Comping for a Great Employment Class!

Can you put on a suit and look like a human being? Are you in any business/professional/technical industry EXCEPT HR (no HR admitted)? Are you looking for a job? I am "comping" up to 10 readers of this blog for a job search class on Friday afternoon, October 2nd, at the Denver Athletic Clob. Write me at jheckers@heckersdevgroup.com for details and instructions.

In this class on finding a job we'll cover:

How to get past evil HR and talk to the hiring authority.
How to write a winning resume.
How to interview effectively.
How to network like a PRO
The TEN THINGS you must NEVER DO in today's job search if you actually desire employment.
What does and doesn't work.

Class is from 2 PM to 6 PM. It is being filmed for later sale, so you will have to sign a release and you will be a movie star. Again, write me at jheckers@heckersdevgroup.com and I'll send you out instructions.

J.

Executive RIFs Affects Us All

When you hear of executive lay-offs you might have the attitude of “Don’t weep for them, Argentina.” After all, these folks can arguably be said to have had loads to do with the current financial crisis. There is also a belief that they are usually arrogant as all get-out, Republican, and tend to look down on “lesser” people who don’t share their lofty titles, corner offices, and affection for Mercedes or BMW.

While this is an easy media stereotype, and, in my experience as an executive coach, has a small bit of validity with a small number of people who happen to be executives, it is far from entirely accurate. Most executives you’ll meet have been honest and hard-working, have had nothing to do with the current financial crisis, aren’t wealthy, although most have been prudent and have some resources, don’t make astronomical salaries, are of a variety of political parties, are genuinely nice people, and, while some drive luxury cars, some also drive Kias (including me).

And while few are losing their homes or waiting in soup lines, many are very hard hit by the current financial crisis. But, more importantly than their pain, is the pain that their lay-offs cause every single person in the economy.

Remember that even many executives pretty much depend on their paychecks every other week or so to pay the bills. And, because they make more than the average cubicle worker, they have higher bills. Most of their resources are invested, which means that most now have far fewer resources than they did in June of 2008. Some had 90% of their resources wiped out. This means that, when they lose their jobs they stop buying stuff. This may not have occurred to Joe Lunchpail, but his salary and livelihood are directly based on what people spend.

America is, or at least, was, a capitalist society. This means that it is based on businesses successfully selling stuff, ideas, or experiences. When American business stops selling stuff, the people who own or manage those businesses stop having money to pay workers. This means that they have to lay them off, which further feeds the cycle.

But, who spends the most money in America? Executives do. They spend literally thousands or tens of thousands of dollars a month buying stuff and paying bills. If they lose their jobs they stop buying stuff. They stop travelling. They stop remodeling their homes. They don’t buy the new big-screen TV.

Now, before you take some satisfaction in those “greedy big shots” not being able to buy everything they want, think about your job for a moment. If you work at Best Buy and a “greedy big shot” can’t buy the newest and coolest big screen TV, this means that Best Buy has just not made $4,000.00 or so (sorry, I haven’t bought any TVs lately, so that may be off…). This is $4,000.00 less to keep inventory payments up and pay you. If enough of people don’t buy the newest and coolest big screen TV’s, this means that Best Buy loses enough money that it can’t pay, say, 30 workers this month. This is bad. Very, very bad. It could mean your job.

Executive RIF is one of the most neglected subjects in the news. But it shouldn’t be. It should make headlines. But Americans, generally, have become very classist, and, unfortunately, delight in the troubles of the “upper class,” wanting them to fail. This socialist attitude is just plain congenitally idiotic, as, in our society, when the “upper class” fails, we all fail.

Let us hope that the rash of executive lay-offs come to a rapid end. These are the people who, for the most part, pay our salaries, our fees, our profits and so on. Most of these people got there through hard work, playing some very nasty political games (that they mostly hate) and becoming very skilled at making money for their companies…little of which they actually get to see.

So, the next time you see a news story about executives being laid off, don’t gloat. That executive who just got canned may well have been the person buying enough at the store to let you keep your job. This particular bell tolls for all of us.

Where Have You Been???

Dear Readers:

I've had some folks ask me where we've been, as it has been a couple of months since we posted on this site. Sorry 'bout that.

I have spent all of my writing time writing, editing and preparing some new books for publication over this summer. The first is In Transition: Rapidly Finding Your Next Executive Job (Even in Difficult Times), which was shipped from the publishers on Thursday, June 25th! Our next book is The Six Figure Resume Guide which will be shipped in about two weeks. By August, we'll have a book for non-executive white collar personnel called Getting Employed (Even in Difficult Times). This book gives effective strategies for non-executive personnel to find employment, including over 400 killer interview questions and how to answer them. By September, our book 1001 Killer Interview Questions and Their Answers (working title....we haven't decided on a final yet) will be out. Then, finally (at least for a little while) we're putting out a career management book the working title for which is Highly Cynical Career Management Techniques.

Some of these have DVDs to go along with them. In Transition has two associated DVDs currently in editing. The first DVD is a multiple DVD set with over 6 hours of training on finding executive employment. This will be about a 4 DVD set. We also have a 2 DVD set on answering the 4 "biggie" killer questions, with footage of actual clients answering these questions. I'll put up on my management blog sites further informaiton as it becomes available. Our wonderul internet publicist, Keith Eckhardt, is tirelessly working to get the DVDs finished and put up venues to allow people to buy these books and sets. If you'd like more information on these, please feel free to go to info@heckersdevgroup.com.

So...to make a long story endless....and to quote the Governator....we'll be baaack....very soon.

I hope you're having a great summer!

J

An Employers' World

The following is an excerpt from John's upcoming book Getting Employed! Finding a Business/Professional Job in Difficult Times. This will be available by July 1, 2009.

Job applicants must realize the realities of these difficult times. This is an employers world, and not that of the applicant. The attitudes of applicants must be very different than they were before the difficult economic times hit. Here are a few things that must change in applicant attitudes.
1. You must have more patience. Employers can take several weeks to respond to applications. When an employer finally does respond, you must be gracious and polite with the employer, as if he or she had responded immediately.
2. There are more “hoops” to jump through. Due to the cost of a bad hire, and the number of applicants available, employers are being very “picky” about which applicants they interview. Do whatever the employer asks you to do in the way they ask you to do it.
3. Manners really count. Applicants with no manners are unemployed applicants! Be gracious and polite to all employers, even if you feel that they are “blowing you off” or making you do unnecessary things. The question is whether or not you actually want a job, not whether or not things are “appropriate” for the employer to ask you to do. In these economic times you should be willing to do anything and everything that is neither illegal or immoral to both obtain and keep your job.
4. Expect long hours and lower pay. Employers are going to expect employees to work however long necessary to get the job done. Employers are also not going to pay top dollar in today’s economy. It is the law of supply and demand. Employers are demanding the best employees possible, and applicants are in great supply right now.
5. Don’t expect great “perks.” In the 1990’s, in order to attract a very small applicant pool of younger workers, employers did things like place pop machines and games in their offices. These days are completely over for most companies. If you can find a job with basic health insurance and some sick time and vacation time, even if you have to contribute to the health insurance, you’re in good shape.
6. Don’t ever be nasty to an employer. Ever! We ran an ad in December of 2008 for an Executive Coach to join us. We had over 300 applicants, only three of which actually followed directions (more on this on the section of applying to job boards). When John took his precious time to write back the advice to follow directions to applicants who did not he often got a very nasty and biting response. This is sheer foolishness. People talk. Employers, especially, tend to belong to the same clubs, go to similar restaurants and belong to similar associations. For example, in Denver, virtually every employer has a membership in the Denver Athletic Club. Most of us belong to the Association for Corporate Growth. This is even more true in smaller towns, or towns like New York City where everyone knows everyone else of a similar social class. Never, ever, be nasty to an employer. It is a very limiting move. It is not only a career limiting move, it is a life limiting move! You will be talked about, and ostracized from good jobs.
7. Never “blow off” an employer — even if you don’t want the job. Always respond with courtesy.
8. Know the rules. Know the rules of job search and interviewing. Follow our advice later in this book to the letter regarding attire, interviews, meal interviews, and so on. Breaking these rules may well mean no job for you.
9. Don’t expect employers to come to you. Posting on Monster or another job board used to be enough. Few employers are using job boards now or even recruiting. If you want to find the best jobs, you’re going to have to network, network and network some more. Over 75% of white collar jobs (the demographic this book is written for) are found by networking, not “passive search” techniques.

Keep in mind that there is a real law of supply and demand out there. Jobs are in demand and applicants are in great supply right now. This means that applicants must do many things right to get one of the coveted jobs. Failure to do so means no job.
Younger people often have a hard time understanding this reality, in our experience. We have found that young people often have an entitlement attitude, expecting to be given things simply because they are, rather than having to work for things.
This is one deep attitude that must be vanquished in your job search. You do not have a right to anything, certainly not a job. You must do whatever is necessary to earn a job and to earn the right to keep a job.
An attitude of “whatever it takes” and dedication to work and career are necessary in these times. Those with different attitudes will often find themselves unemployed or underemployed. Those, however, who “get it,” and work the system will be much more likely to find exciting and satisfying employment.

Your Networking Activities Are Public!

There is a woman who came to one of our Executive Structured Networking Events recently. Contrary to the rules of the event, she promoted her business (this is a networking event only for executives seeking jobs — no vendors allowed), was very rude to people, and, finally, as people did as they were instructed at the event and tried to connect to her on LinkedIn, she “IDKed” them, which means she replied back “I don’t know” this person, even though she had agreed not to do this.

I have let everyone and his sibling know about this…and the “everyone” I know in the Denver area is extensive. Several hours after posting this (factual) information to a networking group I am a member of, an individual called me (possibly the woman herself) and asked me why I would do this, and said “She’ll probably sue you.” Well, she can try…but stating facts about another individual is still protected by what little scraps of our Constitution is left after the past few years. This, however, brings up a point.

Your networking events are not private. They are not personal. They are not protected. Anything you say and do in networking can be broadcast from the housetops. If you are a networking nerd….only concerned about yourself, blathering on about how great you are, not being helpful, and so on, this is public information. If you don’t follow through or even try to follow through on promises, this is public information. If you are a very bad person and damage others by “IDKing” people on LinkedIn, this is very public information.

In fact there are many “IDK” Warning boards out there which LinkedIn members can check to see if you IDK people. If so…don’t expect much LinkedIn help from any of us! IDKing is incredibly rude and nasty. Anyone who IDKs people should never be contacted with an invitation. If you aren’t interested in accepting an invitation, either ignore it or archive it.

Now, some people might say, “Well, she probably didn’t know this.” Yeah…she did. We talked about it at the networking event, and I sent her a warning the first time I heard she was doing it. She kept on doing it and doing it, even though I sent her another warning. Now, I probably wouldn’t have done much about it, except that I wound up getting “flack” about it because she had attended my networking event…and then had the temerity to respond to someone who challenged her on it that I had told her to that! OK, enough is enough. My sterling reputation was at stake. This was the dreaded poison person. Others must know about someone who is this rude and is outright lying and trying to harm others.

Understand that Denver is a very small town. If you belch in Boulder, you’ll have to say “Excuse” in Englewood. I’m continually amazed and gratified at how many people I know, and how many people we have in common.

We have a responsibility to network responsibly and well. We have a responsibility to respond to others in our community who want to network with us. We also have a responsibility to let others know about “poison people” so that they, too, are not harmed. Of course, be sure that your information is accurate (I had numerous reports and sent several emails to the person in question to ask for her side of the story…all unanswered…). If you try to let others know about someone who is a good and responsible networker, and has helped many people, this will backfire on you. But we have a responsibility to assure that others are not harmed by malicious, dishonest, rude, or just plain inconsiderate people in the networking community. So…here are a few important rules for networkers.

1). Return all calls within 72 hours and 48 hours is better.

2). Do what you say you’re going to do. If you promise someone something, follow through or explain why you cannot.

3). Be careful what you promise. Of course, you can’t be responsible for what people hear. People continually tell me that I should do things I never said I would or could do. This goes along with being well known. But, even so, promise carefully. I try very, very hard to keep, to the letter, every promise I make…and I promise carefully. I will always be clear that I will attempt to reach someone, not say that I will reach them. I will always be clear that I need the permission on the other side before giving out numbers, I don’t just give a number (unless I have previous permission to do so). And so on.

4). Don’t “trash” your network. Get permission before giving out contact information unless you’ve been told this is not necessary.

5). Never say “I don’t know” (IDK) someone on LinkedIn or similar things on other social networking sites. This is incredibly stupid and very rude.

6). Take meetings. If you’re networking you must be willing to take some meetings. I will meet with everyone who wants to meet with me….when I am able. It might be a month or two, but I never turn down a networking meeting…even from a direct competitor (in fact, I want more competitors to contact me, as we are turning people away from our practice due to many reasons….and need people to refer them to!). I will always explain the situation to anyone who calls, and am very generous with my time. I hope I always can be so.

7). Never “fob someone off” to your assistant. This is a very large insult, and can get you in big trouble. I tell people “I can meet with you in about a month, or my wife and business partner Nicole can meet with you next week, and probably help you at least as much. If there is something she can’t answer, then she’ll make sure you get time with me. Which do you want?” Don’t just say, “Meet with my assistant.” This is bad networking.

8). Don’t be a “no-show.” This is the kiss of death in this town.

9). Come down off of your high horse. You aren’t so important that you can’t meet with people. Nor are you so important that you cannot be courteous and giving. One person I knew, who was at the “C” Level, managed to anger my whole client group except one at the same time. He was so arrogant and unpleasant that I had client after client come and tell me about him. This kind of stuff gets around, folks!

10). Remember that nothing you say in networking is confidential, nor is anything you do. If you are rude, damaging, dangerous, or a networking nerd, others have a perfect right to tell other people about you. In fact, I believe they have a responsibility to do so.

If you are a member of a networking group, like Colorado Pro Networks, or Networking groups on LinkedIn, you have a positive responsibility to those people to let them know about irresponsible, damaging, or rude folks. If LinkedIn gets more than one “IDK,” about someone, they will restrict your ability to invite people, seriously damaging your ability to do on-line networking. By telling about someone who “IDK’s” people, you are, potentially, saving someone innocent from being listed by LinkedIn as a bad character or “spammer.”

Some people will scream at you for doing this. The nefarious person you expose this way will threaten to sue you. Don’t worry. Stick to absolute truth and they can’t get anywhere. If an unscrupulous attorney tries, you can file a frivolous action suit against his or her malpractice and retire. But they won’t go there. And I’ve gotten a variety of attorney letters over the years threatening to sue me for this and that I’ve said in columns or to folks. Yeah, whatever. Remember that there is still a First Amendment.

If someone says something false about you, you have the right to sue them for libel, although it is probably a waste of time. Some idiots will do this to you over time. But be sure that you are behaving responsibly so that no one can, truthfully, say something nasty about you. Against true statements, no one has a leg to stand on.

To a prosperous 2009, in spite of the media pundits!

J.

Stupid Resignation and Termination Tricks

Things are getting a little scary out there. Layoffs are becoming an epidemic. Companies are closing their doors left and right. But employees are still doing some very stupid things, both with trying to get hired and with leaving a company. We’ve spoken of the stupid things employees try to do in getting hired in a previous post. Now let’s look at the incredibly stupid things employees do when leaving.

1). A nasty resignation letter. “Take this job and shove it/I ain’t working here no more.” Thanks, Johnny Paycheck, for this immortal bit of lousy English and abysmal attitude. But if you don’t want to only get jobs that out-of-work country crooners can get (mostly mucking out stables) you will have a better attitude. Don’t say anything nasty in your resignation. not one word. Thank the employer for the opportunity. Wish everyone and his or her brother well. Just indicate that a better opportunity beckons and you cannot resist the siren song. This will preserve your reputation as someone with class.

2). A too personal resignation letter. Don’t say anything personal in the resignation letter, either. If you have something that absolutely must be said to someone, say it in person, not in a letter. It is completely immature and classless to write a personal or nasty resignation letter. Believe me, it will get around to everyone out there. We who are employers do talk to one another, you know. And it is perfectly legal to share information about the attitude and work ethic of former employees, especially in casual conversation with friends or over a golf game. Not only is it perfectly legal, it is also common.

3). Never resign by email! I am so sick of emails altogether. They are being abused in unbelievable ways. One of the very worst things you can do is to resign by email — especially if the letter is nasty or personal (see above). Have you forgotten that these things can be posted, forwarded and printed and passed around? Are you out of your mind?!?!?!? This is a very career limiting move.

4). Never threaten or file complaints or legal actions of any kind. Yes, I know full well your rights and that you are theoretically “protected: if you file a complaint. Let’s get real. First, filing a legal action of any kind against an employer is a matter of public record. Even if you win, even if you are 100% in the right (which you rarely will be), and even if you get all sorts of agreements, you are dead meat in your career. Every time a new employer Googles you, which they will, this is going to show up, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. You might win a few thousand dollars or so, but, if you file a legal action, you’d better win millions, because you are going to find it very difficult to find a job again. This used to just apply to whatever town or state you filed the legal action in. Now, with Google and the ability of employers to do background checks, your foolishness will follow you throughout the world.

Government regulatory actions against employers is almost as stupid. While these are theoretically “confidential,” it will get around the business community faster than Captain Kirk in the Starship Enterprise.

Now, filing any employment or legal action against an average Joe is bad enough. If you’re stupid and immature enough to file one against a large company, an influential member of the business or political community, or a great networker — bye-bye career, At that point you are depending on the good will and integrity of a person you’ve just put through a few months of hell to not completely ruin your career and life. Few people have either that much good will or integrity. Don’t risk yourself and don’t do it, regardless of how “wounded” you are. Just leave and find another job.

5). Blasting people on the exit interview. Be nice. Everyone was great. You luuuvvv everyone at the company and you’re only leaving because you’re being made to. Even if you have fantasies of going postal, don’t trash anyone in the exit interview. Again, it is a very career limiting move.

6). Taking company property. This will both ruin your career and likely end your butt up in jail with a record that you cannot escape. It is hard for an ex-con to find a job these days. Make sure that not one bit of company property remains in your possession for any reason whatsoever. Clear all company records from your computer. Return everything with the company name on it. Act with absolute integrity.

7). Stealing from the company in other ways. I’ve had employees over the years who have stolen from me in a variety of ways. A couple, of course, have out and out embezzled. But others have copied lists, kept proprietary information, such as our training books and discs, made tons of copies on the company’s dime (one made 1,418 copies of her brochure for her new business. It didn’t get to 1,500 because, when we came in Monday to find her resignation letter and stuff on the front desk, our copier was out of one of the color toners completely). We have had employees resign after taking all the sick time to which they were “entitled,” and not doing work for the last week or so of employment, and so on. This is stealing. While it isn’t something that can imprison one, it is certainly something that quietly gets around. There is nothing you can do to stop this sort of thing, as it isn’t systematic and you cannot stop someone from giving their opinion, any more than I, as a business, can stop ex-employees from saying nasty things about me, whether true or false.

8). Childish behavior. Respond to your former employer’s calls, even if you hate the person. Leave your work done professionally. Tie up loose ends. Even if you’re being terminated involuntarily, hand over a clean and professional job to your successor or the company. Don’t steal keys off of the keyboards, write nasty notes, put even a “harmless” virus into the computers or do anything else that is unworthy of a professional. Again, it gets around.

9). Gossip about the company after leaving. This is the most common one, and it is also career limiting. You may have had the world’s worst experience there, but others don’t necessarily share your point of view. Keep your opinions to yourself and simply indicate that you and the company had different values and it was time to move along. You will get more respect this way than in any other way.

10). “Go off” on people. No one needs to “have a piece of your mind” in the company. Leave. Let it be. Calm down. You need every piece of your mind to get you through life, so don’t go giving pieces away so quickly!

Please remember that this is now an employer’s market. And, if you’re one of my Denver readers, this is a very, very small town. It is very, very easy, therefore to “burn” yourself in the Colorado Front Range. I suspect this is true for other cities, as well.

Employers talk with one another frequently. We belong to the same clubs (Denver Athletic Club, for example), attend the same events, live in similar neighborhoods (I'm less than 10 miles from about 40% of my clientele, and we see each other in King Soopers and Whole Foods all the time), and even go to the same places of worship. Employees often forget this! While we don’t often discuss former or current employees, sometimes we do. We especially discuss people who do really obnoxious things to us…not to be nasty, but to preserve our friends from having the same experience with a nut case. I have seen several of my clients over the years who have done stupid things be ruined. And don’t think this is just in the executive ranks. A really obnoxious admin, fork-lift driver, cubicle drone, etc. can also find themselves in chronic unemployment or underemployment for a brief moment of incredible stupidity. Before you start to act in an immature and unwise fashion, it is well to remember this and preserve your reputation in the employment market.

By the way --- if you have done any of this that the employer knows about, your best bet is to ask for a phone conversation or a coffee and apologize profusely, listen to a lecture, and ask for forgiveness. Most employers will be cool about this. Of course if you've done anything really egregious, you probably deserve whatever you get in negative Karma.

A New Way of Doing Business

After swearing many years ago I wouldn’t ever have employees again, our company is expanding. We have two and, if we are able to work out details, three great people starting with us on Monday, December 1st.

I used to CEO a company called “The Hillyard Group, LTD,” which was a national human resources and corporate training firm, headquartered in Denver. This was some years ago. And Nicole (wife and business partner) and I have had employees over the years until we downsized about 5 years ago to spend all of our time in actual client contact. We’re taking the step of adding people because we need to. Our reputation is bringing many wonderful people as potential customers to us. Due to the constraints of being human, we’ve had to turn too many of them away. And, we want to develop a couple of other sides of our company that are currently underdeveloped. Nicole is also growing in her favorite area of Life and Relationships Coaching, giving her less time for the business-oriented transition coaching. Hence - people.

This gives me an opportunity to put into place, and “field test” a few beliefs I have come to regarding small companies and how they should be run. In this blog, I’ll keep you informed on how this experiment in a new way of running a company is doing. But here are a few things I’ve come to believe, and am trying out.

1). Treating our fellow staff members as we’d like to be treated. Wow! What a concept! I think that Jesus fellow said something about that a couple of thousand years ago.

One of the things I’ve seen in some small companies that I don’t like is an “owner mentality” and an “employee’s mentality.” Owners often want to maximize their own share of the business. After all, they started it or bought it. And they want to get everything they can out of it.

I want to get what is fair out of it, while giving our fellow staff members what is fair and equitable for them, as well. This has many implications, which I’ll explore below. But it starts with the conviction that we all want pretty much the same things.

2). Paying employees as much as I can afford to pay them. We put cursor to computer screen and ran the numbers. Harold Geneen, formerly of ITT, said “The slavery of the numbers will make you free.” Rather than figuring how little we could pay employees and get away with it, we started with a philosophy of paying our fellow staff as much as possible while still achieving a living wage for ourselves. I don’t want my colleagues worrying about how to pay the mortgage or rent…I want them concentrating on creative and innovative ways to increase everyone’s share of the pie.

3). Everyone gets the same “perks.” If Nicole and I get it, so do they. If we like the “perk” enough that we want our company to pay for it, they’ll like it, too. This includes, by the way, fully paid health insurance, as well as what I, as a small business, can get in dental insurance (which isn’t much). Our health insurance is the best that money can buy for small businesses, as I am a Type I diabetic. If it is something we appreciate, they need it, too.

4). When everyone wins, everyone shares. We immediately (at the end of the first year in which they are employed) pay out a share of the profits, pro-rated, of course, for how many months they’ve been with the company. This gives everyone an added incentive to be a true team. It is hard to actually be a team if you aren’t sharing in the winnings, isn’t it? While we’re all going to experiment with what percentages work, we think that this is only fair.

5). Work/Life balance is essential. It has always been my philosophy that a well-rested, healthy individual will contribute more that a frazzled, exhausted one. I, frankly, don’t understand why other companies don’t get this. But linear, concrete thinking individuals who run so many companies seem to believe in the absurd and dangerous motto of “do more with less.” Bullpuckies! Working employees to exhaustion only leads to dangerous mistakes, burned out employees and resentful employees who only stay because they are afraid that there isn’t something better out there. I want our colleagues to stick around because we’re the BEST thing out there, not because they have no other choice.

Therefore, we give lots of time off. And, while we’re still working on our vacation policies, we’re going to insist that they take the time we give them, or, at least, make it unattractive to stick around when they should be resting and recreating. Look at that word “recreating.” It is “re-creating.” People need time and space to “re-create” themselves. If they love their company, they’ll bring these new ideas and new vigor back with them. I’ve found that I ALWAYS produce better after a vacation. I can’t see how our colleagues will be any different.

We also try to involve the children and spouses of our colleagues in things whenever possible. When someone is working for a company, they really get the whole family, in one way or another. So the whole family should be involved at some level.

We, finally, believe that holidays are family time, not work time. We give lots of time off around family holidays. And, of course, we would work with anyone who had a family emergency in every way possible.

6). Be generous. I have always had a policy of generosity with colleagues. If they have personal business to conduct during the work-day, conduct away. If you need a pen, pens are cheap…take one. Need a stamp? Put one on. Need to borrow company property. Great, use it well.

7). Be completely open. Our books are, well, an open book. Let our colleagues see what we’re spending and what everyone makes, including us. I have a strong policy of including colleagues in everything going on with the company. Not only can they understand things better, but they will often come up with solutions.

8). Involve them. We are not a democracy. Some decisions will rest with me and Nicole at the end, and sometimes our colleagues don’t know about the law or professional ethics enough to make good decisions on certain things. However, having said that, I’ve always involved everyone in all decisions. When I was at The Hillyard Group, we had a group of interns. We allowed the interns to sit in board meetings and vote on many things. All of our colleagues will have a vote, and be involved with our great Advisory Board, and, as our Advisory Board morphs into a full-blown Board of Directors, in that, as well. It’s their lives, too. They need a say. And, by the way, I’ve only overridden the vote of everyone twice in my career, once for a legal reason and once for a professional ethics reason. Most of the time, they were right. A time or three I was the one who was right. But it did our fellow staff members a great deal of good to both see their strategies succeeding and failing. This is the best business education they could have, and has usually led to “wins” for the companies I’ve run.

9). Be accessible. Our home is open. We don’t have offices at our office, only meeting rooms. I’ve led as many as 52 people in the past…and all had direct access to me.

10). Be loving. If a colleague is not someone you truly can care about, be close friends with, and truly love at least as much as a member of your family (I gotta say, I’ve had staff I’ve loved a great deal more than I love my siblings!), why are you hiring this person? You’re not doing them or you any favors.

And it has to be mutual. If our colleagues don’t truly care about us and see us as their friends and family, too, why bother to work there? Go find someplace where you can truly believe in the leader(s) of the company and be loyal to them.

Most of these things I have tried before, and they have succeeded. I still have former staff who would love to come back to work with me, but they’re making too much for my small company! Several former staff have gone on to found successful companies. When I see their pictures in the paper, I get a warm glow inside.

Business, for me, is a way that I can bring help and advice to others. I am able to share what wisdom I have gained over the years with people, facilitate communication, enable community, and catalyze people helping people. This is the world’s best job in almost every way. I am excited about being able to share this vision, a week from now, with the truly great folks we are bringing on board.

May you be prosperous!

J.