president at SRI who helped launch hundreds of innovation projects and companies, here are four things a CEO must be able to do:
- Articulate a clear value proposition. In the first few sentences or minutes of a pitch to an investor or a customer. If it takes pages, it is too nuanced and not strong enough.
- Prove they’re passionate about the customer.
- Demonstrate their ability to build a winning a team.
- They must know how to execute
I’d add a fifth one and that is
5. Be strong enough to say “no” to good ideas to remain focused on the great idea that will lead to substantive results and breakthroughs in the market.
These are things that professionals in any position should strive to do.
I just returned from a vacation in the mountains and thought it was hilarious that the unopened bag of chips, which were popping at the seams in the higher altitude, were back down to the normal again when I arrived back home. And that empty plastic bottles that we packed in the mountains and brought down to recycle, collapsed in our kitchen. Clearly, the air was different there.
Everyone knows the air is “thinner” at altitude. The contents of the air spread out in the lower air pressure. As if each molecule of oxygen also wanted to go on vacation and get away from it all. At sea level, the air pressure is higher because it bears the combined weight of the air molecules in the atmosphere. At the depths where scuba divers dare to do, that density is even more pronounced.
Life is like this as well. Sometimes, when you are on a mountain-top of emotions, the air seems lighter as attitudes are buoyant and optimism is high. In other times, you can feel the weight of the atmosphere bearing down and the density of the air surrounding you. The heaviness of life.
Adjusting to different physical altitudes is a science and an art. Scuba divers and mountain climbers know the risks of pressure imbalances. I have read that the builders of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City were subjected to unprotected dive conditions and developed symptoms like leg weakness, headaches, dizziness, and the like. Symptoms that were often confused with drunkenness to their neighbors, but were in fact decompression sickness. We can develop our own debilitating conditions when we don’t adapt properly to changing conditions.
Yesterday, I went from a relaxing vacation get-away to hearing of a family friend’s losing battle with cancer. Although those are both personal examples, we have all experienced professional highs and lows in rapid succession. A big win followed by a loss. A project triumph followed by new frustrations or set-backs. Times of breathless amazement and times of defeat when we can’t seem to catch our breath. Such is life.
So, does the treatment of decompression sickness teach us anything about dealing with the ups and downs of our circumstances?
The first thing they do to treat decompression sickness is to administer 100% oxygen, preferable in a high-pressure chamber. Something that would stabilize the person at a level before they move to normal conditions. Something that would put the gasses in their blood back into solution. Medical professionals also recommend fluids to fight dehydration. This kind of nourishment works from the inside out.
Sometimes we need the same at work – nourishment from the inside out. When things go from good to worse, it is critical to maintain our perspective and force ourselves to be grateful and mindful of the goodness that surrounds us. To remember the successes. We can take a break from the frustration, focusing our attention on something that can be done with ease to build momentum – returning to the original problem with more energy and creativity. We might need a nourishing talk with a friend or colleague. We might not be able to change the external circumstances, but we can change the internal conditions. And we can remain compassionate – with others and with ourselves – when they experience these symptoms.
When the air gets heavy, remember when it was light to avoid collapsing under the pressure.
P.S. Most of us cope with this oscillation between fair and foul weather with some finesse, although I understand that there are millions out there that need to seek professional help. I am not addressing the real and debilitating disease of depression in this article, but encourage you to find whatever help you need to manage your own pressures.
This article was published on LinkedIn Pulse.
Jennifer Davis was a mentor at Portland Business Journal's 2016 Mentoring Monday event.
Disney, famously, calls their employees “cast members,” recognizing the role that they play in creating the experiences in their theme parks, in their movies, and in their stores. The job of “casting director” has been long considered a key one in the movie and entertainment industry, where these experienced professionals have the tough job of finding people who fit the director’s artistic vision. This could be finding someone with the right look, the right voice, the right celebrity, at the right price, with availability, to bring the vision to life.
Avoiding unethical or illegal discrimination of protected classes or physical characteristics, of course, all of us who hire would do well to think about our own vision for our team and consider some of the things that casting directors might when they fill their cast list. Beyond the experience that might be on the resume or the work samples or portfolio that the candidate might represent, there are other aspects that can be key to the hiring decisions that borrow from the casting director’s playbook. I call these the Four P’s of thinking like a casting director.
Personality: The energy that people bring to situations can help them succeed or fail in certain roles. Sometimes described as “presence,” casting directors look for people who can successfully play the characters they are seeking to fill. Does the person command respect? Can the person play the quiet, supporting role? The same is true of hires in industries outside entertainment. Too much energy and restlessness, can spell disaster for more detail-oriented roles. An introvert might be exhausted by a position that requires constant interaction with team mates or customers. Even the amount of team work required in a role might differ. A cameo part might not require the actor to be that “coachable” or “easy to work with” when a role on an ensemble cast might require a lot of those characteristics. Judging for this in an interview can be incredibly difficult, but is immensely more so if the hiring manager has not identified the ideal profile for the candidate. “What are you looking for?” and “How can you test for that?” are great questions to ask. There is a host of resources available on behavioral hiring, like Effective Interviewing! (which is an elearning, book, and classroom style training program in competency-based interviewing) which may be of use.
Purpose: The “job objective” has long fell off the professional resume, but it is good to understand the career objectives of the individual before hiring them. The casting director might inquire as to why the actor famous for stand-up comedy is looking to read for a serious role. Or why a Hollywood blockbuster actress, might choose to do an independent film. Knowing the individual’s career goals and aspirations can allow their career path to align with the companies goals for many years. When Anne Hathaway was cast in the movie Les Miserables, she was tapped not only for her acting skills, but also because of her personal passion for the cause of disenfranchised women, something that she spoke of regularly in her press interviews for the film. The more candidates can relate and be excited by the purpose of the company, the mission of the firm, the content of the job, and the promise of the career path, the better for all parties.
Platform: Some actors are cast for roles because adding their name to the marquee or to the project, brings along a fan base and connections that would be unavailable for an unknown actor. The same is true for hires outside entertainment. Companies are often looking to bolster their reputation or brand by hiring a recognized expert well-known in the field. Even new college grads might bring with them networks within their university, club affiliations, or community service connections with value to their new employer. Experience sales people, certainly, are valued for the long-standing customer relationships that they can bring with them to their new employer. Candidates looking for new roles in any discipline are well-served by thinking about their own reputation and network in their industry, their city, or the like and how that might benefit their company. Hiring managers, or casting directors, are well-advised to think about the platform that their new hires represent and how to best leverage those for the good of the individual and the company.
Price: Of course, there is an economic element to hiring as well. Can the budget of the film afford the actor with the biggest fan base? Can the more senior, experienced candidate be afforded? Can the organization afford the onboarding and training investment required in a more junior, early-career candidate? There are trade-offs on both sides. Casting directors are working within a budget. So are hiring managers. And that budget not only includes the expense of the employee, but the value of the work product to the organization. A casting director could come in under-budget and help produce a failing film by not having the right caliber of talent. Likewise, any hiring manager can overpay for candidates as they try to find the right fit. I recently saw a Leonardo DaVinci exhibit at the San Diego Air and Space Museum which recounted a letter he sent in 1482, at the age of 30, to Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan, where he indicated his knowledge of bridges and weaponry. An early resume or cover letter, it has been called. I think it does a great job of creating value for the kind of thing DaVinci brought to his future patron. It is good for hiring managers and candidates to keep in mind the economic value of the role and to make sure they are finding the right fit on that front as well.
There are many other things that casting directors must consider when making their determinations. It is a hard job that is fraught with controversy at times and I imagine the ones who are good at it make it look easy. Those of us tasked with building high-performance teams, can learn from the examples of great ensembles who work together to deliver great performances and the professionals that work behind the scenes to ensure the right people are in the cast.
This article was posted on LinkedIn Pulse.
Jennifer Davis' promotion was covered by AV Network.