Perspectives

Interviewing ·

The interviewing process–some tips to speed it up

When I receive a mandate for a search, most clients tell me it is urgent, to be completed by a certain [short] time and that the new hire needs to on board very soon. Few companies adhere to that time frame, but those that do make my job easier, although it requires much more speed–and…

General ·

Feedback and Lucy Kellaway

In her latest Financial Times column, Lucy Kellaway humourously writes about “feedback”, (Why Feedback Forms Leave Me Fed Up, FT 8 March) and how at dinners, a well known CEO would critique his dinner partners at the end of the evening—from conversation content, delivery to eye contact—as constructive criticism. Kellaway went on to say: When…

Coaching ·

Why a boss cannot coach (Part II)

How often do I hear a Senior manager proudly tell me how much time they spend with their key staff; after work for drinks, opening a bottle of wine in the office and putting their feet up to talk, Friday afternoon pizzas, inviting them over to barbeque or swim, knowing their families, and the importance…

Coaching ·

Why a boss cannot coach (Part I)

I hear senior management (whether CEOs, MDs, Directors, take your pick of title) increasingly say they’re interested in coaching their key people, and more books (and speakers) trying to show how the boss can act as Chief Coach. It cannot be done, and the sooner a boss-or a subordinate-realises that, all the better for everyone.…

Communication ·

Keep the tongue in check

Over the weekend my daughter was out with her friends. She needed to be back at a certain time, and as it got later, I got irritated, thinking what I was going to say to her when she called. In passing (as my ire grew), I mentioned to my son that if she didn’t get…

General ·

Words to work with in 2010

Do what you have to do first, and then do what you like to do. Adjust your goals to fit your talents and limitations so that reduced goals don’t frustrate you. Know how to proportion the means to an end, so that you don’t fire a cannon to kill a caterpillar, or wave a rod…

Corporate culture ·

Never assume what your boss thinks

People who spend their time working—and working hard—often make an assumption that their boss knows how hard they work. It is not necessarily true, and speaks of a juvenescence for those who have not learned how to promote themselves. Your boss has a few hundred things to do, and it is not likely he or…

Corporate culture ·

Careers finished by a few sentences

I had dinner recently with the SVP of Asia for a US-based company. During the course of the evening, he talked about many things, and I’m sure didn’t realise what he was saying was the essence of the politics of business. He referred to one person that had been at the company many years, recently…

General ·

HR and headhunters–an uneasy alliance

When people talk about headhunters, you often hear them referred to in rather snippy tones “a necessary evil”, “snake-oil salesmen”, “bucketshops”, “in it for the money but no idea what they’re doing”, “a waste of time”. At the same time, HR still has that awful moniker of Human Remains, and remarks about HR are as…

Coaching ·

Wound-up exec

Phone call yesterday, senior software exec who just got a promotion and pay raise to run an AP sales division, doing what he likes to do..The promotion came from his old boss in the US, new boss in Asia doesn’t seem as keen in letting him run the division, wants to get more involved with…