Geoff Smart's Blog, page 7
April 28, 2016
The First Mistake Bad Leaders Make in a New Job
The first mistake bad leaders make in a new job is subtle, common, and avoidable.
They come into an organization and they don’t narrow the priority list.
In our research for Power Score, we found that only 24% of leaders are good at prioritizing. And when a leader is bad at prioritizing, 90% of the time it’s because they let too many priorities stay alive.
In short, great leaders prune priorities.
What does priority pruning look like?
It looks like taking a weed whacker to the overgrown mass of useless priorities that grow inside organizations.
what Steve Jobs did when he returned to Apple, and trimmed the number of products from hundreds to under 10.
It looks like what Inn-N-Out burger (for those of you who have enjoyed this delicious West Coast treat) does in only giving you a menu of burger, fries, and drink.
It looks like what Scott Cook (founder of Intuit) did in making Quickbooks simple like using your checkbook.
There are so many leaders I see who lack the analytical horsepower, the courage, or the decisiveness to prune priorities. So they just let dozens, or hundreds, or even thousands of priorities live on in their organizations and distract people away from the small set of things that matter most.
If you want a simple way to prune priorities, use this one-page discussion guide straight out of our Power Score book. Have your team rate your priorities 1-10. If you are scoring a 9 or 10, keep doing what you are doing. If, however, you score less than a 9, then it’s time to get out the weed whacker and start pruning!
Download the SMARTtools for Leaders™ PRIORITIES Tool HERE.
Participate in SMARTfest 2016 to master the #1 skill in business – hiring talented teams. Register HERE.
The post The First Mistake Bad Leaders Make in a New Job appeared first on Dr. Geoff Smart.
Selling Millennials on Working for You is Easier Than You Think
“How do you get millennials to work for you?”
An audience member recently asked this question.
I was tempted to point out our Five Fs of Selling, straight out of the Who book. We researched and identified a checklist of the items that successful leaders use to sell people on joining their organizations. Fit, family, freedom, fortune, and fun.
The one that applies most for selling millennials is a matter of the first F, fit.
It’s a misconception I believe that millennials are lazy or what they really want all sorts of exceptions made like having permission to bring their dog to work, or free sushi, coconut water, and massages.
On the contrary, what I think is most important about hiring millennials is that they want to believe in the company. They want to believe their job has meaning, or has a positive impact on a broader set of people.
So when you are hiring a millennial, know that your company’s reason for being, and the job you are offering must “fit” that person’s value system. Sell that point hard. Many companies I see fail to put enough emphasis on this.
The executive who recently asked me how to get millennials to work for you was missing something. He worked for a company that in my opinion offers a WONDERFUL value—this company provides equipment and services to bring clean drinking water to people all over the world! Imagine having a company mission that profoundly valuable to attract millennial talent. Yet, in this company’s hiring practices, its website, and it’s selling tactics to prospective employees, I noticed that they were totally under-selling this important point.
How to get millennials to work for you? Be able to articulate your company’s reason for being, and show how it fits that candidate’s reason for living.
Download the SMARTtools for Leaders™ SELL Tool HERE.
Participate in SMARTfest 2016 to master the #1 skill in business – hiring talented teams. Register HERE.
The post Selling Millennials on Working for You is Easier Than You Think appeared first on Dr. Geoff Smart.
Relationships in Business Are Not About Getting Along
Relationships in business are not about getting along.
Yet, so many books we all see in airport bookstores are about how to get along, build trust, be authentic, and build smooth relationships.
Our observation after interviewing over 15,000 successful and unsuccessful leaders is that relationships in business are not about getting along, but are about getting results.
And according to our database of leaders, 91% of leaders are “honest.” So, while being honest is of course a super important value, it does not appear to be a differentiator of great or bad leaders.
Relationships that are focused on results—that is a mark of a great leader.
In The Checklist Manifesto, one of our favorite social do-gooders, Atul Gawande, points out that in an operating room, it’s not about getting along. Life or death happens as a result of simple steps being followed, like 1) doctors and nurses and specialists introducing themselves and their roles, 2) focusing on the result that is desired (are we amputating the left hand or the right hand?), and 3) constantly monitoring the vital signs of the patient.
Success in business seems to follow a similar pattern. Verne Harnish calls it a huddle—where team members, often standing not sitting, look at the goals, results, and actions for the upcoming week. Software developers talk about agile development and SCRUM. The Toyota Production System, lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, the Danaher Management System. All of these management best practices suggest that the goal of relationships is not just getting along, but in getting results.
In Power Score, we offer a one-page rating exercise you can use with your team, to measure the degree to which you have the right relationships for success.
Download the SMARTtools for Leaders™ RELATIONSHIPS Tool HERE.
Participate in SMARTfest 2016 to master the #1 skill in business – hiring talented teams. Register HERE.
The post Relationships in Business Are Not About Getting Along appeared first on Dr. Geoff Smart.
Scorecard Hint #1: Put a Number on It
You know Beyonce’s song “Single Ladies?” My favorite lyric is, “If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it.”
What in the world does that have to do with hiring talented teams?
It reminds me of the #1 most common mistake that leaders make when they begin a process to hire somebody. They fail to put a number on what “success” means.
Excuses I’ve heard include, “You can’t put a number on what this person would do. It’s intangible,” “How do you put a number on customer service?” or “I think that if you put a number on it, you are never going to exceed that number.”
Well, my mentor Peter Drucker would have disagreed with those excuses. Drucker is called the Father of Management. And one of his most powerful ideas was the term he coined “Management by Objectives.” What was true last century is true today—the more clear you are about the goal you are trying to hit, the more likely you are to hit it.
So all the leaders out there: When you start a process to hire someone, put a number on it!
Download the SMARTtools for Leaders™ SCORECARD Tool HERE.
Participate in SMARTfest 2016 to master the #1 skill in business – hiring talented teams. Register HERE.
The post Scorecard Hint #1: Put a Number on It appeared first on Dr. Geoff Smart.
Scorecard Hint #1: Put a Number on It
You know Beyonce’s song “Single Ladies?” My favorite lyric is, “If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it.”
What in the world does that have to do with hiring talented teams?
It reminds me of the #1 most common mistake that leaders make when they begin a process to hire somebody. They fail to put a number on what “success” means.
Excuses I’ve heard include, “You can’t put a number on what this person would do. It’s intangible,” “How do you put a number on customer service?” or “I think that if you put a number on it, you are never going to exceed that number.”
Well, my mentor Peter Drucker would have disagreed with those excuses. Drucker is called the Father of Management. And one of his most powerful ideas was the term he coined “Management by Objectives.” What was true last century is true today—the more clear you are about the goal you are trying to hit, the more likely you are to hit it.
So all the leaders out there:
Download the SMARTtools for Leaders™ SCORECARD Tool HERE.
Participate in SMARTfest 2016 to master the #1 skill in business – hiring talented teams. Register HERE.
The post Scorecard Hint #1: Put a Number on It appeared first on Dr. Geoff Smart.
SCORECARD HINT #1: PUT A NUMBER ON IT
You know Beyonce’s song “Single Ladies?” My favorite lyric is, “If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it.”
What in the world does that have to do with hiring talented teams?
It reminds me of the #1 most common mistake that leaders make when they begin a process to hire somebody. They fail to put a number on what “success” means.
Excuses I’ve heard include, “You can’t put a number on what this person would do. It’s intangible,” “How do you put a number on customer service?” or “I think that if you put a number on it, you are never going to exceed that number.”
Well, my mentor Peter Drucker, would have disagreed with those excuses. Drucker is called the Father of Management. And one of his most powerful ideas was the term he coined “Management by Objectives.” What was true last century is true today—the more clear you are about the goal you are trying to hit, the more likely you are to hit it.
So all the leaders out there: When you start a process to hire someone, put a number on it!
Download the SMARTtools for Leaders™ SCORECARD Tool HERE.
Participate in SMARTfest 2016 to master the #1 skill in business – hiring talented teams. Register HERE.
The post SCORECARD HINT #1: PUT A NUMBER ON IT appeared first on Dr. Geoff Smart.
Employee Recruiting Bounties: The #1 Best Way to Find A Players
I used to think that working your personal network was the #1 way to find A Players. Today, I think that’s the second best way to find talent.
The #1 best way to find A Players is to pay your employees and managers a recruiting bounty. The average recruiting bounty is $1,000.
Self-made billionaire Paul Tudor Jones told us when we were writing the Who book that his experience is that employee recruiting bounties delivered 4x better results than any other sourcing method. I pressed him and asked, “Prove it!” He said that he had McKinsey do an economic analysis and they found that of all the people who were hired in the preceding period at his company, those who came through the recruiting bounty program cost half as much to hire, and had twice as great a chance of staying two years or more.
I was keynoting a 1,000-person event yesterday in L.A. for a mix of corporate business leaders and small business owners. I asked who offered a recruiting bounty. Only 20% of the attendees raised their hands. Several of them grabbed a microphone and said it was the best way they source talent.
Download the SMARTtools for Leaders™ SOURCING Tool HERE.
Participate in SMARTfest 2016 to master the #1 skill in business – hiring talented teams. Register HERE.
The post Employee Recruiting Bounties: The #1 Best Way to Find A Players appeared first on Dr. Geoff Smart.
EMPLOYEE RECRUITING BOUNTIES: The #1 Best Way to Find A Players
I used to think that working your personal network was the #1 way to find A Players. Today, I think that’s the second best way to find talent.
The #1 best way to find A Players is to pay your employees and managers a recruiting bounty. The average recruiting bounty is $1,000.
Self-made billionaire Paul Tudor Jones told us when we were writing the Who book that his experience is that employee recruiting bounties delivered 4x better results than any other sourcing method. I pressed him and asked, “Prove it!” He said that he had McKinsey do an economic analysis and they found that of all the people who were hired in the preceding period at his company, those who came through the recruiting bounty program cost half as much to hire, and had twice as great a chance of staying two years or more.
I was keynoting a 1,000-person event yesterday in L.A. for a mix of corporate business leaders and small business owners. I asked who offered a recruiting bounty. Only 20% of the attendees raised their hands. Several of them grabbed a microphone and said it was the best way they source talent.
Download the SMARTtools for Leaders™ SOURCING Tool HERE.
Participate in SMARTfest 2016 to master the #1 skill in business – hiring talented teams. Register HERE.
The post EMPLOYEE RECRUITING BOUNTIES: The #1 Best Way to Find A Players appeared first on Dr. Geoff Smart.
Referrals: The Second Best Way to Find A Players
Systematic sourcing before you have slots to fill ensures you have high-quality candidates waiting when you need them.
Getting great candidates does not happen without significant effort. The CEOs of billion-dollar companies that we interview for our Who book recognize recruitment as one of their most important jobs.
We observe that many mangers source candidates by placing advertisements in one form or another.
The overwhelming evidence from our field interviews is that ads are a good way to generate a tidal wave of resumes, but a lousy way to generate the right flow of candidates. Other methods include using recruiters and recruiting researchers, although success depends heavily on the quality of the actual recruiter assigned to your search.
Of all the ways to source candidates, the second best method is to ask for referrals from your personal and professional networks.
This approach may feel scary and time-consuming, but it is a solid way to build high-quality candidate flow.
Download the SMARTtools for Leaders™ SOURCING Tool HERE.
Participate in SMARTfest 2016 to master the #1 skill in business – hiring talented teams. Register HERE.
The post Referrals: The Second Best Way to Find A Players appeared first on Dr. Geoff Smart.
REFERRALS: The Second Best Way to Find A Players
Systematic sourcing before you have slots to fill ensures you have high-quality candidates waiting when you need them.
Getting great candidates does not happen without significant effort. The CEOs of billion-dollar companies that we interview for our Who book recognize recruitment as one of their most important jobs.
We observe that many mangers source candidates by placing advertisements in one form or another.
The overwhelming evidence from our field interviews is that ads are a good way to generate a tidal wave of resumes, but a lousy way to generate the right flow of candidates. Other methods include using recruiters and recruiting researchers, although success depends heavily on the quality of the actual recruiter assigned to your search.
Of all the ways to source candidates, the second best method is to ask for referrals from your personal and professional networks.
This approach may feel scary and time-consuming, but it is a solid way to build high-quality candidate flow.
Download the SMARTtools for Leaders™ SOURCING Tool HERE.
Participate in SMARTfest 2016 to master the #1 skill in business – hiring talented teams. Register HERE.
The post REFERRALS: The Second Best Way to Find A Players appeared first on Dr. Geoff Smart.
