Here we sit on another verge of an election and I find myself being interviewed by radio stations and newspapers to share what is the body language and actions of each politician saying about them.
This got me to thinking about you, as leaders, and what you can learn from this election in terms of hiring an individual or promoting a person. How do you know what kind of job they will do and if they are qualified?
Personally I always start with values and principles as they show how a person will THINK and how they THINK ALWAYS determines how they will ACT. In order to understand how a person thinks, you need to look, not at individual incidents–like how they voted on one bill or how they handled one interaction–but rather you need to look at their PATTERNS as all of the incidents together lead to a very visible pattern.
So if you have seen a pattern where they have hidden things, been caught doing something that is borderline ethical, been lewd or coarse with how they treat people, then YES you can assume they will continue in that pattern. Especially if they show no remorse, never acknowledge their mistake, and if they never state what they learned and what they will be doing differently.
Incidents are easy for us to dismiss as we can logically explain them away while patterns require us to acknowledge the thinking base of the individual. When we look at incidents our brain is still tied to our own desires (like this person knows so much or my life would be easier if I had someone in that position right now) and therefore, it will cause us to overlook incidents but when you think in terms of patterns, the brain causes you to put your desires second and truly look at the historical pattern.
So when you are hiring a person or looking to promote them listen for their thinking patterns rather than individual incidents.
As you head to the polls one easy question can help you filter incidents versus patterns, ask yourself, “if this person became CEO of my company and I had to work directly under them, would I be proud to serve them?” Then check the box of the candidate that aligns for you.
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How to Promote So People Are Highly Committed to The New Position
by Anne Warfield
SITUATION:
Anne we have a person, Celine, who we are looking at promoting. Celine has been doing some parts of the job. Her current boss, Melinda, is at times in her court saying, “yes she deserves the promotion” and at other times saying, “I’m not sure she is ready.”
I think the vacillating comments from Melinda are due to the fact that Melinda has a hard time letting things go so she sometimes sticks her fingers in to projects she has given Celine to do. I don’t think they are an accurate statement of Celine. So I think Celine could do the job, she has the support of the team but she has had some other things crop up lately that have me questioning her commitment. Do I give her the job or do I hire outside?”
Other Person’s Perspective:
So up until recently you have felt that Celine has jumped on board and done what ever has been asked of her. You also have seen that her team trusts her and feels she can do the job—that aspect weighs a lot against Melinda’s vacillating comments. Celine, most likely, sees that she is being groomed for the job, has done what is asked of her and is prepared for the next step.
Thinking it Through Using Outcome Thinking®:
You ultimately want someone to step in to the leadership role ready to learn, excited to grow and willing to be challenged in a fresh new way. So the first thing you need is not ACCEPTANCE of a new job but rather COMMITMENT to work at a whole new level. I find most companies just go for the ACCEPTANCE and not the COMMITMENT and those are two very different brain reactions.
Acceptance by the brain means that the person being offered the new position mentally just stays in a judgement state of “do I want this job or not?”. Their brain is NOT focused on what I need to do/change in order to do the job well, just do I want it. Therefore, their COMMITMENT to the job is low. When you switch the conversation to first be about what is needed to do the job and if they are committed to it, their brain then OWNS the work they will need to do in order to be successful at it. There is more pride, excitement and ownership over making the transition to make the promotion work.
So I would break this decision in to two components-
1. Is Celine STILL COMMITTED to making this next step?
2. If she is committed, what other steps does she need to take to DEMONSTRATE she can do the job?
You need an answer to the first BEFORE you even approach conversation on the second. This means I need to find out what is causing the “other things that are cropping up that make you question her commitment to the job”. For example, are they caused because she is frustrated Melinda isn’t giving her more autonomy? That her lifestyle has changed so she doesn’t want the pressure? She is no longer ambitious about the job? She doesn’t like the pressure?
Best Handled/Phrased:
The discussion I would have with Celine would be as follows: “Celine for the last several months you have been taking on additional responsibilities to get a feeling for what it would be like to step in to a larger role. You have been doing these very well and have seemed to be enjoying that path. Then recently I have noticed (list here what you have seen that makes you question her commitment) which leads me to wonder if you have changed your mind or if you are still committed to the leadership path. So are you still interested in the leadership role or has something change recently that is causing you to question that path and hence the above things are happening?”
Let her talk. If she says she is committed to the role, then talk about the opening, what additional things it would require of her, and what you would need to changed (the things that make you question her COMMITMENT) in order for her to be successful. If she is in agreement with all of that, then let her know you would like her to go home and think about it and then tomorrow you can chat more about how to put things in place if she is interested in doing this.
The 24 hours let’s her brain really digested what you talked about, and what commitment she would be making. It also gives her family time to weigh in on how the changes can impact all of them. (And yes this is the same process I recommend if it is a male you are talking with as I believe all jobs impact the family and you need their support to be successful.)
Then when she comes back in 24 hours her brain feels it is asking for the job and she will come with a strong commitment to be successful in it. If you just offer the job her brain is not committed, but rather is just accepting the job so it doesn’t value or work at it in the same way.
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Quoteable Quotes
“We make a living by what we do. We make a life by what we give.”
~ Winston Churchill
Do Less, Gain More Employee Accountability
There is a strange phenomenon I find among leaders–they are often causing their own greatest problems by trying to do something nice.
I often see leaders who realize their workers are over taxed and so the leader steps in to help out. Seems admirable on the cover but unfortunately it often has dire unintended consequences.
“In the past my presentations dragged on, they weren’t communicated clearly or emphasized properly.
Now that I’ve learned about Outcome Thinking® my presentations show logical thinking. I am controlling my “filler” words and movements. I am more confident and know what to work on. ”
Jim Fisher, Senior Research Associate, Jeffrey Slocum and Associates
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