From the category archives:
Much of my work involves preparing top performers in the financial arena for promotion. Typically these people have an outstanding facility for numerical problem solving, which is commensurate with making high caliber financial decisions. They understand complex relationships in numbers and usually demonstrate exceptional logical thinking. Do you feel a “however” coming? However, at the [...]
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This week CNN reported that the new version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—the DSM, the bible for mental-health professionals—will no longer contain narcissistic personality disorder. Narcissism will now be considered a trait, not a personality disorder. That’s a little like saying “homicidal tendencies” are more a characteristic than an actual flaw. [...]
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Several years ago I worked with a business owner who wanted to hire a director. He asked me to assess a candidate who scored well on the cognitive assessments, interviewed effectively, and showed laudable personality traits. However, the man told us up front that he would not be available immediately because he needed to serve [...]
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Last week I delivered a seminar on talent assessment to a new client. Even though I had never met the participants in the room, I knew what some of their problems would be. They had hired too many people out of desperation. Their thinking—better to have an average person doing something than no one doing [...]
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Yesterday a reporter for the Chicago Tribune called to ask for my reaction to a job fair she will be attending soon. This recruiting event will target Latinos who have recently completed MBA’s. She wanted to know whether I thought these companies truly had a commitment to diversity or whether they were trying to make [...]
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When I help companies with hiring and promotion, I often encounter a roadblock when one person on the decision-making team wants to weigh the candidate’s experience more heavily than any other factor. Someone created a job description that stated, ideally, that a candidate will have X number of years experience. Now, they want to eliminate [...]
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Kenneth Feinberg’s name has dominated the news this week because he specializes in determining the value of things. He’s the “special master” pay czar who oversaw the Sept. 11th fund and determined the executive’s compensation following the auto industry bailout. Obama recently chose Feinbert to administer the $20 billion fund to help those in the Gulf [...]
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Organizations don’t grow from cutting expenses, and individuals don’t attain mastery by trying to mitigate weaknesses. Leveraging strengths is the only way to do either. For decades Gallup scientists have been collecting mountains of data on the topic of leadership. They studied more than 1 million work teams, conducted more than 20,000 in-depth interviews with [...]
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If you’re a lucky leader, one of the most challenging issues you’ll face will be coaching high potentials. As people near peak performance, tasks become mundane, problems less interesting, and opportunities less fascinating. The adrenaline wanes. They start to experience discontent and to wonder what happened to the excitement. You may see less enthusiasm and [...]
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Much of my work involves executive selection and evaluation for promotion. The vast majority of candidates I evaluate are bright, action-oriented, honest people. Under “areas for development” I frequently address a strength that, when overused, can become a weakness. In addition, I’ve learned that most leaders don’t delegate enough; too many become mired in the [...]
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