The Intern Diaries: Week Four

Around the fourth day after Mr. Sperm meets Miss Egg, differentiation begins.  (If you slept through high school biology, differentiation is when cells start to get specialized.)

Ok, biology lesson is over.  I was just mulling over how week four of the Interns could be subtitled, The Week of Differentiation.  It isn’t that they weren’t fully formed individuals when they arrived.  It’s how we see them and assign work to them that’s undergone some subtle changes.

Lindsay is continuing to work on social marketing optimization because she’s a star Communicator.  Not surprising.  This line from her Role-Based Assessment pretty well covers why I wanted her for this project:

She will quickly make contacts throughout the organization and get to know almost everyone. She is especially cooperative and will also try to do almost anything she is asked to do. Her focus is on interpersonal interaction and trying to get everyone to work together harmoniously. She won’t do this by direct means but by attempting to broker the arrangements that bring people together in a positive manner. As a result, she is likely to be respected by those she has contact with.

But we needed to get the database cleaned up so despite the fact that she also had this in her report: “She will not want to do organizational tasks…”, there she was in the conference room with some others, working on exactly that task, with music emanating from someone’s laptop, a pile of snacks, and the sunniest of good natures.

Meanwhile, Kartik, the Action Former, whose report included the following, managed to reorganize, clean up, and optimize my consultant certification files.  Here’s Kartik in a nutshell:

This candidate is the type of employee who can be found in the front of the group with marker in hand, developing a list of things that need to be done or important points or assignments. He is the consummate organizer. The key is that he does not organize for the present but as a way of getting things ready for the future. His style is one of handling many things simultaneously. He believes that multi-tasking in a rapidly evolving environment is essential to keep on top of everything.

The others too have their unique qualities and it’s amazing how much more productive they are when we recognize them, give them work they enjoy, and celebrate the results.

It just makes good business sense.

Happy ending: Lindsay has a project beginning Monday that is totally about communicating with people, while Kartik will get a great new organization project!

The Intern Diaries: Week Three

Another amazing week with the Super Six.  Watching them become a subculture is fascinating.  They work intensely on their own, then pair off, then they cluster.  They draw each other in and something wonderful happens.  You can see the attachments as if they were drawn in the air above their heads.  And because they are all so very Coherent (such a special quality, we have begun to capitalize it,) this crazy entrepreneurial world we inhabit doesn’t faze them, even when we are approaching warp speed.

After only two weeks, during which the first five were oriented, given assignments, put through our standard four hour consultant/agent training, and let loose, we asked them to present their projects at our weekly management meeting.  (Our sixth, only being with us for two days operated the technology – they integrated her into their subculture right away!)  And present they did, PowerPoints and all.

So what did I learn from them this week?

Most of the time, Role trumps age and experience.

In plain English, who you are is more important than what you’ve done.  Yes, I did know that in the intellectual sense.  But it never ceases to amaze me, and amazement is the substrate within which you get new appreciation.  You no longer just know.  You *know*.

Get Out of My Facebook!

If this blog had a subtitle, it would be The Intern Diaries: Day 1.  They arrived today, our new flock of team members – one each for technology, operations, marketing, client services, and communications.  Such a wealth of new energy!

In between getting the drill on who’s who and what’s what around The Gabriel Institute and the obligatory pizza lunch, I tried to get their take on networking technology.  The biggest divide I could think of was LinkedIn vs Facebook, so I was curious where they stood.  They’re onto the economy and there’s no false hope here.  Despite the fact they have an average of another year or so to go, they have no illusions about the job market they’ll emerge into.  But as I expected, they haven’t tuned into LinkedIn for professional networking yet.  Now they all will, and they will be able to put us down as their first business experience – and we’ll be able to tell the world how they did.

We also gave them the HR warnings about being careful what’s on their Facebook page.  The stories flew, and a new dilemma was brought to my hopelessly out of date consciousness: What do you do when your mother wants to friend you on Facebook and you just don’t want her as your friend?

So this is for our new interns’ moms – and dads too.  We tried that ‘be a friend to your kid’ stuff in the 70’s and it didn’t work all that well.  You’ve done a great job, so relax.  We know – we gave your college son or daughter a Role-Based Assessment and that’s why we brought them on board.  They are coherent – the best measure of maturity and potential ever devised – and they have solid Role preferences which we’re going to respect and develop.

So get out of their friendship places and instead, get them to share their Role-Based Assessment reports with you.  You’ll be very proud.

And, by the way, thanks for trusting us with them.  We know they’re precious to you.

Selecting the Next President

I’m a political junkie. Not a partisan, more of a very enthusiastic observer. I don’t care what party the person is from, what the polls are saying about them or who’s on their big donor list. What I watch for is the same thing I want in anyone whose decisions affect the future. While the only control I actually have (and even that is shared) is who gets to join the team at The Gabriel Institute, the temptation is there to play it out with the US citizenry’s next BIG HIRE. Of course, with the team here, everyone takes their Role-Based Assessment™ first, so I have good data, but watching is the next best thing.  The problem is, it can take a while to get to the inconsistencies.  Luckily this election cycle is so long, there will be plenty of time for the flipflopping to start.

So what’s the most important characteristic?  I want a President who can hold up under stress and not make impulsive, nonsensical decisions.  I don’t want someone who is so rigid they can’t look at and integrate new information and ideas, nor do I want a fluffheaded ditz who agrees with the last person that happened to get to them (or their wallet).

So I’m hoping that the coming debates will feature more obnoxious questions and lots of pushiness from the questioners.  I mean, really, if you lose it over a question, what will you do when you’re facing a real threat?

Holiday metrics thoughts

How far we’ve come in the years since 2001, shortly before 9/11, when we started The Gabriel Institute. It’s all in the metrics, though maybe you’ve never thought of this one: Holiday cards.

The first year, the cards were designed, printed, folded, signed, stamped and mailed – only a handful, really. The next few years there was a steady increase in the length of the list, but we still designed, printed, folded, signed, stamped and mailed. Then last year the printer refused to deal with the slightly heavier card stock (it has to flip them to print both sides) and there was no time so we just did an email version.

This year, the list is so huge, I can’t imagine any other way than either starting the process in January or using email. So we are emailing. But in case you aren’t on our list, here’s our greeting and our wish for you at this time:

If you didn’t receive your own, send me your email (to jpresser@thegabrielinstitute.com) and I’ll add you to the holiday card list for next year and also send you the articles that get published this year on leadership, metrics, etc.  You’ll be contributing to the promotion of the most important metric – how much good will we can create through cyberrelationships!

The end is coming

Of the year, that is, not the world.

I usually don’t think about my New Year’s resolutions until at least the 29th of December, but I was interviewed by ExecuNet on “A New Career for the New Year?” for their CareerSmart Advisor and the article came out a week or so ago, so I’ve started early. It’s easier to give advice than take it, of course, but I’m going to try to give myself some advice on my big resolution for 2008. I’m finally going to write the magnum opus on the theory that underlies all the products and services of The Gabriel Institute. So, here forth, my advice to myself, which I hope you might find applicable to whatever it is that you are going to resolve to do this year.

• It doesn’t have to all be done at once. There is a writing standard I followed a long time ago (when I wrote my other books) of doing five new pages a day. What I learned was that doesn’t add up to 35 pages a week or even 25 so you may as well be realistic and double your overly optimistic time schedule. This particularly applies to losing weight.
• It will be better if you don’t try to control it. A book, like many other projects, needs to develop a personality of its own. It has your voice, but it’s an individual. Actually, this need it will have to “breathe” is going to be responsible for some of that time you’ll need in the last point. If your resolutions involve other people, like a child, a spouse, a friend, this definitely applies to you.
• The more people involved, as long as they are truly invested in the outcome, the better the results. This will, of course, be a team effort. My earlier books were too, but the team was formed to get the book out, not before. Investment takes time – and trust, respect and faith. If you have that, whatever your resolution, it will be more likely to succeed.

Okay, I’m ready for the end – and the beginning!

Looking for a Few Good Cult Members

The cover article of the current issue of Talent Management magazine decries the “cult of productivity” so I flipped to that article first, hoping to find out what’s wrong with me. I always thought of extremely productive people as part of my club, the ones who either work with me or we’d like to have playing with us. (It’s true – sometimes it’s hard for me to distinguish between working and playing with this crew!) But no, nothing like that.

Productive people, according to the author, run the risk of burnout, resentment, chronic fatigue, etc. The only problem I could see was that there wasn’t one word on how working with the right other people in a team leads to productivity with joy. The basic, simple, Contextual Management™ rules are:

• Use Role-Based Assessment™ to construct the team so you get synergy
• Fulfill every person’s every motivator – money is important but it is in no way the only one (hint: their Role will tell you a lot about how to do this
• If you’re the leader, remember that your team comes first – make sure you’re feeding a culture of trust, respect and faith that the job will get done

So if you’ve always wanted to join a cult where you could work beyond your capacity, synergize with other productive people and change the world for the better, apply at The Gabriel Institute.

We’re always looking for a few good cult members.

A Great Moment for Women in Leadership

I have to admit I’ve never met Carly Fiorina but I’m still not over her leaving the top post at HP. It’s just that there are so few women who are both driven to get to the top and who are accepted, supported and cheered on into that role. But corporate isn’t the only place for women leaders. That’s why it was such a thrill to read about Cathy Scott, AFSCME DC 47’s new leader, in this morning’s Philadelphia Inquirer. She replaces the retiring Tom Cronin, who led the the union for 27 years, just at the time Philadelphia is replacing its mayor, most likely to be Michael Nutter, who was quoted thus: “I think she’s a very smart, sharp person who is certainly going to be a strong advocate for the members of her union, but I also know she cares a great deal about the city and our challenges going forward…we’ll have serious and frank discussions.” And she says: “We think there are areas where we can work in a very positive way with Mr. Nutter.”

It gives me hope. I live and work in this city and it sorely needs the kind of leadership that is serious, frank, positive and collaborative. Here are two people with Vision. I am making that assumption about Michael Nutter, whom I’ve never met, based on what people who do know him have told me. But I know Cathy because we at The Gabriel Institute worked with her as leader of Local 2187, helping her develop her board’s leadership. I know she is a woman with a Vision – from her Role-Based Assessment and from watching her grow in that very responsible position. As I emailed Cathy to share my best wishes for her, I reflected on how far she had come from when I first met her, working tirelessly, ceaselessly, intensely, so faithful to her constituents. And how responsive she was to input that respected her Vision and helped her shaped and communicate it. She is not a woman to waste words. And so when I read her response, I took it as the highest compliment about what we do that this is what she said:

Working with Gabriel really helped focus me on Vision.

Thanks for encouraging and supporting a fellow woman in leadership. May our numbers increase!

Role-Based Assessment for Performance Management

I love to hear stories about how people use the same Role-Based Assessment that helps them hire to shape the performance they want.  Phil passed this on to me from Angie Singer of Reclamere (they are a professional IT asset management company – they do data destruction, an essential if you want to limit the risk of having your identity stolen) who is talking about their talent management efforts.  What’s great is her philosophy recognizes that people aren’t perfect and that if you hire them for what they can do for you, then treat them with Role respect – respect for who they actually are – that you’ll get the best outcomes.

“Thanks to the assistance she has given Nikki, our HR Manager, we are focused on QUALITY of candidates. In addition, the reports have helped us when challenges have arisen after people are hired. For example, we were having an issue with the receptionist making many mistakes. We know she is a very smart woman and more than capable of doing the work, but the mistakes persisted. In addition, her body language when the mistakes were pointed out was incredibly negative. This had a negative impact on the Office Manager, Heidi who thought that the negativity was aimed AT HER. I decided to go back and read the report on the receptionist and was reminded that the person is a perfectionist who is can be hard on herself and who doesn’t like criticism. I realized that the negative body language was an external manifestation of the anger she felt at HERSELF and had nothing to do with Heidi, who she adores. Heidi and I sat down and came up with a different approach to the receptionists training plan and had a meeting with her to discuss everything. We realized at the meeting that the receptionist was so nervous about making mistakes and trying to rush through everything trying to impress us with her speed that she was making many more mistakes than she normally would. She was literally wound tight as a drum, just terrified to lose her job. We got her calmed down, gave her permission to make mistakes and more importantly, gave her permission to SLOW DOWN, and now she is doing terrific!!! I believe that without the report, we might have given up on the receptionist too soon, or may have done harm to the forming portion of her work relationship that would have had lasting effects. I know that the report gave us the information we needed to help get this woman off to a great start with our company. On another occasion, we used the report to handle a minor disciplinary issue with one of the sales reps. It wasn’t anything major, but it did need to be addressed. We reviewed the report and made sure that the way that it was handled was complimentary to the way that he responded best in management style. So overall, I am extremely pleased with our work that we’ve done with The Gabriel Institute.”

Bravo Angie!  For every employee you help grow, you grow the value of your company!