Author Archives: Larry Janis

‘Unless We Challenge, We Don’t Get Change’

 

 

 

by Emily DeNitto

 

Pioneering female fighter pilot Mandy Hickson on what she’s learned about overcoming obstacles, being a better leader—and living a good life.

 

There’s a reason that battle metaphors are used for business so often. Like war, much of business is about winning and losing, preparing for challenges, organizing teams, leadership.

Mandy Hickson has experience with all of it. One of the first female pilots in the UK’s Royal Air Force, she had an extraordinary career flying the Tornado GR4 on front lines, including patrolling the no-fly zone over Iraq. Hickson was the only female aircrew member for much of 45 missions and three tours of duty.

She learned valuable lessons about overcoming challenges, understanding risk and the importance of failure. Hickson, author of An Officer, Not a Gentleman, will share those lessons as a featured speaker in the next installment of our Women in Leadership series, on September 27 (join us!).

She gives a preview here, including where she was on 9/11, why the Air Force made her lose 50 pounds and what still makes her a little bitter.

What made you want to be an Air Force pilot? And maybe more important, what made you think you could do it?

It’s about the importance of role models. My grandpa happened to be a pilot during the Second World War. And because I grew up hearing his stories, it drip-fed into my imagination. We have an organization in the UK called the Air Cadets. And my mum happened to be reading an article and she said, “Oh, the Air Cadets is opening its doors to girls next week.”

When would that have been?

That was in 1986. And once I joined the Air Cadets, I absolutely loved it. I loved the team ethos. I loved the leadership aspect of it. But more importantly, I loved the flying. I had a half an hour flight. And I remember very keenly, I was 14 years old, and I said to the pilot, “Do you get paid to do this?” And he said, “Yes, this is my job.”

It was this sort of moment where I thought, “My goodness, someone’s getting paid to do something they absolutely love.” And it was this joining of the dots as a 14-year-old girl to recognize that actually a job doesn’t have to be something that’s tedious, it doesn’t have to be something that you have to do. It can be something you’re passionate about.

5 rules that transform outsourcing outcomes Opinion

 

 

For organizations seeking a collaborative win-win approach to outsourcing, the Vested sourcing business model is worth consideration. It is the product of nearly 20 years of research at the University of Tennessee, beginning with a deep-dive funded by the United States Air Force on outcome-based outsourcing in 2003.

UT’s ongoing research into the world’s most successful outsourcing relationships, including those from Dell’s and the Canadian government, has uncovered five key rules for establishing win-win strategic partnerships that work collaboratively to achieve business outcomes. When a company and its outsourcing partner follow these rules they become vested in each other’s success: A win for the buying company is a win for the service provider.

The model offers a significant shift away from the transaction-based model commonly used in IT oursourcing arrangements, and its rules resolve several structural flaws that can emerge in transaction-based and managed servicesagreements.

For example, a buying organization might want “outcomes,” but the contract spells out dozens or even hundreds of service level agreement metrics instead. The buying organization might also want “innovation,” but the contract with the supplier has an 800-page Statement of Work with exacting details on how the supplier should perform each of the activities in scope. Or it might want the supplier to implement “efficiencies” while spelling out a transactional pricing scheme that inherently incentivizes the supplier to perform more transactions.

Instead, the Vested sourcing model refocuses business partnerships from a “what’s-in-it-for-me” transactional approach to a highly collaborative “what’s-in-it-for-we” model that promotes (and rewards) the parties when they collaborate. For example, instead of negotiating who will bear the risk of inflation, the parties embrace the fact that inflation is a reality of business and collaborate to identify and invest in operational efficiencies to mitigate the risk of inflation.

The following five Vested rules might sound simple, but UT research has found that most companies fail to follow them in an effort to the refocus on the outsourcing relationship on mutual success. (more…)

Vice President – Sales, West Coast Analytics

 

 

 The Vice President – Sales, West Coast Analytics will be responsible to generate revenue growth within new and existing accounts in High Tech Companies sector. The Sales Leader will have deep knowledge of analytics and technology services and experience in meeting aggressive growth goals by proactively uncovering opportunities for analytics.

Major Job Functions:

Consultative Selling — Earn the role of trusted advisor by demonstrating a thorough understanding of analytic solutions and matching these services to client needs and critical industry challenges. Provide guidance to internal teams that work with you to develop and implement effective solutions.

Relationship Management— Manage client relationships and work with the engagement managers in ensuring delivery of projects with an uncompromising focus on client satisfaction, timelines, budgets & other milestones while leveraging a global delivery model. Monitor client satisfaction with the ongoing delivery of existing projects and request interventions from delivery leaders, if required. Proactively identify expansion opportunities within existing relationships as well as new engagements to serve emerging needs of the clients and lead the business development leveraging capabilities and expertise within the organization.

Key elements for the role:

  • Experience delivering engagements.
  • Strong understanding of High-Tech companies
  • Ability to drive personal results in a collaborative, team selling environment.
  • Experience in managing senior level relationships extending to the C-level.
  • Strong consultative sales and negotiation skills preferred.
  • Demonstrates good problem solving and analytical skills.
  • Ability to lead productive and engaging meetings with individuals who may have competing goals and objectives
  • Ability to influence contacts to become a change agent within their financial institution
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills; articulate and persuasive presence and speaking experience required
  • Proven skill to build relationships by offering recommendations through formal sales presentations, written proposals, and negotiating to yes preferred
  • Excellent planning, organizational and project management skills. Familiarity with Salesforce.com highly preferred
  • Willingness to travel up to 50%

Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution, graduate degree a plus.
  • Preferably MBA from a top-tier business school

 

Sincerely,

Larry Janis

Managing Partner I Integrated Search Solutions Group

P-516-767-3030

 

 

What is burnout?

 

 

Burnout is the feeling of depletion, cynicism, and emotional distance that results from a lack of impact or autonomy at work. Odds are you’ve experienced the feeling at some time or other. Tired from the moment you wake up in the morning. Staring at your computer for hours without accomplishing anything. Finally logging off and leaving your workspace to find a whole other set of taxing jobs to do in the rest of your home—and life. And maybe even being impatient, withdrawn, or irritable with the ones you care about most. These feelings could be the result of burnout.

One explanation for burnout is that it is an occupational phenomenon that builds up over time, brought on by a chronic imbalance between job demands and available resources. Basically, that means too many things to do and not enough tools, time, or energy to do them. And “too many things” doesn’t have to mean a thousand: if the one thing you’re trying to do isn’t getting done, for whatever reason, that can easily cause the alienating feelings associated with burnout. And these feelings are quite different from simply feeling a bit tired or looking forward to a break.

If that sounds all too familiar, you’re not alone. Between February and April 2022, McKinsey conducted a global survey of nearly 15,000 employees and 1,000 HR decision makers in 15 countries. On average, one in four employees surveyed across various demographics and all over the world reported experiencing symptoms of burnout, per the Burnout Assessment Tool.

Burnout can have a major impact on a person’s well-being. It is typified by four core symptoms: exhaustion, mental distancing, cognitive impairment, and emotional impairment. But the problems don’t usually stop there: burnout is also associated with negative brain health symptoms such as anxiety or depression—which in turn can be associated with more severe mental health conditions.

Many companies worldwide are investing more in the mental health and well-being of their employees with benefits such as yoga classes or subscriptions to mental health apps. But as an employer, these efforts alone won’t create conditions for holistic employee health. McKinsey research suggests that there are concrete steps employers can take to improve the situation.  (more…)

3 ways our brains undermine our ability to be a good leader

 

 

 

 

by Cian McEnroe and David Rock

 

 

Robin, a perennial high achiever, has just been promoted to her first leadership position. But her first few months on the job have been tougher than expected: Her colleagues don’t joke around with her anymore, she’s pulled in different directions, and she’s constantly putting out fires. When one of her top performers suddenly leaves for another opportunity, Robin realizes her team is under-resourced. The pressure takes its toll, and Robin begins to dread Monday mornings. Maybe she just wasn’t cut out to be a leader?

Robin’s story is a familiar one. Sixty percent of new managers fail within the first 24 months. And this isn’t just an issue for new managers: 50% to 70% of new executives fail in the first 18 months, too.

To be successful, our research at the Neuroleadership Institute has found we must excel across three core domains of great leadership: being future-focused, being good with people, and being able to drive results. And yet, as we develop as leaders, our brains evolve in ways that challenge our ability to excel in these areas. We analyzed dozens of leadership development programs used by larger organizations and discovered they often fail to equip leaders across all three domains. The good news is that we can be taught to combat these tendencies once we understand why our brains fight us.

Focus on the Future
Rather than just doing the work of today, leaders must constantly scan for what’s next and make sure their teams are prepared. This is at odds with how our brains evolved to value the immediate and short-term future. Indeed, in one study, 27% of Americans say they rarely or never think about what might happen five years into the future. That’s a concern because anticipating things like industry trends, future skills requirements, and customer needs is central to a leader’s success. (more…)