Do You Have Any Idea How Unique You Are?

This is a flower that is currently blooming in my gardens at 8,500' in the Colorado Rockies.  To me, this is one of the most unique flowers I've ever seen.  I was lucky to get a picture of this one before yesterday's hail storm or before the deer got to it.  The deer can clean every flower off of this plant in a minute or two when they're hungry.

The point in sharing this flower is to demonstrate just how unique it is.  Maybe you don't think of yourself as a flower but you're this unique too.  Demonstrated through one of the tools I use in my coaching, looking at a list of 34 traits that we all have in common, I would have to have 33,000,000 people take the same assessment in order to find two people whose 34 traits line up in the same order.  Now that's unique!

What this means is that inside you right now is enough uniqueness to become great at something.  If you haven't yet figured out what you have potential to be great at, what you have potential to become passionate about doing and what you have potential to become great at when you share your giftedness with others, today would be a great day to call me.

This flower is not in my garden.  It is in the Pike National Forest near Woodland Park, CO.  Is this flower any less interesting than the blue one above it?  No!  This flower is unique in its own way...just like you!  Both flowers serve the purpose of providing beauty and brightening up their surroundings but they're entirely different.  This is how you could be if you were to slow down to figure out what you "Should" do with your life rather than settling for what you "Can" do.

This flower is a Columbine.  It is the state flower of Colorado.  I photographed these columbines very close to the yellow flower shown above.  Are they any less beautiful than the yellow or blue flowers shared above?  Now!  They're all beautiful.  They all brighten up their surroundings and they are all unique.

Human beings are just as unique and we're all built do to something special.  You may think you know what you were built for and you may think you're in the right professional role.  For some people this is true.  For most of the US workforce, Gallup's surveys of the US workforce suggest that approximately 70% of people who go to work every day are disengaged in their work.

This group of people goes to work and reluctantly punches the clock to check in.  They can't wait to punch the clock to leave for the day.  They produce average output and they're only marginally engaged in the work they're paid to do.

The other part of Gallup's year-upon-year survey of the US workforce shows that approximately 30% of the US workforce is engaged in their work.  These are the people who keep our economy ticking.  These are the people who generally love what they do and they're great at whatever it is that they do.  If you'd like to join this 30% group so you too can passionately love what you do and you too can produce great output, there is no time better than he present to give me a call.

I'll lead you to an understanding of exactly and precisely how you are uniquely built.  We'll compare the way you're built to the work you are currently doing. We'll compare the way you are uniquely built to what you could be doing to excel in the future.  We'll call this your career road map.

There's no better time than the present to call Jeff Snyder at Jeff Snyder Coaching. My number is 719.686.8810 

You Should Be In The Driver's Seat Of Your Career Progression

"Jeff, you are the Thomas Edison of resumes"

"Jeff, you are the Thomas Edison of resumes.  You are THE ONLY one who turned on the light bulb of what should be done with a resume. I thank you for your time and brutal honesty."

Jeff Snyder's, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

"Jeff does a great job with every service he offers"

I love to help my clients get from where they are to where they want to go

"Jeff does a great job with every service he offers whether it is resume coaching, emotional intelligence improvement, LinkedIn coaching, etc. He is the ultimate professional you want on your team!"

Jeff Snyder's Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

Two of the Most Powerful Words When Combined Together are "Thank" and "You"

I’ve been through life-changing and life-disrupting events in recent years.  What was always important to me has become even more important to me.  Prior to entering the hospital just over a year ago for open heart surgery, I made a conscious decision to do everything in my power to be an unusual heart surgery patient for those who had to care for me.

While this was a brand new experience for me, I assumed that doctors, nurses and other care givers in the cardiac unit were probably not used to caring for people who said “Thank You” for everything that was done for them.

I did not always feel thankful as I laid there in pain after my chest had been cut open.  However, I decided long before I was lying in a hospital bed in pain to thank everyone who was caring for me. 

My thankful attitude had an amazing impact on my care givers.  With only a couple of exceptions, I’m pretty sure that every care giver who entered my room appreciated being thanked no matter how small their effort towards me might have been.

Every time I have to go back to the hospital or back to a doctor’s office, I purposely decide before I arrive to be thankful to every person who provides care for me.  Recently, I visited the hospital for another procedure.  Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.

I had one opportunity after another to blow my top and let my emotions get out of control.  My care givers were not ready for me when I arrived at the scheduled time.  The insurance company had not given my care givers proper authority to give me the care I went to the hospital to receive.  My visit was a nightmare. 

The one thing that made all the difference was my response to the situation.  I chose to respond rather than reacting.  As a result of smiling in the face of adversity and as a result of saying “Thank You” to everyone who crossed my path, I’m pretty sure that I set myself apart from most patients my care givers had run into that day before my arrival.

I turned the admittance person into my ally.  She turned another admittance team member into my second ally for me.  They turned the scheduling person not only into my ally but into my advocate.  It took an extra 45 minutes to get to my scheduled procedure but I did get to the procedure as a result of smiling and being thankful rather than having to turn around to make a 45 minute drive home.  Because of my response choices, everyone in the office that day went to work to solve my problem for me.

When the words “Thank” and “You” are used together, they can create powerful outcomes.  I don’t think “Thank You” can be expressed too often for too many reasons. 

If you’re not in the habit of thanking those who serve you or those who work for you, give it a try. You might be amazed by the results that come your way.

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

What are Jeff Snyder's Qualifications to Provide LinkedIn Coaching?

What Are My Qualifications To Provide LinkedIn Coaching?

This is a very good question that was recently brought to me.  I like questions and I’m happy to give this one an answer.

Back in 2004, I was one of the first 800,000 members of LinkedIn.  That might not sound like such an early-on experience but when you consider that LinkedIn has over 300,000,000 profiles today, I was somewhat of an early adopter.  I've been studying the functionality of LinkedIn pretty much from its inception and many of my early predictions were spot-on.

At this point, I have one of the larger LinkedIn networks in the world with over 29.300+ direct connections.

Its not all about the size of my network. Its more about the relationships I’ve been fortunate to make because of my network and the business I’ve been able to develop through LinkedIn.

My LinkedIn Ranking

As of the writing of this blog, this is where I stand relative to my 29,300+ direct connections on LinkedIn.

“You rank in the top 2% for profile views among your connections.”

My LinkedIn Coaching Client's Results

My last couple of LinkedIn Coaching clients have experienced 27% and 28% increases in LinkedIn visits within 1-2 weeks of implementing the changes I suggested they should implement when I coached them.

Most of my LinkedIn coaching clients are people who are in an active job search mode.  In this case, they want to be found more frequently and they want to be found by the right people.  This is happening for my clients.

Why I Bundle my 1 Hour Resume Coaching services with my LinkedIn Coaching Service

My LinkedIn Coaching is most effective when it is bundled with my 1 Hour Resume Coaching service.  The reason for this effectiveness is that achieving improvement on LinkedIn requires outstanding content and a well-thought-out LinkedIn Strategy.  All of my Resume Coaching clients all have outstanding content.

You're Already Making a First Impression

If you’re on LinkedIn, you’re making a first impression.  That impression is bad, neutral or great.  I know that not everyone thinks like me but I can’t understand why anyone would want to settle for a bad or neutral first impression when you could make a great first impression.

When you’re ready to take your LinkedIn presence to the next level, I’m ready to help you through my LinkedIn Coaching Services.

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

A Job Seeker's Question Regarding LinkedIn Coaching

Q: I have a Phd in optical sciences and I would like to have a support in building my profile for apply to specialized companies. Do you offer this kind of support? 

Answer:  

Thank you for your message.  I can definitely help you.  Would you mind sending your resume so I can see how you are packaging and presenting yourself in that regard?

The most effective way my clients have found to leverage LinkedIn is to first create outstanding resume content and then to align their LinkedIn presence with their resume.

 Here is an example.  I hope my analogies make sense.

•  Think of LinkedIn as the “Cliff Notes”
• Think of your resume as the “First Chapter” of the book
• Think of your phone interview or face-to-face interview as the opportunity to walk the interviewer through your entire book.

Getting your Resume Message, LinkedIn Message and Interview Message aligned is where you’ll find success.

Regards,
Jeff

 PS:  I’ve just accepted my next speaking engagement with a group of 500 technology professionals.  I’ve been asked to speak on leveraging LinkedIn as a personal marketing platform.  I’ve been developing my LinkedIn strategies and philosophy since I firset joined LinkedIn back in 2004.

Jeff Snyder's, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

Are You Prepared For Where Your Journey May Take You?

Every once in a while a blog just falls into my lap.  Today is one of those days.  

I assisted the person who wrote what you're about to read as a testimonial with his resume a couple of years ago.  To me, the event of helping this person with his resume was like planting a seed. When I am fortunate to hear from my coaching clients to learn about the experiences they've had after completing coaching work with me, I get to actually see the results of the seeds that are planted when we first met to do coaching work together.  This feedback makes my day!

"Hi Jeff, I just read your article "Perfect Answers to the Most Important Interview Questions" and I have to say, it was spot on. I recently got a job in healthcare after a long career in publishing. After hearing countless times in interviews "well you don't have experience in this industry..." I had enough. In this interview I was told that while my resume is great (thanks to you!) they were interviewing other candidates with good experience in healthcare.

I say, yes, you are correct. I don't have healthcare experience, but at one point I had no experience with PCI or Security for that matter. Don't hire me or anyone else based on what they have done in the past. Hire someone based on the potential that they have. And I got the job.

Six months later, I have to say, it really didn't matter at all that I had no HIPAA experience. It's all different jargon to achieve the same goal; protect the data."

-Steven

The career journey you're on will likely not be a straight line.  You'll travel a path that presents twists and turns.  You'll find yourself having to make right turns, left turns and occasionally backward steps before you can move forward properly.  

In Steve's case, he invested in himself to get help with his resume.  Writing a resume was not Steve's greatest gift but I can tell you that he is a rock star when it comes to building information security programs that work.

Jeff Snyder's, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

It’s Really Easy to Make Someone’s Day...Someone Just Made My Day!

Do you ever approach your day thinking about whose day you can improve and how you might go about improving someone else’s day?

I do this all the time.  I’m not here to tell you what I do or how I do it but I can tell you without any doubt that it is very easy to make someone’s day and it often takes little to no effort.

Just a few minutes ago, someone tagged me in a post they made on Facebook.  The person who tagged me had open heart surgery this time last year.  Here’s what he took the time to share with his friends and colleagues about me.

“Jeff Snyder who even though he only knew me through Facebook called me several times to encourage me and the day before to walk me through the procedure I was about to go through…he helped more than he could ever know!”

I share this with you today to let you know that Jesse made my day and it didn’t take much effort on his part.  It’s often this simple to provide someone else with the lift that you may or may not know they needed.  I’m actually having a good day and in just a couple of hours, I’ll get to ride my mountain bike if the rain holds off.  That would make my day even better.

What Jesse doesn’t yet know is that his choice to include me in his public message positively impacted my day and gave me a little fuel in my tank to keep doing what I’ve done in the past.

Whose day can you lift up today, tomorrow and the next day?

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

“Perfect Answers to the Most Important Interview Questions”

An email landed in my Inbox this morning.  The title of this blog showed up in the marketing email that came to me.

This email grabbed my attention not because I am looking for interview question advice but because it bothers me.  When I talk to prospective clients about resume coaching, I am sure to tell them that I’m not going to teach them anything that is slick, fancy or gimmicky.  What I do coach my resume clients on is how to build a resume that is clean, clear and logical. 

When I coach candidates on interviewing, I do not coach anybody to deliver slick, fancy or gimmicky answers.  I coach candidates to be brutally honest and to not embellish.

This morning, one of my career coaching clients called and we talked through his upcoming interview.  He told me that he was a bit nervous about not having everything the employer was asking for in the job description.  He told me that he didn’t have GLBA and HIPAA compliance background for example.  However, he did have PCI compliance background.

My suggestion was for the candidate to focus on what he has that is similar to GLBA and HIPAA and to also know where the gaps exist between what he has and what GLBA and HIPAA require him to know.  Be proactive in telling the prospective employer that you know what you don't yet know.  Give examples of how you have addressed learning curves in the past and demonstrate to the employer that you've already started thinking about how you'll address the learning curve you'll face if they were to hire you.

So what do I think a perfect answer is to an interview question?  An answer that demonstrates clearly and concisely what one’s experience is and is not.  Most employers want the truth, not some kind of contrived answer.  Contrived answers given to a highly intelligent hiring decision maker will get you introduced to the exit door very quickly.

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

My 1992 Placement Lasted 23 Years

This is a once in a lifetime story to share.  Twenty Three years into my recruiting career back in 1992, I filled an HP 3000 / COBOL Systems Analyst job.  The person who stepped into that job made the most of his opportunity  As it turns out, I planted a seed that turned into a substantial tree.

My placement lasted until June 1, 2015.  No, the person I placed was not still an HP3000 COBOL Systems Analyst.  He left the company I placed him in as an Executive Vice President who had an office next to the CEO’s office.

Though I physically moved 1,000 miles away from where I made this placement, the EVP and I have maintained a long-lasting relationship.  Because he hadn’t written a resume in 23 years, the EVP came to me to get help with his marketing and branding. Specifically, we've worked on Resume Coaching and LinkedIn Coaching together.

I helped the EVP to write a resume that clearly shows what he has been great at delivering over the past 23 years.  We also focused on where he wants to take his career next in his current resume.  Interviews are being granted and my EVP friend will soon land on his feet in a fresh new role.

Am I claiming responsibility for the EVP’s success?  No, I am not.  What is exciting is that I’ve had the privilege of planting a seed that grew.  That’s what I get to do when I place someone in a job and/or when I’m privileged to help someone with their career from a career coaching standpoint.

Jeff Snyder's, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

How To Take Your Management Performance To The Next Level

Yesterday while working through a coaching call with one of my managerial level clients, something really cool happened.  Before I share the “cool thing”, let me first create a backdrop.

My coaching client has been working with me for a few weeks.  During that time, we’ve worked through his top talents to determine which talents are talents and which might already be strengths.  We built a plan to turn his top talents into strengths.

During yesterday’s call, my client had what I refer to as an “Ah-Ha” or “Light bulb” moment when he decided that knowing the strengths of each member of his team would give him potential to become a better manager and ultimately a better leader.

By working through is his own personal experience where he became clear about his own talents, and strengths, my client used his super-high intelligence to take the coaching we were doing one-on-one to the next level.

If you’re a manager and you’d like to take your managerial performance to the next level, learning precisely how you are wired is where we would start.  Then we would move on to learning precisely how each person on your team is wired so you could assign each team member to responsibilities that directly align with their natural strengths.  Your managerial game will move to the next level.  

Your team members will think you’re the best manager they’ve ever had and they’ll be hard pressed to leave you to go to work for someone else.

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching, Security Recruiter Blog, 719.686.8810

Meet My Millennial Coaching Clients…They’re Rising Stars

Thankful

Today I’m thankful for a new career performance coaching client who is coming on board with Jeff Snyder Coaching.  She is one of many rising Information Security / Cyber Security stars I’ve been fortunate to work with.  She is a leader of the future.  What better contribution can I possibly make than to help to prepare future leaders?

I’m excited because I believe the future of Information Security / Cyber Security is now in the hands of millennial aged security professionals more than any other group.  Millennial security professionals who apply themselves and who strive for greatness in their performance have so much possibility ahead of them.

Millennial Talent…Coming Soon!

One of my millennial aged coaching clients is a true rising star in the information security / cyber security profession.  He has a Math and Computer Science degree with a Master’s in Information Assurance.  His scores on common certification exams in the security, risk, compliance and privacy realms are some of the highest recorded scores on the planet.  His unique leading strengths include Strategic, Futuristic, Competition, Activator and Ideation.  He is wicked smart and he is doing what is necessary to prepare him to be a future CISO despite that fact that he is still in his late 20s. It has been an honor, pleasure and an energizing blast for me to have the privilege of coaching this rising star.

Another one of my millennial aged female coaching clients is currently positioned in an information security management role in one of the world’s most widely known high-tech brands.  She too is a rising star.  Her leading strengths include Achiever, Futuristic, Focus, Input and Competition.  She came to me after having had lunch with senior executives in this global company.  They told her that they wanted her on their team and asked her to write a job description she’d be willing to sign up for.  I helped her to write her job description. We wrote it around her natural strengths.  There is a 100% chance that she can hit a grand slam when working in a job that taps into all of her top strengths.

The Common Threads They Share

What these two future CISOs have in common is that they are rocket science smart.  They’re ultra-competitive.  They grew up with technology.  They can’t stand the “because we’ve always done it this way” answers.  They are gifted with deep analytical skills.  Not only are they highly intelligent, they’re built to create new innovations and to get new innovations off the ground.  They’ll always find ways to win.  They both came to me to fine-tune their performance and they’ll come back again in the future when they reach the next opportunity to stretch and grow beyond their peers.

Can you understand why I’m so excited to coach these kinds of rock stars?  If your company is in a hiring mode, these kinds of people do exist but they’re gainfully employed and they’re handsomely rewarded. You need an outside the box strategy to get to this kind of talent.

I was wrong

When I first launched my career coaching and executive coaching services several years ago, I was sure that my client base would be current CISOs and CSOs who are already in place.  I was sure that like me, the current CISOs and CSOs would all want to learn of ways they could improve their performance.  This theory of mine worked in some cases but not as often as I thought it would.

My Futuristic Strength

My futuristic thought process envisioned a world where CISOs and CSOs were all invited to the board room table.  While this is happening in some places, it isn’t happening as frequently as I would like to see it happening and I’m afraid that it isn’t happening as frequently as current CISOs and CSOs would like for it to happen.

I still see a future where CISOs and CSOs are a regular part of the board room package.  What I’ve had to change in my vision is the timing and the actual people who will have this experience.  What I didn’t see coming for my coaching practice was millennial aged security professionals coming to me for coaching and mentoring more often than their current bosses. 

Great News If You’re a Millennial

Here’s the great news for millennial aged security professionals who step up right now for coaching and personal development assistance.  My strengths coaching doesn’t put you in a box or a quadrant.  You get to be 1 in 33,000,000 unique.  We’ll figure out what you have the potential to be great at and we’ll build a strategic plan to move you in that direction.

When it comes to emotional intelligence, emotional intelligence coaching and behavioral change coaching will come much easier to younger people.  Behavioral change is one of the most difficult endeavors a grown adult can face.  Statistically, emotional intelligence is naturally already on the rise for people in their 20s, 30s and 40s.   When we work together to improve your emotional intelligence, we’re ultimately working together to improve your behavior.  Behavior is much more important as your career progresses than your IQ alone.

Ready To Be a Rising Star?

JeffSnyderCoaching.com, 719.686.8810

You're Likely Great At Something...Does Your Resume Reflect Your Greatness?

The Photo: I chose this photo to demonstrate how unique each one of us are.  When a person stops to learn how they're built and how that uniqueness translates into performance, that's how they determine what they can be great at delivering.

The title:  I believe that everybody potential to be great at something.  Some people I encounter have figured this out.  Most people on the other had go through life doing what they “Can” do and they never stop to figure out what they “Should” do.  The story you’re about to read focuses on someone who is settling for “Can” when he could be focusing on “Should”. 

Tom's Phone Call

Tom made my phone ring early one morning.  This is a great start to a candidate / recruiter relationship because most people shy away from the telephone today and choose email.  I would much prefer to receive a phone call than to have another email in my Inbox.

Tom told me he was calling because he would be in Chicago next week.  He was hoping his local status to my client’s offices might make it possible to capture an on-site interview while he was in town.

So far, everything between myself and Tom was moving along smoothly.  Tom told me his resume was sitting in my Inbox.  I hadn’t gotten to my Inbox yet on this particular day.  I found Tom’s resume, opened it and this is where the story starts to get rocky.

I'm A Perfect Fit

Tom told me on the phone that he was a “Perfect Fit” for my client’s opening in Chicago.  My client needed to hire an Application Security Architect and I’ve filled this type of position with this particular client before so I know exactly and precisely what will cause my client to extend a job offer.

I quickly scanned Tom’s resume and saw the words “application security” one time in his resume.  This is a problem because an Application Security Architect needs to live, eat and breathe Application Security and Secure Software Development. 

Mixed Messages

Tom’s resume covered just about every information security acronym or buzzword I’d ever seen.  In the 10 seconds I devoted to quickly reviewing Tom’s resume because he was still on the phone with me, I couldn’t have told you what Tom was great at if my life depended on it.  The resume had no focus whatsoever.

Rather than trying to get Tom to clearly and concisely tell me what he knew about Application Security and Secure Software Development, I asked him what he was great at delivering.  His answer surprised me as he went down a path of wanting to manage a small group of highly technical information security professionals.

Now I'm Confused

Now I was really confused.  Tom has been an independent consultant for the past 8 years.  His resume shows no evidence whatsoever of experience where he managed, led or guided a team.   Even more confusing was the fact that when given the opportunity to tell me what he was great at, Tom didn’t say anything about Application Security or Secure Software Development.

Get Some Help!

I asked Tom if he had ever considered getting help to create a resume that was clean, clear, logical and a resume that clearly communicated his accomplishments, contributions and his value.  He told me he’d invested in resume writing help before and he didn’t think it was worth anything. 

I asked Tom to tell me about his success when he sent out the current resume.  He told me that he wasn’t having any success. He again started talking about wanting to manage a group of information security professionals.  His resume on the other hand focuses entirely on technology, bits and bytes.

Did you catch what I just shared? 

Tom told me he wasn’t having success.  In the most polite way I could, I tried to tell him why.  Tom didn’t want to hear the truth and he had no interest at all in considering a solution that would make him have to consider a change in his actions and behaviors.

Behavioral Change is Really Hard!

Behavioral change is one of the most difficult endeavors an adult can face. In Tom’s case, he will unfortunately continue to fail to reach his goals if he does not stop to get help with resume writing and personal branding.  Tom may very well be a brilliant technologist.  He is not a brilliant marketer.  I wish Tom had gotten out of his own way to let me help him.

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching, Security Recruiter Blog, 719.686.8810

Impulse Control is one of the Most Important Emotional Intelligence Skills

Impulse Control 

“Impulse control is the ability to resist or delay an impulse, drive or temptation to act and involves avoiding rash behaviors and decision making.”

Impulse Control impacts every other emotional intelligence skill and is frequently a skill that I work on with my behavioral change coaching clients.  This is a skill that can be improved upon and the benefits of improving this particular skill are almost endless.

A Hospital Visit

Since being trained and certified to coach around the topic of emotional intelligence, I can honestly tell you that having this knowledge, working on my own emotional intelligence and coaching others on the topic has changed my life.

Yesterday I had to leave the office early to get to an appointment at the hospital. I was headed there for a significant test.  I arrived at the radiology office early as I was asked to do.  I waited for my turn to be checked in.  When I sat down in front of the person who had the power to check me in, she told me that my test had not yet been approved by the insurance company.

Hold on.  They called me to set up the appointment because the insurance company had approved the test.  I left my office in the middle of the afternoon to get to this appointment that was 50 minutes away from my office.  Now I’m supposed to reschedule?

React or Respond?

At this moment, I had an opportunity to react to the situation and lose control of my patience or I could choose to respond.  I responded with calmness and kindness and didn't let myself react to the situation in anger even though I had a very good reason to be angry.

Having experienced the hospital setting before, I already knew that I'd get a lot further with kindness and smiles than I would be expressing the way I was really feeling.

I took a deep breath and in the most polite and calm way I knew how, I asked the admissions person if there might be a chance that she could call the cardiologist’s office to determine the root cause of this challenge.  She smiled at me with one of the most beautiful smiles I’ve ever seen in my life and agreed to help me.

She gave me the option of leaving and rescheduling.  Again, in the most calm tone and the most polite manner I could use, I asked what would guarantee that my test would be approved by the insurance company if I were to reschedule and go through the same motions a second time.  She didn’t have a good answer.

The admissions person led me to the scheduling person in the back of the office.  Now I was standing in front of the person who I sensed ran the office.  She got on the phone with my cardiologist’s office and refused on my behalf to take “no” for an answer.  I got this special treatment because I said “please” and “thank you” at least a dozen times in 30 minutes and I treated everyone I encountered in the radiology check-in office with respect.

I Got To Win Twice Yesterday!

For a second time, I returned to the waiting area and kept calm.  Approximately 10 minutes later, the admissions person with the beautiful smile sat down beside me and told me she would be taking me down the hall to get closer to the CT machine.  I was now 50 minutes beyond my scheduled appointment time but I didn’t have to reschedule.

I’m 100% human.  Therefore, I don’t always exercise perfect Impulse Control.  However, yesterday afternoon I nailed it and my reward was a completed hospital test that really needed to be done yesterday.

My bigger reward came 4 hours later when the puck dropped and my Red Hockey Team recorded a hockey win for the evening.  Yesterday was a winning day all around.

Coaching Testimonial: Career Transition Coaching: Law Enforcement to Corporate Security

"Thank you very much for the resume coaching session today.  I have to say I wasn't fully sure what to expect of this session and in fact was simply hoping to take a step forward in my pursuit towards a new career.  The coaching session went above and beyond what I thought was possible and left me with a new found sense of confidence and a vision of what I need to do to move forward.  I look forward to making use of your advice and speaking with you again.  I feel that a future now exists for me beyond Law Enforcement and I now have an idea how to make it happen.  Thank you again."

Jeff Snyder's, JeffSnyderCoaching.com, Career Coaching Blog

 

When Acquiring Talent, Time Kills All Deals

What was true way back then is still true today

At the beginning of my recruiting career back in the early 1990s, I worked for a very intelligent boss. It was sometime in my first year or so in my new career with Brad that he called me into his office for a chat.

The topic of that day’s chat was Brad’s attempt to explain to me how stretching a placement process out over an extended period of time is generally a mistake. Brad explained to me how “Time Kills all Deals” when it comes to acquiring talent.

Here I am 25 years later and Brad’s words still run around in my head. The difference now is that I’ve experienced what happens when time kills talent acquisition deals. Back in 1990, it was Brad’s experience that I had to live on since I did not yet have much placement experience of my own.

Why does time kill talent acquisition deals?

When recruiting is executed properly, true recruiting is selling. When a job candidate has been properly sold an opportunity that aligns with their idea of career advancement, from a psychological point of view, the most analytical and introverted human being on the planet still gets excited inside when they think their personal professional situation is about to improve.

How long does excitement over a new job prospect last?

There likely is not a scientific study to capture the exact amount of time a person can stay excited about a new career opportunity but there is no doubt that excitement fizzles over time and the amount of time is shorter than you might think.

Job candidates are like bananas

Hopefully you like bananas because the lifespan of a banana is the best analogy I’ve ever come up with to explain the lifespan of a person’s psychological excitement when approached with an exciting career opportunity.

It is common to buy a bundle of bananas at the grocery store when they are still green. Once you take this bundle of bananas home, it only takes 2-3 days for the bundle to begin to turn yellow depending on how green they were when purchased.

Let 2-3 additional days pass and your bundle of yellow bananas will not just be yellow, they’ll start to develop brown spots.

Whatever your banana ripeness preference is, the reality of the lifespan of a banana on the shelf is that by the 6 to 8 day on the shelf, the banana has passed most people’s taste preference.

How long have you stayed excited about career opportunities?

If you think about the last time you found yourself excited about a potential career move, were you able to maintain excitement after a week or more of silence from the side of your prospective employer?

Placement processes do not have to conclude in one week but placement processes that are not deliberately built with communication at regular intervals will lose momentum quickly.

Talent acquisition strategy…Does your company have one?

Psychologically, we as human beings frequently have short attention spans. If your company is seeking top talent, talent that is generally employed down the road or across the country by your competitors, you need a well-thought-out, strategic talent acquisition process in place.

There are many elements to a strategic talent acquisition process. Today, my focus is solely on communication.

The result of not having a strategic talent acquisition process in place is that you will lose top talent whether that talent was looking for a new job when you first made contact or whether the talent was directly recruited for you and they were not previously looking for a career move.

Once psychologically pushed into action, talented people do not sit around waiting for situations that might or might not materialize. Once a talented person’s mind has slipped into the mode of considering the next step in their career, it does not take much effort on the part of the talented person to find other opportunities to explore outside of the opportunity you put in front of them.

Hot Cyber-Security Skills for 2015 and Beyond

Cyber Breaches You Don’t Yet Know About

Late last week, I shared a conversation with a CISO who informed me of two breaches in his industry that have not yet been made public.

One breach is a very large POS (Point of Sale) breach. In this case, millions of credit card numbers have been compromised.

The other incident is the breach of a very large company’s PBX telephone system. Long distance calls have been made for quite some time around the globe resulting in significant telephone bills for the company that owns the PBX system.

In both cases, the CISO suggested that the companies involved have Boards of Directors who are not taking cyber threats as seriously as they should. The CISO suggested that these Boards of Directors have a mindset that what’s happening to other companies won’t happen to them.

What’s The Hot Cyber-Security Skill I’m Thinking About?

Over the weekend, I gave a significant amount of thought to the implications of these breaches and other breaches that have already occurred. My thought process traveled beyond the obvious; exposed credit cards and fraud that either banks or the breached merchant will have to absorb.

My thought processes frequently go to what will benefit a security professional’s career growth and “Personal Stock Value”. This is the value an employer will pay a security professional for the value a company perceives the security professional will bring to their organization.

Complicated Issues

On one hand, it would be great for a CISO candidate to go to an interview where he/she talks about having never been breached during their tenure as a CISO.

On the other hand, since breaches are inevitable, it’s not a matter of if but a matter of when a breach will occur in any given company. A hot skill set a CISO can bring to a new employer’s table is that of Incident Response and Handling Breaches.

What’s involved in Incident Response and Handling Breaches?

While there is a significant technical component to handling a cyber-security incident, there is a significant amount of this skill set that has to do with communication skills and behavior.

Beyond one’s technical skill, another skill one needs to master to be great at incident response and handling breaches is this skill set that I came up with many years ago while working on a very complex Chief Security Officer search in the entertainment industry:

Knowing what to say, when to say, how to say, to whom to say and when to say nothing

This skill set involves many of the skills that make up one’s Emotional Intelligence. Beyond IQ alone, it is improved Emotional Intelligence that will move a person’s personal performance from good to great.

It is high Emotional Intelligence that will give a CISO or CSO the interpersonal skills they need to handle the interpersonal communication complexities that come with a cyber breach.

Improved Emotional Intelligence will give a CISO or CSO the skills they need to master the non-technical side of their profession.

What Can You Do?

In 2015, you can make a commitment to find out where your personal Emotional Intelligence scores are relative to other leaders.

If necessary, you can engage in coaching to improve your Emotional Intelligence which in turn can increase your personal performance, your career growth prospects and your “Personal Stock Value”.

“Smartest Person in the Room Syndrome”

Perhaps you’ve encountered this person?

The smartest person in the room tends to dominate meetings. They don’t let others add a word to their one-sided conversations. They have a consistent need to let others know how intelligent they are. More often than not, they truly are the person in the room who was gifted with the highest IQ.

When it comes to IQ (cognitive skills), the smartest person in the room frequently possesses more intellectual, analytical, logical and rational abilities than everyone else. They are drawn to highly analytical careers such as engineering, information technology or cyber security. These are careers where exceptionally high IQ serves one well.

It is this exceptionally high IQ that enables the smartest person in the room to excel to a certain level. At some point though, the IQ that got the smartest person in the room to where they are will no longer propel them forward to the next level of career success.

Research suggests that IQ can be responsible for as much as +-20% of one’s career success but more often than not, IQ is responsible for as little as 6% of career success.

Is the smartest person in the room doomed to hit a glass ceiling in their career? Often times the answer is yes and the reason is behavior. The smartest person in the room frequently leaves a trail of relationship carnage behind them. They may not wake up every morning thinking about whom they can step on that day, but throughout the day, if they behave in ways that are natural to them, they will step on other people.

What are some of the characteristics of the smartest person in the room?

• Talk more than they listen.
• Fail to consider other’s points of view.
• Have a constant need to be right and to win.
• Share opinions even when the topic they have an opinion on is not their expertise.
• Frequently not teachable because their regard for themselves is inflated.
• Fails to understand how they come across to others.
• Low in empathy.

Is there a cure for “The Smartest Person in the Room Syndrome”?

There absolutely is a cure if the smartest person in the room can humble themselves to not just accept coaching, but they need to humble themselves to actively participate in and work on their coaching. It’s not a matter of turning weaknesses into strengths. Addressing behavioral change is more about creating strategies to manage behaviors that could impact others in an adverse way.

IQ is generally thought of as being stagnant. In other words, you're as smart today as you're ever going to be. Emotional Intelligence is generally thought to be flexible in that the skills that make up Emotional Intelligence can be adjusted through coaching.

The "Smartest Person In the Room"...with a Behavioral Strategy

A retired military 2 Star General told me a story while we shared a meal. He asked me to take a look at a person I could see over his shoulder at the next table. He asked me if I wanted to know how that person became a 4 Star General when my meal companion had only reached 2 Stars. Not that becoming a 2 Star General is an easy task but my companion really wanted me to understand how his friend and colleague reached the 4 Star level of success.

Of course I wanted to know. The 2 Star General explained to me that he and the 4 Star General graduated from the same class in the military academy they both attended. They both started out with the same credentials to begin their military careers. The game-changer for the 4 Star General was his ability to be the smartest person in the room more often than not throughout his career but he learned to suppress his need to let everyone know that he was so smart.

The 2 Star General told me that the 4 Star General, whom he admired as both a friend and career colleague, excelled in everything he did because he was intellectually gifted but he learned quickly that his career would take off if he learned how to treat people with respect.

Some of the characteristics that enabled the 4 Star General to excel include:

• Listened more than he talked.
• Let other people win whenever possible.
• Considered other people’s points of view.
• Shared opinions when he was asked for his opinions and not just because he possessed an answer.
• Was teachable, trainable and receptive to being coached.
• Exhibited humility.
• Developed empathy for others.

The 4 Star General developed and mastered Emotional Intelligence. Think about it. The 4 Star General had to have a high IQ in order to get into a military academy. He had to have an exceptionally high IQ in order to graduate at or near the top of his academy class.

The 2 Star General was confident that it was the 4 Star General’s ability to develop trust with those around him, his ability to humble himself and his ability to step into others’ shoes to consider their needs and their points of view that caused his career to excel.

There Are Many Ways To Lead But Not Without These Behaviors

As a result of recently surveying hundreds of people to find out what traits they want, need and expect a leader to possess in order to be followed, these are the traits that came up most often.

There are many additional traits, skills and characteristics that leaders need to possess in order to lead but what was suggested to me is that regardless of the additional skills, characteristics and traits a leader possesses, they will not be accepted as a leader unless they possess these traits above all others.

Honesty: If a leader is not honest, it is assumed that the leader lacks overall integrity.

Integrity: If a leader is perceived to lack integrity, it is very difficult if not impossible for followers to trust the leader.

Trust: If followers cannot trust a leader, they will be very unlikely to follow this leader for any other reason.

A leader who attempts to lead by way of their title will only be allowed to lead for so long if their followers find reasons to not trust them.

A leader who speaks out of both sides of their mouth and a leader who consistently fails to connect their words to their actions will not be followed for long.

To lead, you’ll need competency in many different areas. You’ll need to be wired with strengths that will cause others to naturally follow you. Without consistent honesty and integrity, you’ll very likely be unable to establish trust. A leader who cannot be trusted cannot lead.