Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Beyond Leadership

Beyond Leadership is Horizon Point’s line of resources for managers of people. Managing ourselves is a distinct set of behaviors from managers the work of others, and we are here to help. Read stories in this category if you are ready to take the next step into people leadership (or if you’re looking for articles to send someone else…).

  • To be the Best, Run with the Best

    To be the Best, Run with the Best

    Since running my first marathon in 2009, it’s been in the back of my mind.  Can I run a sub-four-hour marathon?  Of the two I’ve done, I would have to shave more than twenty minutes off my time to do so.

    This summer, I started running occasionally with someone who runs fast.  So fast, she has qualified for Boston and qualified this year to run the New York City Marathon. I think her marathon PR is around a 3:24. This means she has finished a marathon about an hour faster than I have. She typically runs each mile at least one to two minutes faster, if not more even during her casual runs, than I am used to running.   And the other people she runs with do the same.

    I like her as a person and felt like her company would be nice. So I thought, well let’s just see if I can keep up.

    Running is often a metaphor for leading and living, and what I’ve found to be true in this new occasional running group is to be better, you have to surround yourself with people who are better than you are.

    Smarter, faster, stronger.  A better entrepreneur, wife, leader, heck, a better person in general.  If you want to be it, find someone or people who are that, and spend time with them.

    The things that I think hold true for being around people that are better than you are:

     

    1. You don’t have to be around them all the time to feel their impact. These ladies get up EARLY to run.  While in the summer that time was around 5 am, I went a couple times a week with them.  When that start time was pushed back to 4:30 am when school started back, I’ve found it hard to mentally wrap my mind around getting up that early.  Coupled with some inner ear problems I’ve had that is the worse first thing in the morning, I’ve only been running with them less than once a week now.  However, doing an 18-mile-long run with them showed me I could hold a sub-nine-minute mile for that long and make my sub-four hour marathon time possible.

    So, if you can devote one hour a week to being around those that are better in the arena you are trying to improve in, do it.  Everyone has one hour they can carve out each week, and it is worth it.  Schedule that time and stick to it.

     

    2. Their impact begins to become a habit or come naturally. When I’m not running with them, I’m still running faster than I used to.  Running in the nine to ten-minute mile pace has now become running in the eight to nine-minute mile pace for me.   The slower pace now seems weird or unnatural.  Running a half-marathon solo a couple of weeks ago led to a PR of 1:48:50 (8:18 per mile pace) and it felt good.

    So, when you aren’t physically with those who are better than you are, harness what they’ve taught you and practice it solo.   You might even want to schedule a solo “race” or trial run to help you see if you can go it alone, using their positive influence to move you forward.

     

    3. You’ll find that what you set out for them to help you improve in isn’t the only thing they make you better in. The person I started running with has a child the same age as one of mine.  They are both having a hard time reading in school.  I’ve found it hard to find people that I am friends with or that are good friends with my son who are dealing with the same challenge.  Talking about this while we run has helped me with perspective, insights, and calmness about the situation.  My husband ran with us for a bit right before the first report card of the year came out.  After we finished, he said, “Man, it was so good to hear her say she had the same worries that we do.  We aren’t the only ones dealing with this.”

    So, when you surround yourself with better people, don’t silo them into the one area you think they can help you improve in.  Be open to their insights as it relates to all aspects of life by building a holistic relationship with them.  Conversely, don’t see them as perfect either.  Just because they are making you better in one area doesn’t mean they are a God.  Offer them grace (and yourself grace) when it comes to learning and growing.

     

    4. Their impact allows you to have an impact on others.  The same child that struggles with reading does not struggle with running.  He loves it, and he is fast.  And if there is anything I’ve found to be true, it is when things are hard (like homework and school are for him right now) you’ve got to have an outlet to pursue some things you are great at and love.

    Running with her has allowed me to see this running fast thing as an opportunity to connect with my speed-demon seven-year-old.  Running unites us in a common passion. We’ve signed up for the Huntsville Marathon together.  He will do the kids’ marathon, where he will run 25.2 miles before race day, keeping a log, and then run the last one mile on race day when I run the 26.2 miles all at once.  I may not make my PR and sub-4:00 goals, but if I were a betting person, he will at least win his age group if not more.  Seeing him excel at something he loves is way better than me hitting my goal.

    My favorite runner is Shalane Flanagan.  She just finished 3rd in the New York City Marathon (where my fast friend finished in 3:42).  She’s my favorite because she seems to get this point so well.  She is committed to making herself and others better through creating opportunities for mutual gain.  To read more about this, check out the article from Runner’s World that was written after her stunning 2017 NYC Marathon win.

     

    When you find the opportunity to grow and learn from someone who is better than you are, take that experience and use it to help someone else learn and grow.  Or at least use it to share a passion with someone.

    How do you surround yourself with people who are better?

     

    Like this post?  You may also like:

     

    18 Powerful ‘Surround Yourself With People Who’ Quotes

    Why Smart People Surround Themselves With Smarter People

     

     

     

     

  • Why Small Businesses Need HR

    Why Small Businesses Need HR

    TriNet, a California based HR Services provider, conducted a survey of small businesses in 2014. They found that:

    • 81% of small business owners manage the HR function themselves
    • 30% admitted that they were nervous about managing HR for their organization
    • 30% reported that they improperly paid employees
    • 23% acknowledged that they lost employees to their competitors due to benefits

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are over 137,000 new employer companies starting up each month. As those companies grow, their burdens as an employer increase. Many of the managers who responded to the TriNet survey stated that they spent approximately three to ten hours per month on processing payroll taxes. That doesn’t even account for all of the other HR responsibilities they manage. The more time they spend managing HR, the less time they have available to focus on growing their organization.

    What can small businesses gain by turning their HR functions over to a trained HR professional?

    1. Compliance. An HR professional will evaluate the organization’s HR policies and procedures to ensure that they are compliant, meet best practice standards, and truly work in the best interest of the organization and the employees. By ensuring that the organization is compliant, a small business can help to minimize employment liabilities.
    2. Recruitment. HR can assist the organization with recruitment efforts, streamlining procedures to be more efficient, cost-effective, and to help ensure that the organization is hiring the best candidates for the position and the company culture. They can also assist with how those candidates are integrated into the organization, from onboarding to training, to performance management.
    3. Training. While orienting employees to the organization is one aspect of training that HR often has a huge hand in, training goes well beyond that initial introductory period. HR is often an integral part of designing training programs within an organization. They not only help design training but work to evaluate the effectiveness of the training, as well as determine additional areas of need. They also work closely with management teams to provide invaluable leadership training.
    4. Strategic Planning. The role of HR has evolved immensely over the past few decades. It has moved from an administrative role to a strategic role. In most organizations, both small and large, HR now has a seat at the table. Many organizations look to their HR departments to help strategize and plan for the organization’s future. HR plays an important role in the stability and growth of the organization. Organizations look to HR to fill four vital roles: the administrative expert, the employee champion, the strategic partner, and the change manager.

    How can a small business justify the cost and what will be their return on that investment?

    By building a strategic partnership with HR, organizations can help to determine how to most effectively use the financial resources allotted towards HR functions including:

    • Wage structure and benefits offered
    • Utilizing cost-effective HR systems
    • Increasing employee morale and retention
    • Safety/Risk Management mitigation

    While adding HR to your small business will mean finding the financial resources to do so, the cost of not adding HR to your organization could be much more substantial.

    Do the benefits of adding HR to your small business outweigh the risks?

  • Targeting Passive Candidates

    Targeting Passive Candidates

    Recruiters everywhere are struggling to fill open positions these days. According to an August 2018 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rate of job openings is 4.6%, while the rate of unemployment is 3.6%. Basically, there are more open jobs right now than there are people to fill them.

    Organizations are having to rethink their recruiting strategies in order to attract qualified candidates. Part of this revised strategy includes targeting passive candidates, or people who aren’t actively looking for a new job. So how do you attract candidates when they aren’t even job hunting?

    • Offer employee referral bonuses. Current employees are often your best resource for great talent. They’re going to refer people that they feel are qualified, team players, and hard workers. Afterall, they may have to work with them. If your organization already has an employee referral program, make sure you advertise it to your employees. Send out a reminder to all staff that the program is in place, send out regular updates on what positions are open, and recognize the employee when you make a hire as a result of their referral.
    • Use Linkedin to promote your company and to connect with potential candidates. Make sure your company page on Linkedin is up-to-date and speaks to your company culture. Then start looking for people to connect with that you feel could be an asset to your organization. Reach out to them and let them know that you were impressed with their profile and have some potential openings that you think they may be a good fit for. You may not get a response, but then again you might. And even if they aren’t interested, they may know someone who would be.
    • Attend networking events. Networking is a great way to both get your organization’s name out there as well as to connect with people who may be in the same industry and looking for a new opportunity. Events may include tradeshows, conferences, and local meetups. A few great resources to find events in your area include Eventbrite and com.
    • Sponsor local events. In addition to attending networking events, a great way to get your name out there and garner interest from potential candidates is to sponsor local events. This gives passive candidates an opportunity to see who your organization is and what you do. And it may just peak their interest in your organization. Bring recruiting materials with you that you can hand out and take the opportunity to strike up a conversation with attendees who stop by your sponsor table.

    According to Linkedin.com, 70% of the global workforce is made up of passive talent. What is your organization doing to get their attention?

  • 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?

  • Proactively Impacting Retention Through Stay Interviews

    Proactively Impacting Retention Through Stay Interviews

    How often as leaders do you wish you could convince an employee to stay after they’ve turned in their resignation? What if you could change their mind before they reached the point of no return?

    Organizations often sit down with employees after they’ve tendered their resignation to find out why they decided to leave. But how often do leaders sit down with employees to find out what can be done to ensure that they stay with the organization?

    Exit interviews usually consist of questions surrounding the reason for leaving including dissatisfaction with leadership, the organization, and benefits offered. But by the time leadership sits down with an employee to conduct an exit interview, the employee has already checked out. While in many cases the employee will be forthcoming with information on why they’ve chosen to leave, often times the employee no longer cares about providing their honest feedback. The damage has already been done and they’re ready to move on. While information gathered in the exit interview can be helpful in making necessary changes in the organization for current and future employees, it won’t help with the loss of the employee being interviewed.

    In an interview with Forbes Magazine, Richard Finnegan, author of The Stay Interview, said “Hard data proves the top reason employees quit is they don’t trust their managers. Stay Interviews are the absolute best trust-building activity…and therefore the best retention tool.”

    So how do stay interviews differ from exit interviews, other than the obvious fact of when they are conducted?

    • Stay interviews focus on the positive. What do employees like about their job? What makes them want to come to work each day? What do they like about their leadership? Where do they see themselves going within the organization? What areas of the organization do they feel they can make a bigger impact in?
    • They allow leadership to focus on the individual. Exit interviews focus on the company overall, from the leadership team, to benefits offered, to company culture. Stay interviews allow managers to focus on the individual employee. What drives them to be successful in their role? What are their career aspirations within the organization? How can leadership help them to reach (or exceed) their goals by helping them continue to grow their knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs)? What KSAs do they have that are not being fully utilized by the organization?
    • It helps to build trust with leadership. As Richard Finnegan said, most employees choose to leave because of a lack of trust with their leadership. Often this lack of trust stems from a lack of communication between employees and their managers. While many managers have conversations with their employees, those conversations are often limited to passing in the hall, quick catch ups on tasks assigned, and performance counseling. Performance reviews are usually conducted annually and too often focus on past shortfalls in performance and what the manager wants to see in future performance. Many performance review structures don’t allow for employee input in goal setting, which greatly affects employee buy in. By conducting stay interviews, the employee is given the opportunity to discuss what drives them, what their career goals are, what they feel their strengths and weaknesses are, and what areas they’d like to improve on.
    • They can help predict future turnover. Stay interviews can help leadership pinpoint those employees who are happy in the organization and those who are not. By determining which employees are at a higher risk for leaving the organization, leadership creates an opportunity to improve the individual morale of those employees. It may also help leadership to determine if it’s too late to make an impact on an employee’s view of the organization. At which point, leadership may begin to look at succession planning for that position in preparation of a potential resignation.

    What impact would stay interviews have for your organization?