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Why should you respect all people? You never know!

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When you’re meeting people, are you doing it to see what you can get from them?

Are you making value judgments about whether they are able to help you, and then brushing people off who are not “important enough”?

I believe that “Because people matter, we must lead them well.”
This means that there are at least two reasons to connect with others:

  1. People matter – Intrinsically, people are important – regardless of the role or job function that they hold.  We need to treat all people with respect, just because people matter.
  2. You never know who they know!  Bob Burg says that every person you met knows about 250 other people, and you don’t know who they know – and what opportunities may come from those connections!
Last night I attended an event and met lots of people.  It was terrific.  Toward the end of the night I was chatting with one of the attendees and one of the workers at the event.  We were having a good conversation, and the other attendee excused herself.  I was left chatting with someone who was clearly not in the target market for my services.

In my continuing conversation about leadership with this gentleman, he mentions a 20+ year personal relationship he has had with one of the top leaders in one of the most profitable businesses in the US.

I don’t see myself targeting this leader as a sales prospect, but it reminded me again that you never know!

Respecting others – even those who can’t obviously help you – is a part of “Raising Your Game”

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Why should I follow your lead? 3 questions YOU need to answer!

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Why do people follow you? Is it because of your position? Your experience? Your knowledge? Your relationships? Your tenure?

Whatever the reason that they follow you today, you’ll get more from your team if you can answer yes to the following three questions:

Do you care for me?
Can you help me?
Can I trust you?

Do you care for me?
It’s an old saw, but it’s true “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Really – if you don’t genuinely care about the people you lead, you will NEVER get their best. You can’t fake this. People can see a hypocrite a mile away, and they will see right through you.

Start to see them as people – just like you – and enter into what matters to them. Time and again I interview people about their “good boss” experiences. Do you know what I hear *every* time? “My boss cared about me. S/he would always ask about how things are going in my personal life.”

Can you help me?
What if I really care, but I can’t *do* anything about it? Understanding their situation is comforting at one level, but to really go deeper you’ve got to be able to *do* something about it. Your followers need to know that you care and have the capacity to make a difference for them.

Can I trust you?
I recently read that the trait that consistently appeared in the lives of the most successful salespeople was integrity. Integrity – it’s a word we don’t use often these days – mostly because it’s so relatively uncommon. If you want to have significant influence in the lives of your followers, they have to know that your “yes means yes, and your no means no” – that “you do the same things when people are looking – and when no one is looking”

If you can answer “yes” to these three questions, your influence – your leadership will expand. You’ll go from getting the minimum from your team to getting their commitment and passion to support your initiatives.

Saying Yes to these questions is a key part of “Raising your game”

Dave Ramsey’s 12 steps to a proper hire

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You’re here because you’re looking for help with hiring, right?

You’re in the right place.

I was recently speaking with the president of a company who has been having some challenges with employee recruitment and retention.  I thought it might be helpful to share Dave Ramsey’s thoughts on hiring.

The smaller the team, the more important your hiring decision.

Choose well.

From Dave Ramsey’s EntreLeadership 1 day seminar

12 steps to a proper hire:

1. Pray

Dear God,
Please send the exact person You want on our team, a person who needs employment, and will do the job well.
Please keep the crazy people away.
Amen

2. Key Results Area – (KRA)

This is a JOB DESCRIPTION for the ROLE that you need to fill.
This defines the expectations you have for them.

This contains:

3 Roman numerals covering the job area

4-5 sentences that explain the job –

This provides an understanding of what “succcess” looks like  for the person in that role.

You must have this – a written job description for the role.

3. Resume 

These are almost useless, but they can be a simple filter to eliminate
candidates who cannot be bothered to do a good job creating one.

4. Personality test

Dave uses DISC as a basic test to help identify whether the person
is a fit for the role.

I like to use DISC with my clients because it is simple to understand, and we can determine action plans which can give immediate results.

Want to know more?  Here’s a quick video overview of DISC!

5. Do you like them personally?

  • It takes more than talent.  Chemistry and personality are important.
  • You should plan to interview the candidate several times.
    5 interviews would not be inappropriate.
  • Take your time making this decision.

You will spend a lot of time with this person after hiring them.  Don’t rush through the hiring.

Making it “harder to get in” by finding the right person the first time is will save you countless headaches and will save you money in the long run.

6. Do they “light up” when they talk about this position?  

You want people who are delighted to be in this role on your team.
If they do not, it’s a red flag!

7. Compensation calculation, policy and benefits review 

So that they know what they are getting in return for their efforts.

8. Personal budget review – Really – on paper, on purpose

Leaders at Dave Ramsey’s organization actually work out a personal
budget with the candidate to confirm that s/he can live on what they
will be paid.

Dave tells the story of a woman who worked for him for $13K but actually needed $30K to live.  It didn’t work out.

Dave feels responsible for his team members and wants to make sure
that they can make it on their income.

This may not be appropriate for you and your team, but it’s an interesting point – what questions SHOULD you be asking of your potential team members?

9. References

Dave says that these, too, are almost useless – it’s a “stupid check” to see if the candidate is “stupid enough” to give references who will say bad things about them.

Sometimes they do.  Call the references.  Eliminating just one bad hire makes it worth doing every time!

10. Spousal interview

Dave says “If [his wife] Sharon gets a ‘feeling’ that means the person is not a fit”
Dave does not hire the person.  He says ignoring Sharon’s “feelings” has cost him tens of thousands of dollars over the years, so he listens now.

The hiring manager, and the hiring manager’s spouse take the candidate and the candidate’s spouse to dinner.

This less formal interview helps provide an independent evaluation of the candidate.

11. Mission statements (company and personal)

Does the candidate’s personal mission statement line up with the mission of your organization?
If not, don’t hire them!

  • Do you have a mission, vision, values and goals  – on a single sheet of paper that everyone can understand? 
  • If not, or if yours needs a tuneup, I can help you with that so that you can QUICKLY put that together.  
  • It doesn’t have to be complicated – in fact, if it is, it probably isn’t working for you.
  • Email me below for my one pager – 6 questions to ask to engage your team on Mission, Vision, and Values

12. 90 day probationary period for the company and the person.

I’m not looking for the ‘best’ players, I’m looking for the ‘right’ ones
— Dave Ramsey

A person hired properly will perform better, will not cause problems, and will be more likely to stay.

Hiring the right way is a critical part of building your team.

Don’t miss out on DISC as a tool to help you with hiring.

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How to prepare to fix it when you're wrong….

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I recently attended a discussion led by Steve Gladis addressing the idea that we need to have a framework for “Tough Talks” – conversations to resolve relational conflicts.

Our cultural struggle with this negatively impacts business to the tune of billions of dollars a year, and leads to dramatic frustration and stress just tiptoe-ing around the elephant in the room.

Painfully, today I had a reminder of how easy it is to make a mistake.   I mis-communicated with two colleagues – I made an honest mistake, and ended up wasting their time.

Now what?  How do I fix it?  I can’t replace their time, but I need to make amends. Dr. Gladis offered a framework to address when others let us down, and two words stuck with to me:
“Humility” and “initiative”

Humility – How can I demonstrate humility?  Clearly this was my fault, even though I didn’t intend to do it – that’s really not the point.  From their perspective, the outcome is as if I did it on purpose.

First I can acknowledge my fault to myself.  I can admit that I did it.

Then I can be ready to admit it to them.  Humility doesn’t mean thinking less of yourself, it mostly means just thinking of yourself less often.  If I’m going to think about their perspective, I can be ready to admit fault.

Initiative – What will I do about it?   In this case, I was intentional to reach out to each of them to admit my mistake, to identify with the frustration and wasted time I caused, and then in writing, specifically asked each of them to forgive me.

As a leader, humility and initiative are key parts of Raising Your Game.

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Steve Jobs – what a total failure?

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Steve Jobs – what a shining example of a man who won over and over again, right? I mean, iTunes, iPod, iPad, iPhone – does that guy ever lose?

This concept really shows our bias to remember whatever has momentum. these days, Steve’s goto the mojo – Apple’s momentum is amazing.

It’s worthwhile to remember that Steve has some other things on his resume, too. Lisa, NeXT, Newton – oh – and getting FIRED from Apple!

What’s really powerful about Steve is that he didn’t quit. He could have taken his money and run away to live in peace and quiet. He could have started a charitable foundation and given his time and attention to that. He wasn’t done – and wasn’t content with failure.

In spite of Lisa and Newton being commercial failures, and Apple’s sagging season where they decided that Steve was the problem, he persevered.

I recently read a quote from Steve where he said that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that ever happened to him – it spurred his competitive greatness and drove him into new areas. He explored movies, and created Pixar. That experience opened his mind to movies and music, and laid the groundwork for his vision to create iPods supported with an online marketplace. Of course, I’m sure he didn’t see that when he lost his job.

Persevere! Don’t let failure get you down – take some time to examine what happened, because evaluated experience is the best teacher.

Then – “take chances, make mistakes, get dirty!” – Mrs. Frizzle

It’s the path to greatness!

Getting up after you fall down is an important part of Raising Your Game

What is a "Growth Environment"?

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We want to grow – right?  In this world we’re either growing or we’re dying – improving or disintegrating.

Can you move beyond your circumstances to grow?  Are you in the right place to grow?  What does a growth environment look like?

image courtesy of barbourians (Flikr)
image courtesy of barbourians (Flikr)

My mentor John Maxwell has the following on a laminated index card he has carried for decades:

What is a growth environment like?
  1. A place where others are ahead of me.
  2. A place where I am continually challenged.
  3. A place where the focus is forward, not backward – on tomorrow, not yesterday. (What am I doing today to set up success tomorrow?)
  4. A place where the atmosphere is affirming – (Become each others’ chief cheerleader!)
  5. A place where I am out of my comfort zone.  (My whole life will be out of my comfort zone – growth is where I’m taking a risk.)where_growth_happens001
  6. A place where I wake up excited – (Where you know that you will be with like-minded people.)
  7. A place where failure is not your enemy.  Failure is OK.  I fail a lot because I take risks.  Your friends pick you up when you’re down.
  8. A place where other people are growing.
  9. A place where people desire change – make right changes and you will grow.
  10. A place where growth is modeled for me, and expected from me.
Are you in a growth environment today?
What will you do to get yourself there…. today?
Here’s a downloadable copy of this list!
Growing is a part of Raising Your Game.

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BrightHill Group
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Harrisburg NC 28075

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