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The Leadership Challenge: Recruiting like Harbaugh – 5 Tips!

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The Point: There is a war for talent taking place, with the best candidates going to those organizations that effectively outflank/outwork their business competitors in the recruiting game. So with NCAA College Football’s Signing Day finally here, we thought it would be interesting to compare/contrast The University of Michigan Football Coach Jim Harbaugh’s tactics that could leave you/your organization with a similar top recruiting class… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge: Recruiting like Harbaugh – 5 Tips!

Tree Climbing, Sleepovers, and Sledding… Oh My!

Jim Harbaugh’s transition from the NFL (where he acted as head coach for the San Francisco 49ers until unceremoniously being shown the exit in 2014) to the NCAA (currently acting as The University of Michigan’s Head Football Coach) has been well documented. An almost fairy-tale return to his alma mater brought about a return to glory (Full Disclosure: I’m a Michigan Man and Jim was one of the legendary Michigan quarterbacks under head coach Bo Schembechler). He is known for wearing his fiery emotions like a badge of hotheaded honor and $8 khakis he purchases from Walmart.

What Jim is perhaps not given credit for is his recruiting prowess. With an “at all costs” mentality, he has brought this football program legitimately back onto the college football scene (It’s estimated that he’ll bring in the #5 recruiting class according to ESPN this year). Some might argue that his techniques border on the strange and unorthodox (In his pursuit of players he has climbed a tree in a recruit’s backyard, had sleepovers, and offered to go sledding). Say what you will and want, but call him effective in recruiting for the following FIVE (5) reasons presented in “Tip” format for you to implement to offset the leadership challenge recruiting moments!

Tip #1 – Recruiter Energy

Let’s face reality… Your Human Resources department is probably detached from your business at hand. It’s not that they don’t know what you/your company does, it’s that they don’t KNOW what you/your company does. As such, they display a typical “play it safe” and “no skin in the game” exhibition when it comes to recruiting. If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen this played out a hundred times.

Jim is known for his endless energy, raising the recruiting bar and setting precedents to new heights. While your recruiting efforts might not be able to change the players you have conducting the role, there should be an emphasis placed on examining how the recruiting role is changed so as to be conducted with energy.

Tip #2 – Transparent Culture

Typical recruiting tactics have taken the form of that of the applicant heretofore. Both parties want to put their “best foot” forward. However, who’s selling who in the recruiting war? Is the candidate selling the organization or vice versa? Your recruiting efforts shouldn’t shy away from your organization structure nor how you do things (and you should be profoundly proud of both as a leader!)

Tip #3 – The “Finest” of Goals

Harbaugh has gone on record as stating “We’re going to bring the finest student-athletes and character that we can to the University of Michigan.” And so it goes almost without saying that you similarly should be in pursuit of “finest” when it comes to recruiting team members mental capacity and character. Anything short of “finest” shouldn’t be pursued.

Tip #4 – Performance

While most envision the recruiting initiative done/successful once a candidate accepts an offer to join the organization, this is only the beginning for Harbaugh. There is the expectation that performance in the role recruited for not only meet, but exceed expectations. This takes thorough employee engagement and leadership feedback against a backdrop of organizational goals that the employee can immediately tie their performance back to (Your employees know what’s expected of them and can view their actual performance versus goal, right?)

Tip #5 – Expand Your Footprint

Technology has made it relatively easy to expand your geographic footprint in a search for talent. Unlike Harbaugh who has to attract student athletes to a specific geographic location (Ann Arbor, Michigan), you have the luxury of identifying best candidates without geographic boundaries (Are you fully taking advantage of A+ candidates that reside outside your geographic vicinity?)

SUMMARY

In this post, we’ve taken a look at the recruiting process/procedures of Jim Harbaugh and provided 5 Tips on how his success/focus should be yours. If there truly is a war for talent, you can’t afford for a bad recruiting effort to diminish your organizational talent. Remember, your business no matter how technical in nature you might want to believe it is, is still a people business. Having the finest people in the right roles is one of the variables of success you should consider/focus on.

Sam Palazzolo

The Leadership Challenge: Criticism – 5 Tips!

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The Point: Call it “constructive” or call it “transparent” criticism, but have you ever had a conversation with a stakeholder at work regarding how things could have gone better? If so, you’ve probably dipped a toe or two into the constructive criticism pond. So as a leader, how can you navigate such moments maintaining a results focus and positive atmosphere? The following post looks at criticism and provides 5 leadership tips to be successful… Enjoy!

Are You Leading at the Tip of the Spear?

He Didn’t Take “Constructive” Criticism Well… Understatement!

Joe was a mid-level manager at a Fortune 1000 organization that participated in one of our leadership development executive coaching programs. He barely made the requirements for the high potential initiative, and as such struggled with several of the program topics. In particular, he struggled with the Communication Skills Training for Leaders topic, where on more than one occasion he became flustered with the content.

It was after one such “flustered” moments that we pulled him aside to share our perspective on his performance. Here’s how the conversation went:

  • US – “Joe, we wanted to touch base to see how you thought things were going?”
  • JOE – “Everything is going fine.”
  • US – “Interesting… Is there anything in the last section on Communication Skills Training for Leaders that you felt you could have improved on?”
  • JOE – “What? Improved on… I don’t think you can mess with perfection!”
  • US – “But if you could improve on perfection, because there are always opportunities to improve, what would you have done differently?”
  • JOE – “This is Bull Sh!t!”

And after that exchange Joe stormed off…

Constructive Criticism

Joe set the tone for a poor feedback improvement setting by believing that everything was fine, and that there could be no learning to improve moments to be had. While nothing said was hostile nor belligerent in nature, taking things out of context is often one of the biggest issues with receiving constructive criticism. So here are 5 tips to help you as a leader position your feedback sessions for greater success (and avoid those Joe-moments!):

Criticism Tip #5 – Your First Reaction is Wrong, so Stop!

When you give or receive feedback, it’s important to frame the conversation appropriately so that you provide the proper context. Doing so will allow you to set the stage for a good conversation (and conversely not doing so will set the stage for a bad conversation!) I encourage leaders to spell out how information shared is often taken wrong, so let’s talk about it as a part of pre-calling the actual comments. Establishing this expectation is a great way to insure constructive criticism is received as intended.

Criticism Tip #4 – Feedback is Beneficial

Why are you providing feedback? This is an important question to ask yourself. If your goal is to provide it to better an individual, realign them around organizational goals, and/or establish a different direction on project management for example then share those benefits. Otherwise, recipients will be left to their own devices (i.e., imagination) which may not produce intended outcomes.

Criticism Tip #3 – Prepare to Listen

There are three sides to every story… Our side, their side, and the truth. Insuring that you know all three sides helps in creating constructive criticism moments. The key of course is for you to listen to the other sides story. While you may have all the facts, some of the facts presented may not be ones of a high importance to you.

Criticism Tip #2 –Thank You!

I’ve heard it said that feedback, whether it’s in the form of constructive criticism or a customer survey, is a gift. Whether you agree or not, take it for what it is and remind yourself and others that the proper response is to say “Thank You!” Leave your defensiveness/rebuttal/excuses at the door.

Criticism Tip #1 – Follow Up

Once you provide or receive constructive criticism, it’s important to set a date/time to follow up to insure that what was discussed is (1) understood, (2) put into action, and (3) proper direction is once again established. I see in executive coaching sessions way too often a leaders inability to following up which causes tremendous heart ache for all parities. Know that saying thing one time and expecting everything to change as a result forever more is never a good leadership moments (It’s just not realistic, right?)

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve taken a look at the leadership challenge of criticism as well as 5 tips to help you either provide/receive constructive criticism. Let’s face it, these can be crucial conversations consisting of pain for both parties. However, the crucial conversation part comes from the fact that it is crucial to have them in order to progress forward.

 

Sam Palazzolo

The Leadership Challenge- Criticism – 5 Tips!

The Leadership Challenge: Culture

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The Point: You know how when you think about a business and you get that “vibe” that resonates with your sole (and it’s a good vibe)? That’s a company’s culture, and it’s what we want when people think of Tip of the Spear! So in this post we’ll take a look at company cultures and how they can make (or break) customer experiences (both internal customers – employees – and external – customers)… Enjoy!

Are You Leading at the Tip of the Spear?

Zappos Culture is a Fantasy!

One of the clients I’m working with on a large-scale change management/customer experience initiative is attempting to get their arms around company culture. Know this much: This is a HUGE redwood tree to attempt get your arms around. But how do you go about eating an elephant? That’s right, one bight at a time!

So if company culture is what you’re after, where would you head to benchmark what is truly best in class? We compiled a short-list and Zappos was at the top. Now you might have red about Tony Hseih and his book on Zappos (“Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose”). I know that I read the book several years back and recall what one of my clients said about it: “Zappos Culture is a Fantasy!” In other words, they believed that there is no way that employees could manage themselves in relatively “flat” organization structures. They also believed that a company would go broke if they pulled all the shenanigans that Zappos purportedly pulled in the workplace (Free snacks, frequent all company meetings, etc.)

What are Your Cultural Core Values?

So it was with this framing that I went to Zappos, a pilgrimage of sorts to a clandestine cultural Mecca where dreams could come true, and fantasies were reality in business. What exactly was the leadership challenge I was in search of solving? After all… This was Las Vegas! Anyway, I registered for a tour, showed up at the given time (There is great communication prior to the tour regarding directions on where to go, how to get there, etc.), and checked-in in preparation for cultural lift-off (Yes, in case you’re wondering I was overdressed. I had come from a meeting wearing a suit/tie… But something about a 100+* day in Las Vegas had me lose my tie. Good thing… They cut them off at the door!)

The tour began and closed with something that I’ll never forget (No, not the ukulele playing tour guide… Come to think of it, I won’t forget him either!) What was unforgettable was the “vibe” this office place had. With what can only be described as minimal “management” present, everyone seemed to lead their own way throughout the tour. Furthermore, there was the sharing of 10 Cultural Core Values and even an annual yearbook authored by Zappos associates regarding what this culture means to them. With nearly every state and continent represented by the Zappos associates, this meant that there was a somewhat diverse culture present (if only in as much they were operating in Las Vegas, when it could have been a trendy LA neighborhood).

The bottom line of the visit was that not only was the Zappos culture a reality, but it was about to have an impact on 100+ people from my daily tour alone. Multiply that quantity by about 10 tours a week and you get some pretty exponential numbers regarding other companies/people looking to identify how they can make their place of work more like Zappos.

The Zappos Cultural Core Values… Easy to Replicate | Hard to Implement

In case you’re wondering, here are the 10 Core Values that every Zappos associate must abide by (They’ll actually pay you to depart from the onboarding training if you identify that you can’t uphold them!):

  1. Deliver WOW Through Service
  2. Embrace and Drive Change
  3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
  4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
  5. Pursue Growth and Learning
  6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
  7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
  8. Do More With Less
  9. Be Passionate and Determined
  10. Be Humble

They’re listed proudly on the company website under the “About Zappos Culture” page. So if everyone interested can see these, pickup Tony’s book for under $20, and take a tour (tour cost was only $10) why then is it so difficult for others to replicate this culture?

Here’s why it’s difficult to replicate the Zappos Culture – It’s hard work and it takes leadership. In leadership development programs and ensuing executive coaching sessions I hear time and again how leaders want the right culture, the right people, creating the right customer experience. However, this takes effort and energy as a leader. Perhaps not always leading from the front (sometimes supporting while not leading the charge), there is a gap between how to implement/execute such a culture. Most leaders get frustrated, throw their hands in the air after adopting a few of the cultural gems from Zappos, and simply give up.

SUMMARY

In this post we looked at the Zappos Culture and how while few can imitate, even fewer can replicate it. What is your organization’s culture like? Is it like Zappos? Is it far from it? What do you want it to be as a leader/stakeholder?

 

Sam Palazzolo

The Leadership Challenge- Culture

The Leadership Challenge: Employee Recognition

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The Point: Gallup reports that employee engagement is at an all time low. The recruiting field warns that the “War for Talent” will become increasingly difficult to wage successfully. With these two signs pointing towards greater recognition of employees, we started wondering why is it then that employee recognition is so difficult for so many? In this post we’ll take a look at employee recognition, and five (5) actions you can take to recognize your stakeholders as a leader… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge: Employee Recognition

We Recognize Our Employees (Don’t We?)

Randy was a relatively new team member in an archaic organization whose new CEO screamed “We’re going to change, like it or not! The foundation for this change is going to be our people… The most important asset this organization has” to the press. It was this battle cry that got Randy excited enough to leave his previous organization and sign-up/on with the current company. He was a hard worker, as well as a subject matter expert that participated in several leadership development programs and knew the value of executive coaching firsthand.

So it shouldn’t surprise you to hear that Randy was the pole-position leader on the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) board for the organization. That’s right, although he was new to the organization, he steadily rose through the ranks and in short-order arrived at the top spot.

No Recognition = No Engagement = No Employment

Here’s where things got a little interesting (or at least our executive coaching conversation took a turn towards a very dark place!) You would think that he would have received a few “That a boy!” or “Great Job Randy!” nods from the superiors in the organization, stakeholders, anyone… But you’d be wrong (Dead wrong as it turned out!) To hear Randy tell the story, “It would have been great if someone had reached out to say ‘Congrat’s!’ to me. But no one did. Not at the time the reports were printed. Not after the reports were distributed. Not ever!”

You could imagine Randy’s confusion: Here he was a still relatively new employee in an organization. An organization whose CEO told everyone and anyone that employees are their most important asset. But an asset that received no recognition whatsoever. Needless to say, on top of Randy’s confusion, he was just plain old pissed with the situation. He lasted a few more weeks before he quit. He’s now being successful somewhere else.

I Wanna Be like Randy, Not Mike!

So what can you do as a leader in your organization to properly recognize your employees so as to have engagement levels soar and turnover diminish? The following five (5) actions are recommended from our leadership development and executive coaching conversations:

Action #5: Timeliness Counts

If you see someone doing something great, recognize them right then and there. Why wait for the Friday Staff Meeting or to get back to your desk to send out the email to the entire department? Instead, let them know that you recognize what they did, and more importantly that you appreciate it.

Action #4: Alignment Counts

Recognition hits new levels, and is shared by all, when the recognition comes in the form of alignment with business goals. Imagine our poor friend Randy and his smashing of the organizational KPIs… The alignment opportunities are endless to tout, that is if you actually do measure KPIs that effect your business!

Action #3: Authenticity Counts

Ever get one of those fake leadership moments? A moment where you’re not certain what they might have taught in the leadership development classroom, but whatever it was it didn’t work? If you’re employees aren’t getting the “real” you, ask yourself who they are getting? Odds are, if you have low authenticity you have low trust, and low trust moments are never a position of strength to lead from.

Action #2: Quality/Quantity Count

While Randy would have been happy with any recognition, our executive coaching research leads us to believe that the recognition should be in correlation to the business goals (See #4 Action above). Too much and it comes off as Pollyannaish… Too little and it comes off as skating the associate.

Action #1: Recognition Definition Counts

If you are confused as to the identification of just the right amount of recognition to provide, please stop guessing and ask your associates. They will tell you! We typically see leader after leader attempt to either “cookie-cutter” approach recognition programs or provide what they would like to receive. Neither is a good moment. Executive Coaching and leadership development should provide you with plenty of ammunition to overcome the leadership challenge at hand, especially when you ask.

SUMMARY

So there you have it… The problem of employee recognition as told through the saga of Randy and his former organization, along with five (5) actions you can take to insure that you are on the right path.

 

Sam Palazzolo

PS – You may enjoy several of the other posts I’ve recently written:

 

The Leadership Challenge: Developing Leaders at No/Low Cost – 5 Options

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The Point: Leadership Development can be an expensive proposition. With most options starting at $50k, what’s an organization to do that is looking to generate tomorrow’s leaders today, or for the up and comer who’s organization doesn’t offer any type of development program? (Hint: If you’re at an organization that doesn’t offer leadership development and it’s important to you, you’re probably at the wrong place!) In this post we take a look at five (5) no or low cost options for organizations or individuals that are searching for leadership development options… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge Developing Leaders at No Low Cost

We Develop Our Leaders (Don’t We?)

Jim’s organization was a lot like most fairly new ones that successfully had gone through the “startup” moment of ideation, creation, launch pad through lift off. While they were currently in year five (5) of their initiative, annual revenue was now approaching $100M and along with revenue growth personnel increased as well. He was at the point in their organizational growth where they wanted to continue to live in the “startup” moment, but insure that tomorrow’s leaders were being recruited/cultivated/developed today.

However Jim and the organization had the leadership challenge of the century… They had no clear Human Resources department nor any type of leadership development program. With this in mind, Jim and his leadership team setout to develop the following five (5) no/low cost leadership development options.

Option #1: Individual Development Plans with a Leadership Component

Typically, and Jim’s organization isn’t different from most, an organization will establish Individual Development Plans (IDPs) on an annual basis. These IDPs typically consist of the individual’s goals in reference to those of their team’s, department’s and organization’s. Think of it as an “If we need to get there, we need you to do ___” coordination moment.

Where Jim’s organizational IDPs took a hard-left turn was in the implementation of leadership development components therein. In other words, if you want to grow leaders, you need to be able to provide goals to do so that are akin to the goals that you typically establish. More important, these IDPs should be reviewed on a monthly basis so as to avoid the once a year “surprise” that one typically experiences.

Option #2: Free Online Courseware

Isn’t the internet wonderful? As a leader, you probably have some differing thoughts on just how “wonderful” it is. Jim for example was often frustrated by his employees and their ability to engage in non-productive work on sites like Facebook and games like Angry Birds. Recognizing that there still could be some good that comes from the internet and its ability to aid in leadership development moments, we implemented a series of “Leadership Development” courses from sites like Coursera (www.coursera.org). These courses typically are free, and some offer a low fee option to receive certification.

Option #3: Free Executive Coaching

The International Coach Federation – ICF (www.coachfederation.org) offers something akin to the ability for you to get a free haircut at a barber college. The ICF offers a “Coach Referral Source” wherein you can specify the type of coaching you’re interested in (Business Coaching, Executive Coaching, etc.) and begin receiving proposals from coaches across the globe! Sometimes you can secure a free coaching relationship, but just like that haircut from the barber college, sometimes you get what you pay for (Remember, hair will grow back… Your career might not!)

Option #4: Leader as Mentor

Sometimes the best leaders are at your company. If that’s the case, and who wants to admit that you don’t have the best leaders, holding leadership responsible for mentoring a finite quantity of individuals may be just what your organization is looking for.

Keep in mind that most organizations that offer mentoring programs do so in a very ineffective “organic” or “unstructured” capacity. If you’re going to offer a mentoring program, important to keep in mind that this needs to be more than just lunch every once in awhile. Structuring the mentor program around goals/objectives/learning moments is crucial.

Option #5: MasterMind Group

What if leadership development program participants (or leaders for that matter) were able to gather around the table (either real or virtual) to discuss their biggest problems and receive perspective on potential solutions? If the meetings are held in a confidential environment and open/honest feedback is provided, and members held other members accountable for taking action based on what they heard nothing!

From my time at Vistage (www.vistage.com), both as a member and working at their world headquarters in San Diego, I saw firsthand the benefits of such gatherings. At Tip of the Spear, we’re piloting a program next quarter called The Leadership Advisory Board (or “LAB” for short) that has many of the same features, and a few new/unique ones (If you’re interested in finding out more and/or participating, use the CONTACT US page of this website to inquire).

SUMMARY

So you might not have $50k to spend on each leadership development candidate in your organization. I hope in this post I’ve identified five no/low cost alternatives for you to pursue. Remember, your business is no different from the others inasmuch the people will make the difference. Investing in your people today will continue to drive business results tomorrow, but those investments don’t always need to be costly.

 

Sam Palazzolo

 

PS – You may also enjoy some of the other recent posts I wrote: