Jennifer McClure`

Equipping people leaders to navigate change — and design the future — with boldness and purpose.

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Executive Coaching: What Are Global Coaching Leaders Discussing?

The-Conference-Board Recently, at the invitation of The Conference Board *, I had the opportunity to attend their 2010 Executive Coaching Conference in New York City. As an Executive Coach, I was thrilled to be able to attend this event and learn from some leading coaches and global organizations about best practices and current trends. Today’s post is the first in a series where I’ll share some of my experiences, takeaways and observations from the conference.

Below is an overview of my experience at the Executive Coaching Conference via take-aways and quotes from the speakers that I shared on Twitter using the hashtag #tcbcoaching. (Also included are some tweets from fellow conference blogger Barry Zweibel of GottaGettaCoach! Incorporated). During the conference, there were a number of great points made about internal & external coaches, measuring ROI of coaching and some interesting potential future applications were discussed (texting & Second Life).

Please forgive the abbreviations and shortened words in some tweets due to the 140 character limit!

Conference Keynote (Marshall Goldsmith – Author & Executive Educator)

Peak Personal Performance Session

  • 4 sources of energy – all critically important: Purpose (direction) Physical (quantity) Emotional (quality) Mental (focus)
  • “Strategic disengagement” – new way to say “take some rest”.
  • There are 20,000 moments in every day where you can make a difference. Are you an Eeyore or a Tigger?
  • Research shows that having an “attitude of gratitude” can add 5 years to your life.
  • “The only difference between a rut and a grave are the dimensions.” Important to keep moving forward and stay sharp.
  • Powerful things: 1) Craft a Purpose Statement 2) Get clear on Ur Top 5 Roles in Life 3) Define 100 Things U Want to Do in Life
  • 80% of heart attack victims never change their behavior. 20% that do? They have someone who holds them accountable for change.
  • It takes 21 days to establish a new habit. Invest extraordinary energy in it during that time & build in accountability.

Keynote: The Role of Virtual Coaching – Pros and Cons

  • “No correlation between fees that are charged and the Quality of coaching you get”
  • So true: “If you know where the conversation is going… It’s not Coaching”
  • “Really good coach helps redefine a clients goals” (via @ggci)
  • “The more detail you put into a definition, the less meaningful it likely is” (via @ggci)
  • Most coaches are under qualified – even those chosen by the executive (via @ggci)
  • “To be an effective telephone-based coach, you need to first be a good in-person and via-email coach” (via @ggci)
  • Case study done on an instance of Coaching by text. Hmmm… does it make me old-fashioned if I don’t think that’ll work?
  • Levels of coaching – skills, performance, behavioral, transformational (via @ggci)
  • Clutterbuck suggests not dismissing Second Life in terms of coaching either.
  • A broad sense of purpose has a higher correlation to success than goals. Goals are an outcome of your Purpose.
  • Important in Coach/Coachee relationship to have enough similarity to create rapport, but enough difference to create stretch

2009 Executive Coaching Practice Survey (results overview)

  • Exec Coaching survey: In large orgs, most resp 4 coaching are managed centrally re: strategy. Local takes active role in matching
  • Average length of coaching engagements (external coaches) – majority in 6 – 9 month range, very few lasting longer than 1 yr.
  • Survey: Majority (50%) of large orgs work with external coaches who have 1 – 5 coaching engagements in their orgs per year.
  • Survey: #1 reason for engaging an external coach – Development. 2nd 360 Debrief. 3rd Other assessment debrief. 4th Transition
  • Survey: Majority of coaches (0ver 50%) are paid as services are rendered or monthly. Only 2.8% are paid at end of engagement.
  • Survey: Internal coaching is on the rise and growing, but in its infancy. Internal coaches tend to be HR prof vs line leaders.
  • Survey: Almost 80% of internal coaches spend less than 20% of their time on coaching activities.
  • Discussion happening as to whether or not #HR is the right place for internal coaches due to trust/credibility issues. #sad
  • “Line business leaders trained as coaches have double the credibility – because they know the business” #HRopportunity

How Coaching Is Being Used With High Potentials (Panel)

  • Panelist: It’s more important for external Coaches to focus on gaining experience & strong reputation vs specific certification.
  • At Amex, coaching evolving into high-touch, targeted investment closely linked to business results. (via @ggci)
  • At NY Life, coaching is about culture change, and creating ‘distributed’ and ‘principles-based’ leadership (via @ggci)
  • At Microsoft, coaching program “allows emerging and experienced leaders to learn from each other.” (via @ggci)
  • At Microsoft, coaching dev plans include more observing/interacting w/senior leaders; building strong networks w/other hi-pos (via @ggci)
  • At Amex, “coaching must leave a footprint in the organization that builds our internal capability” (via @ggci)

Identifying & Developing Coaching Competencies for Managers (Panel)

  • Very cool job – panelist at #tcbcoaching = Coach at NASA. Challenge of getting highly technical folks to understand “art” of leadership

It’s a wrap!

  • Finishing up at The Conference Board’s Executive Coaching Conference #tcbcoaching. Top notch event with sharp speakers/attendees. Good info!

* Disclosure: By accepting TCB’s invitation to attend, I’m asked only to help them get the word out about their events and the programs that they offer to leading organizations and senior executives. I’m free to share my opinions (positive or negative) about my experience in attending and comment on the content shared by the speakers at the conference.

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What Are the Best Interview Questions to Identify Leadership Potential?

Question In my role as a Consultant focused on recruiting, coaching and developing Leaders, I think I know a good Leader when I see (i.e. get to know) one. This super-power comes from a combination of my experiences – I’ve worked with several great Leaders and I’ve also had exposure to some pretty bad ones too – and the formal and informal training that I’ve received throughout my career.

However, sometimes for me – and I’ve certainly seen it with hiring managers and clients – it’s hard to guard against that “gut feel” you get when you just know that someone has what it takes to be a successful leader. In short, we’ve all fallen victim to the “I just like ’em” syndrome that almost never is a predictor of actual results.

Recently, Dan McCarthy shared Three Questions for Potential Managers to Ask Themselves over on his blog Great Leadership. While the three questions Dan posed are good ones an aspiring leader should ponder before pursuing a managerial role (“Why do I want to be a Manager?”, “Do I have what it takes to be successful?” and “What do I want to become?”), I found the listing he shared of predictors of leadership success to be of particular interest. Here’s a snippet from Dan’s post:

We know there are certain skills and attributes that can be demonstrated in a non-managerial role, that if done well, are predictors of managerial success. For example, Development Dimensions International (DDI) has developed a set of criteria that they say will accurately predict executive success, based on their own experience and research, and research by others.

According to DDI, the “right stuff” for future managerial success includes:

  1. Propensity to lead. They step up to leadership opportunities
  2. They bring out the best in others
  3. Authenticity. They have integrity, admit mistakes, and don’t let their egos get in their way
  4. Receptivity to feedback. They seek out and welcome feedback
  5. Learning agility
  6. Adaptability. Adaptability reflects a person’s skill at juggling competing demands and adjusting to new situations and people. A keyhere is maintaining an unswerving, “can do” attitude in the face ofchange
  7. Navigates ambiguity. This trait enables people to simplify complex issues and make decisions without having all the facts
  8. Conceptual thinking. Like great chess players and baseball managers,the best leaders always have the big picture in mind. Their ability to think two, three, or more moves ahead is what separates them from competitors
  9. Cultural fit
  10. Passion for results

Try assessing yourself against this list of criteria. Better yet, ask your manager and others to assess you. If you’re lacking in any key areas, that’s OK – most of these things can be improved with awareness, practice, and feedback. Other management skills are learned and mastered once in the role and with experience.

While I think most would agree that no checklist of characteristics will be a 100% predictor of future success as a Leader, I like using this approach as a starting point for both individual assessment and for developing some interview questions when selecting individuals for leadership roles. I can think of several ways to get at these qualities through the ever popular “Tell me about a time..” behavioral interviewing questions, but I’m not a big fan of interviews that rely solely upon those types of questions – especially with non-skilled interviewers.

I’m interested in your feedback and ideas in regards to the questions that you ask candidates, or have been asked as a candidate, to identify potential for success as a Leader. What questions would you suggest asking in an interview to assess the leadership qualities listed above?

Hit me in the Comments section with the best questions that either you are asking or have heard and let’s do some crowd-sourcing to come up with a great list. And it’s o.k. to share your best “Tell me about a time…” questions too – just be sure to use them wisely.

Question Mark uploaded by Marco Belluco

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6 Tips For Developing Executive Presence

While attending the SHRM Annual Conference, I attended a session led by Author and Communications Expert Dianna Booher titled “Creating Executive Presence: Communicate with Confidence in the C-Suite”.

6-tips-to-develop-your-executive-presence

As an Executive Coach who works with leaders to improve their skills and grow in their careers, it’s not uncommon for me to work with an otherwise successful leader who just doesn’t have the charisma or “it factor” that some are blessed which naturally compels people to follow them.

Thankfully, all hope is not lost, and Ms. Booher’s session provided some great tips about how changing some of the physical aspects of one’s delivery style can make an immediate and noticeable difference in communicating with confidence, style and substance.

What Does Executive Presence Look Like?

To demonstrate her point, two members of the audience were invited up onto the stage to give a 60-second presentation about a project they were currently working on to the audience of several hundred.

Following their short speech, Ms. Booher took each person to the side of the stage, and provided just 30 seconds of coaching. Then, they were asked to deliver their presentation once again using the tips she had provided.

The first brave volunteer walked up to the stage with confidence, but once she faced the crowd and began to speak, she seemed to sink into the back of the stage and spoke very softly. When her time was up and the brief coaching was provided, she tried again. This time she looked out into the crowd, walked to the front of the stage, and shared her project once again.

When asked for feedback on the difference in the two presentations, audience members commented that the speaker was perceived as more confident, strong, engaging – and even “more beautiful”. (Huh? Not sure about that one.)

The second volunteer shared a brief story about the need to get in better physical shape in order to begin playing tennis with his college age son, so they could spend more time together. While sharing his story, he was casual, smiled and stood right in the center of the stage looking out across the room at the entire audience. He seemed comfortable enough, but after 30 seconds of coaching, he walked strongly to the left of the stage, poke about his challenge, moved to the right of the stage, and shared his plan to succeed. He also sprinkled in a few bits of humor during his delivery that engaged the audience in his story.

Once again, the feedback from the audience was that his second presentation was strong, confident, funny and focused. Unfortunately for him, no comments about his physical appearance, but we definitely liked him.

6 Tips To Demonstrate Executive Presence

So what were some of the secrets shared with the audience volunteers in 30 seconds of coaching that made such a difference? Booher’s tips included:

  • Use random, sustained eye contact with several members of the audience. Focus on a few people here and there while speaking. “If you’re looking at everyone in the room – you’re looking at no one in the room”.
  • Make sure that your body language is strong and confident in order to project that with your tone – because your voice always follows your body language.
  • Before you start to speak, stand up and stand still for 5 seconds. Doing so will make you look very much in control.
  • When addressing a large group from a stage – walk out: stand still for 5 seconds, then start speaking by making eye contact with one person in the far corner of the group to the left, and then one person in the far corner of the room to the right.
  • Gesture from the shoulder rather than from the elbow or the wrist because these types of moves make you look more powerful.
  • Use your space purposely. Stand still. Make a point. Move as you transition to the next point. Then stand still, make a point, move, etc.

Based on the impromptu demonstrations shared in the session today, it was easy to see how implementing these tips into your speaking style can make a difference in how you’re perceived by the audience.

The really good news is that you’re not out of luck if you’re not born with “executive presence”. Like most things, with intention and practice, it can be developed!

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Spanning the World – Links You Can Use or Peruse – April 17th Edition

Blogging Each day, there’s an enormous amount of great content produced by people all over the world and put out on the world wide web. Sometimes it’s from a high-profile journalist or weblebrity, and sometimes it’s from a little known blogger who took the time to share their thoughts with the few souls who follow them that have taken the time to subscribe to their blog. (Ahem… you can subscribe to this little known blogger’s blog via email here or RSS here.)

As a consistently curious consumer of vast quantities of information in the areas of Recruiting, Coaching, HR, Leadership, Career Development, Employment Branding & Social Media, I’d like to share a few links to stuff I found interesting on the Interwebs within the last couple of weeks.

Recruiting

It’s almost counter-intuitive to think that recruiting top candidates would be harder in the current economic times, but Auren Hoffman does a really nice job of explaining why that’s indeed the case in Why Hiring is Paradoxically Harder in a Downturn. And he uses lots of charts, graphs and data to do it. We have ourselves a smarty up in here folks…

My friend Kelly Dingee – a Sourcing Ninja – published the April 2009 AIRS Sourcing Report. If your job involves sourcing candidates using the Internet, then this free monthly resource is for you!

Speaking of Sourcing Ninjas – the Boolean Black Belt (Glen Cathey) makes me dizzy with all of the ways that he can find potential candidates. Strap on your seat belt… Searching Social Media Requires Outside-The-Box-Thinking.

Times – they certainly are a-changin’…Good perspective for both Recruiters and Job Seekers on The Changing Face of Recruiting from Netshare, Inc.

I’m a serious fan of Chris Hoyt – Associate Director of Talent Attraction at AT&T’ – who is probably more widely known (on the web) as the RecruiterGuy. Chris is way out in front in terms of trying and implementing innovative ideas in the recruiting/sourcing space. In 360-Crazy-Sexy-Cool (Recruiting/Sourcing) Part I , he begins a series of posts on a completely mobile and cloud based boxed set of recruiting tools.

Coaching

Jason Seiden always has a way of getting in your face and daring you to take the actions necessary to grow as a leader or in your career – What “Color” Is My Parachute? Sh*t Brown – Thanks for Asking. I like Jason’s coaching style – a lot.

Human Resources

(From RecruitingBlogs.com) Anyone who can quote my favorite movie Jerry Macguire and use the phrase “up at dawn, pride swallowing siege that I will never fully tell you about” to describe the (sometimes) life of an HR Director has me at “Hello”.

This week, I spoke at a local SHRM Group on the topic of How HR Can Use Social Media Beyond LinkedIn. Of the 100 or so in attendance, only about 5 were currently using Twitter. Workforce.com shares some of the drawbacks – and opportunities for HR in HR World Not Immune From Twitter Craze.

Leadership

Great leadership advice and summary of Tips from Tom Peters for Leading in Freaked-Out Times on The Practice of Leadership blog.

Career Development

From my perspective, the single biggest issue for many who are searching for a job is not being able to clearly articulate what they are targeting to best utilize their talents and experience. Couldn’t have said this better myself – To Get the Job, Get Specific.

Another famous Jerry Macguire quote is put to good use by Kathy Rapp on Fistful of Talent in Help Me… Help You. How Not to Play the Salary Negotiation Game.

Employment Branding

The writers and contributors at ERE.net produce significantly high quality stuff on a daily basis. This week, one of my favorites was Ryan Estis – Employment Branding 2.0 – The 8 C’s of My Web My Way.

Social Media/Social Networking

From what appears to be a relatively new blog with some very good content – The Social Executive – check out 9 Tips to Get Executives Started on Twitter.

Here’s an awesome post from the LinkedIn Blog about What Recruiters Look For in a LinkedIn Profile: 8 Tips. A similar post appeared on Mashable – with more good tips – Do You Pass the Social Media Recruitment Test? Of course every recruiter is different and these methods may not be applied by all, but it’s a good place to start.

Facebook isn’t just for poking “friends” and throwing sheep anymore… Check out these 20 Facebook Applications to Assist You In Your Job Search.

If you’re looking for some data to convince your CEO why it’s ok to allow employees to use social media at work – here’s your ticket – Facebook, YouTube at Work Make Better Employees: Study. But make sure he or she doesn’t see this – Does Facebook Make You Dumber? Study shows users of social networking site get lower grades. Just a minor detail in the pursuit of happier employees.

Bringing It Home

And finally, a CincyRecruiter shout-out to the social network for HR professionals – HRMToday.com! I was already a fan, but recently winning an iPod Touch for sharing one of my (too many) hiring horror stories has made me love them that much more. If you’re in HR – or work with people – join HRMToday and check out my winning submission on how a male stripper once tried to recruit ME during his interview. And you thought you had all of the fun in Accounting…

Until next time, take it away Len Berman

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