by Brian Epstein | Articles
We all know them – and most of us have worked them in some capacity. I remember working with sales professionals who have been promoted to be sales managers. They made great sales and brought in a lot of revenue for the company. However, they were not very successful in leading others. There are challenges in promoting from line functions.
Decision makers in organizations have often thought that the best way to motivate and retain staff is to promote from within. Senior managers tend to believe that if someone is effective in their line functions, they will be great leaders and motivate others to be as successful. However, this is not always the case.
The challenge is that people who do well in their role, whether they are in sales, marketing, finance, accounting or human resources are not necessarily successful in leadership and management roles. They do not necessarily have the skill-set or competency to lead other employees within the organization. This is not to say that they can’t learn these skills.
They can benefit from business coaches who will discuss strategies and leadership styles. Coaching provides perspective for new leaders. An effective coach can provide another perspective to newly promoted managers. They will be able to guide, question and challenge the thinking and behaviours of these managers. The result is stronger leaders which means happier employees.
To learn more about what a business coach can do for you, contact me today.
by Brian Epstein | Articles
Sometimes, a business professional who moves to Canada can have challenges finding work. Last September, a new client started to work with me. He had immigrated to Canada from California, USA to Canada 7 months earlier. He had a very established career in corporate finance before marrying a Canadian and making the decision to move here. He made a very good salary in the USA and was interested in securing work in Canada that matched the salary that he previously made.
The challenge that my client, a finance professional had, was that he could not legally work in Canada because he did not have his Canadian Permit Residence (PR) card or citizenship yet. He expected to get it in the next few months after our first appointment. Over the next few months, we worked together to ensure that he was work ready when his PR Card was ready. I coached my American client in upgrading his resume, cover letter, and Linkedin to position himself appropriately in the Canadian business market. I spent at least 2 coaching meetings with him to prepare for any upcoming interviews.
I coached him about how to use this time, waiting for his Canadian PR card to build a Canadian business network. I coached him on how to develop an effective strategy to implement. He set up many meetings with Canadian professionals who worked in the finance industry. It was not always easy for my client to build a network in a new business community. He has been determined and in the last few weeks, he did secure work in his chosen field.
Finding work can take time. With the right strategy and implementation plan, new immigrants from the USA can secure work in Canada.
If you are a new Canadian, contact me to find out how you can hit the ground running when you are eligible to seek work here.
by Brian Epstein | Articles
Over the years, I have worked with many project managers as their career coach. The key 5 components for project manager were shared with me by several project managers when I worked at a recent Toronto Chapter Career Day Event. Subsequent coaching meetings with PMI Association members have emphasized the 5 project management components that lead to the successful end of a project.
Whether a project manager is managing a large IT project, a construction project or a job search, similar steps are required for the end goal. As project managers, you must see projects from conception to initiation to completion. With a job search must:
1) conceptualize the job that you are searching for,
2) develop a plan of action,
3) begin and conduct the actual work search,
4) manage the daily search and
5) evaluate the progress of the search on an ongoing basis.
Keep some of your training in mind, when you set out to manage your new project – a successful job search.
1. Project conception and initiation
To start a job search, it is critical to do an assessment of your skills and experience. What have you accomplished in your career and what are your immediate and future goals? Consider what you have achieved, both academically and professionally. Evaluate the career path that you have taken so far. Think about where would you like to go in terms of your career? Consider what is important to you when you conduct your work search. Think about your values, interests, motivations, salary expectations and preferred location. What size of an organization are you interested in working for?
2. Project management definition and planning
Now is the time to plan your job search project. Chart your plan of action that you will require to reach your goal. What timelines have you set for your work search? What research will you need to do? Will you need to meet people in your field – past employers, members of associations and networking groups? What information will you need to research to become more knowledgeable about your field of interest, the work outlook and the demands of employers? Which organizations are hiring and what will you need to do to effectively market yourself?
3. Project launch or execution
How many people will you meet every week in your job search? The recommendations are that expanding your professional network while maintaining contact with people in your existing network, are key to conducting an effective work search. Depending upon what statistics you read, between 70-90% of people looking for new jobs, succeed by tapping into their network. Plan your time accordingly.
With that in mind, how much of your work search time will you focus on building and growing your network – both online and in person? All avenues should be used for your work search including job boards and company postings. Make sure that your resume markets your key achievements and results according to what the post requires. Have you test marketed your resume and cover letter with people in your professional network? Do you have success stories that you can share in upcoming job interviews?
4. Project performance and control
Like any project, compare the status of your plan with the schedule that you set out for your work search. Track your work search process to this point. Are you on schedule? Is your resume performing to the expectations of employers for specific jobs? How is your confidence? Is there anything that you can do accelerate the progress of your work search? How many resumes have you sent out?
5. Project management completion
So your project has been a success and you have accomplished what you set out to do. You have found and secured work in your desired field. How would you evaluate your overall job search? How did you perform in your job interviews? What could you do differently?
After all search project tasks have been completed, you can evaluate the highlights and success of your
work search project. Like any project, you can learn what you have done well and what you would like to improve
– after the project is completed and you have secured your new work role.
Originally published on https://brianepstein.wordpress.com/2014/05/12/successful-work-search-requires-effective-management-of-a-major-project/
To learn more about this strategy, contact me.
by Brian Epstein | Articles
In a few days, there will be an election in the Province of Ontario. As Kathleen Wynne conceded over the weekend, that means there will soon be hundreds of Liberal political staffers, and a few MPPs, looking for work. That is part of the real aftermath of an election.
Now, if you’re not a fan of the Ontario Liberal government — and not a lot of people are right now — you’re probably not going to lose a lot of sleep if they’re voted out of office. If you’re a Liberal political staffer, you’ve probably already lost sleep — and you’re about to lose a lot more as you try to figure out what to do next. But, if you’re an employer, you should probably be excited because a lot of talented people are going to be available for hire soon.
That’s because political staffers come with a skill set that are valuable to companies and leaders. Unlike officials in the bureaucracy, political staffers don’t have job security. Rather, they serve a minister or premier and get fired when their party loses an election. After an election loss, these highly skilled people all hit the workforce at the same time creating a temporary smorgasbord of talent.
While private sector employers may not be aware of the qualities that political staffers bring, they are incredibly valuable. They include:
Work ethic:
When your job depends on the government being re-elected, you have a built-in incentive to work as hard as possible to help your party succeed at the polls. Political staffers are used to working long hours and being on call — and doing whatever it takes to get the job done.
Communications skills:
Politics is one of the biggest employers and incubators of communications talent. Again, when your job depends on persuading people, you get pretty good at crafting a message, managing issues and dealing with the media.
Analysis:
Every day, even very junior political staffers give advice or make decisions involving millions of taxpayer dollars. To do this properly, staff need to be able to analyze the risks and rewards of a project from all sides. As a result, people who have made a career in politics usually have excellent decision-making skills.
Flexibility and adaptability:
Consider all the government portfolios – education, health care, infrastructure, transportation, natural resources, environments Each of these has its own dedicated ministry. Most political staffers have worked for multiple ministries, meaning they can quickly adapt to new files, people and new projects.
Fearlessness:
Immediately, political staffers are thrown into morning briefing meetings with government ministers and senior leaders. This can include the premier or prime minster. Even the most junior staffer has a lot of experience dealing with big personalities and high-stakes meetings. Policy staff, in particular, are used to high-level meetings with companies, governments and other stakeholders.
Networks:
Though you might think it was more advantageous to hire staff from the current governing party, it is even smarter to hire staff from a party just out of power. In Ontario, where one party has been in charge for 15 years, staff turnover has meant that many former staffers now have key and senior positions in organizations all over Ontario. These people — thousands of them — are all connected through LinkedIn and Facebook. This massive and very loyal network can be helpful when you’re looking for a vendor or a contact or information about an issue — and they all have relationships with senior government bureaucrats.
In the next few weeks, when these talented people hit the market, some private sector employers will gloss over their resumes, thinking that they’re typical “government” workers. But that’s a mistake your competitors are going take advantage of. Bankers – take a good look at Finance ministry staff. Corporations and startups – kick the tires on some Economic Development staff. Run a clean-tech company? Environment staff. Universities? Education staff. And on and on it goes.
Originally published in the Financial Post.
Image: Financial Post
To find out more about how to choose the right people, contact me.
by Brian Epstein | Articles
An earlier version of this article about the CEO Whisperer appeared in the Financial Post on August 30, 2017
Canada’s job market is booming and unemployment is at its lowest point in more than two years. So why are so many people, particularly senior executives, so nervous about the economy. Where is the anxiety from?
The anxiety is real, palpable and growing. A recent poll says that nearly half of all Canadians are more concerned about the economy than any other issue — 10 per cent more than at the end of last year.
Why so much anxiety? It’s true that global politics do not appear to be particularly stable right now, and there are always ups and downs in the markets, but most analysts say that overall, the Canadian and much of the world economy is pretty strong. As someone who works closely with CEOs and high-performing professionals, I think I might have an answer to what’s on peoples’ minds.
I think a lot of the anxiety is because people now have wider access to information, but it’s harder and harder to process what they hear without objective, outside help. At one time, people judged their economic security by what was happening in their community. Things may have seemed fine on the surface, but if the local firm laid off one of their neighbours, they got anxious. That was their network. Now, it’s a much wider network, including our social network. If one of our Facebook friends is laid off — even someone we barely know — we feel like it’s happening at home.
Blue-collar worker are now, sadly, used to the ebbs and flows of good and bad times. For CEOs and other high-performing professionals whose job is to assess risk, these new networks, arguably, make matters worse.
Professionals usually live with the possibility that they could be reorganized or downsized at a whim. But that anxiety is amplified right now, thanks to political uncertainty in the United States, fluctuating commodity prices, climate change and lots of other factors outside most peoples’ control. Often, what modern business leaders really need is an outside perspective — a “CEO whisperer” if you will. An experienced, professional version of someone who does not have a direct stake in every situation but can listen and give good advice.
A growing number of professional CEO whisperers provide this kind of advice. In some cases, they are former business or political leaders who have stepped off the corporate ladder. Others are employment counsellors. When they do their jobs well, they provide objective opinions that can help people make better decisions when they’re worried about their jobs or what comes next.
The best professional advisors all share similar characteristics:
- They use data — Good information is the best remedy for anxiety based on feelings or hunches. Look for an adviser who can analyze real risks and opportunities using data, not speculation based on rumours or vague impressions.
- They can say no — Business leaders often find it hard to let go of the pet project that simply isn’t working, or to tell an underperforming unit that it’s time to pack it in. On the other side, it’s hard for employees, friends or colleagues to give their best advice to the CEO when their livelihood or relationship depends on the boss’ favour. Find someone on the outside who can look in, tell you when you’re wrong and has nothing to lose by doing so.
- They can say yes — Good ideas aren’t set in stone. Leaders sometimes need to test and validate their ideas in a safe place. They can benefit from talking to someone who doesn’t have a stake in a new idea, yet can listen and encourage. The best professional advisers act as a sounding board letting leaders bounce ideas around and raise concepts that may come out of left field, yet might work.
- They identify strengths — Often, business leaders under pressure fixate on their weaknesses, while their strengths are hiding in plain sight. A good adviser can help leaders identify the best parts of their leadership style — what gets people to listen — and encourage them to develop these.
- They give perspective — I often remind my own clients to stay grounded. I remind them that, in the end, what brings us security is not the precarious world of work, but our families, friends and community. What gives us strength are the people we love.
Perhaps it sounds trite or ironic, but sometimes the best person to help a CEO make better decisions in anxious times is someone who can objectively and dispassionately listen and be a CEO whisperer.
If you are looking for a CEO Whisperer, contact me to find out how I can be that person.
