Strength Strategy
Is Spring Fever A Real Thing That a Manager Should Know About?
What is Spring Fever? Spring fever is defined in the dictionary as a feeling of restlessness and excitement felt at the beginning of spring. Scientific American offers that spring fever, though still a fuzzy term, is associated with: Listlessness, day dreaming,...
Spring Goals: What Do You Manage?
Spring may actually be here – FINALLY! There is snow still hitting the mountains, but it is starting to be slushy and sluggish. Spring weather is teasing us on a daily basis and gaining its own confidence. This is when the last of the first quarter goals, results, and...
New Year; New Time?
As a manager, team lead, or friend of co-workers that depend upon others for positive results, it can sometimes be hard to help others manage their time. I’m not talking about the people who have time issues in general—you know, the ones who come screaming into every...
Whose Strengths Will You Use on President’s Day?
President’s Day is always the third Monday of February and intended to celebrate our first President, George Washington, as his birthday was also in February. It was first celebrated in 1880, made a federal holiday in 1885, and moved to officially be scheduled on the...
Find The Job You Love Or Love The Job You’ve Got?
For those on the job hunt, finding the job you love is THE top priority. Sadly, when job prospects become slim, finding the job you love takes a backseat to simply finding a job – or reconsidering how to love the job you’ve got. This is when career coaches and...
New You = New Awareness!
We all love the feeling and the idea of New. New ideas, new energy, new results, new, new, new! Yeah! And then what? Uh Oh... Something You Didn't Plan For Happened What happened to your awareness when you were embracing the ‘new’? Did it grow or did it take a...
New Information = New You!
Since this is the month of new beginnings, it seems fitting to get clear on what a new beginning might require. When we approach a new goal, we often do not understand how to gain new information that will help with making progress towards that goal. We seem to think...
New Year. New Job?
January gets credit for making us think. At least to think about what we want from the New Year and what we do not want to repeat from the last. Often this is a time when people exclaim, "Enough!" and vow to move forward; embracing new possibilities or looking for new...
New Year. New Results. New You!
January welcomes the lull after the holiday excitement and the renewed vigor to make the next year better. With the renewed intentions comes the initial burst of energy to actually do it this time. Why doesn’t March have the same activity? Because you didn’t think...
You Made A Difference!
You - being You and being Amazing - made a difference in 2018! Looking out the window at this wet winter, I often dream of snow and the quiet and reflective opportunities that come when you are ‘snowed in.’ These are the moments when I realize how...
You Took a Clifton’s Strength Finder Assessment! Now What? (Part 3)
You’ve taken the Clifton Strengths Assessment and you are back at work and wondering how to put into practice all the details of valuing others instead of judging them – not always as easy as it sounds, huh? In the last blog, I offered what many coaches...
You Took a Clifton’s Strength Finder Assessment! Now What? (Part 2)
Organizations that implement the strength finder assessment within their organizations all start off with a bang! A new awareness of self and others, a growth in interpersonal empathy and a change in how they work together. The challenge is that these...
You Took a Clifton’s Strength Finder Assessment! Now What? (Part 1)
I often meet professionals who have taken the Gallup Clifton Strength Finders assessment as part of a team workshop or a work seminar. They enjoyed learning more about themselves and then didn’t know what to do next. Hmmmm. I get it – there’s just not...
What Employees Want from their Managers
When you became a manager, who forgot to tell you that your job changed? It happens a lot. You take on a new role, a new promotion, the new pay raise, and suddenly you find out that your new job as a manager is to stop what you did really well that got you the...
Food Network Challenge – Crafting a Workforce for Growth
In a recently published article, State of American Managers, Gallup refers to a term called additive effects when looking to hire and develop star employees who can help a company scale. What is an additive effect? Additive Effect is a borrowed term from biological...
The Best Managers Do 5 Things Differently
We often compete to share the stories of our worst managers. The poignant point here is that experience with a bad manager is so prolific that we CAN compete to share the worst stories. What if? What if instead of competing to share stories of having the worst manager...
Female Managers Have the Edge
Employee engagement is linked to productivity, retention, and positive job satisfaction. So which gender of managers keep employees more engaged? Male or Female? How do you prepare to select new managers as people progress in their career when...
What do Bad Managers, Employees, and Puppies Have in Common?
Getting a puppy is exciting! The giggles, the snuggles, the learning for both the owner and the growing pup. But it’s not all peachy. There are also downsides: potty training, chewing up your favorite shoes, learning how to walk on a leash without tugging, learning the new house rules. These obstacles can be overcome with positive reinforcement, treats, and learning to understand your new best friend.
Interviewing
Screw Feedback: Manage Your Top Strengths
Marcus Buckingham is about to release a new book claiming that feedback isn’t what people want. The Washington Post hosted a Q-and-A session with Marcus, published on February 24, 2019. He argues that what people really want, and need to be good managers, are the...
What Do You Ask Instead Of Why Questions?
Last week we talked about how counterproductive it is to ask ‘why’. It can put employees and clients on the defensive; trying to justify their actions instead of discussing how to change a situation. So What DO We Ask Instead? At work we are in the relationship...
Hostage Negotiation at Work?
Have You Ever Wanted To Ask "Why?" Perhaps: "Why does that matter?" "Why do you want to do that?" or, "Why should we be doing it this way?" Or, as a manager, you want to jump up and ask an employee, ‘Why did you do that?!’ ‘Why didn’t you do this instead?’ If you...
Find The Job You Love Or Love The Job You’ve Got?
For those on the job hunt, finding the job you love is THE top priority. Sadly, when job prospects become slim, finding the job you love takes a backseat to simply finding a job – or reconsidering how to love the job you’ve got. This is when career coaches and...
Know Thyself BEFORE the Interview!
(3 Minute Read) In today’s job market, hiring candidates for skills is closely followed by hiring for organizational fit. The reason for this is flatter organizations and more teaming. You will be assessed on how well you collaborate and communicate with others....
Small Business Tips to Attract Great Managers
Extensive research has been conducted over the last 40 years on more than 2.5 million manager-led teams in over 195 countries. Gallup uses this data and their findings to help organizations understand how to maximize human capital when it comes to hiring and...
So you didn’t get the job… what now?
I just had an amazing client learn that they did not get selected for the job they had been excited to interview for. I get it: you deliver your best examples of your skills in action you walk into a great opportunity to showcase your talent you walk out knowing you...
How to Prepare for the Interview: Data is the New Bacon
What Employers Want on Your Resume: Data Ok, I know this is a funky title and when I saw this on a T-shirt while at the gym I would have laughed out loud if I hadn’t been fighting just to breath as I huffed and puffed in spin class. But as I thought about it, it was...
How Your Personal Experience Helps Prepare for a Job Interview
Make life experience count. When helping people develop their answers for interview questions it’s hard to know exactly what will be asked. Here are a few examples of questions to expect in your interview: What are your strengths and weakness? How do you think and...
How to Prepare for an Interview: What questions do they expect me to ask?
What questions do they expect me to ask? The first time I was ever asked if I had any questions to ask the interviewer, I blanked! I had spent so much time anxiously figuring out how to make myself look good to them in the interview, I hadn’t taken any time to reflect...
How to Prepare for the Interview: Handling the “Tell us about yourself” statement
"So, tell us about yourself." The very first time I encountered the “Tell us about yourself” statement, I thought it was a very considerate gesture to make me feel at ease and share a little about myself as a person and on how to prepare for interview...
How to Prepare for an Interview: Dealing with the Failure Question
When I ask a job candidate to tell me a time they experienced a failure and how they handled it, I often get that ‘deer in headlights’ look. I then may rephrase the question to allow them to share a disappointment, a loss, or any instance where they had...
If the ‘Interviews Suck’ – It could be you!
A recent article attempted to convince me of the one best question to ask a job candidate that will tell you if they are right for the job. The article caught my attention because it started with ‘Interviews Suck!’ Ok, honestly – the idea that there is...
The Customer Service of Interviewing
Have you ever wondered how to make the interview process more welcoming and productive? Maybe a customer service perspective would help. Recently published in the Kentucky SHRM Magazine, I was honored to share why I coach interviewing skills the way I do....
I got the interview! Now what?!
Last night I attended a local SHRM meeting hosting a panel of high end recruiters, where I asked, “how can candidates prepare for the interview in the right way?” I received the following 3 answers: Stick with the truth! Meaning you need to be truthful in your...
They asked you what?!
How to prepare for the Interview to paint yourself into the position you want. Really?! What animal would I be? Argh! Who thinks these up? Did they run out of questions? Is the interview going so badly I’m now the subject of their entertainment? If...
Feedback Loop
New Year; New Time?
As a manager, team lead, or friend of co-workers that depend upon others for positive results, it can sometimes be hard to help others manage their time. I’m not talking about the people who have time issues in general—you know, the ones who come screaming into every...
Small Business Tips to Attract Great Managers
Extensive research has been conducted over the last 40 years on more than 2.5 million manager-led teams in over 195 countries. Gallup uses this data and their findings to help organizations understand how to maximize human capital when it comes to hiring and...
Female Managers Have the Edge
Employee engagement is linked to productivity, retention, and positive job satisfaction. So which gender of managers keep employees more engaged? Male or Female? How do you prepare to select new managers as people progress in their career when...
Don’t Wing It!
In 2017, job hiring statistics were very revealing. Jennifer Gladstone of EBI offered 60 hiring statistics in June and the top ones to pay attention to include: The average job opening attracts 250 resumes. (Glassdoor) Only 2% of applicants will be called for an...
Be Yourself at Work: Using Self-Assesment Tools to Maximize Your Potential
Attend an Upcoming Strength Strategy Workshop for those local to 20147! Use the TOP5 coupon to receive a surprise discount. I once asked a peer from some advice on how to handle a project meeting. I was told to relax and ‘Just be myself’. When I was given this advice,...
How to Make Your Dream Job a Reality with Positive Feedback Loops
This weekend the Washington Post had an advertising supplement article within the jobs section, written by Arden Davidson, addressing the disillusionment that can occur once you’ve gotten into a job and you’re not sure you made the right choice. The statement that...
How Millennials are Changing the Playing Field in Corporate Feedback Loops
I firmly believe that “Millennials are not the problem, they are the solution.” This is how millennial solutions work as examples for everyone when it comes to positive feedback loops.
Defining Positive Feedback Loops at Work and How to start one
At work we receive feedback in a variety of ways: work that is accepted, a pat on the back, a client’s praise or complaint, a mention in the office circulation, etc. These are feedback bursts – like small atm deposits and withdrawals in your mental bank account of...
What is a Positive Feedback Loop and how does it elevate performance
What is a positive feedback loop I recently experienced a challenge in designing my own business strategy that caused me to muddle my message, lack clarity in my purpose, and frustrate several partnering contractors. I would sit and ponder this dilemma and...
How to create a Positive Feedback Loop!
I recently received some feedback that was hard to hear. Seems I had developed a habit I thought was a friendly way to relate when, actually, I had never really stopped to understand how it might be perceived by others. Turns out, it was rarely received...
Improve your work life? What does that mean?!
What happens when your work life is not optimal due to miscommunication with another team mate or boss? Or your new promotion puts you in a different position with your fellow employees who are now direct reports to you? That uneasy feeling of not knowing...
Having Fun with Feedback
I recently received some feedback that was hard to hear. Seems I had developed a habit I thought was a friendly way to relate when, actually, I had never really stopped to understand how it might be perceived by others. Turns out, it was rarely received...
Task-oriented or Engaged at work – what’s the difference?
Let’s get more clear. We all feel like we are getting things done when we are at work. We have a job to do, we get it done, we get paid, we consume – it keeps the industrial world turning. What’s the big fuss over engagement? Great question!...
Smiling isn’t enough: Secrets to improving engagement in life and work
Creating an environment to gain rich feedback that allows you and others to thrive with healthy feedback loops of critical information takes more than surface gestures. At 17 and lying in intensive care after being critically injured by a car accident, I...