Tag Archives: Communication

Why We Pick Leaders with Deceptively Simple Answers

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Gianpiero_Petriglieri-200x200

By Gianpierro Petriglieri

 

 

To distressed people in troubled times, the least rational leaders make the most sense. This hundred-year-old theory harks back to the work of Sigmund Freud — and having to resort to it to explain a leader’s rise is never good news.

After all, a decade after he cast light on the social forces that would sink Europe into the abyss of totalitarianism, an ailing Freud was forced to flee Vienna for London, where he could, as he put it, “die in freedom.” It was 1938. Soon after, hundreds of thousands began to die for it.

Although most people associate the Viennese psychologist with his controversial conjectures about the unconscious mind, sexuality, and neuroses, fewer know (or acknowledge) that he also put forward one of the most enduring and validated theories of leadership. Continue reading →

What is top talent and how is that identified?

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As a part of our talent acquisition engagements, we ask our clients how they define “top talent” and how they would assess those traits in the interview process.  Reflecting on the insightful comments we hear every day, we thought there would be great value in a new blog in which senior executives/thought leaders share their “Take on Talent.”

This is the sixth in a series of blogs/interviews with senior executives who are thought leaders in the areas of Talent Acquisition, Career Development and Leadership who will share their perspectives on this ever present question.

 

Bendor-Samuel Peter.highres

Peter Bendor-Samuel founded Everest Group in 1991 with the vision to assist the then nascent out sourcing and global services industry to evolve more powerful and effective mechanisms to create and capture value. Everest Group is now a leader in the global services industry, and is constantly at the intersection to show other firms how to take advantage of disruptive technologies, innovative service vehicles, and game-changing talent models.

 

Peter is the author of the industry best-selling book, “Turning Lead Into Gold: the Demystification of Outsourcing.” He is a regularly featured thought leader in international business media including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Financial Times, and is a frequent keynote speaker at various industry events. Continue reading →

4 Steps to a Better Management Technique

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photo_uniqueEffectively managing people is difficult, and no one is born knowing how to do it. Fortunately, management can be learned. We suggest following these four steps, which are simple, but time tested:

1. Set appropriate goals.

Goal-setting is essential. It helps employees prioritize their activities and focus their efforts. When setting goals with employees, you should make sure that they are SMART goals (specific, measurable, action oriented, realistically high, time and resource bound). The goals must also be meaningful to the employee. Sufficient rewards for goal achievement and consequences for failure should be specified. This will ensure that the goal and what’s needed to achieve it will rise to the top of the employees’ “To Do” list. Continue reading →

Engagement Is a Means, Not an End

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Michael Schrageby Michael Schrage

An executive friend in an organization and industry riven by digital disruption and declining margins confided over lunch how dramatically her new CEO had impressed everyone at a recent executive offsite. “She listened carefully to people’s complaints about all the processes and obstructions they felt got in the way of their doing their jobs,” said my friend, “and instead of pushing back or challenging them, she agreed and said she’d do everything she could to get those obstacles removed….People were amazed and energized.”

Responsive CEOs are wonderful. But, knowing the industry well, her declared commitment suggested more than an understandable desire to eradicate unhappy bureaucratic burdens. She likely wanted to see how well her top people understood their own effectiveness. The unspoken deal: eliminating organizational impediments would radically improve their business results. Continue reading →

7 Rules for Job Interview Questions That Result in Great Hires

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by John Sullivan

Some of the long-held ideas about how to conduct interviews are no longer accurate. For example, there’s no such thing as a surprise interview question anymore. With sites like Glassdoor.com, candidates can identify each of your likely interview questions and expected answers ahead of time. With that information, candidates now routinely prepare and video their practice interviews to the point where their responses are universally impressive, if not genuine or accurate.

It’s not just surprise questions that are a thing of the past. Research at firms like Google has proven that “brainteaser questions” can contribute to a costly miss-hire, that having a candidate meet any more than four interviewers doesn’t increase new-hire quality, and that for many jobs, factors like grades, test scores, and schools attended don’t predict success in the position. Continue reading →