13 Signs of High Emotional Intelligence

Wonder what emotional intelligence looks like in everyday life? Here are 13 examples from an original article in Inc Magazine By Justin Bariso, Author, EQ Applied@JustinJBariso

In 1995, psychologist and science journalist Daniel Goleman published a book introducing most of the world to the nascent concept of emotional intelligence. The idea--that an ability to understand and manage emotions greatly increases our chances of success--quickly took off, and it went on to greatly influence the way people think about emotions and human behavior.

But what does emotional intelligence look like, as manifested in everyday life?

For the past two years, I've explored that question in researching my forthcoming book, EQ, Applied. In doing so, I've identified a number of actions that illustrate how emotional intelligence appears in the real world. 

Here are 13 of them:

1. You think about feelings.

Emotional intelligence begins with what is called self- and social awareness, the ability to recognize emotions (and their impact) in both yourself and others.

That awareness begins with reflection. You ask questions like:

• What are my emotional strengths? What are my weaknesses?

• How does my current mood affect my thoughts and decision making?

• What's going on under the surface that influences what others say or do?

Pondering questions like these yield valuable insights that can be used to your advantage.

2. You pause.

The pause is as simple as taking a moment to stop and think before you speak or act. (Easy in theory, difficult in practice.) This can help save you from embarrassing moments or from making commitments too quickly. In other words, pausing helps you refrain from making a permanent decision based on a temporary emotion.

3. You strive to control your thoughts.

You don't have much control over the emotion you experience in a given moment. But you can control your reaction to those emotions--by focusing on your thoughts. (As it's been said: You can't prevent a bird from landing on your head, but you can keep it from building a nest.)

By striving to control your thoughts, you resist becoming a slave to your emotions, allowing yourself to live in a way that's in harmony with your goals and values.

4. You benefit from criticism.

Nobody enjoys negative feedback. But you know that criticism is a chance to learn, even if it's not delivered in the best way. And even when it's unfounded, it gives you a window into how others think.  When you receive negative feedback, you keep your emotions in check and ask yourself: How can this make me better?

5. You show authenticity.

Authenticity doesn't mean sharing everything about yourself, to everyone, all of the time. It does mean saying what you mean, meaning what you say, and sticking to your values and principles above all else. You know not everyone will appreciate your sharing your thoughts and feelings. But the ones who matter will.

6. You demonstrate empathy.

The ability to show empathy, which includes understanding others' thoughts and feelings, helps you connect with others. Instead of judging or labeling others, you work hard to see things through their eyes. Empathy doesn't necessarily mean agreeing with another person's point of view. Rather, it's about striving to understand--which allows you to build deeper, more connected relationships.

7. You praise others.

All humans crave acknowledgement and appreciation. When you commend others, you satisfy that craving and build trust in the process. This all begins when you focus on the good in others. Then, by sharing specifically what you appreciate, you inspire them to be the best version of themselves.

8. You give helpful feedback.

Negative feedback has great potential to hurt the feelings of others. Realizing this, you reframe criticism as constructive feedback, so the recipient sees it as helpful instead of harmful.

9. You apologize.

It takes strength and courage to be able to say you're sorry. But doing so demonstrates humility, a quality that will naturally draw others to you.

Emotional intelligence helps you realize that apologizing doesn't always mean you're wrong. It does mean valuing your relationship more than your ego.

10. You forgive and forget.

Hanging on to resentment is like leaving a knife inside a wound. While the offending party moves on with their life, you never give yourself the chance to heal.

When you forgive and forget, you prevent others from holding your emotions hostage--allowing you to move forward.

11. You keep your commitments.

It's common nowadays for people to break an agreement or commitment when they feel like it. Of course, bailing on an evening of Netflix with a friend will cause less harm than breaking a promise to your child or missing a major business deadline.

But when you make a habit of keeping your word--in things big and small--you develop a strong reputation for reliability and trustworthiness.

12. You help others.

One of the greatest ways to positively impact the emotions of others is to help them.

Most people don't really care where you graduated from, or even about your previous accomplishments. But what about the hours you're willing to take out of your schedule to listen or help out? Your readiness to get down in the trenches and work alongside them?

Actions like these build trust and inspire others to follow your lead when it counts.

13. You protect yourself from emotional sabotage.

You realize that emotional intelligence also has a dark side--such as when individuals attempt to manipulate others' emotions to promote a personal agenda or for some other selfish cause.

And that's why you continue to sharpen your own emotional intelligence--to protect yourself when they do.

Justin Bariso, founder of the consulting firm Insight, explains why the comedian Craig Ferguson has some advice for dealing with emotional issues.

COPYRIGHT 2020 MANSUETO VENTURES

Leading Without Authority

3 Crucial Skills for Leading Without Authority

Carol Kinsey Goman, Forbes Magazine Contributor

Posted MAY 21, 2017 www.forbes.com

With flatter management structures, increased outsourcing, the move toward collaborative cultures, and the ongoing formation of cross-functional teams, the criterion for the job of leader is changing. More and more people are assigned to leadership roles in which they have no positional authority.

The goal of leadership without authority is to get others to willingly cooperate and engage, rather than following directives because you’re the boss.

And, by the way, if you are the boss, the rules have changed for you too. As one Silicon Valley CEO told me: “Carol, there is absolutely nothing wrong with command and control leadership. It’s simply irrelevant in the 21st century.”

In contrast to control-minded leaders of the past, today’s most effective leaders are exercising a different kind of power. This new style leadership is a blending of personal and interpersonal skills that form the basis of a leader’s ability to impact, influence, and inspire others. Here are three of those skills:

1. Empathetic listening

Development Dimensions International has studied leadership for 46 years. In their latest research with over 15,000 leaders from more than 300 organizations across 20 industries in 18 countries, DDI looked at leaders’ conversational skills that had the highest impact on overall performance. At the very top of the list was empathy – specifically, the ability to listen and respond empathetically.

In his book, On Becoming a Person, psychologist Carl Rogers wrote, "Real communication occurs when we listen with understanding - to see the idea and attitude from the other person's point of view, to sense how it feels to them, to achieve their frame of reference in regard to the thing they are talking about."

A further discovery in the DDI report was that only four out of ten leaders in their global study were proficient or strong in empathy. And the rate may be even lower in the newest generation of leaders. A study by the University of Michigan found that the empathy levels of college students have been declining over the past 30 years – with an especially steep drop in the past ten years. As a leader, if you already rank high in empathy, you gain a genuine professional advantage. If not, empathetic listening is a skill worth developing.

2. Warm body language

There are two sets of body language cues that people look for in leaders. One set projects warmth and caring and the other signals power and status. Both are necessary for leaders today and both will be critical to the success of leaders in the future. But in your role as Chief Influencer, the “warmer side” of nonverbal communication (which has been undervalued and underutilized by leaders more concerned with projecting strength, status, and authority), becomes central to creating the most productive workforce relationships.

The body language of inclusion and warmth includes positive eye contact, genuine smiles, and open postures in which legs are uncrossed, and arms are held away from your body, with palms exposed or resting comfortably on the desk or conference table.

Mirroring is another nonverbal sign of warmth. You may not realize it, but when you are dealing with people you like or agree with, you’ll automatically begin to match their stance, arm positions and facial expressions. It’s a way of signalling that you are connected and engaged.

Facing people directly when they’re talking is also crucial. It shows that you are totally focused on them. Even rotating your shoulders a quarter turn away signals a lack of interest and makes the other person feel as if their opinions are being discounted. Of course, giving others your complete attention when they are speaking is one of the warmest, most inclusive signals you can send.

3. Positive emotions

A business simulation experiment at Yale University gave two groups of people the assignment of deciding how much of a bonus to give each employee from a set fund of money. Each person in the group was to get as large a bonus as possible for certain employees, while being fair to the entire employee population.

In one group, the conflicting agendas led to stress and tension, while in the second group, everyone ended up feeling good about the result. The difference was in the “plants” — actors who had been secretly assigned to each group. In the first group, the actor was negative and downbeat — and in the second, positive and upbeat. The emotional tone of the meetings followed the lead of each actor — although none of the group members understood why his or her feelings had shifted.

Positive and negative emotions are highly infectious, and instantaneously “catching” them is a universal human phenomenon. In a study at the University of Tubingen in Germany, people were shown photos of happy or sad faces on a computer then asked questions to gauge their emotional reactions. Subjects reported corresponding emotions to the photos – even when the pictures lasted only fractions of a second.

In business, however, the power of emotion is often discounted. We tend to believe that people think logically and act rationally. Steeped in this belief, leaders quantify everything they can in order to present information in ways that will help team members make objective decisions.

But according to neurologist and author Antonio Damasio, the center of our conscious thought (the prefrontal cortex) is so tightly connected to the emotion-generating amygdala, that no one makes decisions based on pure logic. Damasio’s research makes it clear that logical reasoning is usually no more than a way to justify emotional choices.

Think of it this way: We are all part of an emotional chain-reaction effect. As a leader without authority, you can influence and inspire your team by understanding that emotions drive performance. Worry, stress, and fear decrease physical and mental energy and impair mental agility. Positive emotions — optimism, enthusiasm, gratitude — increase energy, learning and motivation.

In reaction to changing realities, many business schools are revisiting their offerings to see if they still have relevance in the 21st century. Consider Harvard Business School, the blue-chip brand of all MBA programs, which used 2008 (its centennial year) to convene worldwide experts on business education and plot its directions for the next 100 years. The results: Deans and recruiters said that MBAs in general needed better communication skills, increased self-awareness and an enhanced capacity for introspection and empathy.

Sound familiar?

Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D. is an international keynote speaker and the author of The Silent Language of Leaders: How Body Language Can Help - or Hurt How You Lead.

A Culture of Trust

A Culture of Trust by Dawa Tarchin Phillips

You live in a time of important changes in leadership understanding, skill and capacity. Don’t just take my word for it.

In our ongoing work with individuals and organizations, a recurring phenomenon and differentiator in organizational health and resilience is the presence or absence of Trust. An intangible quality that can make or break a team, and that can single handedly sabotage your efforts at success.

Why is Trust an elephant in the room people struggle to talk about? Why does talking about Trust provoke such observed strong responses in leadership settings, anywhere from enthusiastic, silent nodding in the back of the room to a visible, physical cringe in the front row seats?

This article seeks to explore the topic of Trust, its power and potential, and its successful practice in greater detail; all within the context of your effective leadership.

Facing the reality of uncertainty and change

What immediately stands out to the careful observer is the obvious dichotomy between your general desire and need for Trust and the undeniable reality of uncertainty and change. If your world is inherently unpredictable and changing, if it provides constant challenge and carries varying degrees of danger and risk, what then is the intelligent and realistic approach to Trust? This is an important question to consider. If considered thoroughly, it can lead you to unleash your organization’s potential to great new heights.

Two approaches to Trust

There are two very different approaches to Trust: The general approach to Trust, the one observed most frequently in people and organizations when asked, is that Trust is earned. Trust is your reaction or response to the degree of safety and support perceived from and in the world around you. “Make it safe for me, and I will trust you.”

We call this common approach Trust as earned.

It is based on you having observed, often over a prolonged period of time, that the people and the conditions in your environment display a strong degree of predictability.

Although the most common, the problem with this approach to Trust is that it can easily lead to infinite regressions thereby stifling progress. Your environment, be it people or planet, is never quite safe and predictable enough to warrant your reaction or response of Trust as earned. And, once Trust is lost, it can seem impossible to re- establish unless people or environment undergo often-unrealistic transformation.

Since the perception of safety and predictability is the prerequisite for your reaction or response of Trust as earned, Trust levels remain low and the organization or the individual functions on a low risk/low reward setting, seeking mainly self-preservation through the act of ongoing self-protection. The access to the human potential is and remains restricted. An opportunity for advantage and organizational excellence is lost.

Let’s look at another, more desirable approach. An approach a lot more courageous and a lot more suitable for the reality of the world we live in today.

We call it Trust as an investment.

When you view Trust as an investment, as an inner resource you are free to cultivate consciously and in unlimited quantities if you so decide and choose, you are beginning to free Trust from its cognitive bias and emotional constraints.

The reality of uncertainty and change is not going away anytime soon. You can resolve to invest Trust because you understand and value its properties as a human quality in your life and in your organization.

Albert Einstein said, “The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.”

When you resolve to invest Trust you affirm the conviction that the universe is friendly. Not because it is safe, secure or predictable, but because it has endowed you with the inner resources to thrive in a risky and uncertain environment with composure and clarity.

Interesting things begin to happen

When you choose to invest Trust, interesting things begin to happen.

First, you begin to worry less. It is an old Himalayan saying that “if you can change something, no need to worry; if you cannot change something, no need to worry!” Worry, your general human response to uncertainty and change with a lack of Trust, comes at a cost. It consumes your inner resources and destabilizes your composure almost instantaneously. What you may not realize is that your worry is based on imagination. And usually, when you begin to worry, your initial internal monologue begins with “What if...?”

At Empowerment Holdings, we call this the “What if...?”-Red flag. Everything that comes after the “What if...?”-Statement is by nature pure imagination. For example, “What if I make a fool of myself?”, “What if I lose my credibility?”, “What if I lose my job!”

Although you are only imagining outcomes, it does not mean this type of thinking is without effect.

If what follows in your imagination is the repeated dwelling on the worst-case scenario, your body will exhibit the typical stress response. This means it will release adrenalin and cortisol in large quantities, restrict your blood flow, increase your blood pressure, increase your heart rate, slow down your digestion and reallocate resources to an anticipated fight or flight response. If allowed to continue daily and over prolonged periods of time, the costs of such worry and stress on individuals and organizations are estimated to be in the billions. Allowing your mind to dwell for prolonged periods of time on the imagination of the worst-case scenario, and that the universe might turn out to be hostile after all, has created a physical and psychological liability on your entire system.

There are options

Let’s examine the second scenario.

If after the “What if...?”-Red flag you actually choose to imagine things going well and working out to your and other’s ultimate benefit and satisfaction, your body will begin to relax and open up. You will begin to feel at ease in your skin and psyche and your physiology will function as normal, if not better.

It’s not that anything really changed. Uncertainty is still present. You do not yet know what will actually happen. But by choosing to invest Trust, and by cutting through the reactivity of the worrying mind, you have now reduced the cost on your body and mind, have increased your openness and relaxation, and have maintained access to your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual resources. If you can do this on an organizational scale, imagine the benefits and impact on productivity.

The benefits are multifold

If you choose to invest Trust in this way something else begins to happen: You will begin to feel less resentful.

As long as you choose to practice Trust as earned, merely as a reaction or response and not as an investment, you will resent others for not giving you the sense of certainty, predictability and control you crave. Failing to experience the openness, relaxation and resourcefulness you desire, you will blame people and your organization for your contracted state and the taxing experience of your continual stress and worry.

If you choose to invest Trust you will also begin to fear less. While risk is real, fear is a choice.

Fearlessness is the natural outcome of not allowing your mind to dwell on negative “What if...?” scenarios. And, a mind that is not dwelling on negative “What if...?” scenarios, will progressively give rise to confidence and resilience.

We are not suggesting here that it is not important to properly assess your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. That is important and you should do it with clarity and acuity, unflinchingly and without filter. But once you have done your assessment, it is done. When choosing where to dwell after your assessment, Trust - not mistrust, is the obvious choice. Because it increases your resilience, reduces your stress response and opens you up to the full access of your inner resources.

Once you begin to experience first hand the changes that occur from practicing Trust as an investment and “What if...?” as a red flag to be directed - not abdicated to, you will realize the power that is unleashed from making this small but vital change in your perspective and cognitive behavior. And like any good system, it too begins to build on itself. As you invest more Trust you begin to experience more Trust, as you begin to experience more Trust, you will have more Trust to invest. Sounds like something you know?

Well, to quote the admired and famed Einstein once more, “Compounding interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it... he who doesn’t... pays it.”

Just think what, applied to your investment of Trust into your life and organization, this little wonder of the world can do for your career, human resources and productivity. As an approach to leadership it remains cutting edge and we trust you will not let this chance pass you by.

© by Dawa Tarchin Phillips for Empowerment Holdings, LLC published on November 23, 2015

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/culture-trust-dawa-tarchin-phillips?trk=v-feed&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_content%3BLou2kRnIzDQvX9DfI8h4bA%3D%3D

5 Words and Phrases that can Transform your Work Life

A Stanford design and engineering professor says making simple changes to the words and phrases we use can empower us to achieve our goals.

BY MICHAEL GROTHAUS 03.02.16

Reporting for this story took a different turn from the beginning.

Usually when I reach out to experts I get enthusiastic replies. But that was not the case when I emailed Professor Bernard Roth, academic director and cofounder of Stanford University’s d.school. He said he would “not help” me on a story I wanted to write about some excellent achievement habits he has refined and taught for several decades, which he’s recently collected in a book called The Achievement Habit.

Roth wasn’t being rude or difficult, however. He was making a point to illustrate one of the principles he talks about in his book: how swapping simple words and phrases we are used to saying multiple times a day can reprogram the way we think about and view perceived obstacles that stand in the way of personal success.

“I am prepared to assist (NOT HELP) you in any way I can,” Roth wrote to me.

Roth might seem like an unlikely person to write a book about personal growth and the way language choices affect it. After all, he’s not a psychologist, nor a linguist. His background is in mechanical engineering and design. Yet after attending an Esalen Institute retreat with other Stanford faculty in the mid-1960s, Roth became fascinated with human potential movement therapies. He soon applied his engineering and design principles to them to create his own content and formats of the therapy that better fit classroom and professional training situations.

 “Over the years I kept slowly modifying the exercises and creating new versions based on what worked best with my students and workshop participants,” Roth says. “The book presents the material that has stood the test of time over several generations.”

One of his most prominent tips is word swapping. “Unfortunately, everyday speech is rife with disempowering language,” Roth says. “Even more harmful is how we use reasons to let ourselves maintain dysfunctional behaviors. The use of reasons to hide excuses makes positive behavioral changes very unlikely.”

The good news, Roth has found, is that by swapping simple words and phrases for others we can quickly—and permanently—produce positive behavioral changes. “People see the benefits immediately,” says Roth. “We do an exercise in class and almost everybody glimpses how defective their habitual speech patterns are. Then they use what they have learned for a week outside of class. Almost everybody comes back with amazing stories of how much better their lives have become.”

Here are five of the top words and phrases Roth recommends we swap out to get past the mental hurdles our everyday vocabulary choices put in our way.

INSTEAD OF “BUT” USE “AND”

“But” is probably the most limiting word in our vocabulary, Roth says in his book. “We often use ‘but’ in place of ‘and’,” writes Roth. “This substitution is so common that it sounds correct. Unfortunately it often has the effect of changing a neutral statement into a negative one.”

Roth gives the example of someone who is afraid of flying and has just gotten an amazing internship on the other side of the country. When deciding if they can take the internship they’ll examine the situation by saying, “I want this internship, but I’m afraid of flying.”

Roth says that their phrasing doesn’t represent the reality of the situation. The person both wants the internship and is also afraid of flying. The two aren’t connected. However, by mentally phrasing the situation by connecting the two truths with a “but,” the person is tricking themselves into believing that their amazing opportunity is a in fact a negative situation. The resulting conflict blocks them from moving forwards. That’s easy to change, however: Simply swap “but” for “and”.

“The use of ‘but’ closes off the conversation space, while ‘and’ opens it up.”

“The use of ‘but’ closes off the conversation space, while ‘and’ opens it up,” Roth writes. “When you open up the dialogue with ‘and I’m afraid of flying,’ your brain gets to consider how it can deal with both parts of the sentence. Maybe you’ll see a therapist about it. Maybe you’ll practice meditation.” No matter what, you’ll almost certainly find a way to take the internship.

INSTEAD OF SAYING “HAVE TO” SAY “WANT TO”

The next phrase to eliminate as much as possible on Roth’s list is “has/have to.” Like “but,” it is a phrase that sets up conflict in our minds. “Has/have to” also makes us believe that a situation has been forced upon us instead of willingly chosen by us. This is almost always a fallacy.

“What they do in their lives—even the things they find unpleasant—is in fact what they have chosen.”

Needing to complete work is one of the most common situations in which we say we “have to” do something. As an example, Roth writes about an engineering student who isn’t happy he needs to take a certain math course to complete his degree. By saying to himself that he “has to” take it, he sets the situation up as a burden in his mind. It’s true that he may not enjoy that particular course, but Roth says that by simply swapping out “has/have to” with “want to,” his mind will more readily drop his dread of the course, which will make it seem like less of a burden, and indeed, more of something to look forward to, because it brings him one step closer to becoming what he wants to be: an engineer.

“This exercise is very effective in getting people to realize that what they do in their lives—even the things they find unpleasant—is in fact what they have chosen,” Roth writes.

INSTEAD OF “CAN’T” USE “WON’T”

Another no-no word for Roth is “can’t.” He says that when we say we “can’t” do something, that is almost always not actually the case. An example of this is someone who says they “can’t swim.” Phrasing their ability–or lack thereof–to swim with a “can’t” enforces in their mind that it’s not possible for them.

“‘Can’t’ implies helplessness; ‘won’t’ signifies volition and choice.”

This, of course, isn’t true. Every human being can learn to swim. By simply swapping “can’t” for “won’t,” the person realizes that their inability to currently swim is a choice on their part, not a physical impossibility.

“The simple change of ‘can’t’ to ‘won’t’ is often empowering,” Roth writes. “‘Can’t’ implies helplessness; ‘won’t’ signifies volition and choice.”

INSTEAD OF SAYING “I’M AFRAID TO” SAY “I’D LIKE TO”

Another self-limiting phrase is “I’m afraid to.” “I’m afraid to” is about the most blocking phrase there is. It acknowledges the person’s fear instead of their desire. By saying to yourself, “I’m afraid to ask for a raise,” you set your mind up to consider what could go wrong if you do. Will the boss think I’m greedy? If I’m denied it, will it mean I’m not as good an employee as I think I am?

By simply phrasing your want as “I’d like to ask for a raise,” you are acknowledging your desire, and desire is usually associated with positive, pleasant thoughts. In this case, it’s what you could do with the extra income—take a vacation; do that kitchen renovation you’ve been wanting. Pleasant thoughts and the possibility of pleasant outcomes usually compel us to take action, and we can’t achieve our goals if we don’t take action.

Instead Of “Help” Use “Assist”

When Roth emailed me to tell me he wouldn’t help me with this article, and instead would “assist” me, he was trying to empower me. The word “help” is often associated with “helplessness” in our minds. Helplessness implies someone is incapable of achieving something without someone else stepping in to do it for them.

In the case of writing this article, Roth was right to tell me he would assist me. He realized something that my mind did not, which is that I could almost certainly write the article without his involvement. After all, I had access to his book and techniques and could have summarized them in the article without his input. And even with his involvement, the article couldn’t be written and filed with my editor without me–I was still a necessary part of the equation.

The point is that when we use the word “help,” we set our minds up to think we are helpless. However, when we swap “help” with “assist,” we set ourselves up to see that we are an important and capable part of the solution.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Grothaus is a novelist, freelance journalist, and former screenwriter represented worldwide by The Hanbury Literary Agency. His debut novel EPIPHANY JONES is out now from Orenda Books. https://www.fastcompany.com/3057149/5-words-and-phrases-that-can-transform-your-work-life

How to Spot the Leadership Potential in Millenials

William Vanderbloemen ,  Forbes Magazine Contributor Feb 22, 2017

I’ve said it dozens of times: millennials are some of the sharpest, hardest-working employees out there, and I’m proud that they comprise over half of my team at Vanderbloemen. They are our workforce’s next leaders – and many of them are already successful young leaders.

But not all millennials have leadership gifts. Or, I’ve found, some of them do possess strong leadership traits but are unaware of it.

I’m a big fan of hiring for potential, so how can employers spot leadership potential in younger candidates?

Here are several key attributes to look for when interviewing a millennial in order to discern their leadership potential.

1.       Preparation

Despite what some critics of millennials may say, in my experience, most millennials I’ve interviewed haven’t been sloppy or lazy. Those with real drive know that first impressions are just as telling as everyone says they are. A prepared, ambitious millennial candidate will do the research to know how they should dress for their interview with you – or they’ll ask you beforehand. Though they think differently than generations before them, many of them are neo-traditionalists, and they know to come to an interview prepared with questions and prior knowledge about your organization. A millennial with leadership potential will be well prepared for an interview.

2.       Social Awareness & EQ

Especially for leadership roles, it’s important to determine the social acumen and emotional intelligence of a candidate. Not all great leaders are extroverts, but millennials who are born leaders will exhibit confidence without being off-putting. They will be comfortable in their own skin without being too casual. They will be relational, able to easily converse with you. Being a good listener is also an important trait in a leader – does your candidate listen to understand or merely listen to spit out an answer? When you ask them about themselves or how they’ve handled conflict in past experiences, do they demonstrate self-awareness? Do they avoid playing the victim card?

I also recommend collaborative interviewing so multiple members of your team can assess EQ. When you get down to the final one or two candidates for a position, invite them to come to a work social event or a happy hour with members of different teams. Ask your team for input on their social awareness. Did they talk over everyone or were they genuinely interested in getting to know the people at the table? Soft skills like EQ are invaluable in a team member that is going to help drive your organization to its full potential.

1. Agility

The older I get, the more convinced I am that the key attribute of elite leaders and organizations is agility – the ability to pivot whenever needed or stretch when pulled. Luckily, this is a trait that many multi-tasking millennials already have a leg up on – but the true leaders in the bunch will possess it in boatloads. A great way to interview for agility and responsiveness is to give the candidate an assignment to do with a pretty quick turnaround time. You’ll easily see how much flexibility, responsiveness, and drive a potential leader has.

1. Transparency

This can be overlooked in an interview process, where both parties are putting their best foot forward. However, it’s essential to look for transparency and integrity in a millennial with leadership potential. Does the candidate demonstrate humility and honesty in their interview? Millennials are known to have shorter tenures in positions, so how do they talk about their job transitions? Look for their acceptance of personal responsibility. A great leader recognizes the need to be open and honest with their team, and likely won’t have trouble being that way in an interview. Keep in mind while you do your due diligence on a potential hire, if anything comes up that calls your millennial candidate’s integrity into question, they probably aren’t cut out to be a leader.

1. Hunger

In many of my interviews with my millennial team members, I sensed one common trait: hunger. My friend Brad Lomenick's book H3 Leadership marks hunger as one of the key components of great leaders. Every millennial I've hired was hungry to work on something that mattered to them. They wanted to make a difference. They had passion and drive. Those who say millennials are unmotivated simply don’t know what motivates millennials. Millennials want to be given opportunities to lead and to make an impact in their job and in the world, which is why many of them are looking for jobs with a cause. Every great leader has hunger and drive, so if you’re interviewing a millennial who is expressing a lot of passion and determination, chances are, you’ve got a future leader on your hands.

Keep in mind that while an interview can greatly aid in assessing leadership potential, it should not be the only assessment tool you use. Reference and background checks, spouse interviews, and personality assessments can all be employed to help create the larger picture of a millennial candidate.

Don’t miss out on the leadership potential of this bright generation. They have so much to offer.

The #1 Reason You Are Not as Successful as you Should Be

Mar 30, 2016

We all dreamed of becoming successful grown-ups when we were kids. Right? I wanted to save people from burning buildings or maybe play first base for the Dodgers. In our minds, nothing could hold us back from being truly great.

Just as we were building towering skyscrapers out of blocks and pondering our possible futures, we were also learning important lessons like hard work, perseverance, and respect – that would help lay the groundwork for our success.

But nobody settles into their career without a mishap or two along the way, and some travel a much rougher road to truly get going. We could all stand to improve in certain areas, to be sure.

But there is one lesson in particular that can hold a person back from career success if they fail to master it: Accepting responsibility.

Kids who have trouble with this might conjure up excuses, point fingers at others, or just shrug and say “I dunno.” Adults might say: “There is no way we could have seen this problem coming!” But it is really the same thing, different day.

If taking responsibility for your actions is a challenge for you, maybe no one ever held you accountable or you learned to fear failure or rejection from others. It’s easy to do and understandable to want to avoid disappointing others. But whatever those reasons may be, do not let them stop you from being as successful as you should be right now.

Until you start accepting responsibility, you will not:

Be genuine

As long as you keep on dreaming up elaborate excuses to duck out of responsibility, you are not being honest with yourself or anyone else — and they know it. This results in deep self-denial and shallow relationships with others, who learn to be skeptical of your creative explanations and grow tired of your lack of transparency.

Keep growing

Becoming responsible is a critical milestone for anyone to reach. But you may be stuck in a negative cycle that holds you back from learning from your mistakes and building up your confidence. Dodging responsibility may keep you feeling safe, but it also keeps you small and limits your potential.

Gain strength

You may be trapped in the false thinking that you are helpless and that circumstances are always beyond your control. This lie keeps you from stepping out and accepting new challenges when they come along, and gaining strength from those experiences, whether they are positive or negative.

Earn trust

You really want others to trust you, and you often say, “Trust me!” But trust is carefully built, over time and with consistency of action. Before you can ever hope to win anyone’s trust, they must first witness you taking ownership of your actions and keeping your word at all times, no matter the personal cost to you.

Lead others

While you may have a position of leadership, you will not be able to lead others effectively if your actions do not line up with your words. Your team will not be inspired to follow you if they cannot depend on you to stand up for them or take the fall if necessary. And you wind up shortchanging them as well as yourself.

No matter your age, it takes maturity and courage to say “mea culpa.”

So, if accepting responsibility is something that you need to work on, accept the challenge. Start being entirely truthful with yourself and others. Take on your fears and own up to your mistakes. As your own self-respect begins to grow, others will begin to see there is much more to you than they ever realized.

If you can do that, you can jumpstart the process of becoming that person you always dreamed of becoming.

What else have you seen hold people back from success?

_______________________________________________________

ABOUT BRIAN AND AHA!

Brian seeks business and wilderness adventure. He has been the founder or early employee of six cloud-based software companies and is the CEO of Aha! -- the world's #1 product roadmap software. His last two companies were acquired by Aruba Networks [ARUN] and Citrix [CTXS].

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/1-reason-you-successful-should-brian-de-haaff  retrieved 31.03.2016

10 Workplace Trends For 2015

Source: Dan Schawbel from Forbes

1. Companies hiring Generation Z for internships.

While many companies are still trying to understand and connect with Gen Y (or millennials), some companies are going to be heavily invested in the upcoming generation, Gen Z. Gen Z’s, born between 1994 and 2010, will become a major target for companies looking to recruit interns next year. The oldest Gen Z will be a senior in college in 2015. In addition, more companies are going to be recruiting high school students for their internship programs, including Deloitte, Microsoft, Rackspace and Lockheed Martin. In a study earlier this year, we found that half of employers are either currently accepting applications from high school students for internships or plan to this year. Companies like Facebook, LinkedIn and VMware are already paying high school students thousands of dollars to be interns and next year more companies will jump on board. This is happening for two major reasons: 1) companies are trying to close the skills gap (STEM) 2) companies are desperately trying to compete for the very best talent so they have to build brand awareness early and that means high school.

2. More millennials are taking leadership roles.

A few years ago, PayScale.com and my company found that nearly 13% of all millennials in America were managers already. That number is expected to grow in 2015 as millennials become the largest percentage of the workforce for the very first time. In a new study between my company and Elance oDesk, we found that 27% of millennials are already managers, 5% are senior management and 2% are executives. In 10 years, 47% want to be managers or senior managers, 7% want to be executives and 15% want to be business owners. Ernst & Young has also helped identify this trend by reviewing their own workforce composition and finding that 59% of their managers are already millennials and 18% are senior managers. 90% of all millennials who are managers took their role in the past five years. In another study by CareerBuilder, they found that 38% of the workforce is already managed by millennials and that’s already caused a few problems including favoritism towards other millennials and them thinking they know more than older workers. The problem these new managers are having is that they are unprepared for the positions. They were never trained on how to be good managers and are being pushed into these roles out of necessity – companies are losing older workers and positions are opening up fast.

3. Honesty becomes a revered leadership trait.

Companies are going to start embracing transparency more next year as younger generations are demanding it. Leaders won’t just have to be good at inspiring and educating, they will have to be able to instill trust through honesty. In a recent study, we found that 52% of Gen Z’s and Gen Y’s state that honesty is the most important quality for being a good leader. One companies that has exhibited the art of transparency is Whole Foods. Their company policy is that all employees can easily look up salary or bonus data from the previous year. It’s only natural that people would want to work under leaders who are open about what the company is doing, where it’s heading in the future and give honest feedback regularly. Social media is continuing to push companies to be more open and for leaders to share more of their activities on a daily basis.

4. The skills gap continues to widen. 

If you ask any HR executive what their biggest challenges are, the skills gap is typically unanimously noted. I’ve been paying close attention to this trend over the past few years and the gap is actually widening instead of closing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that there were 4.7 million job openings in June and more than half of employers say that they can’t find qualified candidates. This issue will progress until the college curriculum aligns with the current job marketplace. This year, we found that only 2% of companies are recruiting liberal arts majors but schools still offer those degrees. Companies need to start working with colleges so that students get the necessary skills to fill the gap.

5. The continuous job search picks up.

Companies are going to have to deal with even more retention issues next year as job hopping picks up. Employees are undergoing a continuous job search job and are never settling. This is happening because technology has enabled people to easily find new jobs and for recruiters to steal talent in numbers. 86% of employees are already looking for work outside their current occupations and nearly one third of employers expert workers to job hop. The only thing that companies can do to increase retention rates is by creating a superior work culture where employees have friends, are engaged in their work and get perks.

6. Mobile hiring and the mobile job search explode.

Next year there will be an even greater emphasis on mobile recruiting. 83% of job seekers currently use smartphones to search for job openings yet only 20%of the Fortune 500 companies have a mobile friendly career site. 45% of active candidates have applied to a job on their mobile device. Companies are going to have to start optimizing their websites and even creating mobile applications in order to appeal to the on the go job seeker. With more people constantly moving around, taking their work with them, companies need to be able to promote opportunities where they are at all times.

7. Social media posts used to attract and retain talent.

We will start seeing more social media updates, and blog posts, from companies in 2015. In order to stand out as an employer, companies will need to start posting more work culture related posts and leveraging their employees to share them. 58% of people are more likely to want to work at a company if they are using social media and over 20% are more likely to stay at their companies if they are using social media. People want to work for interesting companies and when they see social media posts, it gives them a better sense of what they are about. They are sick of seeing press releases and corporate websites and want something that is more “real”.

8. Succession planning becomes a top priority.

There is no doubt that succession planning is going to be a major concern for companies starting next year as more boomers start to retire. One of the ways that companies are handling succession planning is to keep some workers on the payroll. About 65% of workers plan to work for pay in retirement. You will start to see companies hold onto their older workers in order to transfer their knowledge to younger ones. Many CEOs are going to be retiring this fall too, including Deloitte’s, Molson Coors and Ford’s Mulally retired earlier this year.

9. Women continue to seize power positions in the workplace. 

There’s been a lot of chatter about women in the workplace over the past few years and that conversation isn’t going to die out in 2015, it will accelerate. As more millennials occupy positions in the workplace, the wage gap will start to close. A study by Pew Research shows that millennial women are now earning 93 cents for every dollar earned by men. New research also shows that the top financially successful companies have 37% of their leaders as women and 12% are high-potential women. With trends such as couples not having children, delayed adulthood, and more women attending college, there’s no doubt that we will see more female leaders.

10. More people stepping out of traditional career paths.

Every year we are going to see even more freelancers, both out of choice and out of necessity. Companies are looking to hire more temp workers and consultants because it’s cheaper and they don’t have to pay them benefits. Also, freelancing is seen as a more legitimate and obtainable career path these days due the Internet and the accessibility it’s given people. A recent study by Elance-oDesk shows that 53 million Americans are now freelancers, which is 34% of the American workforce. 69% of them say that technology is making it easier to find freelance work, and since technology is always improving, these numbers are going to grow year over year.

Link to original article

The State-of-the-Art in Return on Investment (ROI) in Coaching

Source: Rey Carr from library of Professional coaching

 

Studies Reveal Coaching Pays Off

Return on investment studies are often used to justify the business case
for coaching interventions. Here’s a summary of what’s really known about ROI.

Return on investment or “ROI” is often considered a “bottom-line” concern when it comes to business coaching. Sometimes known as “coaching effectiveness,” ROI is often discussed as if it is the key metric to determine value, impact, or effectiveness of coaching. ROI typically measures the impact on the target group (clients) and the organization (stakeholders, colleagues, productivity, and other factors). It is often used as a way of measuring total benefits rather than just the benefit to the direct recipient of coaching (the client).

Regardless of the importance placed on ROI, many researchers have noted how infrequently it is actually used in a business setting. Coaching experts believe this lack of attention to ROI stems from many

factors including (1) difficulty of measuring more intangible outcomes; (2) reluctance to quantify an essentially qualitative interaction; (3) a strong reliance on verbally reported outcomes, based on the belief system of clients that a significant change has taken place and therefore additional metrics are not necessary; and (4) reluctance to accept ROI as a valid construct, and instead proposing alternative metrics such as a learning contract or a return on value (ROV) calculation.

An additional factor that may reduce the motivation for calculating ROI for coaching in business is the availability of existing ROI studies. A few pioneering studies, known as the “MetrixGlobal” and “Manchester” studies, quoted by literally hundreds of sources, have been used extensively to illustrate the benefits of business coaching in general. The results of these often quoted studies have been generalized to all businesses that use coaches; consequently, very few individual practitioners or businesses may believe there is a need for further documentation of ROI within their particular organization.

The typical formula for calculating ROI is based on (1) a calculation in dollars of the

cost of a coaching intervention; (2) subtracted from a calculation in dollars of the benefits achieved; (3) with the resulting amount multiplied by 100; and (4) that total divided by the calculation of the cost of the coaching intervention. The resulting calculation is expressed as a percentage.

Additional Resources on Coaching ROI

In the resources that follow we have identified the best websites, articles, and books (or book chapters) that discuss coaching’s return on investment. We also include, where possible, links to the original studies or sources, including the most often cited references on ROI.

This list was updated in 2011, and the astute reader may recognize that few references appear current and are often based on the “classic” studies reported almost 10 years ago. This gap may reflect the idea expressed above of a waning attention to ROI. However, it may also reflect the fact that many individual practitioners have developed their own method for demonstrating ROI, and have placed the information on their own websites.

These more individualized approaches to ROI typically use client testimonials, descriptions of outcomes of their particular coaching intervention, or other self-developed metrics. In addition, with the extensive number of books on coaching or executive or business coaching that have been published in the last 10 years, many authors have commented on ROI within their own publications rather than publishing independent articles about ROI.

he sources that appear in this list are meant to help coaches and others (1) develop a general understanding of ROI concepts and issues; (2) gain familiarity with the most popular or most frequently quoted studies; and (3) save time seeking out the best of the best as well as the most up-to-date information on coaching ROI

Books or Book Chapters on Coaching ROI

Anderson, D. and Anderson, M. (2004). Coaching that counts: Harnessing the power of leadership coaching to deliver strategic value. Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann.

This book, authored by a husband and wife team, answers three of the big questions now being asked about leadership coaching: (1) What do leaders experience through the process of coaching? (2) What needs to be done to manage coaching as a strategic initiative? and (3) How does coaching add value for individuals and organizations?

Merrill Anderson, internationally recognised as the leading evaluator of corporate coaching initiatives, and Dianna Anderson, a Master Certified Coach, build on their collective years of experience, insight and research to provide a practical, user-friendly exploration of leadership coaching. The first section of their book presents an empirically-based client- centred model of coaching that clearly reveals what coaches and their clients need to do to achieve transformational change.

The fact that this model is empirically- based is important, because it has face validity and resonates with the reader’s

experience. The model reveals the underlying dynamics that make leadership coaching such a powerful development tool, including the process of translating ever deepening insight into meaningful action.

The second section speaks to those who manage large scale coaching initiatives. In this section the authors clearly demonstrate the steps that need to be taken to ensure that coaching programs deliver strategic value. In the third section the authors address the value that coaching delivers to the bottom-line. They provide practical, real-world tools and methods that enable the reader to demonstrate the ROI of a coaching initiative.

The authors also provide a powerful business case for leadership coaching, based on the latest ROI studies of coaching that the authors have conducted. (This summary is adapted with permission from the February, 2005 issue of Linkage Incorporated’s Link & Learn. (This book can be purchased from Amazon.com, or Amazon.ca, or Amazon.co.uk)

Homan, M., and Miller, L.J. (2008). Coaching in organizations: Best coaching practices from The Ken Blanchard Companies. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.

Written by two master certified business coaches and leaders in the business coaching eld, the book examines the history of and trends in coaching, provides details on how to establish a coach-friendly work environment, analyzes coaching process, and reviews the advantages of both internal and external coaching assignments.

Chapter Four of this book provides an overview of different ways of measuring ROI. The authors understand ROI as a way to learn whether coaching and the development of people on a deep personal level is a best use of investment dollars. They reinforce the idea that ROI must begin with the clarity and specificity of goals; in other words, ROI must “start with the end in sight.” In addition to providing ideas about alternatives to ROI, the authors also show how to calculate ROI. (This book can be purchased through Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, or Amazon.co.uk)

Morgan, H., Harkins, P., and Goldsmith, M. (Eds.). (2003). Profiles in Coaching: The 2004 Handbook of Best Practices in Leadership Coaching. Burlington, MA: Linkage, Inc.

The content of this book is the result of interviews with 50 thought leaders and well-known coaching practitioners who responded to questions such as “What is your philosophy of coaching?” “What is your approach?” “What capabilities make you successful?” and “What type of a client makes the coaching engagement work?”

Analysis of their responses provides a state- of-the-art summary of where coaching is today, including how to select the right coach and maximise the impact of the coaching engagement; five distinct categories of business-oriented coaching currently used by senior leaders and top organisations; case studies of best practice organisations developing internal coaching or leader-as-coach capabilities; research on the ROI of coaching debate; and checklists, assessments, tips, and tools.

For those that responded to the initial Linkage survey that preceded the book, the

results from the survey are described and analyzed in Chapter 9 of this book. (Available from used book sellers via Amazon.com)

Phillips, J.J., and Phillips, P.P. (2010). Measuring the success of coaching in organizations.

Details about this book from two experts in ROI are not yet available but should appear soon on their ROI Institute website.

Websites Featuring Coaching ROI

Many websites mention coaching ROI as a way of promoting their own coaching services. The four listed in this section are more focused on providing illumination of the ROI concept and general information about ROI.

1. Performance Mastery. Compiled by Dan Johnson, this site includes brief summaries of the “classic studies” such as Manchester and Metrix Global LLC, as well as information about coaching and sales; coaching combined with training; and the value of coaching at work.

2. Graduate School of Master Coaches. This site provides a definition of ROI along with a few examples and case studies.

3. Facilitator. Simplies many different formulas for ROI and translates them into useful tools and techniques for coaches, trainers, and peer and mentor program leaders.

4. Research Portal of The International Coach Federation (ICF). A compilation of articles from sources other than the ICF.

The Classic ROI Studies

The two most cited studies, neither of which was included in a peer-reviewed publication, and often referred to as “pioneering” articles on coaching ROI are:

Anderson, M.C. (2001). Executive briefing: Case study on the return on investment of executive coaching (Known as “The MetrixGlobal study”). (Retrieved November 6, 2010

from Wendy Hearn Coaching).

This study was designed for a Fortune 500 rm and a coaching group to determine the business benefits and return on investment of coaching. Thirty of forty-three leadership development executives within the firm returned a two-part questionnaire (one part conducted by e-mail and the second part conducted via telephone).

Overall results revealed that coaching had a significant to very significant benefit on nine business measures. Although specifics are not mentioned, the study author concludes that coaching produced a 529 percent return on investment and significant intangible benefits. When employee retention was included as a benefit overall ROI increased to 788 percent.

McGovern, J., Lindemann, M., Vergara, M., Murphy, S., Barber, L., and Warrenfeltz, R. (2001). Maximizing the impact of executive coaching: Behavioral change, organizational outcomes, and return on investment. The Manchester Review, 6, 1, 1-9. (Known as “The Manchester Study”). (Retrieved November 6, 2010 as a PDF from the ICF)

This study revealed strong evidence of the effectiveness of executive coaching, demonstrated across all five levels of evaluation, beginning with participants’ reactions: 86 percent of participants and 74 percent of stakeholders were “very satisfied” or “extremely satisfied.”

Seventy-three percent of participants considered that they had achieved their goals “very effectively” or “extremely effectively,” as did 54 percent of stakeholders.There were only 12 cases where participants reported not sustaining at least one of their developmental priorities. Relationships improved by 77 percent; teamwork improved by 67 percent; job satisfaction went up by 61 percent; productivity improved by 54 percent; and quality improved by 48 percent.

Return on investment showed a value of $100,000 for the sample, or 5.7 times the initial estimate. Some estimates were as

high as $1 million, $5 million, or even $25 million. The authors caution to select coaches with care, provide strong organizational support, and measure and communicate the impact to reproduce similar results in other organizations.

Best Articles about Coaching ROI

With a Google search yielding more than 5.5 million hits on the term “coaching roi” it’s a daunting task to select the best articles or even to know which ones can be trusted. In addition, most coaches use the term ROI on their websites to promote their own coaching services or products. There is nothing inherently wrong with this type of marketing, and in many cases their explanations and examples of ROI can be instructive and educational.

We’ve selected articles (and listed them in alphabetical order by author) based on the following six criteria (1)the credibility of the author and source; (2) accessibility to the article; (3) the quality of the writing; (4) the emphasis on the detailing the concept of ROI and the de-emphasis on promoting self- interest; (5) the willingness of the author to identify potential problems or difficulties associated with ROI; and (6) the degree to

which the author proposes innovative solutions or alternatives to ROI.

We’ve included brief annotations for most of the articles listed to provide more of a summary of what is included in the article. For those articles without annotation, we thought that the title was sufficient to explain the content.

Battley, S. (u.d.). Coaching ROI: ‘Wow’ your clients with real results. Management Consulting News. (Retrieved November 6, 2010

from www.managementconsultingnews.co m/articles/battley_coaching_roi.php)

Reinforces the importance of using ROI to make a business case for coaching and provides a few ideas on what elements in a coaching interaction for ROI.

Benedict, S.L. (April/May, 2005). Wellness coaching: A life coach’s collaborative approach to integrative healthcare. Integrative Medicine: A Clinician’s Journal, 4, 2.

Personal interviews with leading professional coaches and allied healthcare organizations led the author to conclude that a consensus has been reached showing coaching to be an ongoing relationship that focuses on

clients taking forward action toward realizing their visions, goals, and desires.

Interviews with wellness coaches and quantitative outcome studies clearly show increased return on investment (ROI) using coaching, as well as improved wellness. This return was especially present for weight loss and cardiac risk reduction. The author believes that the benefits of life/wellness coaching are being increasingly recognised throughout the US healthcare system, particularly within complementary and alternative medicine and integrative practices. Conventional practitioners are still uncertain about what coaching is and where it might fit within their profession.

The author calls for more research and outcome studies to further validate the benefits of coaching to the healthcare system, and states that a more health- conscious and vocal public will lead to a wider use of coaching in the healthcare profession.

Bolch, M. (May, 2001). Proactive coaching. Training, 38, 5, 58+.

The author provides examples of how coaching has become welcomed in the world of business executives. Rather than being seen as a corrective measure for people in trouble, coaching is perceived

as a way to develop potential, build a team atmosphere, re-start a stalled career, help people with blind spots, and inspire company loyalty.

The author suggests that most coaches who are successful provide a personal touch, that in addition to email or phone contact includes face-to-face contact. While fees vary widely, hourly rates of $200(US) to $500(US) are common and most experienced coaches charge a day rate of $2500(US) to $3500(US).

Two sidebars included with the article focus on how coaching provided a return on investment (ROI) and what to look for when searching for a top coach (integrity, t and form, training, relevant experience, individual vs. group practice, references, measuring progress, and cost). The author also suggests that four factors contribute to a successful coaching engagement: a motivated client, organizational support, tracking progress, and maintaining dynamics.

Bowery-Ireland, B. (2007). The ROI of business coaching revisited: Self-directed learning—the real ROI. Business Coaching Worldwide, 3, 3. (Retrieved November 6, 2010 from www.wabccoaches.com/bcw/ pdf/2007_v3_i3.pdf )

Chief Learning Ofcer. (April 3, 2006). Survey: Coaching can have nancial impact in the millions. Chief Learning Ofcer. (Retrieved April 27, 2006 from www.clomedia.com/common/newscenter/ newsdisplay.cfm?id=5024).

This article quotes a study by TRIAD, a Cleveland-based independent research group, that estimated that the impact of coaching can be in the million dollar range and that ROI was in the 10 to 1 range with long-term returns even higher.

The TRIAD study showed that as a result of coaching there was less attrition of top performers, the creation of a positive work environment, increased salary levels, and reduction in erosion of customer-based revenue.

The article also details ve factors for nding a good coach: check a coach’s credentials; determine the relevance of a coach’s professional experience; nd out if the coach is associated with a trusted organization; determine if the coach is willing to do an interview to see if there is a t; and nd out the degree to which the coach lets you as the client set the agenda.

Gaskill, C. (November 12, 2007). Trade secrets: Measuring the impact of coaching. (Retrieved November 6, 2010

from www.personneltoday.com/articles/ 2008/07/22/46692/coaching-roi-measure- for-measurings-sake.html)

Giannantonio, C. (u.d.). Coaching provides return on investment. Ezine Articles. (Retrieved November 6, 2010
from www.ezinearticles.com/?Coaching- Provides-Return-on- Investment&id=1213698)

Hattiangadi, A.U. (April 10, 2000). Upgrading workplace skills: Businesses’ $300 billion annual investment. Contemporary Issues in Employment and Workplace Policy. Washington, DC: Employment Policy Foundation. Retrieved March 1, 2003 from www.epf.org).

The private sector makes a substantial contribution to upgrading the skills of the US workforce. Using data on private sector GDP, direct training costs, and average annual hours spent in work and training, the Employment Policy Foundation estimates annual total training costs to rms of between $2,625 and $3,442 per worker–between $78,750 and $103,260 over a 30-year career. In aggregate terms, this means annual training expenditures by rms of $284.7 billion to $373.3 billion–more than the

total annual spending of colleges and universities combined.

This article lays a strong foundation for the use of mentoring and coaching as low cost interventions and can act as a basis for determining return on investment (ROI).

Hodges, G. (March 27, 2009). The ROI of executive coaching. Article Alley (Retrieved November 6, 2010
from www.articlealley.com/ article_837152_15.html)

London, J. (December 14, 2007). Pinning down coaching ROI. Trendwatcher, 390. (Retrieved November 6, 2010
from www.i4cp.com/trendwatchers/ 2007/12/14/pinning-down-coaching-roi)

Marcus, M. (2008). Executive onboard coaching: A winning strategy for your organization and high-potential talent. Link&Learn eNewsletter. (Retrieved May 6, 2008 from http://tinyurl.com/3olyhm).

A relatively new subset of executive coaching, “onboard coaching” focuses on working with “high potential talent” when they are making a transition within

or to a company. The author identies seven key objectives to make onboard coaching a strategic activity: identify skills, evaluate present talent, accelerate the match between the executive and new role; develop collaborative relationships; gain understanding of both formal and informal structures; deliver results early; and support the new leader with success tactics and strategies.

The author also recommends the importance on focusing on ROV (return on value) as well as ROI (return on investment), and identies six examples of ROV. To initiate onboarding within an organization the author suggests ideas as to how to establish the groundwork for success. (The author is a Certied Masterful Coach and the President of Break Through Consulting.)

Morin, T. (September-October, 2004). Calculating ROI from executive coaching. (Retrieved November 6, 2010
from www.wjmassoc.com/executive- coaching/roi-executive-coaching-on- boarding/)

Parrot, K. (2008). Executive coaching: A market research report. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Dialogos.

This excellent report updates the report published in 2005 by Peer Resources (Coaching Statistics, facts, guesses, conventional wisdom, and the state of the industry). The report examines (1) coaching industry outlook and economics, including fee structures; (2) coaching outcomes and results, including impact studies and ROI; (3) organizations that support and educate coaches; and (4) how and for what services coaches are chosen by organizations.

A chart included with the report provides details on 27 coaching service provides, comparing them on criteria such as size, coach experience and background; products and

services offered; type of approach used; process used for

contracting and engagement; and other details.

Phillips, J.J. (2005). Business coaching ROI: A real life example. Business Coaching Worldwide, 1, 3. (Retrieved November 6, 2010 from www.wabccoaches.com/bcw/ 2005_v1_i3/roi.html)

Phillips, J.J. (2007). Measuring the ROI of a coaching intervention, part 2. (Retrieved November 6, 2010 from www.media.roiinstitute.net/articles/pdf/ 2008/01/04/ Coaching_Intervention_2_of_2_PIJournal.p df)

Schlosser, B., Steinbrenner, D., Kumata, E, and Hunt, J. (2007). The coaching impact study: Measuring the value of executive coaching. International Journal of Coaching in Organizations, 4, 3, 8-26. (Retrieved November 6, 2010

from www.cambriaconsulting.com/wp- content/uploads/2007/06/ coaching_impact.pdf )

Sparrow, S. (July 2008). Coaching ROI: Measure for measuring’s sake. Personnel Today [Online]. (Retrieved November 6, 2010 from www.personneltoday.com/ articles/2008/07/22/46692/coaching-roi- measure-for-measurings-sake.html)

Tobin, Daniel R. (1998). The fallacy of ROI calculations. [Online].

Dr. Tobin, one of the leading authorities on learning strategies in corporations points out the problems with calculations of ROI including whether ROI can ever really calculate powerful intangible factors, whether it actually includes the real reasons change occurred, and other problems. What makes this article unique is that Dr. Tobin has considerable experience in providing ROI calculations and formulas to corporations. In addition he species an alternative, which he calls the Learning Contract, that may have more power to detail change than ROI.

Wilson, C. (March, 2004). Coaching and coach training in the workplace. Industrial and Commercial Training, 36, 3, 96-98.

The author focuses on coaching and how the workplace is changing from authoritarian bosses and jobs for life towards self directed learning and portfolio careers. Outlines how the Virgin Empire was built using a coaching culture

and provides case histories of the implementation of coaching and coach training in the workplace. Provides some facts and gures about Return On Investment (ROI), and why companies introduce coaching. Concludes with a look into the future.

Link to original article

5 Reasons Hiring Managers Use Psychometric Testing

Source: Matthew Clarkson form Smart Recruiters

In an age where every decision needs to be justified, backed up and informed by data, psychometric testing contributes a key element of science in an industry that has often relied on gut feel and synergies between the recruiter and jobseeker when making important hiring decisions. In fact, more than 75% of Fortune 500 companies utilise psychometric profiling in recruitment.

Here are the top 5 reasons leading HR artisans rely on psychometric tests in recruitment

1.    Testing beats gut feel

Human instinct is little better than rolling dice and having the stakeholders absorb the cost of a bad hire. To replace a skilled position, research indicates it can cost up to 150% of an employee’s salary in lost productivity; making bad hires is a cost every business should strive to reduce. Psychometric testing adds a level of standardization and objectivity to the traditional art of recruitment by helping to remove the unconscious bias that comes along with many selection decisions. Meta-analyses have shown that including psychometric assessments can improve recruitment outcomes by 24% over traditional selection methods, such as resume screening and unstructured interviews.

2.    The results are measurable

Quantifying human behavior and its associated impact on the bottom line is one of the most difficult challenges facing organizations. With the coming age of Big Data,pre-employment assessment is one of the most simple and cost effective ways you can clearly quantify people-related ROI. Correlating assessment and recruitment results with outcome variables such as core job performance, turnover percentage, engagement and commitment is the way for HR departments to transform their image of being a cost centre to an accountable, profit driving, business critical function.

3.    You don’t need a psych degree

Gone are the days of complex reports where a psychologist was needed to interpret esoteric psychometric test results. Psychometric test providers are slowly adopting a ‘design first, data second’ principle. Beautifully designed, data rich and easy to read reports can now be instantly accessed online. Simplified real world language and graphics that tell you exactly what you need to know are becoming the norm. Delivering a well designed psychometric test report to a hiring manager is now an empowering moment that helps them to make confident hiring decisions.

4.    It presents a positive company brand

The use of standardized and objective selection processes can create a powerful first impression of an employer’s brand (Sinar, Reynolds, & Paquet, 2003; Richman-Hirsch, Olson-Buchanan, & Drasgow, 2000). Applicants are attracted to modern recruitment and selection processes and they often cite the objective approach to assessing their capability as a key reason behind their satisfaction with the recruitment process. This is especially true for individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, as psychometric testing provides a level playing field where everyone’s merit is equally judged.

5.    It helps shape your HR strategy

Quality data is essential to shaping a truly effective HR strategy. Remember the old adage “garbage in, garbage out” – you need to be able to measure what actually does and doesn’t work in any business initiative. HR relies on a number of different inputs to make decisions with company-wide effects. Psychometric tools are another important objective data point that can help shape HR strategy. When linked to individual job performance data, psychometric test results can produce lead indicators to help organizations with selection, talent management, assessing workforce capability, employee engagement, understanding organizational culture and succession planning with a high degree of confidence.

The Bottom Line

Psychometric testing is an essential part of modern best practice recruitment. Organisations that are serious about attracting and retaining the best talent should take advantage of these tools rather than rely on subjective selection methods.

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