Working to Be a Leader

In today’s tough job market, you need great skills to find a new job in your career—or to be promoted within your existing company.  

Last year’s 5-session program on “Supercharge Your Job Search” sponsored by the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College was so well received that I was invited to present the workshop again this year.

This intensive program is for the general public in the greater New York City area as well as for students and alumni of Baruch College—or any CUNY school.  Specifically, it is targeted to those who are looking to promote their talent by mastering the skills needed for finding that new job, being noticed for advancement where they work, or transitioning to a new career.  Review of resumes, practice managing awkward interview questions, and new strategies to be noticed are included in the series.

 Those job seekers who  attended previously found great value in the program:

• Great!  After a role-playing exercise, I got instant feedback from the class and instructor on my interviewing skills.
• The class gave me the tools that I needed to start my job search.
• Sharing and doing exercises pushed me to realize the importance of networking and maintaining relationships.

 The series of five-sessions will allow each participant to identify their goals, learn effective job search skills through role-plays and interactive exercises, and gain greater confidence to demonstrate a strong workplace presence.  PLUS:  everyone will take the Strong Interest Inventory to identify possible career paths and other assessments to improve self-awareness. 

Along with being an Adjunct Instructor at Zicklin, I’m a trained executive coach who specializes in developing leaders and helping professionals identify and achieve their goals.  I’ve worked with many executives to position themselves for advancement and to develop resumes that help them make a career transition.

 There is a charge of $120 for this program which includes the Strong Interest Inventory and interpretation of other assessments.  Class size is strictly limited.

The program will start on Wednesday, June 16, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. and continue each Wednesday evening at the same time through July 14.

Registration closes on Wednesday, June 9^th.

The workshop will be held in the Newman Vertical Campus, Room 9-215, of Baruch College at 24th & Lexington Avenue in Manhattan.

For further assistance and registration contact Linda Moore at (646) 312-3620 or Linda.Moore@baruch.cuny.edu.

It’s a great opportunity.  Hope you can attend!

Have you heard of a “Stay Interview”?  Unlike an “Exit Interview” which is given when you leave a company, a stay interview is conducted when an employee is continuing in an organization.  The purpose of a stay interview is to find out what will keep the employee happy within the company, identify what sort of motivation she needs, inquire about a specific training or development program the employee wants, and hear any concerns or grievances the employee voices.

If you are scheduled for a stay interview and want to be clear on what you need to remain at the company, try using the “Mojo” process that Marshall Goldsmith describes in his book, Mojo: How to Get it, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It.

If you’re thinking that mojo is a folk belief in the supernatural powers of a voodoo charm, you’re right.  It’s used in other contexts to describe alignment of one’s energy so good things can happen.  Ever hear a recording of American blues musician Muddy Waters singing “Got My Mojo Working”?  Listen and you’ll understand mojo.

Goldsmith, one of the top ranking executive coaches in the world, has brought Mojo into the business world: “Mojo is that positive spirit toward what we are doing now that starts from the inside and radiates to the outside.”

Below are his four vital ingredients that combined will bring you clarity and great Mojo.

1. IDENTITY
“Who do you think you are?”  The key to answering the question is to be honest and truthful about how you perceive yourself.  This is not about what others think of you; it is about your self-assessment.  Don’t back away from owning and sharing your self-appraisal.

2. ACHIEVEMENT
“What have you done lately….that have meaning and impact?”  A good question, isn’t it?  With many of my coaching clients, I suggest they write a monthly report and e-mail it to their supervisor regularly.  Although the supervisor may never acknowledge or mention it, you will be aware of your accomplishments—and ready for your annual performance review.

Goldsmith looks at achievements from two perspectives:  “What we bring to the tasks?” and “What the task gives to us?”  Think about your answers and dig deep to find your truths about the give and take of what you do.  “Until we can honestly put a value on what we’ve accomplished lately, we may not be able to create or regain our Mojo,” are words the coach uses with a CEO or her reports.

3. REPUTATION
“Your reputation is a scorecard kept by others,” Goldsmith writes in yet one more best-selling business book (to see more go to http://marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com).  What he says is true, especially in a world where online networking, communication, and evaluation websites (such as www.RateMyProfessors.com) offers ways to influence an individual’s reputation.  Questions you can ask yourself about your reputation include, “Who do other people think you are?  What do other people think you’ve done lately?”  (Visit www.ReputationDefender.com if you want help to monitor and manage your reputation.)

4. ACCEPTANCE
“What can you change and what is beyond your control?”  Another good question, isn’t it?  I’ve written about acceptance before as too many of my clients perseverate about what they can’t change and don’t invest their valuable time in what they can change.  “When Mojo fades, the initial cause is often failure to accept what is—and get on with life.”

Feeling any Mojo from answering the above questions?  Are you feeling a positive spirit toward what you are doing that starts inside and is radiating out so that others can experience your best self?

 Want to know your Mojo score?  Go to www.mojothebook.com to download a guide to Mojo and the Mojo scorecard.  Using these tools can improve your self-awareness.  The process can also help you set priorities and gain clarity when you are called in for a stay interview—or decide that it is really your exit interview.

If the city of New Orleans was to recover successfully after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it needed to depend on the heart and soul of the city:  its churches.

It wasn’t until April 2006, that I found the right opportunity to donate my services to the city.  That month, I read in an e-mail that Community Church Unitarian Universalist-New Orleans was seeking help with internal organization before taking the steps of rebuilding.  A smart strategy, I thought, one that could aid in the overall process of restoring their heavily damaged church, physically scattered and emotionally battered congregation, and the place it had earned in the community’s life.

My work in 2006 took place over two long weekends—one in June and one in December—during which I presented customized workshops for leaders and the entire congregation.  To reinforce and support their processes, I returned to NOLA a few times since then to lead groups.  Additionally, I provide coaching and consulting services for leaders via telephone and e-mail.

“It is really a time of hope here,” wrote Suzy Mague, former Chair of the Board of Directors of CCUU-NOLA and now friend, in the April 2010 update she sent out.  “The congregation has decided to rebuild on the site of the former structure and we have begun the process to clear the ground, hire an architect, and negotiate with a contractor to take on the work.”

Draft of Plans for New Church

What was exciting is that the city itself is alive in a way that it has not been since 2006.  Suzy writes, “…we are actually still savoring our football championship.  I was amused the other day to pick up some cleaning and find a fleur-de-lis and “Saints – World Champions” printed on the cleaner’s bag.  Of more long-term significance, the Super Bowl victory was followed by a real landmark election.  Mitch Landrieu won a landslide victory for Mayor, carrying all but one precinct in the City.  Although incumbent Mayor Nagin tried to play the race card, voters crossed color lines in droves–in both directions.  Citywide offices of Mayor and Councilmember were won by white candidates with strong black support, and important citywide offices were likewise won by black candidates with strong white support.  Mayor-elect Landrieu has appointed task forces during his transition to advise him on myriad issues, from hiring a new police chief to better customer service in city hall.  The display of energy and the citizen involvement across all neighborhoods has all of us feeling very hopeful that a new day is coming.”

Continuing her report, Suzy lets us know that, “In an odd sort of way, the activities of the federal prosecutor have also inspired hope.  Following confessions and/or convictions from several ‘political operatives’, including Congressman Bill Jefferson, he has broken a police cove-up of misconduct following Katrina, obtaining two confessions from police officers involved.  There is tremendous determination here that corruption will not be tolerated in our public life, and having an active, effective pursuit of wrongdoers is very heartening.  The new police chief will have a good basis to begin re-making the department.  The new city inspector general is also very well focused and presenting reports that are relevant and influential.  Feels like a new day–and it couldn’t come at a better time.”

I hope that the spring spirit of renewal and rebirth continues and flourishes for not just the congregation but for the entire city of New Orleans.

“How can I make sense of such a tumultuous evolution—and have a smile on my face today?”  

“The Bull Pissed in My Living Room:  Prof. Leigh’s Guide to Recession Resilience,” LTR’s latest level playing playing field special report, is my way of putting together the pieces of what I experienced and the process that brought me to a really good place in my life.

“Bull”  will be formally introduced at today’s meeting of the Employee Assistance Professionals Associaion (EAPA)-New York Chapter.  I chose this opportunity to let others know about my report because it explains the complex factors that can impact workplace intelligence.  It’s also a good venue  because I’ll be the moderator of a panel discussion on “It’s Not Over Yet!  You Still Have a Chance:  Resilience and Reinvention in the Older Worker.”

 Like others who have been dramatically impacted by the worst economy since the Great Depression, I wondered how I had the strength and resiliency to survive my “worst case”—the downturn of business and sale of sale of my recently renovated co-op apartment on Manhattan’s tony Upper West Side.  Using a format similar to that in “Temping with Tycoons” and my other well-received special reports, I tell the story of not just how I reinvented myself but what I learned during the process.  And how, now, I’m enjoying a “best case.”

A natural educator (strangers on the subway ask, “You’re a teacher, aren’t you?”), I use what I experienced as a platform from which to inform, inspire, and instill in readers greater awareness to face their own “bull.”  At the end of each chapter, I include “Resilience Guideposts”— helpful suggestions on how to navigate succesfully on your evolutionary highway.

To download your copy of “The Bull Pissed in My Living Room,” click on the link below.  After you read it, contact me with your feedback.

The Bull Pissed in My Living Room by Leigh Henderson

What Got You Here Won’t Get You There:  How Successful People Become Even More Successful! written by Marshall Goldsmith with Mark Reiter (Hyperion, 2007, 256 pgs.) contains practical wisdom from one of the world’s premier executive coaches and author on executive performance.

Since I just read Goldsmith and Reiter’s newest book:  Mojo:  How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It  (Hyperion, 2009, 205 pages) and realized that before I write my review of that one, I wanted to post this entry. 

 Goldsmith’s methods for changing behavior are straightforward.  For instance, one of the 360 assessments he uses consists of gathering feedback on an executive’s behavior from meaningful colleagues and constituencies.  The client is asked to listen carefully to how others experience his behavior, formulate ways to improve interactions, give thanks for the feedback, apologize where needed, and practice feed-forward.

There are other parts of his book that I will highlight in future posts, but I want to focuse on the group exercise in feed-forward that Goldsmith conducted at a meeting I attended of the New York City Chapter of the International Coach Foundation.  I also used this exercise during one of the management classes I teach at the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College.  In both cases, I found the exercise to be a worthwhile endeavor.

Here’s how the feed-forward process works.

1.  Identify one behavior you want to change in your life.  The behavior change should bring about a positive difference in your life.

2.  Describe the behavior you want to change in a one-on-one dialogue with someone:  a spouse, child, best friend, or coworker—or in the case of the ICF-NYC meeting, a perfect stranger would do.

3.  Ask that person for two suggestions for the future that might help you achieve a positive change in your selected behavior.

4.  Listen attentively to the suggestions.  Take notes if you like.  Your only ground rule:  You are not allowed to judge, rate, or critique the suggestions in any way.  And you are not even to say anything positive such as, “That’s a good idea.”  The only response you’re permitted is, “Thank you.” 

You can then repeat the process with someone else—until you have a good sample of ideas to improve your behavior.

One book that I found very helpful—especially for those at the beginning of your careers—was one written by Goldsmith—and other well-known executives.  The book is Learning Journeys: Top Management Experts Share Hard-Earned Lessons on Becoming Great Mentors and Leaders by Marshall Goldsmith (Davies-Black Publishing, 2000).  Read a chapter at a time, do the exercises, and reflect on how you can be a better leader.

If you practice feed-forward, let me know how effective it was  by sending an e-mail to Leigh@ltr-nyc.com

When a Colts fan was on her way out of the restaurant where I was watching Super Bowl XLIV, this woman made it a point to stop next to me, touch my shoulder and say with a big smile on her face and a smirk in her voice, “The Colts really are the best team.  The Saints don’t have a chance in hell to beat the Colts.”  Obviously, she hadn’t read the e-mail I had received from a friend in NOLA.

“It is hard to express the wonderful effect the Saints have had on our community – it has brought us all together in the glow of their achievement, and we are awash in black and gold and ‘Who Dat’.  I am sure the intense and widespread emotional involvement is directly related to the depth of commitment we have made to the recovery and improvement of NOLA. So many things are coming back but not there yet, but here is one area where success is palpable and was a long time coming (43 years!).  And it’s wonderful Lagniappe that Drew Brees is such a fine  human being – not just a great quarterback.”  Suzy Mague, a woman I met when volunteering in NOLA after Hurricane Katrina, pinpointed what was going to help the Saints win the Super Bowl:  the collective belief in success by those in the Gulf Coast region.

Lagniappe is a term used in Louisiana which  means “”something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure.”  What the Saints gave the city of New Orleans were gifts of hope, commitment to a goal, and success against great odds to even reach the Super Bowl.  What the city of New Orleans gave back was their enthusiastic support and hope that the area’s recovery would be as successful as that of their Saints.

 The consensus was that the Colts were the better team, Peyton Manning the best quarterback ever, the defense so strong that Manning had only been sacked 10 times all season, and on and on.  My clapping and cheering for the Saints when they were behind 10-0 in the first quarter did give me pause.  Yet, as is the nature of a 60-minute game, there was still a chance.  In football, you have to play the game to the very last second even if your team is losing 54-0.  The Saints went the distance in great form.

To lead off the second half of the game, Saints’ Coach Sean Payton used a tactic that brought his team success:  a practiced  surprise.  For the first time in Super Bowl history, a team started the third quarter with an onside kick.  The Saints punter made a short kick (more than 10 yards) to the Colts, a Colts player touched then lost the ball, a Saints player recovered the ball, and the Saints earned very good field position.  The Saints had practiced this surprise over and over again during the week leading up to the big game.  The timing made history, shifted the momentum to the Saints, and helped them come away with a 31-17 victory.

Today I wish that I could call the Colts fan who told me to give up on the Saints because they didn’t have a chance.  There is always a chance, always an opportunity to succeed whether on the football field, a baseball diamond, or the workplace playing field.  Give yourself a chance by practicing a surprise that can get you noticed,  realize the potential you have as a leader and become an outstanding team player for your followers while working to be a leader.

A leader’s position carries with it responsibility to inspire followers and use power wisely.  It also includes teaching others to jump barriers and give up their silo thinking in order to explore new possibilities.

A few years ago when I was at a friend’s apartment, I noticed that her dog, a big German Shepard that stood maybe 24” high, was confined to the living room by a piece of wood placed at each doorway.  The barrier was only 18” inches high – a height the dog could have walked or jumped over with ease.

I knew this because my dog Emelie, a mix of Border collie and Samoyed raised exploring beaches and mountain paths, easily jumped the piece of wood.  In fact, she roamed all over the house, jumping or knocking down the barrier if it got in her way.  The other dog, who only got out to a small yard three times a day, looked at Emelie, whined, and after a couple of times testing her freedom and being disciplined for doing so, was too afraid to venture forth into risking another jump.

An executive coaching client recently commented to me that she values my creative input because her staff can’t see or won’t speak up about the ‘possibilities’ of a situation.  She is a ‘roamer’ but her staff uses what I call ‘silo thinking’ – confining their perspective to a narrow column of influence.   A silo is a structure used to store materials, in this picture it is grain on a farm.

Grain silos on a farm

Silo thinking in followers means that instead of looking out to the horizon, employees see the walls of the job description, the risks of speaking up, and the fear of going out of their comfort zones to explore unknown territory.  They’ll share ideas with peers but won’t speak up at meetings or with their managers.

The influence of their corporate climate, consequences of making a mistake in front of others, and their own ‘mental training’ are just some reasons for their ‘silo’ thinking.  It could be age – never being asked before for creative ideas – or conditioning over the years by being told what to do, how to do it, and when to do it instead of being empowered to individualize their work.  Or the fact that people don’t want to expand for fear of the repercussions of what new activities they might be asked to participant in or that they would have to move out of their usual role to take on leadership themselves of an initiative.

My client consistently strives to inspire, model creative thinking, and provide opportunities for staff input.  She is persistent in efforts to overcome her staff’s ‘silo thinking’ and resistance to jump barriers.  However, with each subtle shift in behavior from individuals, my client gains confidence to continue her efforts to engage her staff in barrier jumping behavior.

On Sunday, November 1, over 42,000 registered runners in the New York City Marathon sped, ran, walked, or limped through the streets of the five boroughs. As the premium runners raced their way through Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan, the majority of runners ran at a slower pace.

Runners nearing the finish line

As in years past, I like to watch the runners as they near the finish line, specifically those who take four or more hours to finish the 26.2 mile course—a course the leaders had run in just over two hours.

This year, I found a place behind a barricade just past the 26 mile sign in Central Park.  That vantage point gave me the opportunity to slap hands with runners zooming with enthusiasm that they were close to reaching  their goal or dragging with focused determination that they would reach the finish line even if they had to crawl.

Many of those going past had their names on their t-shirts, a way to tell the total crowd of over a million cheerleaders along the route that they wanted a shout out of, “Hi, Amy (or Frances or Tim or…). Keep going. You’re doing great.”

One man was more direct with not just his want for a shout out but a need to be encouraged. On this man’s shirt was a directive, “Yell, Hi, Art!”

Of course, I, as did others around me, did yell, “Hi, Art!”

My working to be a leader lesson from Art:  identify what you need from others then make it clear how they can fill that need for you.