Horizon Point Consulting

Author: Mary Ila Ward

  • Three Things to Stop and Do When You’ve Made Someone Out to be a Villain

    Three Things to Stop and Do When You’ve Made Someone Out to be a Villain

    Movies, TV shows, and plays- anything that tells a story really- usually create a victor and a villain. There always seems to be a bad guy. And we are all so happy to create and label the bad guy.

    And in our own lives and workplaces, there seems to be this fight for good versus evil.  None of us are or want to be on the side of evil, so someone else must be, right?

    If you’re like me, you’ve villainized at least one person in your lifetime.  I see it so much in one-on-one leadership coaching.  The labeling of someone as bad or the person to blame for all the bad going on is classic victim/villain mindset.

    And in this black and white labeling of character, we’ve also tried to get everyone else to see what a villain he or she is.  Of course, we want to win people over to our side, the “good” side.  And before you know it, we end up becoming the villain in outright pursuit to give someone else that title.

    I’ve found that those who are effective in moving past the victim or victor mentality employ these three strategies:

    1. They create at least three alternative stories or reasons for the actions of those they might want to label as a villain. In a classic sense, this is like saying, “Well, he kicked the dog because the dog bit him.”  There could be any number of things you could come up with, but it helps to breed some level of empathy for analyzing the situation in a more objective manner.
    2. They ask, “Have I done this same thing before?” Often, we are quick to be the pot and call the kettle black. We are often subject to the psychology principle of self-serving bias.  Asking this question of oneself can help with this.
    3. If the person really is the “villain”, having caused irreparable harm to others or the business, they “eliminate” the villain and move forward. Sometimes you can come up with reasons why someone has done something (#1), but that still doesn’t make what they did right.  As long as you aren’t practicing hypocrisy (#2), giving yourself a pass for something that you won’t give another person a pass for, the best way to move forward is to avoid the label of villain, but to make the best decision for you and the business.  Think about the greater whole that is served in your decision.

     

    When have you labeled someone a villain?

  • The Power of Pause

    The Power of Pause

    “Patience is the primary virtue needed in order to reach your destiny.” Tony Evans, Detours

    We use the DiSC model in leadership training.  As you can see below, the first question asked of people when they are trying to determine their DiSC style or the style of another without the assessment is, “Are you cautious and reflective or are you fast-paced and outspoken?”  I’m so fast-paced and outspoken, you don’t even need to ask the next question (questioning and skeptical or accepting and warm?). I am a Di or an iD all day long.

    So, it’s obvious that patience is not one of my virtues.   In fact, it is quite contrary to the way I am wired.

    I’m used to driving forward to meet goals without ever pausing to think about is this goal really what I want or need anymore.  This has led to some positive results, but also an increasing inability to enjoy the process of getting there, not to mention stopping to examine if there are better goals to be pursuing.

    This year, I’ve been learning the power of the pause. Through trying to force some things to happen in order to launch a new business we had set out to do this year, I have learned that oftentimes pausing to re-valuate the timing of and need for things is critical.

    If you, like me, have trouble with pausing and patience, here are some things that have helped me self-reflect on whether or not a pause is needed:

    1. Are the right people, circumstances and resources available to drive forward? In my experience trying to launch this business, one of these things fell off, then another, then another. Yet, I was still trying to push forward because I had the goal written down on paper.  When I realized that everything I thought I had at my disposal when I set that goal was no longer there, it was time to pause.
    2. Are you enjoying the pursuit? And enjoying it enough to push through resistance? If you don’t know whether you are coming or going and/or can’t stop and reflect on a few things each day you enjoyed doing as a part of the pursuit, it is probably not right.  Also, if the first “no” and/or questions and skepticism come your way and you cave, it is probably time to pause and question is it worth it?
    3. Are other things put in front of you that need your attention more? A large volume of current client work, a son who needs a lot support and time from my husband and I right now, and my husband being promoted into a role he loves but that is more demanding of his time, I have realized are all more important priorities (sometimes not as fun, but always more important) and have led to the need for pause in this area of pursuit that I thought would be a large part of my focus for the year.

     

    I love this thought by Tony Evans from Detours:

    “Training for greater things always takes place in lesser things.  … always-always-always be faithful where you are..,Far too often, we are chasing our destiny so much that we forget to maximize the location where we are right now.”

    My pause has been such a blessing.  And the pause, I believe, is now making way for this pursuit to, at the right time, become a more fruitful reality.

    How are you pausing to maximize where you are right now?

  • 4 Keys to Communication to Create Optimal Candidate Experiences

    4 Keys to Communication to Create Optimal Candidate Experiences

    Candidate experience isn’t just about getting people to apply for your opening positions.  It is also about getting them to continue to or start buying your products and services.  In a recent candidate experience study by IBM,  “candidates who are satisfied with their experience are twice as likely to become a customer of the hiring organization compared to unsatisfied candidates (53 percent vs. 25 percent).”

    So you may not care if an unqualified applicant applies for your openings, but you definitely want everyone to continue or start buying from you.

    With this in mind, communication is the most critical piece of positive candidate experience.  In order to create a positive experience these things need to be present:

    1. Informative Communication. Many applicants find that their application goes into a “black hole” and they never hear anything.  Candidates should be informed if they have been screened out for a job and why.  A rejection may seem like bad communication, but in reality, no communication is much worse.  Make sure you follow-up and inform candidates after every step of the process (application, phone screen, assessment, interviews, etc.) as to whether or not they are still in the applicant pool and why or why not.

    If candidates are screened out, inform them of other openings with your organization that may be a good fit for them, if this is in fact the case.  Definitely don’t do this if you do not have openings that are a fit for them because this is misleading and unauthentic (see #4).

    2. Differentiated Communication. If you’ve done a good job of informing candidates, the next step is to go beyond using the boiler plate emails that your ATS provides. Customize the communication to reflect your culture and brand.

    3. Diverse Communication. One way to differentiate your communication with candidates is to diversify it. Let candidates hear from someone other than the recruiter or hiring manager.  This could come from someone in the job they are applying for, someone who is at the same stage in their career, and/or someone who fits their demographic profile.

    Video is a great way to differentiate and diversify your communication.  Take short clips of people throughout the organization talking about what they do and what they like about their jobs and the organization.  Use these on your careers site but also make use of it in customized emails/newsletters to candidates you are trying to target as well as those who are already in your pipeline.

    4. Authentic Communication.  If you’ve differentiated and diversified your communication, you’re stepping in the right direction of displaying authentic communication.

    Make sure your communication materials do not convey something your organization is not.  No organization is all sunshine and rainbows, so make sure your candidate communication is realistic, honest and authentic.  If you don’t have pool tables in the breakroom along with endless snacks, don’t act like you do because you’ve heard that is the way to attract millennials to a workplace.  If you’re organization’s demographic isn’t diverse as you’d like, don’t hire actors or use stock graphics to populate your careers page.  Actually use people who work in your organization.

    Make sure you know who and what you are as an organization and what you are striving to become.  Tell candidates about this throughout the process.

     

    What do you do to communicate effectively with candidates to build a positive experience for them?

     

  • REPOST! Don’t Want to Wake Up With Regrets? Create a Mission Statement

    REPOST! Don’t Want to Wake Up With Regrets? Create a Mission Statement

    This post was originally published on August 30, 2013 and has been updated.

    Mission statements are critical to directing success.  Companies have them, why don’t individuals?  Having one can help you focus and reach what you want to accomplish in life by answering the who, what, why and how of you.  Its not a mission statement unless it is written down. Whether or not you are trying to make career or college decisions in your life, everyone needs to have a personal mission statement.

    The exercises focused on identifying finding your talents, passions and values, for career purposes are a good starting place to help you discover your mission.  Just as the best place for shining your light for your career is at the intersection of these three things, so is your personal mission.   If you haven’t taken the time identify your talents, passions and values, I would encourage you to identify your top three in each area by looking at the resources here on the blog that have focused on talents, passions and values throughout 2018 and looking toward 2019. When you define your mission, you should be able to live out your talents, passions, and values through it.

    Don’t want to wake up with regrets?

    We use a workshop called The Power of 3 to walk people through creating personal mission statements, goals and success strategies for themselves in order to help them insure they are living life to the fullest. They help people not wake up one day with a whole list of regrets.  Mission statements also help people say no to things that aren’t inline with their mission (more on this here).

    You can download the worksheet to this workshop here: Power of 3 Worksheet.

    Here are some other tools for creating a mission statement for yourself:

    What is your personal mission?

  • 2 Keys to Being a Successful Leader Instead of a Doer

    2 Keys to Being a Successful Leader Instead of a Doer

    A production line worker is promoted to line supervisor, yet he is still running the line like the rest of his team.

    A department Vice President is still solving day-to-day issues and is drowning in a to-do list that has nothing to do with leading the people in her department.

    At every level of the leadership hierarchy, I see it often.  Leaders not leading.  Yes, they are busy doing, but they devote little to no time leading people.   And if they just led more, it would actually shorten their to-do list!

    They were stars at their functional roles, so what do they keep doing even when promoted?  The functions that they do well.

    If you are making the transition to a leader of people,  or if you are a part of HR trying to help facilitate successful transitions for people to be good at leading people, here are some things that can help equip you/your team to make the transition successfully:

    1. Engage in/Provide leadership coaching and training. Pave the way to do this before making the transition to leader if possible. This will help equip you with mindsets and insights to practice before being placed in the role. When seeking someone to help you improve your performance, what should you look for? Here are 4 key things to look for in a coach.

    Books: If you are taking the self-directed approach to this, start by picking up some great leadership books.

    Classes: Enroll in a leadership classes that focuses on successful leadership principles and practices.  These come from all types of providers and in all types of formats, costs, and time commitments.   For a large organization, your company’s LMS should have a variety of resources and potentially structured, pre-arranged classes.  For smaller organizations, reach out to peer organizations in your community and see what they would recommend.

    Coaching: Reach out to a leadership coach internally or externally to arrange regularly scheduled coaching through your transition.   For more on vetting a coach, check out this post.

    Mentoring: Seek out someone who is already established as a strong leader of people to meet with regularly. Your natural tendency may be to gravitate towards a mentor that is good at what you are- functional responsibilities. Resist the urge and find a mentor that truly is the best at leading people. We would suggest meeting at least twice a month to begin with and then less frequently as you transition successfully. Read more about mentoring here.

    2. Practice Leadership Habits:  There are certain things that almost, if not all leaders do, and that is spend a substantial portion of their time equipping others to be successful. Your calendar should reflect that you are a leader by how you spend your time.  Habits should include:

    Regular one-on-ones with each person that reports to you:  These should be scheduled meetings that take place at intervals you feel are most appropriate.  I’ve seen some work effectively as infrequently as quarterly and some occurring weekly in order to be effective.  The frequency most often depends on how much development and guidance the person needs from you.  If you are leading effectively, the amount needed should decrease over time. These meetings should be booked in advanced and only cancelled/rescheduled in an emergency.

    Availability to everyone that reports to you:  Meeting the needs of your people should be your first priority (as long as you aren’t equipping them to allow you to be their crutch).   You should pick up the phone when they call or return their call as soon as possible.  You should also be responsive to emails and/or text messages. Going MIA to your reports breeds a feeling of not feeling valued. Be available.

    Be a career agent.

    And finally, read this post about how to move your goods to greats in order to be a leader