The Ripple Effect

Sometimes we see a person or organization share something that is enlightening.  Sometimes these things are humorous.  And, sometimes we see something that is inspiring.  As we head into the weekend, here is a good word:

Sometimes people like to say things happen in threes. If this week is any indication, I’d have to agree.  I have been inspired on three separate occasions to spread Kindness in my space of the world and watch the ripple effect.

Why kindness?

Kindness feels good for the giver and the receiver. Being kind to others opens us up to possibilities and changes the perspective in someones’ world that they might otherwise never have received if not for your act of kindness.

Kindness is easier and more interesting than complaining about differences of opinion, the weather, the traffic, politics, or the mess your dog made while you were gone.

Kindness is contagious – albeit so is hatefulness. I think about the “aura” we all have the ability to cast whether in a team meeting, conversation or in the grocery store check-out line.  Be mindful of your energy field.  Is it one you can be proud of and is also so contagious it carries through to the next person.

The inspiration to write about Kindness, came from 3 different sources in as many days.

1. A client of mine shows this video from Kid President to remind Leaders who are influencing others, that Words Matter. Take a look, one of his messages is, “It’s OK to disagree, but it’s not OK to be mean.”
2. I attended (along with 800+) an early morning Community Leaders Call To Action Breakfast which encouraged everyone to be part of the city’s Kindness Project. Saying none of us can do everything, but we can contribute to something big! Opportunities for us to connect and encourage others are missed every day – lift up from your technology and make an impact.
3. Maria Shriver’s new book, “I’ve Been Thinking…Reflections, Prayers, and Meditations for a Meaningful Life” was a quick and inspiring read.  The quote by Mark Twain, “Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see” kicks off the chapter where Maria talks about the need for a Social Kindness Movement. Thank you Maria.

What does Kindness look like in the workplace?

• Be relationship builders, leaders and influencers not critics.
• Be career boosters to someone who deserves your help, because someone did the same for you.
• Be helpful and resourceful to someone who doesn’t feel they can ask for your help.
• Recognize when people do great work.
• Acknowledge others who bring kindness and a positive outlook to the work environment.

Call to Action! Who has inspired you this week with their kindness? Do they know it? Are you taking that inspiration and passing it on?

Shelli Walker is a Partner with PeopleResults. Follow her on twitter @ShelliWalker or connect via email at swalker@people-results.com.

Is There a Blueprint for Success?

When a statement is attributed to a Roman philosopher, a first lady, an entertainment mogul, an auto racer, and a motivational speaker, it deserves attention, if not consideration.  From the fourth century BC to the 21st century we’ve been told …

Preparation + Opportunity = Success

While that process makes nice fodder for public speakers, it makes good sense for an executive search firm committed to helping clients find talented performers who drive results.  Leapfrog Executive Search knows extensive candidate preparation, prior to the initial interview for a role, helps to ensure successful candidate visits.

That preparation begins with gathering detailed information from the client about the company, the culture, the market, and the opportunity. Comprehensive and accurate information builds trust and confidence, so we share appropriate information with the candidate to ensure they have a clear picture of both the opportunity and the organization.

Developing and communicating an in-depth company profile ensures strong and accurate representation of the client’s brand.  In a highly-competitive talent market, candidates are evaluating potential employers as carefully as companies assess candidates.  The Leapfrog search process helps clients position their firms as preferred employers in a dynamic talent market.

During a 17-year career, tennis legend Arthur Ashe discovered, “One important key to success is self-confidence.  An important key to self-confidence is preparation.”  Our thorough research helps candidates prepare well and present themselves confidently during the interview process.  This foundation allows conversations between candidates and clients to advance more quickly to the deeper exchanges that are germane to both the client and candidate.

The consistent use of a proven process, and the effort it takes to do so, leads to predictable results – if the people using the process are actively involved.  To ensure our proven search process achieves the desired outcome for both the client and candidate, Leapfrog Executive Search consultants stay engaged with the client and candidate from the initial conversation to offer acceptance.

While the accidental successes of the popsicle, the microwave, and Spanx make for great business reading, they are exceptions, not examples.  Leapfrog Executive Search promotes predictable outcomes for our candidates because we use a proven system of preparation that, when aligned to a client opportunity, can result in mutual success.

The Ruse of Experience

The growth of technology and social media has generated new meanings for familiar words. Viral now refers to popularity, not an illness. A ping is an action, not a noise. Following means to subscribe, not to pursue. Experience has expanded to mean you achieved something-not that you were there.

From a CEO trying to secure the trust of a board to an executive moving to a C-level role to companies working to gain a position in a competitive market, leveraging the word “experience” as a differentiator is wasted energy. Experience is about participation, observation, perception, encountering something, and practice that results in superior knowledge or mastery. In short, whether its an executive or a company, experience simply means you were there. You participated. You interacted with a situation or event. You maybe even learned something.

Companies can serve their marketplace for the same amount of time with very different results. A quick look at Fortune 500 companies shows that a decade committed to a task can yield widely differing results.

A look at top executives reveals the same range of outcomes. During Jeff Immelt’s tenure at General Electric, the stock price slipped 25%. Since Facebook became public, Mark Zuckerberg has led growth from $153 million to $40 billion. In ten years, Indra Nooyi has grown PepsiCo from $39 billion to $63 billion, while Ginni Rometty has watched IBM shrink from $98 billion in 2007 to $79 billion in 2017. Obviously, length of time on a road does not equate to distance traveled-or results achieved.

Selling experience alone easily becomes a ruse. If you don’t have a story to tell, don’t try to pretend one exists. Without quantified results, your ability to distinguish yourself from competitors is diminished.

Your experience doesn’t differentiate. Your client’s experience creates market differentiation. What consumers tell about how you helped them, how your product or service impacted their lives-that sells. When a board or other execs talk about your impact in an organization, that creates more credibility than talking about your number of years of experience.

Strong brands sell what people buy-and people buy results

Executive Assessments: Art or Science?

From time to time we like to feature insights from a trusted organization in the Marketplace.  Take a few minutes to learn about both the art and science of executive assessments from…

Carson Consulting

Once upon a time, there was a capable but humble 30-something young executive (we’ll call him Cole) who was in sales. He had worked for reputable companies and developed good skills in the latest technologies. Eventually he married, moved back to his hometown, and applied for a new job. The leader of the organization was someone he had worked for before. She knew Cole’s work ethic and that he would be a good cultural fit. Further, he had the skill set they needed, and she had been looking for many months for the right candidate. Naturally, she was thrilled to hire someone she knew and trusted. There was one problem – based on the results of an on-line, pre-employment survey, the results did not support hiring Cole. Fortunately, this story has a happy ending. They sent Cole for a full executive assessment; he was hired and is doing an excellent job.

The on-line, pre-employment survey is a ubiquitous part of many, if not most, job searches today. From mom-and-pop businesses to the Fortune 100, companies are implementing a variety of data-driven testing and assessment practices. Using data-analytics, behavioral scientists have been able to quantify what makes someone successful in a particular role. This is the science of assessment. Administered properly, pre-employment testing can help companies save time, decrease turn-over, and increase productivity and morale, as well as improve the odds of hiring high-quality candidates. As if that were not enough, on-line, pre-employment tests are relatively inexpensive.

With all the buzz about on-line testing, it might be easy to assume that traditional executive assessment is going the way of the home land-line telephone. Not so! There is great value in high-touch, multi-faceted assessment. Why? Because this type of assessment combines art and science. Executive assessment harnesses the power of data analytics and takes it a step further by synthesizing many data points of information with skill and insight no computer could ever replicate. A common frustration expressed by candidates is that they do not feel they are able to adequately express or portray themselves with yes-no or multiple choice answers. In executive assessments, psychometric testing is supplemented with structured behavioral and open-ended interview questions to present a far more complete picture of candidates – their strengths, developmental opportunities, preferred work environment, career goals, and specific things their boss can do to maximize their effectiveness and keep them motivated.

Let’s go back to Cole. While the executive assessor’s psychometric testing flagged the same potential liabilities that the original on-line, pre-employment survey did, they gave him multiple surveys that measured different aspects of work effectiveness. They asked questions, listened carefully, and ultimately drew the conclusion that his strengths would more than compensate. In addition to a custom report, they had a conversation with the hiring manager about how their company could maximize Cole’s skills, mitigate his weaker points, and get him off to a strong start. By the time they finished talking, the company had a clear on-boarding and development plan for Cole.

In addition to avoiding a bad hire, there is significant lost opportunity cost by passing on a strong hire. The moral of this story is – capitalize on the science, but never lose sight of the art, especially when it comes to something as important as your hiring decisions!

15 in ’16: Chapter 3

15 years ago George W. Bush was in the early stages of his presidency, Apple announced iTunes at the MacWorld Expo, the movie “Shrek” was released, and The People’s Republic of China was granted permanent normal trade relations with the United States.  15 years ago Leapfrog was formed and our story began.

Today, we are a thriving retained search firm, dedicated to the relationships that fuel our business, along with the passion to achieve the results our clients deserve.

As we look ahead, the next stage of our story is all about growth.  It is happening right now and will continue in sustainable fashion.  That means we are making significant investments, ranging from talent to technology, and much more, while carefully managing operating costs to support our longevity.  We know that sustainability requires maintaining focus to build well on our excellent foundation.  As we do so, nothing is more important than ensuring that our new talent additions are culturally aligned to support our values and outstanding search performance.

This is not growth at any cost or an attempt to be all things to all people.  This is not about integrated talent solutions that stretch beyond retained search.  We are focused on one thing…helping our clients acquire the best possible talent.

You will see us more in the marketplace.  You will hear from us with greater frequency.  Most importantly , you will watch us maintain our focus on…

Talent . Relationships . Trust

How to Get Your CEO to Listen to You

 Want to influence, drive change, advance your career?  We asked our friend, Joe Jordan of Jordan Development, Inc. to share some thoughts around getting your CEO to listen to you, at what can be critical junctures in your career.

Click here to learn more

It is discouraging, frustrating, and even career limiting. You get a strategic opportunity to meet with the senior executive team to present a new initiative for inclusion in the coming budget cycle. You carefully prepare your thoughts. You create captivating slides to support your presentation. You rehearse in preparation for your single chance to make your case.

About five minutes and two slides into your presentation, the CEO interrupts. “We’re a little short on time. Where is this going and what exactly do you want? What is the expected outcome from the investment?”

You jump to your last slide and quickly explain how much you need and offer some anticipated results. The CFO responds with, “There are a number of priorities competing for funding next year. After we determine how well this aligns with our business objectives, we’ll see what we have to work with. Thanks for your time.”

That scene is repeated dozens of times a day. How can you keep it from happening to you?

Develop your business acumen. Business acumen is the ability to use financial, sales, operational, and human capital data to gain perception into an organization and make decisions that will lead to positive outcomes. Senior leaders use business acumen to formulate strategy, balance the drivers of business success, recognize critical interdependencies, and maintain a global, long-term mindset in how they approach the business. If you want to be heard in the C-suite, become fluent in the universal language of business. Know the business well enough to be able to position and explain any subject with regard to how it impacts cash flow, growth, expenses, and profitability.

Read Seeing the Big Picture, by Kenneth Cope or What the CEO Wants You to Know by Ram Charam to quickly enhance your ability to speak the universal language of business.

Think like an executive. The dynamic forces and rapid changes in global business environments create a demand for people at all levels of an organization to look at a business, evaluate information, and approach business decisions from the perspective of a senior executive. All senior executives share one thing in common-they live in a time-pressed environment where they quickly evaluate the information they receive and use that information to make decisions. If your CEO earns half of the average for a CEO in the U.S., his or her time is worth about $65 a minute. Living in a time-constrained world naturally encourages executives to be impatient. They quickly lose interest in or completely disengage from a meeting they feel is irrelevant or not using their time effectively. Executives are inherently skeptical. Their bottom-line focus naturally makes them look for the flaw in an argument before they explore the benefits.

Change the way you present. In an executive meeting, it is imperative that the first minutes clearly communicate the business alignment, strategic relevance, quantified value, and cost effectiveness of any recommendation or request. When you communicate with an executive, grab their attention in the first 30 seconds of your meeting. Be clear in how your topic aligns with the company’s highest priorities. Provide a point-of-view. Offer a fresh perspective on what is happening across the enterprise.

Traditional communication is structured like an inverted pyramid. The back-story, foundational arguments, research, and other data are used to create a context for the conclusion of the presentation, request, or discussion. Effective communication with an executive is structured like a pyramid. A small amount of research is referenced to show the presenter has prepared for the meeting. Then, the point or conclusion of the conversation is made first-usually in the first five minutes of the meeting. Detail is offered as needed. The pyramid approach ensures that if a meeting is cut short (as is often the case), the most critical information and call to action have been shared.

Senior leaders invest their time with people that bring them value. If your CEO won’t listen to you, perhaps you have not yet demonstrated you can tangibly impact what is important in his or her world. Develop your business acumen. Learn to think at the level of a senior leader. Speak and present in a way that concisely makes a point that is relevant and focused on business outcomes.