A truly great leader
To my mind one of the most inspirational leaders in the news today is Ross Brawn owner of the Formula 1 racing team Brawn GP.
His career glitters. He was inspirational at Benetton where he helped Michael Schumacher to win two world titles and then he moved to Ferrari where he helped them to regain past glories as well as working with Schumacher to win further titles.
However, his true leadership showed when at the end of 2008 Honda F1, the team he was working for, decided to leave F1. Brawn was left with no funding and a lot of people about to be made redundant. He took the initiative and by March 2009 had established Brawn F1, saving lots of jobs despite putting his own money on the line.
The rest is history. He announced that there would be no team orders and that both drivers, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello would be given equal status and equal support. Brawn F1 started winning races immediately and the team spirit was enhanced when people other than team principle Ross Brawn were invited to collect the constructers winning cup at the end of each successful race.
Yesterday Jenson Button won the F1 World Drivers Championship and Brawn F1 won the Constructers Championship.
Apart from thanking his team Ross Brawn also thanked those he was not able to save from redundancy at the end of last year.
“I also want to thank everyone who has worked with the team over the years that couldn’t be with us this season as we had to re-size at the start of it.” He added: “My sincere thanks go out to them because they worked so hard and should feel a part of our success.”
Ross Brawn has demonstrated all the key features of a great leader. He empowers his people, he shares out the glories but accepts the blame when things go wrong, he is fair and honest and he doesn’t forget anyone, even those he had to leave behind.
The nervous fire-fighter
I was running a course on interview technique last week with a real variety of people. One of the delegates was a fire-fighter and he certainly had some stories which would make your hair stand on end.
However, as soon as we began the interview role play, he was reduced to a stammering, blushing wreck, speaking in a barely audible whisper. Nerves effect people in different ways but this was a very extreme example. How can a man who faces the fear of real physical danger every day be so terrified of a few questions?
After some coaching it became apparent that this was the first interview he had had in twenty years. Why should he be good at something he doesn’t practice? Also, more office-bound jobs might involve the communication skills which are helpful in interviews. However a fire-fighter will not have these opportunities. So by offering him some relaxation and visualisation techniques and also giving him a clear idea of what he could expect in an interview, he finally began to relax and to be able to tackle the questions.
The key techniques for overcoming nerves in an interview are:
Preparation – get together a list of questions, make notes on your answers (with examples from your past achievements and experience) and then practice OUT LOUD.
Breathing – when we get nervous we forget to breathe. So take two or three deep breaths in and out before you go into the interview and keep checking you are breathing during it.
Pause and slow down – don’t be rushed in to giving an answer. Pausing is not a sign of weakness – in fact it makes you look more confident and thoughtful.
Visualisation – have a clear sense and picture of what you are like when you are relaxed and confident and imagine yourself being interviewed in this way. Don’t allow bad experiences in the past or imaginary fears to intrude. Put those to one side and focus on the successful outcome.
Does anyone have any other relaxation techniques they use to overcome nerves?
Giving feedback
Recently I was talking to a group of managers who expressed difficulty with giving feedback. The crux of good feedback, of course, is not to be judgmental and to ask questions so that the other person reveals the problem and the potential solutions. In other words you lead through questions rather than statements.
There are numerous questions you could ask, but here are just a few to consider:
• The coaching approach – “What did you learn by doing it that way?”
• The inquiring approach – “Why did you do it that way?”
• The exploring approach – “Can you tell me what brought you to come to this conclusion?”
• The challenging approach – “Are there any other ways you could do this?”
• The tying down approach – “Give me some examples of what you mean?”
• The summary approach – “Can we agree that . . .?”
A few years ago, I had a very talented graphic designer within my team. Part of her work was to take commissions from other department within the building. That was fine; except that I noticed that many of the secretaries were sitting in her office and chatting for quite long periods of time.
Clearly this was disruptive to her work and to me it looked as though she was encouraging the time wasters.
Since she was coming up to her appraisal I decided to broach this issue with her. It would have been easy for me to be judgemental and to tell her that it had to stop. Instead I asked her if she was enjoying the variety of work that was coming in from other departments and then talked about the type of work coming in.
It was at this point that she announced that she was enjoying the work but was frustrated that people would linger in her office. Immediately I was able to explore solutions with her through the questioning approach discussed above and we found a workable solution to the problem.
Think creatively to get that job
Think creatively to get that job
Yesterday I was working with a client who has been made redundant and is seeking work within his particular speciality. His type of work is unique and he is very senior. That means that the pond of potential jobs/companies he can approach is very small; equally the number of jobs of his type is also very limited.
Apart from reviewing the most obvious companies to approach, we tried to look at other ways in which he could enlarge the pond to bring in more potential jobs.
Naturally the first thing he had to do was ensure that the few companies that were likely to employ him knew that he was available for work. That meant getting in contact with head-hunters, talking to his network and perhaps contacting the companies directly.
Our second solution was to look at all those companies who did business with his specialist group of companies. In some cases these may be suppliers, but in this case they were companies and law firms that worked directly as part of the ‘supply chain’ for that particular service industry product.
By the time we had considered all these other companies we had come up with a list of consultancies, law firms, accountants and financial services specialists. In each case the role was likely to be advisory or in the case of the consultancies, acting as a hire out back to the small pond of original companies.
We finished with a list that was double the original pond of companies. That in turn meant that his chances of getting a new job quickly were greatly enhanced.
Clash of cliques
Clash of cliques
Have you ever attended a meeting where two cliques start hammering away at each other in a mutually destructive way?
As a bystander who had been asked to attend this meeting to give my thoughts I was horrified. At first all seemed to go well. There were notes to absorb, the Chairman introduced the purpose of the meeting and minutes of the previous meeting were reviewed and agreed.
From there on, whenever one person said something, another person would disagree. Soon it became clear that there were two schools of thought (my polite language for two cliques) and there was to be no compromise. The meeting ended in disarray with the Chairman having lost complete control.
Afterwards the Chairman asked me for my thoughts; what could he do to stop this from happening? I suggested the following actions:
• First he needed to talk to the chief protagonists and tell them that enough was enough. It needed to be done as soon after the meeting as possible and it had to be done in an even handed way without being judgemental
• If that saw a change in the next meeting then the Chairman should ensure that future meetings were very strongly chaired by him
• If there was no change then the Chairman would have no choice but to review who should and should not be on the project group; some people would have to be removed and a smaller group which is more easily Chaired should be put in place
• Meanwhile, project notes should go out earlier (they had been going out last minute) so that more informal discussion could take place before the meeting
• Also the Chairman would have to take a much more strident line, starting the meeting on time, making it clear that all contributions would be time limited and that anyone getting involved in personal attacks would be asked to leave the meeting
• This was a mixed discipline project group, so ultimately the Chairman would have to make it clear that any person asked to leave the meeting would be reported to their line manager.
As a starting point this was going to be a handful for the Chairman to take on, but hopefully it would lead to some short term improvements. Ultimately, of course, he might have to abandon the meetings and seek another way of moving the agenda forward, but that is for the future.
Why traditional training fails
There has been much discussion in training circles about the effectiveness of traditional one or two day classroom training. I am one of those people who believes that this sort of training doesn’t work for a number of very good reasons.
1. People are given and expected to absorb huge quantities of information when we all know that, in reality, it is only possible to absorb two or three messages at any one time
2. Even with a lot of interactive opportunities, it is one thing learning a lesson and then having to take it into the workplace and make the same technique work – as a result the post training enthusiasm soon wanes and the old habits re-establish themselves
3. Once the training has taken place there is no opportunity to re-acquaint the trainee with the lessons learnt.
Behavioural change is most likely to work where a small number of messages are given, where the trainee can then try them out in the workplace and where they can repeatedly review those lessons until they find a way of turning the training into a reality for themselves in the workplace.
The challenge is to find that magic formula.
Time boxing
A couple of years ago I had a client who found it very difficult to manage his time. There were jobs he really hated and would avoid doing until absolutely necessary.
He was a self confessed procrastinator, but it had led him into difficulties with his boss and it was damaging his chances of promotion.
I had come across time boxing as a method for project management where meeting timelines is especially important. Then I had attended a networking event where someone else said that they used time boxing but in a different way for their personal time management.
Time boxing is a way of committing yourself to do a task by limiting the pain.
• First identify the task you have to complete
• Then allocate a time to start work on that task. Ideally the time commitment should be limited, perhaps 30 minutes up to an hour. If it is a job you really hate doing then don’t commit to more because you will never start the work
• Allocate the time when you are fresh and alert (ideally early in the morning). This has two effects, you get the time boxing completed and can enjoy the rest of your day and secondly you will feel really good with yourself and find that everything else that day goes well
• With time boxing don’t have to finish the task, although those people who do use the technique say that they often find themselves drawn into and completing the task regardless of the time box commitment
• Then set yourself a small reward for completing the time boxing.
I saw that client again recently. He has some new problems now, but these all centre on a promotion he achieved. Yes he did try out time boxing and it is now part of his routine, although thankfully not every day.
Why not give it a go and lets us know how you got on.
ASDA and future recruitment
Recently I attended a meeting of the Recruitment Society at which we received a presentation by ASDA on their new recruitment process.
Several years ago ASDA decided that they wanted to improve their own recruitment process and become less reliant on recruitment agencies (bad news for members of the Recruitment Society!!). So they brought in Euro RSCG Riley, specialist recruitment advisers to help.
Perhaps most interesting about the process they entered into was a change in the thinking pattern for recruitment. They asked themselves not what ASDA needed, i.e. new recruits, but what did the potential recruit need. Their answer was a lot more information about ASDA and the people that already work at ASDA.
Their new recruitment website (www.asda.jobs) is bright, easy to read and headlines the people working at all levels whether in their stores, at George, the pharmacy or a number of other jobs you wouldn’t automatically associate with a shop.
There are some whizzy bits such as videos to brighten the website up even further. They have also experimented with QR codes and mobile phones as well as Twitter For me the disappointment was that the site is heavily informational but very low on engagement and interactivity. I saw no evidence of a blog (although they say there is one in the graduate section), RSS feeds or a LinkedIn community. Nor could I find an area where people could ask questions other than through the traditional comments/contact us page.
In that respect the ASDA jobs website is disappointing; it remains firmly in the Web 1.0 camp. In many other respects it is innovative, fresh and enjoyable to navigate (although curiously there are no links back to the Home Page as you go deeper into the site).
Undoubtedly the ASDA approach is one that is growing amongst large employers, sidelining adverts and agencies and moving to a more direct engagement with potential recruits. They are very clear though, this is a journey they have entered into and not the final product.
Have a look at the ASDA jobs site and let us know what you think.
What every graduate should know…
I was talking to a senior manager in a public organisation who was despairing of some of the candidates who were presenting themselves for interviews.
“Surely in this hugely competitive market”, I asked, “graduates are having to work harder to be noticed at job interviews?”
“Some are”, the manager replied. “But many others are making some really basic mistakes.”
“Such as?”
Not knowing what the organisation is. One candidate enthusiastically announced how keen he was to work for the Commission for Racial Equality – only to be gently informed that this was a totally different organisation!
Assuming that a good degree is enough to get them the job. Unfortunately most candidates have a 2/1 or higher so employers are looking for something extra. So hobbies, charitable work, work experience, achievements are all very significant.
Using inappropriate examples from their private lives. By all means talk about how captaining your school hockey team taught you about leadership and team work – but avoid the story of how you developed strength of character by refusing to buy cocaine on the beach in Thailand (yes – really…)
Making it clear that you view this job as a stop-gap until you can get a much better paid and more exciting job elsewhere. Employers are looking for long-term commitment and for candidates who are wanting a career, not just a job.
In the end, it’s all about preparation. Take the time to really think through how all of your experience to date can be of interest and use to future employers.
Put yourself in their shoes. Would you give you a job? If the answer is not a resounding ‘yes’ then you still have some work to do….
Getting international business etiquette right
The other day I was having a coffee with a friend when the conversation turned to business etiquette, particularly when doing business in a foreign country.
In my friend’s office there is a Serbian staff member. He had commented that it is incorrect to go into a business meeting in Serbia and smile. He said that this could be seen as being flippant. Having visited Belgrade on a number of occasions I was surprised by this and decided to check it out. So I contacted a close friend and interpreter in Belgrade.
He responded back by saying that smiling is fine, but it would be wrong to crack a joke or be flippant at the start of a meeting. That left me wondering how much more bad advice was circulating the taverns and coffee houses of the City.
Here’s another one; if you look up business etiquette for Serbia you will find advice that people greet each other with three kisses to the cheek. That advice is correct, but my Serbian friend confirmed that it would be inappropriate for a stranger to do this and it is reserved only for close colleagues and family.
We all know the etiquette for China includes not giving clocks or handkerchiefs because they are associated with death or funerals, we also know that the number 8 is lucky, but very often other advice is unspoken or unrehearsed.
Of course the symbolic issues are important, but most businesspeople need straightforward advice about how to greet, hold meetings and negotiate in the country concerned.