Time Out Chicago

I am quoted in the most recent issue of Time Out Chicago. Click here to read it online.

July Newsletter - Employee Retention: The Hidden Cost of the Unengaged Workforce

The July newsletter went out today and the topic of the month is employee retention. If you are not yet signed up to receive our newsletter, click here and simply type "newsletter" in the comments section. We will make sure to put you on the list and send you any past issues that you may be interested in. Thanks!

The Art of Listening

Check out this article on the art of listening. It's a quick and easy read packed full of good information. When you're done reading it, give us a call and we can help you put the principles in the article to use in your business, team, or personal life.

Making an Exeucitve Presence

Are you currently in a management or executive position and thinking about how to take the next step up the ladder? Do you know how to make an "executive presence" with your direct reports, customers, and even your boss? To begin, read this short article entitled, "6 Tips for Developing Executive Presence." After reading the article, give us a call. We can help you with the rest!

Cornerpiece Newsletter

If you're not currently on the Cornerpiece Newsletter e-mail list, sign up here. Just simply type, "Newsletter" in the comment section and we will add you to the list. The Newsletter is packed full of interesting articles, current research, book reviews, and much, much more. Sign up now!

Undercover CEO

Interested in knowing what your employees really think? Are your core messages being communicated at all levels in your organization? Learn how one CEO went undercover to find out more about his employees and even his company then he could have ever imagined.

Preparing for the big interview

The Pre-Interview Checklist
Copies of your resume and cover letter: Check
Conducted research on the company: Check
Read and reread the job description: Check
Address and directions printed out: Check
Letter of recommendation just in case they ask: Check
Questions you have prepared for the interviewer: Check
Reasons the company should hire you planned out: Check
Clothing pressed and looking good: Check
High level of self-awareness: ???
Solid understanding of your leadership style: ???

Today companies want to know more about a candidate, especially at the senior level, then what they can find on your resume or background check. They're looking at more then your experience, they're paying special attention to the "soft skills."

"Today, the more senior the position, the more crucial "soft skills" are. Thus, there will be a high degree of probing throughout the evaluation process to gauge your emotional intelligence and social styles -- characteristics that help distinguish a good manager from a true leader," says Tierney Remick in an article from the Wall Street Journal.

If asked about how your leadership style has positively impacted your past organizations, what would you say?

What is your "leadership style?"

What is your greatest strength as a leader....not a manager?

Do you understand how your Emotional Intelligence can show through in an interview?

Do you even know what Emotional Intelligence is?

If you cannot answer all of the questions, right away, without pausing to think then maybe you should consider preparing for that big interview with a professional. Someone who can help you identify and clearly communicate your leadership style, your greatest strengths as a leader, and how your soft skills can distinguish you from everyone else.

We are not only experts in leadership and emotional intelligence, but we help many companies create the same behavioral interview techniques and questions that you will be faced with in your interview. If you really want the job and you're willing to go the extra mile to ensure you get it, we can help. Contact us to find out how!

What kind of leader are you?

A recent article from the Financial Times online discusses the end results of those leaders who lead based on intense fear while focusing only on bottom line results vs. those leaders who listen and encourage 2-way communication with their staff as a way to positively impact the bottom line.

Before reading the article, I would encourage you to be honest and think about the leader your staff sees day in and day out? Are you leading in a way that will generate short term success only to watch the success slowly fade away over time? Are you a leader who listens to your employees, encourages feedback, and understands the need to adapt your style and pull your foot off the gas from time to time? Need help identifying how best to lead your team or your organization into the next level of sustained, long term success?

Give us a call to see how we can help!

John Madden and Leadership

BOOM! For all the football fans out there, you probably recognize this 'expression' right away as a staple of John Madden's commentary for the NFL. John Madden was a successful head coach, arguably the most recognized announcer of all times, and even bares the name of the most successful sports video game of all time. Interested in learning what John Madden can teach you about leadership? Check out this article from Harvard Business Publishing.

Communication and Influence...More then just the words!

Great leaders use communication as a way to motivate and influence people. As Bill Clinton said in the article, "The Art of Oratory" -


"You measure the impact of your words, not on the beauty or the emotion of the moment but on whether you change the way people not only think, but the way they feel."

Great leaders understand that the actual words they speak are not nearly as important as the tone they use to deliver the message, the rate at which they speak and/or their body language. Great communicators take their audience on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs, highs and lows, and twists and turns to influence not only how they think, but most importantly how they feel.

Need help becoming a more influential and dynamic speaker? Contact us to see how we can help you.

"Investing in training SAVES money"

Check out the article, "Training your way out of the recession," conducted by researchers from the Cranfield School of Management. The full findings will be published tomorrow, but I thought I would provide a few of the highlights.

Effective training can reduce staff turnover and absenteeism, improve motivation, increase productivity, and help boost customer satisfaction.

Three quarters of the 1,189 companies involved in the study felt that training their own staff was more beneficial to their business than recruiting people from outside.

Organizations must focus on nurturing talent if they are to survive, grow and succeed. The continuous development and growth of people is inextricably linked to business performance.

Half the companies discovered that training staff made them more likely to stay.

The full study will be out tomorrow so be sure to look for it.

Cornerpiece Consulting

Losing money on Leadership

I just read an interesting article on the Financial Times web site entitled, "Rise of a Headhunter." The article is about a man named Kevin Kelly who is the head of a large executive search firm. In the article, Mr. Kelly talks about a study conducted in his office that was based off of 20,000 executive searches. Mr. Kelly goes on to say, "We’ve found that 40 percent of executives hired at the senior level are pushed out, fail or quit within 18 months. It’s expensive in terms of lost revenue. It’s expensive in terms of the individual’s hiring. It’s damaging to morale."

40%! That is a huge number and an even higher dollar amount. The direct and indirect costs of turnover are often estimated to equal roughly three times the salary of the actual position. This number increases the higher up the corporate ladder you climb. In today's world and economy where budgets are tight and spending is being cut, companies cannot afford the added expense of hiring a new employee only to have him/her leave or under perform and be forced to leave within the first 18 months. Companies can greatly reduce this number and select and retain top talent if they remember a few simple rules.

1. You need to know more about the person then what his/her resume says or what you can find out in an interview. - How do you do this? Benchmark the position so you know exactly who and what you are looking for. Then assess each candidate against your benchmark to ensure you are selecting the person who brings the right behaviors, values, and skills to not only the position, but to the company as a whole.
2. Provide training and coaching. - Review the employee's assessment and identify any development opportunities. Make sure the new employee understands what leadership looks like in your company. Provide a solid foundation for the employee to begin with and your chances that he/she will succeed will naturally increase. One-on-one coaching is also a great way to invest in the long term growth and retention of any new employee.
3. Remember, you're not an island. - You and your company need to be experts in your industry and constantly monitor the needs of your customers. You don't need to keep up-to-date on the latest assessments or selection methods. Your top leadership and HR team does not always have the time to provide the required training and coaching for every new employee. Hire an expert who can save you time and money and focus your time and energy on your business and your customers.

Assessments, Assessments, Assessments....

I had a long discussion with a good friend of mine yesterday regarding his need to hire a new employee for his department. My friend, who works in the health care industry, went on to tell me how close his team is and how well they work together as a team. His biggest concern was not finding a person with the experience required for the position, but finding a person who would fit with the team. His team is productive, supportive of each other, and understand how their individual roles contribute to the groups success. His biggest worry is that he will find someone who has the experience and background required, but won't be able to fully connect with the team.

I suggested that he look into using an assessment to identify the behaviors and motivators required to not just get the job done, but to "mesh" with the team members and the team dynamics. My friend was shocked that there are assessments out there that can actually measure this. This was a great lesson to me, because this reminded me that not everyone is aware of the great advancements made in the area of personal and organizational assessments. So, if you are like my friend and would like to find more information on the types of assessments that are available and what they can do for you, your team, or your company as a whole, click here. This will get you started and if you have any specific questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at jeremy.wicks@cornerpiececonsulting.com.

It's good to get away from time to time...

I can't believe it has been one full month since I last posted. My sincerest apologies! I have been out of town quite a bit in February and March and I'm just getting back into the work routine. I spent 3 days in Puerto Vallarta with a group from the UIC Leadership Advisory Board. Since we had some extra time, I was able to work one-on-one with each member and further discuss the results of their 360 evaluations. It was a great experience and I know that each member left the retreat with a better sense of how his/her leadership style impacts the bottom line of the business.

After the retreat, I took a little personal time with my wife and spent a week in Negril, Jamaica. If you have never been to Negril, I highly recommend it. It's beautiful and a great place to relax.

Feedback that produces results

If your company is like most of the companies that I have worked in there is a good chance that once a year, you get the opportunity to go through the “annual performance review”. This is typically nothing more then an evaluation of your performance based on a pre-selected group of competencies that should relate to your current position. Your boss, who may or may not actually have the insight and/or working relationship with you to accurately evaluate your performance typically conducts the review. Furthermore, the results of your evaluation may influence your annual bonus, raises, and even promotions. To top this all off, there is a good chance that this evaluation will do nothing to help you develop as a professional within and for the company.

While the annual performance review is a good start and often required for administrative purposes, the whole process does little to actually develop the people who are being evaluated. With all the talk of “talent management”, “succession planning” and “employee development” it would seem that the annual performance review would at least serve as a starting point for the professional development of a companies most valuable asset – the employees. But from my experience, this is not the case. More often then not, I see the following; the performance reviews are conducted, the boss has a brief conversation with the employee and then it’s over…..until the following year.

So what is the best way for you or your company to take the same “philosophy” behind evaluating performance and turn it into an actual process that advances the skills, behaviors, and performance of the person receiving the evaluation?

1. Begin incorporating 360° feedback into the evaluation process. While the 360° process can be used in conjunction with the annual review, I prefer to use them independently of one another. The “annual review” is best used for general administrative purposes, while the 360° is best used for personal and professional development purposes. 360° feedback is the best way to collect feedback from multiple people at all levels in the organization.

2. After reviewing your report with your boss, pick a couple of areas that you and your boss believe are important to strengthen for your professional development and career goals. Next, go to a few people who you trust and seek out their feedback on the issues you have selected to focus on. Ask for their opinion and listen. Remember, you’re seeking out feedback so this is not the time to disagree. Just listen and say thank you. That’s it!!!! Take the additional information and begin creating a development plan with measurable goals.

3. If you are struggling with any of the issues that you have selected, ask your boss for advice or find a mentor to provide you with regular feedback and ongoing support. Depending on the areas that you have decided to further develop, it may be appropriate to work with a professional coach.

Leading in tough times....

Just finished reading a Q & A with Michael Beer, professor at Harvard University, about his upcoming book “High Commitment, High Performance: How to Build a Resilient Organization for Sustained Advantage.” The focus of the book is on how you can manage in tough times while avoiding liquidation and having to reduce your human capital. Mr. Beer goes on to say, “CEOs of HCHP (high commitment, high performance) companies think very differently about their employees. They see them as an asset and care about them as people. As a result they manage downturns differently from the norm, too.”
I found this last line interesting because in my consulting practice, I have seen more and more business leaders trying to find ways to engage their employees, encourage commitment, and keep their best people from looking for another job. My prediction is that as we begin to slowly pull out of these tough economic times, more and more business leaders are going to realize just how important their people are to the success of the organization. They will see just how much a committed employee can mean to the long term growth and success of their organization.
So my question to you, the manager, president, CEO and or business leader, is why wait until it is too late? Why wait until your best employees have moved on to “bigger and better things?” Why not begin showing them and telling them how important they are right now. Find out what they need to be better and provide it – now! Don’t get caught in the “shoulda-woulda-coulda” trap. Act now before you lose your most valuable company asset – your people.
All it takes is taking some time to talk to your employees. Find out what they want, what they need and how YOU can help them be better at their job. It’s that easy to get started.

Are you my "ideal" coaching client?

I cannot tell you how many times a friend or family member asks me what my ideal coaching client looks like. I have heard it 1,000 times so I thought; why not share it with you? I have also decided to use "she" when describing this person because I get tired of writing he/she. I tell you this because I don't want you to think that my ideal client is always a woman.

1. Successful: This person has advanced in her career and is currently working in an upper management position. She has “served her time” and has begun making the climb up the corporate ladder.

2. Strong business acumen: Many things can lead to a persons professional successes but strong business acumen is almost always required. Together, we might change a few behaviors that make the client even more effective, but without a strong business acumen there is only so far she can go.

3. A bit of patience: Behaviors take a long time to form so it only makes sense that they don’t just change overnight. While a ton of patience is not required, a little bit goes a long way.

It’s that simple. Are these requirements for my coaching clients? No, just what I have found to be the "ideal" client. Ideal because she has what was required to advance to her current position. Since I know that she has those skills, we can begin to focus on what is required to make it to the next level.

Selecting the "right fit" for your company

Right now, we can't escape the news and headlines of more people being laid off, the stock market nightmares, and the economy creeping closer and closer to the days of the great depression. If you're like most, you want to run, hide, and come back out when this whole thing is better. While this doesn't sound like a bad idea at times, the truth is right now is the time to fight and to make sure that you have "the right people on the bus" to lead your company through the tough times.

Not all companies are letting people go and in fact many companies that I work with are actually hiring employees on a weekly basis. The smart companies realize that in these tough times it is more important then ever to hire the right employee for not only the job, but for the company as a whole. If you are like most business owners/leaders or HR professionals, you realize that the resume and the interview only give you so much information about the candidate........and there is a really good chance that some of the information is a bit exaggerated. So how do you ensure that the people you bring into your company have more then just the knowledge of the business? How do you make sure they have the skills, behaviors, and even the values to be productive and last in your company? You must begin with a simple benchmark of the job and then use a proven and validated assessment to make sure that the person you're paying has what it takes to perform.

When you think about the costs associated with advertising for the job, the time, resources, and money you are losing interviewing candidate after candidate trying to find that diamond in the rough, you will start to see the dollars add up. Once you think you've found the "right person", you still have to work with him/her to develop the skills required for the job. You have to hope that their work behaviors match with their bosses and colleagues, and even if you get all that right, how do you know that the type of work they will be required to do day in and day out is going to provide them with the type of motivation and rewards that are required to make them stay on long term? If they quit early, you're right back to square one and all that money you spent is not only wasted, but you're about to start the same process over again.

So, how do you avoid these costly hiring mistakes? You move past the traditional interview and resume screening and begin benchmarking and assessing your candidates before you make that final decision. There are numerous assessments out there that can help you do this, some are better then others, but making the decision is guaranteed to improve the quality of employees you bring on.

A quick thought on the importance of values

Just read a short blog by Val Willis on the Tom Peters! blog about values. Values are critical to any leader. Do your actions support your stated values? Without clear values and a total commitment to those values, it's is impossible to lead. People will not, at least for any length of time, support and follow a person who constantly says one thing but does the opposite. If you are a leader or strive to become one, take a minute to think about what you value the most? What do you value in your personal life? What do you value at work? How do you value your employees? If you can't answer these questions, are you truly leading your people and your company?

Recommended Reading

Over four decades ago, Douglas McGregor wrote about The Human Side of Enterprise and how important it was for companies to devote attention to their workers. At the time, his insights were largely overlooked by business people who weren't ready for such new thinking. Now, in Douglas McGregor, Revisited, the authors bring back some of the management guru's most provocative ideas with new relevance for the 21st century. They explain why he matters now and how we can apply his ideas to our business world today.