Geoff Smart's Blog, page 2
July 2, 2021
Don’t Come Back to Work
Don’t come back to work.
Instead, move forward in leading your company and managing your career by embracing remote work, at least to some extent.
Even though ghSMART has been remote-only for 26 years now, it never fully registered with me how enthusiastic I am about remote work until I started hearing that many companies are forcing workers to come back into offices every day.
You're reading Don’t Come Back to Work, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
June 16, 2021
26-Year Anniversary Letter to Colleagues
Smarties! It is exciting to mark 26 years and going strong! And getting stronger!!
THE BEGINNING. It’s so weird, I remember how I felt at the beginning of our firm’s life. (Cue the top hit songs on June 16, 1995 which were “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” by Bryan Adams, “Water Runs” by Boyz II Men, and “Total Eclipse of the Heart” By Nicki French in the U.S., and “Unchained Melody” by White Cliffs of Dover in the U.K.).
You're reading 26-Year Anniversary Letter to Colleagues, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
May 19, 2021
Are You a Great “Remote” Leader? Take This Checklist Challenge
The days of “management by walking around” are over.
Business books from the 1980s encouraged managers to wander around the office, chit-chat with colleagues, and learn valuable information at the water cooler. Today, leaders of all size organizations find themselves managing people remotely.
In recent weeks, I have discussed this with the CEO of a global public company, the student body president of an Ivy League university, the Executive Director of a not-for-profit that builds bridges in developing economies, the founder of a protein bar startup, a U.S. Senator (who manages D.C. and hometown office staffs), and the head of a private equity firm with offices in several countries.
You're reading Are You a Great “Remote” Leader? Take This Checklist Challenge, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
January 13, 2021
Is It Possible to Have a Job That Is Fulfilling and Lucrative — but Still Have a Life Outside of Work?
A little over 25 years ago, I founded ghSMART, a leadership advisory firm, for two reasons, the second of which may surprise you.
First, I wanted to use our expertise in human behavior to help CEOs and investors build valuable companies — and that scope has widened over the years to also include helping not-for-profit and government leaders achieve success. I believe leadership is the most important lever for positive change, and I wanted to build a world-class firm to help leaders amplify their positive impact on the world.
You're reading Is It Possible to Have a Job That Is Fulfilling and Lucrative — but Still Have a Life Outside of Work?, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
November 9, 2020
Hiring Government Leaders: Lessons from the Private Sector
I’m proud and happy that my ghSMART colleagues and I today published a landmark study on “Hiring Government Leaders” at the request of a Washington D.C. think tank.
A new administration’s #1 priority is hiring a talented and diverse leadership team that will elevate the quality of life of its citizens. However, this is easier said than done. Approximately 50% of hiring decisions are considered mistakes.
We drew on a half-century of research and practice in the private sector and public sector, and propose a practical framework to improve the speed and accuracy of hiring cabinet and senior staff, and reduce the chance of costly mistakes. While this article was primarily written for “presidential hiring,” the actionable take-aways are relevant for elected and appointed government leaders to use at the federal, state, or local levels to improve the performance of their administration, department, or agency, for the good of us all.
Please click to read our new article here: https://www.aei.org/research-products...
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Dr. Geoff Smart is Chairman & Founder of ghSMART, the leadership advisory firm. The firm exists to help leaders amplify their positive impact on the world. In 2020, Vault named ghSMART the #1 company to work for in its industry, in overall satisfaction.
ghSMART has published four bestselling leadership books: Who: The A Method for Hiring (by Smart and Street, #1 in the category of “hiring”), Leadocracy: Hiring More Great Leaders (Like You) into Government (by Smart), Power Score (by Smart, Street, and Foster), and The CEO Next Door (by Botelho and Powell).
Geoff can be reached at geoff.smart@ghsmart.com.
You're reading Hiring Government Leaders: Lessons from the Private Sector, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
June 16, 2020
ghSMART Turns 25
The firm I founded, ghSMART, turned 25 years of age today.
Click here to listen to a 60-minute podcast about the story of ghSMART.
And below is the celebration message I just sent to my team today. We are hiring.
If you know anybody whose professional talents and interests match up with what you read here, please send them my way! Thank you!
ghSMART’s 25th Anniversary Message
Today is our 25-year anniversary, ghSMART! As your proud Chairman and Founder, I have some reflections on our past, present, and future.
PAST: In the beginning, I wanted to build a special kind of firm unlike any other. For colleagues, I wanted there to be a place for wildly talented and good-hearted people to do meaningful work in the area of leadership and management and to have a life outside of work. It was selfish—I wanted to found a firm that I’d actually want to work at! The kind of place where you could sit in a boardroom with colleagues and the CEO of an influential company, providing life-changing advice and counsel on her most challenging leadership issues. And then to be able to sit the very next day with your family on a blanket in a park watching the leaves change, or sit with a sick friend in the hospital who is getting his next course of chemo, or sit with a rising young leader at a not-for-profit you volunteer on the board at, and help her chart her career strategy.
You're reading ghSMART Turns 25, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
March 31, 2020
How Crisis Revealed the Cultural Roots of the #1 Consulting Firm to Work for
At 7am this morning as I was writing this blog, my phone blared that jarring “Amber Alert” noise. But there was no missing child.
Instead, my state’s governor smartly alerted everybody to stay at home to slow the spread of the Coronavirus. What a weird experience; I felt like I was in an apocalypse movie.
The first thought that crossed my mind was gratitude that my family was healthy, at least at the moment.
The second thought that crossed my mind was how much “great leadership” matters in times of crisis. I’m proud of how our Managing Partner, Randy Street, and my other colleagues are leading through this crisis. And I realized how this crisis has revealed some of the cultural roots of ghSMART, the leadership advisory firm I founded 25 years ago.
Why you should care
If you are reading this article, you likely run or own a company or not-for-profit, or you aspire to lead an organization one day. ghSMART is a leadership advisory firm whose clients include CEOs of some of the largest companies in the world, influential entrepreneurs, and enlightened government and not-for-profit leaders. We help them to confidently hire, develop and lead talented and diverse teams that succeed.
You already know how much “culture” matters in propelling any organization forward. ghSMART recently won the “#1 company to work for” award in our industry for overall employee satisfaction, according to Vault. Vault said the main reason we won that award was due to the firm’s culture. And it’s during challenging times like these that a culture’s true DNA becomes crystal clear. So, I wanted to share with you 3 cultural roots that help ghSMART to power through crisis.
You're reading How Crisis Revealed the Cultural Roots of the #1 Consulting Firm to Work for, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
January 29, 2020
Successfully Convince a CEO in 3 Steps
Here is your chance. You don’t want to blow it.
You have a meeting scheduled with a CEO. Your goal is to convince her…
to spend $1m on your product or service, or to make a large donation to your cause.
to hire you, to promote you, or to give you your dream job.
to invest in your idea.
What are ineffective ways to convince a CEO?
Many people “show up and throw up” and push a lot of information at the CEO—either verbally, or by PowerPoint. I’m not sure what the reason is why many unpersuasive people follow this approach. Maybe it’s to “show you know what you are talking about.” But it does not make a CEO say yes. I recall when my firm was interviewing law firms. Two partners from one firm came to a lunch meeting at a restaurant with a thick glossy marketing brochure. I remember the ominous “thud” the document made as it hit the table. By the end of the lunch, I understood a lot about their firm and their goals, but they did not know much about mine. We did not select that firm.
You're reading Successfully Convince a CEO in 3 Steps, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
October 8, 2019
The 2 Secrets to World Class Service—It’s Not What You Think
Today, I watched over 100 of my colleagues crying.
Their.
Eyes.
Out.
The reason was that Nick Stoyer, Learning and Development Leader at Four Seasons Resort Orlando, was revealing some secrets to world class service.
And his stories were so compelling, so powerful, that many of us were overwhelmed with emotion. Nick was generous enough to stop a ghSMART summit to share some secrets to success. And he and his firm agreed to allow us to share them with you.
How does the Four Seasons deliver world-class service across the globe?
That was the central question. Below are some excerpts from the conversation. I hope you find the insights as powerful and as useful as we did.
Geoff: Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is known as the gold standard for service worldwide. It has achieved more Forbes Five Star ratings than any other hotel and resort brand in the world, among a long list of “best of” awards. The experience is unique. And it’s consistently awesome. Any company in any industry can benefit from learning from your example. The question is HOW DO YOU DO THAT?”
Nick: Long before it was fashionable for CEOs to talk about doing good in the world, and treating “stakeholders” (also known as “people”) well, Four Seasons has been practicing the Golden Rule—to treat others as you wish to be treated. Our Founder Issy Sharp, son of Polish immigrants, started Four Seasons in 1961 in Toronto. It seemed to him that if you wanted to build the best hospitality company in the world, you had to treat your colleagues and guests the best.
Geoff: Easier said than done.
Nick: Right!
Geoff: So is it all about defining metrics and meticulously measuring your employees and holding people accountable, as so many companies do?
Nick: No.
Geoff: What do you mean, no? That’s management 101, right?
Nick: Yes. Maybe. But we have a different approach.
Geoff: What’s that?
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You're reading The 2 Secrets to World Class Service—It’s Not What You Think, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
September 13, 2019
3 Reasons Why Recessions are Awesome for Great Companies
It may be jarring to read the word “recession” and “awesome” in the same sentence.
Recessions are bad for most people. I will not make light of how horrible recessions are for the vast majority of companies and their employees, (as well as for not-for-profit organizations, and governments).
For most companies, recessions mean increased stress at work, stalled career progression or even lay-offs, uncertainty, increased board and shareholder pressure, increased financial strain, and they put a feeling of looming danger in the pit of your stomach, which is no fun to wake up to every day!
But for great companies, recessions can be awesome.
What are great companies?
Great companies make great products or deliver great services to customers. They provide a wonderful work culture which attracts and retains talented people. And because they take great care of customers and employees, great companies don’t have a dangerous debt burden, they are profitable, and are able to pay their bills to suppliers and they deliver an attractive return to investors in dividends and equity appreciation.
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You're reading 3 Reasons Why Recessions are Awesome for Great Companies, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
