Tomorrow, I am going to be speaking for a class of second year graduate students at Columbia University’s School of Social Work.  My topic is “The Learning Organization” and I’ll be sharing my experiences as a consultant helping a non-profit take a systems approach and become a learning organization.  My audience of social workers is not interested in clinical work but instead is interested in administrative work in the non-profit area, public management, human resources management, social and economic development, and global and transnational practice.  In addition to the presentation I’ll be making, I am going to recommend a book that will be helpful to this audience and the larger one as well.

The Organization of the Future 2:  Visions, Strategies, and Insights on Managing in a New Era is a collection of 26 informational essays written by great thought leaders, produced by the Leader to Leader Institute, and published by Jossey-Bass in 2009.  (Note:  The institute changed is name to the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute.)  According to the cover, “The book describes how tomorrow’s organizations can chart the path toward growth and prosperity in rapidly changing times and includes amazing examples of how organizations from different sectors have created cultures that are empowering their employees and transforming their industries and communities.”

Editors are two well-known leaders:  Frances Hesselbein and Marshall Goldsmith.  Hesselbein is the founding president and CEO of the institute named after her and is well-known known for her service as CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA for which she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  Goldsmith is one of the top executive coaches in the world and was recognized by the American Management Association as one of 50 great thinkers who have influenced the field of management.

The Leader to Leader Institute was established in 1990, and was then called the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Non-Profit Management.  The more encompassing name furthers the image and the book “furthers its mission—to strengthen the leadership of the social sector—by providing social sector leaders with essential leadership wisdom, inspiration, and resources to lead for innovation and to build vibrant social sector organizations.”

There are five sections in the book:  Part One – Strategy and Vision:  Setting the Direction of the Organization of the Future.  Part Two – Organizational Culture:  Values, Emotions, Hope, Ethics, Spirit, and Behavior.  Part Three – Designing the Organization of the Future.  Part Four – Working Together.  Part Five – Leadership.

When I looked up ‘learning organization’ in the Index, I was referred to pages of an article in Part One “Managing the Whole Mandate for the Twenty-First Century: Ditching the Quick-Fix Approach to Management” by Paul Borawski and Maryann Brennan.  Borawski, executive director and chief strategic officer of the American Society for Quality, and Brennan, principal for Brennan Worldwide, write that “Organizations that rely on quick fixes don’t necessarily learn from their endeavors.”  They go on to state that, “To avoid making the same mistake, you need to share knowledge about what worked and what didn’t throughout your organization so that other functional areas with similar problems can apply the solution.”

Developing a systems approach can foster a learning organization in large as well as small companies.  To make it happen and change to a systems approach to management, the authors of the article describe a process of three stages:
—Decide you believe in a systems approach.
—Help your organization build broad support to view the organization as a system by preparing for an investment of time to learn, experiment, and learn more, and making a commitment to a journey toward performance excellence that will take years.
—Craft a plan on how your organization is going to move from its current state toward a systems approach.

Tomorrow, I am going to recommend the article I referenced and the over 300 pages of other articles in the book to my audience because although a little dated, I believe the thought experts can help the reader learn how to lead with intelligence in order to effectively manage the organization of the future.

“Writing to Be Heard” was posted on July 16, 2007, the first time I used my blog.  After writing hundreds of posts since then—especially this year—I decided to share my favorite posts of 2011 with you.

The posts below all have a story behind them, a reason to share the information, and a desire to help you on your career journey.  The posts could have been written to address an issue that came up during a coaching or consulting meeting, a topic that was discussed in a management class I teach at the Zicklin School of Business, an opportunity to expand horizons, etc.  The focus of each one is categorized by one or more of the tiles above the post which include Career, Coaching, College, Culture, Economy, Health, Leadership, Life Business, Management, Technology.

Below is a month-by-month list of posts that I hope you will find relevant, inspiring, and even fun.

January 17:  Are You Afraid of Feedback?  The topic emerged from two different threads.  The first was to offer guidance to decision-makers who were working with a very resistant executive.  The second was the loan of an academic colleague’s DVD on feedback.

February 21:  The Price of Ignoring Corporate Culture  As I told my students in an “Organizational Behavior” class, teaching corporate culture is my favorite unit to teach.  It is because of the environment executives create and how it impacts employee’s behavior.  In this particular case, the executive did not take into account his behavior in an established culture.

March 10:  Women’s Month 2011: Shake the World  To acknowledge the progress women make in a range of fields, I wrote about their accomplishments including that of Justine Siegal who had fulfilled her dream of throwing batting practice for the Cleveland Indians in spring training.

April 4:  Lasting Impressions  I am impressed by the number of people who even when we have not seen or spoken with one another for months or years, still remember me and the work I do.  The need to make a good first—and subsequent—impact on everyone you come in touch with is an important part of career development.

May 27:  Shakespeare in a Management Classroom  In April 2010, I attended a workshop on teaching Shakespeare in the workplace.  To my delight and my students’ reluctance, I developed a class session on emotional intelligence by having students get on a stage with a partner and recite excerpts from scenes in Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet, their favorite because they get to yell!

June 17:  Ten Guideposts on Your Reinvention Highway  Exploring a new career can be stressful and tiring.  Since I have reinvented myself a few times—I like to call it evolution—I share ideas on how to practice active patience to realize a new career.

July 7:  Holistic Professional Resume  In addition to teaching a business course, I also teach a program called “SuperCharge Your Career” at Zicklin.  What I don’t see on many resumes is Activities or another heading that can fill out the profile of a candidate and give an interviewer a sense of their lives outside the company.

August 30:  Career as a Farmer:  Sasha J. Farkas  Not everyone wants to work in an office in New York or any urban environment for that matter.  USA Today’s headline on December 26, 2011, “More Young People See Farming Opportunities,” confirmed that those in their 20’s and 30’s who have been downsized or unable to get a job, are seeking ways to survive on a farm.

September 13:  LockerDome:  The Facebook of Team Sports  Gabe Lozano, Co-Founder and CEO of a website for young athletes, read my post Women’s Month 2011: Shake the World and left a comment.  That comment led to a conversation, two interviews—his and Justine Siegal’s—and my own profile on LockerDome’s social media site.

October 29:  Disability:  A Second Career for L.I.R.R. Workers  Last year, I wrote about the ethical behavior of Long Island Railroad workers who claimed disability when they were obviously fine since they played golf sometimes daily.  Recently, I read that the cost of disbursing those on disability can be close to $1 billion.

November 12:  Walking Meetings  One of the many takeaways I had from reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson was learning the pleasures of a walking meeting.  A friend gave me that opportunity and I’m very grateful for it.

December 24:  Dear Santa:  My Wish List  It had been ages since I wrote a “Dear Santa” letter so I put tongue in cheek and infused my humor into the serious requests I made for the greater good—and not just the sweater and earrings I hoped Santa would bring!

Thank you for your time to browse and read my posts.  Looking forward to writing more in 2012!

Very best wishes for a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This week I’ve written posts about business gifts of music, books, plus power and influence.  Today, the ‘business’ gift of coaching is the focus, a practical and meaningful present to give yourself.  If you are interested in coaching with me, the first half-hour of coaching on the phone is complimentary!

“Coaching done well may be the most effective intervention designed for human performance,” Atul Gawande wrote in his article “Personal Best.  Top athletes and singers have coaches.  Should you?” that appeared in the “Annals of Medicine section of The New Yorker on October 3, 2011.  The bio on his website reads that “Gawande is a surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. He practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He is also Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health.”  As the author of The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, a New York Times Bestseller, he shares the importance of following step-by-step procedures to be thorough, efficient, and effective in procedures and projects.

“No matter how well trained people are, few can sustain their best performance on their own. That’s where coaching comes in.”  Gawande writes that after eight years as a surgeon, his “performance in an operating room has reached a plateau.  I’d like to think that it’s a good thing—I’ve arrived at my professional peak.  But mainly it seems as if I’ve just stopped getting better.”

My experience coaching executives, leaders on their way to the executive suite, managers seeking ways to be more productive and profitable, recent M.B.A.s and other graduate students starting out in their career fields, and those looking to enhance their career potential has helped my clients to ‘get better.’  Getting better is a process that makes the client vulnerable and my warning to potential clients is that they will need to “move out of your comfort zone.”

Many corporate employees I know who need coaching refuse to get it.  Executives especially are stubborn to the point that they put the blame on others for a failed initiative and do not clearly see how they are holding back the progress of their small companies or large divisions.  They resist change in order to maintain their image and/or ego and do not take into account the greater good.

In case you are wondering, I follow my own advice.  That is, I have signed up to resume coaching with an excellent coach I worked with previously.  In January, I will undertake a major project and know that my investment in having someone to listen carefully to what I say—and not say— then ask appropriate questions can lead to specific appropriate actions and the realization of my goals.

If you are not interested in my coaching services, you should be wary of other coaches who do not have the specific experience you seek or lead you in the wrong direction.  For instance, when I had a small project, I called a coach who was offering a free session.  When I told her about my interest in starting a career coaching group, she told me that when I started marketing the program I had to offer a guarantee that each person would get a job.  That was not a wise coach who thought strategically since no one could guarantee a job for someone else.  I didn’t follow her advice since I wanted clients who would trust me and could be guaranteed that I would be honest about the career coaching I offered.

 To help you get an idea of what working with a coach is like, you might want to sign up for “Leigh’s Leader Offer” (on the right of this page).  If you are already interested, below is a general overview of my coaching process and session development:

-       Initial Conversation: Each potential client has a half-hour telephone conversation with me to articulate reasons for seeking a coach and identify outcomes from the coaching process.

-       Good Fit Decision: The client and I decide if there is a ‘good fit’ for both ‘coachee’ and coach in order for the coaching process to be successful.  Fees are discussed with the potential client.  Being comfortable talking about what investments in career development are worth is part of the coaching process.

-       Assessments: Client completes appropriate formal self-assessments such as the “Coaching Report for Leaders” or informal assessments such as writing a “Life Story.”

-       Session Focus Form (Optional but suggested): Client writes up their progress in specific areas; this document then becomes the agenda for a coaching session and a way to track progress toward a client’s goals.

-       90-Day Goals: Client sets reasonable expectations for achieving three goals within a 90-day period.

-       Conversation: Client and coach engage in honest interactions during which client is invited to express deep-seeded ideas or wishes. I listen carefully to what is said and not said in order to discern and offer effective strategies for client success.

-       Action steps: Client and coach agree on a series of specific ways to help client get ‘unstuck’ and on track to realize goals.

-       6-Month Planning Guide: Client identifies specific projects and places them on a calendar for completion.

-       In-Between Sessions: Client and coach discuss ideas to help the client build on the insights gained in a coaching session and/or engage in new behaviors to avoid missed opportunities.

Signing up for coaching isn’t major surgery.  All you have to do is e-mail me at Leigh@ltr-nyc.com and we can set up your half-hour complimentary telephone coaching session.

Stuck as to what business gift you can give to a talented college senior?  Or someone who earned an M.B.A but couldn’t land a job in their field of study?  There isn’t a product you can buy for them but there is a way to give them each a gift.

The gift is coming from you, your power and influence to seek out colleagues who are in positions to hire employees for temporary or contract jobs or a full-time position.  For instance, Ken, one of the speakers for my “Organizational Behavior” class, ended his engaging talk by saying he welcomed students to send him their resumes.  He had some contract jobs that he had to fill and, even if he filled those positions, he would send resumes to his colleagues.  That, in itself, was a gift:  the gift of the power the speaker had to hire a student.

Along with some outstanding students in the class, there were also ‘alumni’ who had taken my courses previously who were looking for work.  That was where my influence came in.  I reached out to absolutely outstanding students and sent them Ken’s information.  I knew that the fit for two of the candidates would be an excellent one because of their work ethics, workplace experience, performance in my classes, and eagerness to learn.  I used my influence to help them by sending recommendations of the students to Ken.  But Ken would have hired them anyway.

After six months, the students are enjoying their work—and send me updates regularly to let me be acquainted with how they are doing.  They both enjoy observing and gaining knowledge from their managers, participating in teams, and knowing that there is always more to learn.

One of my students gave me a ‘Thank You’ card recently.  And what he wrote at the end of the message described the value he got and wanted to pass along:  “I hope that in the not so distant future, I will return the favor with some one in a similar position in which I was.”

Who do you know who could use a leg up?  How can you use your power and influence to find the right ladder for a younger person to climb?  The gift of time to find the answers then act on them is one that will always be remembered.

Still looking for a thoughtful gift for a business colleague?  What about a book?  But “What book?” you ask.  A book that will resonate with their personality, performance, and preferences.

Non-fiction books and memoirs are appropriate, especially ones that colleagues or consultants would appreciate.  For instance, a few years ago when I was doing consulting work at a small non-profit, the Executive Director/CEO wrote in the book he gave for Christmas:  “To Leigh:  To another winner from California.  Thank you for all you do for our company and your friendship.”  When I opened the gift from the CEO, a smile came to my face. Seabiscuit:  An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand turned out to be not just a very good read, it was a book about a memorable occasion earlier that year.  During a visit to see my sister Alice in Los Angeles, we saw the movie Seabiscuit, the first time we had seen a movie together in decades.  Sadly, my sister died in November.  When I see the spine of Seabiscuit on my bookshelf, I am reminded of a terrific sister.

After searching lists online of the best business books for 2011 at newspapers, bookstores, and blogs—plus my own library of recent purchases of business books—I’ve come up with a list of books that are arranged in no particular order.

STEVE JOBS by Walter Isaacson (Simon & Schuster).  A very well-written book that profiles the successful revolutionary guru whose temperamental behavior with Board and staff members was recorded but not ‘investigated’ enough in my opinion.  Isaacson writes that “At a time when the United States is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build creative digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness, imagination and sustained innovation. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology, so he built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.”  Give to peers and direct reports, if they are the type to read an almost 600 page book.

THE PROGRESS PRINCIPLE by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer (Harvard Business Review Press).  When searching for business books by women, this is one of the first ones that I found.  In fact, some lists of business books do not include one publication by a woman.  The results from a husband-and-wife research team “discovered that the key to engagement is feeling that you are making progress. So if you want your staff to feel positive and engaged in their work, help them to make progress—and to recognize the progress they are making. This a pioneering work on employee engagement, with lots of memorable examples culled from those in-the-trenches diary entries.”  Give to yourself and selected peers.

GOOD STRATEGY, BAD STRATEGY:  THE DIFFERENCE AND WHY IT MATTERS by Richard Rumelt (Crown Business).  I was intrigued when I found this book on a Canadian newspaper site because I learned that Henry Mintzberg only reads books by Rumelt, a professor of business and society at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).  A professor of management at McGill University in Montreal, Mintzberg wrote the book Managers Not MBAs:  A Hard Look at the Soft Practice of Managing and Management Development, a book worth a read itself on how experiential learning can provide more insights than an advanced diploma at a business school.  In my experiences, executive clients and business students often overlook strategic thinking—or it goes wrong.  This accessible book is about learning how to do it right.  Give to selected peers, selected direct reports; buy a copy for yourself.

GREAT BY CHOICE:  UNCERTAINTY, CHAOS AND LUCK—WHY SOME THRIVE DESPITE THEM ALL by Jim Collins and Morten Hansen (HarperBusiness).  This book is the latest in a series of best-sellers by Jim Collins; others include Good to Great:  Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t and Built to Last:  Successful Habits of Visionary Companies.  These well researched and written books contain valuable contributions for CEOs and other executives on how leaders can manage effectively in difficult times.  Fortune Magazine’s cover story on the October 17, 2011 issue “Collins on Chaos:  It’s one thing to rise to greatness.  It’s another to do so in a time of upheaval, disruption, and economic turmoil (hello, 2011)” is a great introduction to how you can manage for success.  Give to selected executives, peers, selected direct reports.

MONEY AND POWER:  HOW GOLDMAN SACHS CAME TO RULE THE WORLD by William D. Cohan (Doubleday/Allen Lane).  This is a “…scrupulously balanced if sometimes ponderous history of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. by the author of House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street and The Last Tycoons:  The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co.”  Cohan, who was a banker at Lazard when I was a temp, is a brilliant writer whose access to former clients, rivals, plus current and former employees of financial firms produces stories of the evolution of the headline making giants and, in the case of Lazard, the quiet giant of Wall Street.  “Cohan evinces an eye for images and an ear for quotations as he explores Goldman’s ‘schizophrenic’ behavior.”  One former Goldman employee stated, “I saw what they did to their customers. … They’d steal from them, rape them, anything they could do.”  Give any of these to those who will read about 600 pages and M.B.A. finance students who want to be investment bankers.

TELL TO WIN: CONNECT, PERSUADE, AND TRIUMPH WITH THE HIDDEN POWER OF STORY by Peter Guber (Crown Business).  This is an excellent book well worth the reading time.  It is excellent because of Gruber’s storytelling; his stories have helped me look at my re-branding process in a new way.  “Today everyone, whether they know it or not, is in the emotional transportation business. More and more, success is won by creating compelling stories that have the power to move partners, shareholders, customers and employees to action. Simply put, if you can’t tell it, you can’t sell it. And if you can’t sell it, you won’t win.”  Give yourself a copy and see how your stories impact your performance.

AN INVISIBLE THREAD: THE TRUE STORY OF AN 11-YEAR-OLD PANHANDLER, A BUSY SALES EXECUTIVE, AND AN UNLIKELY MEETING WITH DESTINY by Laura Schroff (Howard Books)  When I went to an online bookstore, I keyed in ‘Business Books’ and this was second on the list of results.  I had not seen it on any list but began to read the description and quickly knew that it would be a significant read on what a difference you can make with one person.  “When Schroff first met Maurice on a New York City street corner, she had no idea that she was standing on the brink of an incredible and unlikely friendship that would inevitably change both their lives. As one lunch at McDonald’s with Maurice turns into two, then into a weekly occurrence that is fast growing into an inexplicable connection, Laura learns heart-wrenching details about Maurice’s horrific childhood” and she remembers her own.  It is not about the business of work; it is about the business of taking the time to help save one individual’s world.  Give to colleagues and friends who need to find a meaningful engagement with the world.

‘Tis the season for individuals of many cultures to give and receive gifts to their business colleagues.  Since mine is a blog about understanding corporate culture while working to be a leader, I have posted the first of a series of ‘gift’ ideas and will continue these posts during the next week—all framed in the context of a business environment.

Two of my very best friends have given me gifts of music.  One gift was a ticket to go with my friend to hear Joshua Bell play Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center.  The other was a gift certificate from the TKTS Ticket Booth to see a Broadway production at 50% of retail price and my opportunity to see the winner of the Best Musical 2010 Tony Award:  Memphis.

The last time I listened to music at Lincoln Center was in the summer when I enjoyed hearing a range of bands play—including one from New Orleans—during the Midsummer Night Swing.  Last week when Joshua Bell began his beautiful playing surrounded by a spectacularly large symphony orchestra and Daniel Harding, a very physical conductor, I almost expected to hear him break into a blue grass tune and not Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto.  That thought receded quickly while I was transported into Bell’s world of magnificent music.

Bell’s bio on his website states that he was first noticed when he was 14 and his career began to bloom after that.  He “has enchanted audiences worldwide with his breathtaking virtuosity and tone of rare beauty. His restless curiosity and multifaceted musical interests have taken him in exciting new directions which have earned him the rare title of ‘classical music superstar.’ Often referred to as the poet of the violin, Bell is the recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize and is the newly named Music Director of The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.”

While watching Bell and the others on the stage, I thought “How long did it take to master the concerto?”  “How can he remember every note, every pause, every moment of being onstage with only the conductor to guide if not him then the orchestra?”  My management hat went on and I wondered how to translate Bell’s dedication to his career to my clients, colleagues, and students.  To try over and over to hit the right pitch in conversations, to keep everyone in tune on teams, to stay centered during a presentation the way Bell did as he wound up an amazing performance that brought a standing ovation and many ‘curtain calls.’

This week, I was exposed to another type of music:  the Broadway musical.  The show’s description on the web reads, “Inspired by actual events, MEMPHIS is about a white radio DJ who wants to change the world and a black club singer who is ready for her big break. Come along on their incredible journey to the ends of the airwaves—filled with laughter, soaring emotion and roof-raising rock ‘n’ roll.”  In my opinion, that of the man on vacation from Denmark sitting next to me, and a very good audience agreed completely.  It is a brilliant and moving show of an historical period of America.

One reason that I chose to use my gift certificate on Memphis was that last February I attended a panel presentation on the “The Production Process” part of CUNY’s series on “The Business of Theater” and afterwards posted Managing the Business of Theater.  The three panelists were involved in Memphis so the discussion focused on the beginnings and evolution of this show.  Friends and even my students encouraged me to go see the show.  I’ve very glad that I did.

If you are still looking for a very special and thoughtful gift, think of all the performances that producers have created for you, the performers who have invested their time to practice until perfection, the opportunity to experience a live production that you will not forget.

What is the climate of your workplace?  The atmosphere of the Wall Street firm depicted in the excellent movie “Margin Call” sums up what life is like at a very high temperature.  I hope that the environment at your workplace is cooler but it is not “freezing” either because employees are not speaking with each other.

Climate in the workplace refers to the levels of stress, pressure, inconsistency of communications, etc. that can impact the atmosphere for employees.  One person’s depression can cause a workplace to feel a giant grey cloud is hanging over the entire department.  Or, a person who has just gotten engaged to be married can create a joyful atmosphere while sharing the planning of a wedding.

To take the temperature of your environment, arrange an individual meeting with each staff member in your department.  Next, prepare a series of questions such as the ones below—and be prepared for a range of answers.  What you need to listen for very carefully are the answers to hear employee responses to questions they have never been asked.

The questions below are versions of the ones that I used earlier this year.  In this case, a colleague and I interviewed each staff member individually and earned their trust to respond by stating we would only provide the information to those who had requested we do the survey.  My colleague and I both wrote down the replies and afterwards were able to fill in the gaps we each had in particular responses.  Although we scheduled meetings to last about 20 to 30 minutes, some were shorter and some went close to an hour since the individuals had a lot to share with us.

A climate survey is a good assessment to implement if there is an ineffective executive or office manager.  Also, if a manager of a department leaves abruptly or is fired, a climate survey can include a question about what a staff member wants to see in their new manager.

Below are sample questions that can get you started in creating your own workplace climate survey.

What is the word or phrase you would use to describe the climate of your workplace today?

What is the word or phrase you would use to describe the climate of the workplace at the end of the next quarter?  The next year?

What made you choose this?

Every manager creates their workplace climate.  What skills and talents would you like to see in the next manager of the department?

What would you want the next manager to do that would maintain and/or improve the climate?

What could the director of the department do to improve the climate?

What could the human resources department do to improve the climate?

Since all employees contribute to the climate of the workplace, it is also wise to ask “What can you and your colleagues do to improve the workplace climate?”

How is learning lines in a Shakespeare script to perform on stage similar to preparing for a job interview?  There are many ways in which the preparation is the same.

On Tuesday evening, my management students will be reciting lines of Shakespeare on stage in a large campus theatre.  The plays I chose for them are both tragedies:  Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet.

The title of this class session is “Shakespeare in the Workplace” and the management topic is emotional intelligence (EI).  In the required textbook, Organizational Behavior 14^th edition by Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge, emotional intelligence is defined as “The ability to detect and to manage emotional cues and information.”

Being on stage is taking my students out of their comfort zones but I’ve used this exercise before with terrific results.  And because each student can experience a range of emotions while interacting with another actor, they can understand the reason they are on stage.  Romeo, Juliet, Hamlet, and the Queen are not roles that many of my students are familiar with but they wind up thanking me for the opportunity because they understand ‘being in the moment emotionally’ — a role that every effective manager needs to master.

To help my students be ready for the stage, I gave them a detailed list of how they are to prepare and be ready for their performance.  When I looked at their “Assignment for Actors,” I realized that this list is very similar to that of someone who is going on a job interview.  If you are acting on Tuesday or will be having a meeting with a person who has the ability to hire you, I hope you will find this list helpful.

Preparation:

1.  Read a detailed description of the play you have been assigned so that you understand the story line.  For a job seeker, find out as much as you can about the position you will be interviewed for and check out LinkedIn to see if there are any groups you can join to learn about the culture of the organization from individuals who work there.

2.  Read your assigned script very carefully.  The lines you will performing are part of a larger scene; the section has been chosen so that you can demonstrate a range of emotions.  The interviewer is skilled at asking questions.  Ask those in your network what questions they have been asked—or have them ask you questions—to start getting in the moment of the time you will be interviewed.

3.  Become familiar with your scene.  Go to www.YouTube.com or a similar website to find a video of your assigned scene or the entire play.  Read as much as you can about the company where you will be interviewed.  In addition, find out the most current trends and forecasts in the industry.

4.  Define the overall objective of your character in the scene.  Be clear on what your objective is to land a job.  What is the purpose for wanting this position?  Are you desperate to get any job since you are unemployed and have been for awhile? 

5.  Clarify the specific motivation you have in the assigned scene.  What is your motivation for working in a new company?  An increase in salary with potential for promotions?  A lateral move to learn more about your industry?  Be clear and able to articulate exactly what you seek from the position and the company.

6.  Memorize your lines as well as possible; practice in front of a mirror or recite your lines in front of your friends or family members, etc.  The same approach is excellent preparation for a job interview.  Get comfortable with how you will be presenting yourself to the interviewer by asking good friends to conduct mock interviews with you.  One of my students in a career class I teach at the Zicklin School of Business went through a mock interview with me in class one evening.  The next day she had a big interview for a job she really wanted and needed.  She got her job on the spot.

Break a leg—which means good luck whether you are performing on stage or walking in the office of an interviewer!

“Margin Call” is not just another Wall Street movie.  It is the best movie I’ve seen in this genre and one that tells the inside story of how a financial institution collapsed.

“The movie is a fictionalized account of a disastrous twenty-four hours in 2008, when ‘financial instruments’ that had seemed solid dissolved into air. The rush of panic is halted, now and then, by moments of disbelief,” writes David Denby in “All That Glitters” in his New Yorker column “The Current Cinema” (October 31, 2011).

To set the scene, Denby writes that “the executives working late at an imperilled investment firm in Manhattan stand in an office tower and stare at the lights and the streets below, wondering if the great city isn’t a dream.”  It was a bad dream that night.

There are three major elements of management that I found of interest in the movie.

1.  Respectful listening.  As the movie opens, personnel executives are on a trading floor to find and speak with those who are being let go that day.  Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci) sits in a state of shock while one woman recites what is included in his package and the deadline for accepting it as the other woman hands him her card in case he has any questions.  When Dale is back in his office, he looks up to see the ‘pit boss’ Will Emerson (Paul Bettany).  Dale tells Emerson that he needs more time since he had to finish an important project.  Emerson follows company policy and tells Dale that other people can finish his work.  Knowing the importance of his work, as Dale is escorted out of his office he slips a thumb drive to one of the analysts and says, “Be careful.”

2.  Risky business.  The young analyst, Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto), gave up an evening of drinking with other analysts to remain at work and take a look at Dale’s files.  It didn’t take him long to see that:  “if the mortgage-backed securities currently on the company’s books, which are heavily leveraged, decline in value by an additional twenty-five per cent, the company’s losses will be greater than its total market capitalization.”  What had become a quiet office with only the custodians at work became overnight a scene of people trying to make good on what was a devastating reality. 

Sullivan called another analyst, then the pit boss Emerson who called the longtime head of trading Sam Rogers (Kevin Spacey) who called his boss Jared Cohen (Simon Baker) who called in more staff and finally called CEO John Tuld (Jeremy Irons).  While sitting around the table with quickly prepared bound documents summarizing what Sullivan found, those who could read the numbers understood what was happening; other senior people seemed to have forgotten or never learned how to read projections and, instead, trusted a 28-year-old analyst with a Ph.D. in rocket science to convey the implications of the data.  Sullivan took the risk to open the files Dale left him and found himself being the point person for telling the top executives the truth about their company.

3.  Motivated blindness.  I read this term in David Brooks’ op-ed column “Let’s All Feel Superior” which appeared in the New York Times on November 15, 2011, about the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State.  Brooks defines motivated blindness as “they don’t see what is not in their interest to see.”

Top risk officer Sarah Robinson (Demi Moore) took the fall for the financial fiasco that developed.  However, during the first meeting she attended Sullivan’s finding, she reminded her boss Cohen that she and others had brought the topic to his attention on previous occasions and he had ignored them.  “…the toxic assets were assembled in the first place, and were sold well past the danger point, because the fees from doing so were high enough to extinguish caution,” Denby writes.  Cohen had motivated blindness and didn’t see what was not in his interest.

“If Wall Street executives find themselves at a loss to understand what the protesters outside are getting at, they could do worse than watch this movie for a few clues,” Denby wrote.  I agree with him.  Go see “Margin Call.”

Steve Jobs was known for scheduling a meeting with someone then when that person arrived, asking them if they would go for a walk with him.  Walter Isaacson’s book Steve Jobs contains stories of CEOs, board members, colleagues, employees, designers, etc. walking with Jobs instead of sitting in an office across from someone to discuss their business.  People can look at that as a bit quirky; I think it’s marvelous.

Last week, a good friend arrived at my home to talk about her job search and career.  However, the first thing she said was, “Let’s go for a walk.  It’s such a wonderful day outside.”  I agreed.  I had been working at my computer for hours and was ready for a break.

Once outside, I gave my friend the choice of walking to the Hudson River or to Central Park.  She had never walked down my street before to get to the water but we didn’t go far until she said, “Let’s go to the park.  I want to see the fall foliage.”

We did an about face and as we strolled—strolling is slower than walking—we caught up on our ‘personal’ business then talked about the progress she was making in her job search.  A skilled salesperson, she had held high level jobs and earned the respect of her peers in the industry.  However, after the company she was working for was sold to a Middle Eastern owner in late 2010, she was let go.  She quickly networked with her peers and clients but could not find a job.  Then medical issues in her family halted her progress.  She was meeting with me to help her get motivated and up-to-speed on the career market.

Our conversation flowed easily walking to Columbus Circle in the shadow of the Time Warner Building.  However, it was a little tricky to talk as we navigated our way through dozens of people near the entrance to the park who wanted to sell us a ride in a pedi-cab or direct us to where we could rent a bicycle.  We interrupted each other when we had to make decisions on which direction we should go within the park to get the best view of the colors of the leaves.  The wind was blowing and I hadn’t dressed appropriately, so we strolled back to the Time Warner Building and meandered around there window shopping.

During our business meeting, we were talking about the things that we would have discussed if sitting in my living room.  We talked about how she needed to fill out her LinkedIn profile and include more recommendations.  She talked about the fact she needed to go through and contact her colleagues since she last contacted them almost a year ago and they could be thinking she had found a job already.  She talked about applying for a job where she was already turned down for a previous one, a reach but a chance as well.  She talked about being more assertive and aggressive in order to seek a position in another field where she could utilize her skills.

My friend went with me to do some shopping and we strolled back to my home where we talked about the economy and our futures.  When she left to go to a gathering of colleagues who had worked at the same company, she knew just the person she wanted to ‘target’ about a job.  I smiled since it seemed by then that she was ready to find the job that had been eluding her.

The ‘walking meeting’ we had helped me unwind, relax, and enjoy the changing of the colors in Central Park.  Steve Jobs had a wonderful idea—and I’m glad my friend did as well.