Tag: interviewing

Never be the same

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The best way to approach anything new is by putting aside what you know about it.

We have been taught that experience matters more than anything else. And since today everything needs to happen now (even better, yesterday), we augment the importance of experience and try to get farther by doing more of what we have done so far.

That rarely works.

Experience matters, for sure, but it is not a good predictor of the success you are going to have in your next endeavor. And it does make sense, since the world is complex and ever-changing. What you truly need is not experience, but the capacity to put that aside and learn something new over and over again.

Your next gig might be similar to the previous one. It will never be the same.

The best self-promotion tool

Fabrizio1 Comment

If you are starting in a new role, make it your first priority to talk to people who work close to you.

Your direct reports, their reports, your peers, those you will collaborate with in adjacent teams, your manager, their manager.

There is no rule for where you should stop, just do it with common sense.

And while the instict would probably push you to use the conversations to promote yourself, your background, your agenda, make it so instead that you will mainly listen. Understand who you are talking to, what motivates them, how they get measured, what success means to them.

If you do that effectively, you can’t fail. You will deliver exactly what they need, and they will be the ones promoting you and your agenda when that is needed.

Listening is the best self-promotion tool.

To mentor

Fabrizio1 Comment

You do not have to be a master to mentor. You do not have to be the best at what you do, neither you need to be an expert in what you do. You might have a passion, but that is just a like most of the time. You might feel competent and knowledgeable, but if you are completely honest that’s probably not how you feel in most cases.

If you believe any of the above is necessary to mentor, you are telling yourself a false story, you are giving up to resistance, you are pushing back something you would genuinely benefit from.

To mentor, you merely need to have experience and to be willing to give it away.

And when that is the case, you can start mentoring now. You will get back everything you put in. And more.

Prepared to communicate

Fabrizio1 Comment

If you do not have time, if you are too busy, if you have many things to do, if you are juggling different tasks.

Then avoid sending important messages or giving important speeches.

Effective communication requires time and intentional effort. No, you are probably not a natural communicator, and people will not get it one way or the other.

Depending on your role, communication might have different degrees of importance for you. If you are a leader, or if you are in a position of power, you should probably have it among your key priorities. But unless you can dedicate enough time to prepare for it, silence is your second best option.

[The time it takes me to prepare for a speech] depends on the length of the speech. If it is a ten-minute speech it takes me all of two weeks to prepare it; if it is a half-hour speech it takes me a week; if I can talk as long as I want to it requires no preparation at all. I am ready now.

President Woodrow Wilson

Bad bosses

Fabrizio1 Comment

Do employees quit bad bosses?

As a matter of fact, they do.

And they do quit organizations that provide inadequate training and promotional opportunities, bonuses, and non-cash benefits, that foster (willingly or unwillingly) a negative climate, that assign insignificant tasks, or repetitive tasks, that do not leave enough autonomy, that do not give enough support.

The fact is, there is quite a lot that an organization and its leadership can do to prevent people from leaving. And considering the cost of voluntary turnover, the sooner they get to it, the better.