One more thought on the interviewing topic — about that old standby set of questions “What are your strengths and what are your weaknesses?”.
Often the weaknesses question is couched in euphemistic wording that uses other language “where would you need development? or ” in what area would you require the most assistance?” or “where do you think this job would challenge you?”. Many times the candidate truly doesn’t know the answer to this position until they are in the job and the answers you get to this question are vague and meaningless. Nobody is going to tell you in an interview that they are really bad at something.
My favorite set of questions relates to the flip side — asking about strengths:
> What are you best at? (my #1 favorite question to ask in interviews — you learn amazing things about personal characteristics and traits)
> What aspect of your job do you do better/differently than others who have your job?
> What do you like best about yourself?
> What skill do you have that is underutilized in your present position?
It is through this line of questioning that I often learn about the person vs. some canned response given in any interview for any job. I look to hire clay — people who can be molded into being great in a variety of positions. To get this adaptability, look for people who don’t know everything, but do know about themselves in reflective, meaningful ways.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
Month: August 2012
#80 Q and A
With my impending staff searches, I dug out my file of interview questions and stumbled upon some of my reflections for when you are the interviewee. Perhaps these thoughts will help you if you find yourself on the “seeker” side of the interview table:
> Focus on the future, even though interviewers mostly ask about your past. Have ideas and examples of what you would/could do for them vs. only recounting what you have done. Create ways to talk about what you know about them and what you would do about it.
> Have a mental triangle of three key points (with several examples) that you want the hiring manager to remember about you when you leave. Rotate between those three points as often as possible to drive them home and provide consistent messages between groups.
> A wise communications leader once told me that in media interviews, you don’t have to answer the question that is asked; you can redirect with an answer to a different question. The same advice applies for interviews.
> Acknowledge and address any shortcomings head-on. Proactively give them solutions to reassure them that you can overcome your limitations vs. hoping that they won’t notice.
> Be the seller vs. being the buyer. You are not the buyer until an offer is made; only then do the roles reverse.
> Do homework and research beyond the obvious and then share something about a need/solution that the other candidates are unlikely to have mentioned.
> Make note of first impressions and alignment with pre-interview expectations and post-hiring reality. There is a golden opportunity to make astute and helpful observations in your early days of hiring based upon a side of the organization that only “new eyes” can see.
> Thank you notes DO matter.
> Don’t be too discriminating on the front end and limit your search too tightly. Cast a wide net and discriminate on the back end after you have learned what the position/organization is truly like.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
#79 the long road
For the past week or so, the same three people have been hiking along a main road. Every day going to work I see them; backpacks loaded, two walking sticks between them, going in a seemingly endless loop. Contrary to popular myth, Iowa is quite hilly (at least in the East long the Mississippi) and their journey is neither short or easy.
Their presence is a recent phenomenon, so I speculate that they are in training for a more arduous hike elsewhere. There is really no other way to prepare for an extended hike than by, well, hiking. You can simulate it, or strengthen muscles in a gym or on a treadmill, but it is not the same benefit as walking hilly roads all day.
Are there hills that you should be walking instead of taking the easy way out? A superintendent visiting all the schools in person instead of sending a video message to open the school year. A handwritten note to all those who helped you with a major project instead of a pre-printed thank you. Running your own reports and really looking at the raw data for nuances instead of just reviewing the summary. Shortcuts aren’t always the best route to take.
–— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
#78 VIPs
Time magazine recently published a special edition featuring who editors had determined to be the 100 Most Influential People. It featured the usual suspects like Gandhi, Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jesus Christ, Hitler and Steve Jobs.
I was reminded of an exercise I once was given, entitled the Very Important People Quiz. We were to complete this page:
> Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
> Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
> Name the last five winners of the Miss America Contest.
> Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
> Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
After much moaning, groaning and blank stares (this was in the pre-smart-phone-era), we were asked to turn the page over and answer these questions:
> List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
> Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
> Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
> Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
> Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
> Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.
Of course, the second part of the exercise was much easier to do. Both of these things got me thinking about who the most influential people were in my life and what they had in common. My answer is that they saw something in me that I didn’t see myself, told me about my gift and pushed me to attain more.
Take some time today to actually tell someone about the great things you see in them. Too often we know that someone is a rising/shining star and just assume they know it too. Specifically articulate your insights to the person and help them develop the confidence to use their talent to its fullest. Maybe someday you’ll be lucky enough to end up on the back side of the VIP quiz!
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
#77 a free lunch
The old saying goes “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”. But apparently there is such a thing as a free blog. (Not that I am complaining!)
I post this for free on my free Gmail account and you receive it for free via email. Without ads. Who is paying for this? Somehow Google has figured out an economic model that allows them to offer a free service that their customers value.
What equivalent of a free blog can your organization offer? Can you provide facilities, resources or expertise that earn you either goodwill or future clients? Do you have capacity in some of your infrastructure that you can share without burden? Can you lend your name in support of a worthy venture?
Take a lesson from Google and share something that delights people — without charging them for it.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
#76 re-election
Sometimes I feel like I am missing out on things because I am currently not living in a big city, but today President and Mrs. Obama came to our little town! They would have been welcome almost any place in the world, but they chose Dubuque, Iowa for a visit.
I was fortunate enough to obtain a ticket, so played hooky from work to see the Obamas in person. People from both parties commented on how efficient the operation was run. No lines for security. Clearly marked venue. And most surprising to me, the President’s bus arrived at 12:24 for a 12:25 scheduled speech. I was out of my office only two hours and yet was able to hear THE President and the First Lady each speak only 200 feet from where I was standing. It was thrilling!
Of course, much of the President’s message centered around his bid for re-election. I will leave the political aspect out of it, but it got me thinking about our whole process for filling the position. Imagine if a university, company or any large organization had a mandated turnover of their top leader every four years. Yet here is one of the most complex, sensitive and far-reaching organizations on the planet and just such a thing happens. The President spends a year (at least) learning the job, a year or so doing the job, and then the next year trying to get re-elected to another term. It is amazing to me that we are still functioning at all with that amount of transition in the top spot. And in most cases, there isn’t a tumultuous impact on the average citizen’s life with a change in governmental leadership–offices still function, services still operate, national parks still open and the social security checks still are delivered. Would our organizations fare so well?
Think about if you had to “campaign” to keep your job next year. Would you be re-elected? Do you have the evidence that you have done what you promised to do in the interview? Is it even a realistic expectation that you could have solved the big problems in a mere three years? I fear that a frequent re-affirmation of employment would have organizational leaders focusing on short-term results instead of tackling the long-term or strategic elements that can really have significant consequences.
There is a line by fictional President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas) in the film The American President where he says “I was so busy trying to keep my job that I forgot to do my job.” If you have the privilege of re-appointment without re-campaigning, take advantage of the ability to think long-term and make your work matter.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
leadership dot #75: transitions
In the last four working days, I have had four staff members give notice of their pending departure. Whew. While I wish all of them well in their new roles, one can’t help but be affected by the announcements from those with whom we work so closely.
Whenever there are staff exits, it creates a swirl of emotions: sadness, or even anger, mixed with the hope that their new position will create joy for them. Often people who are staying feel overwhelmed as they consider all the knowledge they must quickly absorb in order to prepare for the double duty that inevitably lies ahead. And all this happens at precisely the time that the extra tasks of searching/interviewing/hiring/training suddenly appear on the to-do list.
At times like this, I try to heed the great advice from author William Bridges in his book Managing Transitions. Bridges says that change is external, but transition is internal. Change happens at once (the person leaves), but transition happens over time and in three stages. The first stage of transition is the ending and it is appropriate to grieve for what is lost — camaraderie, assistance, knowledge, humor, familiarity with how things work. Secondly comes the interval stage — where things are in limbo. There may be an interim period without a replacement, but even when the new hire begins there is still a stage where everyone is figuring things out and waiting for the new person’s work and temperament to fit into the culture. Only after time can the third stage of beginnings actually occur and people share in the comfort of knowing how things work.
The same cycle of transition that my remaining staff will go through as their colleagues depart begins now for another group on our campus. Today is campus move-in for our new athletes. Our freshmen experience the change of being in college today, but will continue their transition for weeks to come; often secretly grieving for home and life as a revered senior, then stumbling through the process of figuring out social norms and college expectations, before finally (hopefully) falling in love with college and wondering where the years went. Mixed in between the bravado and sure hopes for a conference championship is a natural cycle of ending, sadness, insecurity, unfamiliarity and doubt.
At times of transition, hopefully it will help to remember that it is a natural part of the process to also be a little sad about what has transpired. Pause for a moment and grieve as part of your transition, even as you undoubtedly will rejoice in beginnings when they come too.
— beth triplett
@leadershipdots
#74 precautions
I spent most of the weekend cleaning out my childhood home now that my mom has moved to a care facility. There is so much that I could write about, but the one item that struck me is mothballs.
Do mothballs even exist anymore? Apparently the cloth-eating buggers were prevalent in my mom’s world — or at least it was high on her list to prevent them. I found boxes of (now absorbed) mothballs. Mothball hangers. Bars of soap designed to ward off the insects. Even special mothball-treated wax paper to line boxes. Almost every box I opened had some preventative measure taken to ensure that the contents would be preserved.
I feel like mothballs are like one of those diseases that used to inflict everyone, but in today’s world is eradicated. I do not think of moths; have not taken preventative measures against them, and yet seem to be free of their destruction.
In your organization, are you spending time/energy/resources on precautions that are no longer necessary? Are you keeping manual copies when there is an electronic backup? Creating barriers to accessing information instead of making it freely available? Just because someone always put mothballs in the box doesn’t mean that you still need to.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
#73 step two
We just finished a week of open houses for prospective students. During one of the lunches, I sat with a prospective student and her father, and the conversation inevitably turned to the lack of rain. Iowa is experiencing a serious drought, so weather is the topic du jour. This dad raises cattle so the impact of drought hits him sooner than it does me. He spoke of how he has had to feed the herd hay for several months already, when he usually doesn’t start inside feeding until October. He shared that a friend, who usually sells hay for $30, turned down an offer of $200 because he didn’t think it was enough. It was a grim picture.
Then some of us speculated that the cost of beef was really going to rise. We were surprised when he said “next year it will, but first it will get cheaper.” Huh? The reason is that he expects many farmers to off-load their cattle early, before they have to continue indoor feeding all winter at the high hay prices, and thus supply will first increase (and thus prices will decrease) before the reverse happens.
Without intending to do so, our lunch conversation turned into a real world example of system thinking. Wise is the leader who doesn’t stop at the first conclusion, but thinks further ahead to the implications of that decision on the next one. If you only pay attention to the initial cheap beef, you fail to plan for the expense/scarcity that is to come. You’ll be much better off if you take that extra time to think one step beyond your next action.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
p.s. If you need an exercise to see system thinking in action, Peter Senge’s Fifth Discipline has a great one in his beer game simulation.
#72 taming the beast
Last week, I presented a professional development program following a meeting of the group. During the break, I overheard a participant asking another what they did with all the paperwork that was generated from the meeting. She gave him the following advice: “when I leave the meeting, I leave with two piles; one to recycle and one to keep.”
Her solution works well in the short term. The problem comes in when the “one to keep” pile keeps growing over the course of a year or two. My answer: keep things where you are the source.
I have all the backup documents and drafts from committees I chair or projects I develop. I have hardly anything other than the final policy or version of anything else. Copies of committee minutes, even board minutes, can be obtained from the original source if needed. Drafts, reports, proposals, budgets, agendas and status updates can all be retrieved elsewhere if the situation warrants. (And I can count on one hand the number of times that happened!)
We seem to be a long way from the Utopian paperless society. Until then, try to manage what you create and recycle the rest.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com