Practicing Leadership

Practicing without training ingrains bad habits.

People who learned to ski at early ages learned the fundamentals early and well. Not if you begin at 40. Instructors pushed the early learners to move to more difficult slopes while maintaining good form. The late starters take their bad form from slope to slope. As supposed, the early learners are much better skiers than those who start at 40. While the early learners were taught correctly, the late starters learned the skills willy-nilly — just like all those supervisors left to their own devices until they reached their 40s. Worse, the late starters have to practice the questionable skills over and over, ingraining them deeply.

Practice makes perfect only if done correctly.

Practicing for hours doesn't automatically create excellent skills. Say, for instance, that, as an aspiring golfer, you go to the driving range and practice by hitting buckets of balls off into the blue. You may leave feeling you've done something to help you improve, but more than likely you will only have practiced whatever swing you came with — good, bad, or indifferent. But say that when you go to the range you take a more deliberate approach. You draw a circle 20 feet in diameter, move back a bit, and proceed to hit balls until 80% land in the circle. Then you move farther back, take a different club, and do the same thing. That is deliberate, focused, and productive practice. Perfect practice makes perfect performance.

Your young supervisors are practicing on the job whether you've trained them or not. Supervisors, are of course, leading people from the first day on the job. And from that day habits are being formed. Attitudes are being created. Management practices begin to coalesce. Would it not be in the organizations and the individuals' best interests to begin that process the moment they're selected for that position?

"With all the money and effort being spent on leadership development programs, why don't we have better leaders?"

The answer to that question is obviously complex that we have simply waited too long to develop these skills? It may be possible to teach old dogs new tricks, but there's no question that the sooner you begin, the easier it is. BLINK! THINK! DECIDE!

Tips for Job application

Why You Never Hear Back:

You really aren’t qualified. If a job description specifies a software developer with 3-5 years of experience and you’re a recent graduate with one internship, it’s unlikely you’ll get a call.

Avoid disappointment – don’t apply for jobs for which you lack qualifications. Most job descriptions are written with very specific requirements. Yes, the company is trying to find the most qualified candidate; yes, they are trying to weed people out. It’s not personal, it’s business.

You haven’t keyword-optimized your resume or application. Job descriptions are salted with keywords specific to the skills or attributes the company seeks in applicants. A close read of the job description is a necessity, as is keyword-optimizing your resume and cover letter, if you’re using one, or email. If the job description lists words in a certain order, e.g. a list of programming languages required, use the same order in your resume.

Your resume isn’t formatted properly. You might think distinctive formatting will set your resume apart, but automated programs don’t care if a document is pretty. Help a machine out. Be consistent in formatting – consider using separate lines for former employer, job title, and years worked.

Your resume is substantially different from your online profile. LinkedIn, Dice and other online profile sites can be useful tools, so it‘s important to make sure they match what’s on your resume. This may seem to be a contradiction – in #1 keyword optimization – but it’s really common sense. Jobs worked, employers, years on the job and other details should match. The subtext here is always tell the truth. The company received 500 resumes for one job posting, and yours was 499th in. Looking for a job is a job.

Do your research – know which companies you want to work for, organizations where you sense culture fit. Every morning scour the job postings and jump on anything for which you’re qualified (and in which you’re interested.) Being early with your resume or application does matter. Check back often in the first few days to make sure the listing hasn’t changed. Often a company will post a job and halfway through the process change the description.

Read more: http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/top-5-reasons-hear-applying-job/#ixzz25ORMf99r

The fear of Disruptive Innovation

To succeed, business decision makers need to be open to new ideas, while at the same time appreciating that standard processes are standard for a reason: they work. It’s a fine balance, and understanding when to look and when to leap can be the difference between growth and stagnation.

With new ways of looking at things, you inevitably get resistance.

Say you’re in business, and you have a problem you need to solve. What do you do? You get four people to come into your office and pitch you their ideas for how they can solve your problem. Three of them say they’re going to solve your problem one way, offering different flavors of exactly the same solution. The fourth says he'll solve your problem a different way, with a completely unique, novel approach that looks at the underlying issues from a completely new perspective.

It’s pretty natural to want to choose one of the three. People fear the unknown, and when the boss looks back if something goes wrong, he or she isn’t going to question why you went with the safe option and not the risky one. You did it because it was safe, and safe is meant to be good. After all, it took more than a decade for the closed-innovation phrase "no one ever got fired for buying Microsoft" to finally die out.

Of course, none of this is to say that if people come to you with a crazy idea they say will set your business apart from your competition, you should start writing out a check on the spot. Some ideas are unsuitable for certain businesses, some are unsuitable for certain times or locations, and – let’s be honest – some are just unsuitable.

So how can you make decisions when the choice is a leap? I was walking past a café the other day and I saw a sign that said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge". It made me think about innovation and how businesses can improve the odds when it comes to implementing new ideas. I realized imagination isn’t more important than knowledge, and neither is knowledge more important than imagination. Like a gun and a bullet, imagination and knowledge are interdependent – extremely powerful when used together, but entirely useless on their own.

When someone comes to you with a radical idea, you need to listen to it objectively, without dismissing it out of hand because it sways too far from the norm, but also without getting so caught up in the potential that you forget the practicalities. Then you need to think about it, applying your knowledge of the market and of your business. It sounds obvious, but it’s amazing how many people consult with their hearts and their guts, but not with their heads.

If necessary, ask the person to explain the benefits again, and confront him or her with any concerns. The individual who truly has a great product idea will love it – it’s like asking a bodybuilder to pump his guns.

It all sounds like a lot of work, but it’s the difference between a great company and one that just gets by. And when you hit on the innovation that’s not only exciting and fresh, but that it also makes sense when you stop and think about it, you’ll know you’re onto a winner.

This article was sent by Paul Trotter, Founder & CEO- Author-IT-Software Corp.

BLINK! THINK! DECIDE!

Resume or Curriculum Vitae

Difference between Resume and CV (an acronym for Curriculum Vitae) has always been confusing for fresher guys looking out for job and experienced candidates who want to change their jobs. I also had confusion between these terms; hence, I did a research on these terms and come out with a remarkable difference between them. Though, these terms are identical, people use them interchangeably without thinking about the difference between them.

Here, in this article, the basic difference between Resume and CV is discussed. This will also tell where the term Resume should be used and where CV.

Resume

Resume is a French word whose meaning is Summary or Extract. As the name implies, a resume should contain an extract of the candidate’s objective to join the organization, current employment, previous employment, education, and other skills that highlights his/her qualities. It shall not be more than a page or two, as it contains only summary of your objective, skills, educations, and other achievements.

Resume shall not be prepared with a lot of information; it should be designed to display only the information relevant for the job change. You no need to put all details of your education, all projects you had done or have been doing in the current organization, and skills you own. Simply make a list of the things that are relevant for the job change and mention them in the resume.

Who shall use resume?

The term Resume is perfect for the candidates looking for a job change. Candidates having a few years of experience in a particular field shall use this term instead of Curriculum Vitae (CV) or Bio Data. It is good for the candidates applying for a senior level because at that level your expertise matter more than your education.

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Curriculum Vitae is a Latin word whose meaning is Course of Life. As the name implies, it contains detailed information about your educational career, interest, and achievements. It lists out general information and achievements instead of specific skills. Because the CV generally has detailed information, it reaches to 2 to 3 pages or even more. Biological information like age, gender, religion, etc. can also be mentioned in CV along with a photograph.

Who shall use CV?

The term CV shall be used by the fresh candidates looking out to get a job after finishing studies and candidates who want to change their career. People who want to apply for some academic positions can also use the term Curriculum Vitae or CV.

This is the difference between Resume and CV. Hope this information will help you to create the best resume or CV as per your requirements.

BLINK! THINK! DECIDE!

Who Are Your Organization's Entrepreneurs?

How useful would it be to identify the problem-solvers within your business? They're called entrepreneurs, and not all of them are created the same. The ability to identify entrepreneurs empowers organizations to effectively manage their workforce. Through research, we're beginning to learn more about spotting star performers who would otherwise become disengaged and flee — taking their new ideas with them.

Identifying these individuals is possible long before they enter the workplace. In fact, 42 percent of entrepreneurs have determined they want to own their own business before the age of 12, according to an ongoing study run by our company, Target Training International, of engineering students from 18 major U.S. universities.

Early findings from this research describe two types of entrepreneurs emerging:

Entrepreneurial-Minded People (EMPs): They tend to work well in teams, have an organized workplace and enjoy consistency. These individuals are happier within organizations or within a group of people working together to achieve a goal.

Serial Entrepreneurs (SEs): The second group is made up of potential serial entrepreneurs who have a desire to own their own business. Serial entrepreneurs tend to be more individualistic, have a greater sense of urgency and a desire to control. They have demonstrated an ability to sustain a business past the first year, into the higher growth job production years of a young firm.

Both entrepreneurial types are identified by a distinct challenge-orientation and improvement-focused mindset. But they differ in their attitudes towards control. EMPs are less concerned with the amount of control they can exert. They are happiest when they work collaboratively on a task, in a team, striving for solutions to complex or recurring problems.

The SE wishes to have ultimate control over her life and business. While happy to set direction for a company or team, serial entrepreneurs need to feel that their employer is not limiting their destiny.

Once you identify certain performers as SEs or EMPs, it's your job as a manager to retain them.

Make sure they have a forum where their ideas can be heard. When an SE shares his vision and is met with rejection, he will become disengaged and will likely resent the organization. He is also likely to not only plot his exit, but how to redress the rejection he experienced. That can translate into taking their ideas to a competitor or becoming a competitor himself. Similarly if an EMP is not allowed to engage in the problem-solving process or is asked to work independently, the same is likely to occur.

But how do managers identify entrepreneurial types? It's often helpful to put these questions to use, especially during the hiring process or a performance review.

Describe your career goals. The EMP's answer would more likely indicate he could care less about being in management and is happy where he is or where he is applying for. The SE will tend to say she is looking for advancement.
Describe your professional strengths. An EMP will focus on strengths directly related to the job in question. An SE will talk more about leadership and personal identity.
Describe things you're not good at. Honesty is important for both. Listen closely: If she claims to not have any weaknesses, she is likely more SE-driven. The more weaknesses he confesses to having, the more EM-driven he is.
What activities do you do to keep current in your profession? The EMP is interested in keeping up within his profession and industry. The SE is more focused on keeping up on broader scope, going beyond just her career and may discuss things she is reading, experiencing or sharing.
Entrepreneurs — whether EMPs or serial — already possess the behaviors, attitudes, and values to build successful businesses. Finding out whom within the workforce possesses the traits of an entrepreneur — and which type they are — will allow business leaders to work with their unique approach to business. Recruiting and retaining entrepreneurs will pay big dividends not just for individual companies, but also for the economy as a whole.