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“Creating Successful Leaders”

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June 12, 2013 Promoting Your Potential

Just because you might not have a list of awards or credentials under your belt doesn’t make you an unfavorable candidate for the job. In fact, quite the opposite.

A study conducted by Zakary Tormala and Jayson Jia of Stanford and Michael Norton of Harvard Business School reveals that potential has more of an alluring power than achievements do.

Although going for the individual with more achievements is the safer option, Tormala et al. argue that “the uncertainty surrounding individuals with high potential makes them more interesting, which draws people in, increases processing, and can have positive downstream effects on judgment.” High potential gets noticed.

Sure, with an old pro you can feel more confident that they’ll perform up to standard, but pruning a new recruit reflects better on your own resume. But if you think about it, wouldn’t you rather bring on an undeveloped talent and have them flourish under your supervision than recruit an old pro who’s already done it all before?

If you’re just breaking into a new field, don’t be intimidated by a veteran’s long and decorated list of achievements. A common mistake inexperienced applicants make is downplaying or entirely ignoring the fact that they are a new face.

Use your inexperience as a distinguishing advantage. Instead of saying, “I must admit that I haven’t worked in this area before, but…” say, “With me, you’ll get the rare opportunity to train me in ways tailored precisely to this business. No bad habits here!”

Tormala, Zakary, Jia, Jayson, and Michael Norton: “The Preference for Potential.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 103 (2012): 567-583. Accessed June 10, 2013. doi: 10.1037/a0029227.

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June 5, 2013 Save Money And Gain Knowledge With Online Courses

Paying for college is a drag, and although the job market is much better now than it was when I first began coaching a few years back, it’s still tough to know whether getting another degree is a smart investment.

The good news is Massive Open Online Courses, or “MOOC’s,” are providing people the world over with quality courses, free of charge. These classes are taught by real professors from some top notch schools, and MOOCs take advantage of video chat technology to create a sense of community.

Perhaps the company that’s making the biggest waves is Coursera. Having teamed up with universities like Stanford, University of Pennsylvania and Princeton, Coursera provides five undergrad courses that the American Council on Education has approved to count toward college credit.

What excites me isn’t free college credit, even though this is a big step toward an affordable education. I’m excited about the opportunity this gives anyone who wants accessible, flexible and personal learning. Classes typically run from 6-12 weeks, and you are free to take as many or as few as you’d like. This gives even the busiest of us the chance to advance our education. And we can do it however we want.

If you’ve always been meaning to get caught up on the classic novels, for instance, take a literature course! If you’re crummy at math and don’t want to be anymore, there are math classes as basic as geometry 1. Or, you can develop the skills you apply everyday at work. Coursera offers economics courses, marketing courses and integrated technology courses, to name a few, all of which address real-world needs.

Oh, and did I mention it’s free?

 

The Next Web. “Online learning goes official as five Coursera courses get approved by the American Council on Education.”  Accessed June 4, 2013. http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/02/07/online-learning-goes-official-as-five-coursera-courses-get-approved-by-the-american-council-on-education/

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May 21, 2013 Ways To Boost Collaboration

You probably know that successful businesses are built around good collaboration, but you may not know that sometimes collaboration can actually be a negative force in an organization. Author Morten T. Hansen addresses the issue with an example in his book, Collaboration:

“When oil giant British Petroleum (BP) started to promote cross-unit collaboration,” writes Hansen, “leaders encouraged the formation of cross-unit networks focused on areas of shared interest. Over time, this idea flowered into an unforeseen number of networks and subnetworks…which consumed increasing amounts of managers’ time.”

This tendency toward overdoing it stems from the notion that more structure equals better results. But this often backfires, costing time and money. In reality, collaboration is the result of good chemistry between individuals united behind a single cause. Instead of implementing rules for how to collaborate, or “forcing it,” we should promote an environment that allows individuals to collaborate naturally.

I came across a YouTube video by Angela Fernandez Orviz that does a good job of illustrating how collaboration sparks creativity and innovation.

After watching the video, I arrived at a few points:

1. Seek out diverse strengths and personality types

As Orviz states, we must utilize a large network of disciplines in order to address issues in a global world. Most groups must diversify their business to stay relevant. This means integrating all sorts of professions, be they doctors, scientists,  journalists or salespeople.

2. Keep an open mind and embrace Divergent Thinking

Set your own ego aside and keep your mind open to many different ways of solving a problem. Each member of the team brings a specialized skill and viewpoint to the table, and it is up to the group as a whole to be open to everyone’s take on the matter. The brainstorming process may take longer as a result, as you’ll see ideas come from every angle possible, and you may face some frustrating road blocks. Hence, I strongly recommend that you…

3. Agree On The Objectives Early On

Before you even begin brainstorming, draft a written document that all members of the team agree on that specifically states the aims of the project at hand. This will act as a road map that keeps the collaborative process within a workable framework. In this way, you’ll be able to allow for divergent thinking and creative meandering, resting assured that you’ll eventually find your way to real solutions. Solutions which could not have been reached without many minds and strengths working in unison.

Hansen, Morten T. “Collaboration: How leaders avoid the traps,  create unity, and reap the big results.” Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2009, page 12.

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