Geoff Smart's Blog, page 3
August 21, 2019
Do You Know Someone Who Has What It Takes to Get Hired to the Consulting Firm Ranked #1 in Overall Satisfaction?
It was perhaps weird that I posted my last blog about a mentee who was trying to get hired to his dream job before knowing if my advice worked in his case! A few days after my post, he told me he followed the tips and he did end up getting hired to his dream job, as CEO of a hospitality company. And he is loving his job.
What a wonderful thing it is to have a job you love.
Speaking of having a job you love, please make someone’s day and give some thought to this question:
Do you know someone who has what it takes to get hired to the consulting firm ranked #1 in overall satisfaction?
To answer that question, you need to know what firm has the most satisfied people, and who gets hired.
You're reading Do You Know Someone Who Has What It Takes to Get Hired to the Consulting Firm Ranked #1 in Overall Satisfaction?, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
June 5, 2019
Three Things to Say and Get Hired to Your Dream Job
Last week, a mentee asked me a question.
“Geoff, a headhunter says I'm one of two [finalists for my first CEO job] with a decision to be made shortly. Any thoughts on how to close the deal, or let it close itself?”
His question sent a lightning bolt of excitement through me. How far he had come to be in a position to land his first CEO job!
This is not your stereotypical CEO candidate in the beginning.
When I met him, he was a high school junior attending a low-income/high-crime high school. It was the kind of school where kids had silver duct tape holding their winter coats together, if they had coats at all. I was there volunteer teaching a class on business finance. At his request for mentorship, my firm bought this aspirational leader a Wall Street Journal subscription, suggested he read it every day, and invited him to check in with us every 6 months if he wanted more career advice to become a successful business leader, which is what he said he wanted to do. That was 20 years ago. Fast forward through the hard work, the scholarship to a respected college, the long hours working for two investment banks and the successful stint as COO of a public company, and now he is about to land his first CEO job!
You're reading Three Things to Say and Get Hired to Your Dream Job, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
April 18, 2019
Do You Have a “Ninja” Executive Assistant?
You should want to have a ninja executive assistant (EA). Let’s talk about how.
Two things determine if you have a ninja executive assistant: who you hire, and how you work together.
This article reveals a non-scientific set of tips based on a quarter-century of observations of what it takes to have a ninja EA. Since I founded ghSMART 24 years ago, I have had the privilege of working with dozens of ninja EAs at our firm. And we have interacted with hundreds of great and not-so-great EAs across our client companies.
[Continue »]
You're reading Do You Have a “Ninja” Executive Assistant?, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
January 30, 2019
Confidence
Confidence. How can you build your confidence as a CEO, investor, or entrepreneur?
My colleagues and I at ghSMART see many talented people work hard to build their confidence.
New CEOs have imposter syndrome. Private equity investors who just raised another $1b+ fund read newspaper headlines about the coming recession and quietly gulp. Self-made billionaire entrepreneurs worry that their fortunes will take an embarrassing hit. Newly-elected government leaders worry about whether their results will live up to their campaign promises.
You're reading Confidence, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
October 25, 2018
Two Reasons Why Smart People Make Dumb Career Moves
I love helping people land their dream job. But even smart people make dumb career moves. The two reasons why smart people make dumb career moves are 1) they don’t have a career strategy and 2) they don’t put enough time into their job search.
What’s a career strategy? It’s a written document that says:
• What your career wishes are (e.g. role, content, culture, leadership challenges, type of company, size, location, work-life flexibility, long-term career goals).
•3 paths you are considering, rank ordered from best to worst (e.g. 1) join a marketing consulting firm, or 2) go into a marketing department inside a corporation, or 3) hang out my shingle and freelance).
•Actions you are going to take by when (e.g. contact the following 20 people who are in a position of influence to help me land my dream job by 12/31...).
You're reading Two Reasons Why Smart People Make Dumb Career Moves, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
September 17, 2018
ghSMART Unseats McKinsey as #1 Firm for Client Interaction, According to Vault
It seems like not too long ago, ghSMART was privately writing headlines like this as something to aspire to one day—to appear at the top of lists with world class professional services firms. If you can dream it, you can do it, right? Now it has actually happened. ghSMART just unseated McKinsey in the #1 spot in this year’s Vault survey of “Best Consulting Firms to Work For” in the important area of client interaction. As Founder & Chairman, I’m proud of my colleagues for making this happen.
Most of you who subscribe to my blog are not considering coming to work at ghSMART. You are CEOs, board members, investors, and corporate executives. This blog will probably not be very useful to you, so please skip it.
But for those of you who are considering joining the ghSMART team one day, I thought you might like an “insider’s peek” to see how we hit this milestone, and how it will affect your career if you work here one day.
You're reading ghSMART Unseats McKinsey as #1 Firm for Client Interaction, According to Vault, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
April 4, 2018
5 Tips to Spot Candidates with the Right–and Wrong–Stuff
Geoff: Congrats on the success of your new book! It's the best career success book I've read in recent memory. (Carter just published The Right--and Wrong--Stuff: How Brilliant Careers Are Made. And Business Insider named it a top 17 business book for 2018).
Carter: Thanks! You know, I was thinking that some of the core messages of the book are relevant not only to career success, but to hiring success.
G: And hiring success is a big driver of career success, right?
C: Yes. Especially at senior leadership levels. So what advice would you have for our readers to be able to spot candidates during interviews who have the right stuff and avoid the ones with the wrong stuff?
G: Please tell us about each of your 5 negative archetypes, and I'll offer advice how to spot them.
You're reading 5 Tips to Spot Candidates with the Right–and Wrong–Stuff, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
March 21, 2018
ghSMART Appoints Kevin Burns Senior Advisor and Founding Member of Chairman’s Council
WASHINGTON, March 21, 2018 – Kevin Burns has joined ghSMART & Company, Inc. as Senior Advisor and founding member of the firm’s Chairman’s Council. [Continue »]
You're reading ghSMART Appoints Kevin Burns Senior Advisor and Founding Member of Chairman’s Council, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
February 27, 2018
Opposite Day—How to Fail at Becoming CEO
Geoff: Hey Elena and Kim, your book is about to hit bookstores!
Elena/Kim: Yes! It’s exciting.
G: Tell our readers, how long did it take to write?
E/K: The CEO Next Door: The 4 Behaviors that Transform Ordinary People into World-Class Leaders took over 20 years to collect the data—in-depth data on over 17,000 successful and unsuccessful careers—leaders who became CEO and those who didn’t. It took about 10 years to analyze, and 3 years to write.
G: Well that sounds highly credible! What are the main points of the book?
E/K: We’ve talked a lot about the main points of the book. Let’s do something fun for our readers. Do you remember that game you played in elementary school, “Opposite Day?”
G: Yes, like when you say the opposite of everything that is true.
E/K: Exactly. So let’s play Opposite Day today as it relates to career success. We will reveal not what the 4 behaviors are that lead to career success. We’ll describe the OPPOSITE of those success behaviors.
G: OK so what’s the first behavior our readers should avoid?
[Continue »]
You're reading Opposite Day—How to Fail at Becoming CEO, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
January 16, 2018
ghSMART Appoints Mike Peel As Senior Advisor And Founding Member Of Chairman’s Council
New York, January 16, 2018 – Michael Peel has joined ghSMART & Company, Inc. as Senior Advisor and founding board member on the firm’s Chairman’s Council. [Continue »]
You're reading ghSMART Appoints Mike Peel As Senior Advisor And Founding Member Of Chairman’s Council, originally posted on SMARTthoughts for Leaders and copyrighted by Dr. Geoff Smart.
