10 minutes each. Not a minute more!

Last night, I attended virtual 10-minute interviews with my son’s teachers.

Now, you might think that 10 minutes is skimpy - especially virtually.  And if your kid is doing ok in general, which mine is, then you might even think “what’s the point?”   I know I did.

But something magical happened.  I ENJOYED these meetings! 

The teachers were prepared, and so was I. They had thoughtful things to share with me about my favourite person in the world - about what he’s doing well, as well as ideas to improve. 

Most importantly though, we experienced CONNECTION!

Afterwards I got to reminiscing about my first career as a middle school French teacher.  At first I dreaded the parent meetings.   I was so young and inexperienced!  (proof - see photo!) 

I was:

Intimidated by these typically older, busy-looking parents

Stressed about making a good impression 

Anxious about...

Have you ever poured your heart and soul into the development and implementation of a major talent program?  

Have you ever felt the glow of feedback from leaders and employees alike telling you how amazing that program is?

Have you ever felt sad and maybe resentful when someone suggests that that same program needs a “refresh?”

‍‍You are not alone! 

Recently, I’ve been talking about mistakes that Talent leaders make.  

Mistake #3 is this:  Feeling defensive when your programs EXPIRE

Many of my clients have felt put off or defensive when someone - such as a new team member or senior leader - suggests that a really great program they had a hand in creating is no longer as relevant or effective.     

And this put-off emotion is exacerbated when the resource or program in question is a toddler - under 3 years old.

Sometimes it’s not even a person who suggests this - it’s the data showing that...

“All my work - out the window! He doesn’t even know what he wants!”

Have you ever worked really, really hard on a program design or strategy - only to present it to your senior leader and find out it wasn’t what they wanted?

If you’re like me and every one of my clients, the answer is YES - even if it was a long time ago.

Last week I wrote about one of the biggest mistakes that Talent Management Leaders make:  over-using HR/Talent-speak with stakeholders.

Today, I’m talking about another mistake.

Mistake #2:   Falling in LOVE with your own solution too early

It’s easy to blame the boss or stakeholder and tell ourselves they’re impossible and have no clue what they want.

We whine that they know ONLY what they do NOT want.

But what if that’s a good thing? 

What if starting with what clients don’t want is a normal, helpful part of your needs analysis/engagement process?   

A way to start to...

Dreams can come true…

A couple of weeks ago I was with my accountability buddy for our quarterly retreat.  We were talking about our goals for the next quarter.

I mentioned that I wanted to think beyond the quarter and articulate my vision for the next 2 or 3 years as well.

Suddenly, I was reminded of the fact that I had done a powerful exercise back in 2016 when I created a vision called “My Personal Belize,” based on a story told by Don Campbell.  

The story was about a person whose vision was to have the freedom to live and work permanently in Belize.  

The idea was to write a detailed description, in present tense, of my life in 5 years.

So, get this…

Despite a global pandemic that wiped out all my facilitation revenue for over a year;

Despite needing to step back from work to be take care of my dad and then deal with his estate;

80% of my vision statement has come true!

Back in 2016: 

I wanted to go out on my own as a...

What is one of the biggest mistakes that Talent Management Leaders make?

Mistake #1:   Overusing HR/Talent-speak with stakeholders

Example: “We will use design thinking to develop and embed this employee enablement program in order to cultivate an authentic culture of learning.”

Now, don’t get me wrong - if you said this to a Talent peer, they’d likely have a general idea of what you’re getting at.  And so would some leaders in other departments.

But not all of them. For many, their eyes will glaze over and they’ll tune out what they see as vague, fluffy HR-speak. 

An authentic culture of learning?   For you this may mean learning is embraced and embedded throughout the organization where employees can learn on the job, in courses, through mentoring, be open to making mistakes etc. 

For the stakeholder without a background in Talent, it might simply mean that you’ll offer more formal training than before.

The...

This adult woman actually said to adult-me “Because I said so!”  

No, I’m not talking about my mother.

Although I did feel like a child in response.

I’m talking about the WORST BOSS I ever had.  

She was the worst because she was a CONTROL freak. 

Tightly-wound.

Stubborn.

Distrustful.

Untrustworthy.

Stuck in stickler mode (she would edit documents of people several levels down - for punctuation.)

A hoarder of information - she took “need to know” to a whole new imaginary level.

What was driving her behaviour?  

I am certain in retrospect it was her own lack of self-confidence.   Combined perhaps with a mix of fear, anxiety.  I don’t really know.

What I DO know is that:

Leaders must learn to be open to not knowing.  

Leaders must learn to TRUST and then be trusted. 

Leaders must never say to their adult followers “Because I said so.”

What’s the WORST thing a...

I finished my degree.

I did another one.

I started a career.

I left it and found a new one.

I got married.  I got divorced.  

Yep, married again.

Had a child. 

Lost my mom.  

Changed jobs.

Left corporate and started a business.

Won my first client.

Studied hard and got my coaching certification.

Lost my dad and fell on my knees with grief.

Survived a pandemic.

Became a volunteer in my community.

Launched my group program The Talent Trust.

All of these are milestones in my life. Some big, some small. Some family-related, some career-related.  All important to my own story.

This past weekend, we celebrated my best friend’s mom who turned 90 this week!   

We had a big party in my backyard and she was moved to tears.  Imagine all she has seen and experienced.  Doesn’t she look joyful?!

It got me thinking - there are so many new milestones ahead!   

Like my own milestone birthday coming up this...

Oftentimes, this well-known succession planning tool is NOT deployed effectively.   

The use of the 9-box grid is widespread in organizations.  

There’s nothing inherently wrong with it.  I use it myself with clients.   

But it’s just a tool.  A framework.

It can be all too easy for leaders to start to see it as being just about LABELING employees annually.

Yet the greatest sin is when organizations don’t do enough with that data in between - which leads to the exact OPPOSITE of what we want:

Limited development.  
Limited conversations. 
Limited opportunity and internal mobility.

Here’s how I see it.  The two main goals of succession planning are:

to identify and cultivate a clear and ready pipeline of successors for key roles AND

to ensure that everyone receives appropriate attention and development support to help them be productive, effective and engaged.

In our August Talent Talk, I...

I love the Fall.  I am inspired by the ever-changing landscape and the kaleidoscope of beautiful colours on my walks, like in this photo I took the other day of a carpet of leaves covering the grass.  

I also love variety. Variety in my work. Variety in my friendships.  Variety in my learning. In fact, as I reviewed my calendar today for the next couple weeks, I had to giggle a bit.  This love of variety is showing up loud and clear.   Over the next 2 weeks, I will:

• Finalize and submit my application for my next-level coaching certification
• Attend evening classes twice a week to complete a course on stock trading
• Read a business book about coaching inquiry
• Finish a wonderful novel about small town Italy in the 50’s
• Onboard 3 new 1:1 coaching clients
• Coach existing clients
• Facilitate 2 half-day workshops
• Record 2 podcast episodes
• Have 2 networking conversations
• Reconcile my expenses with Quickbooks (ugh)
• Build a website page for my new offering
• ...

 “I didn’t get enough sleep.”  

“I don’t have enough time to get to that.”  

“I don’t have enough energy, willpower, money….”

Do you recognize yourself in any of these statements?   I do.  Last night I had a rough sleep. I was awake from 3 am to 5 am, tossing around, my mind playing a pessimistic soundtrack over and over.

What was I worried about?

Lack.  

Lack of sleep (“oh god, I’m going to be so tired tomorrow!”).  Lack of money (“Why are we doing this kitchen reno again?  We’re BLEEDING money!”)  Lack of loved ones I’ve lost.  Lack of time to read the stack of books I keep adding to.  Lack of…

You get the picture.  

Now, nighttime always seems to bring out our fears and exaggerate them.  I woke up a couple of hours later tired, but not nearly so anxious.  In the light of day, I am...