The simplest rules are the most effective ones. I endorse the rule of the 3 “C’s” from a Corporate Director who I was fortunate enough to work with on a Board and who has unfortunately left us far too early. You know the type of person who is sensible and who always channels you into using the facts and good judgment.
In the age of social networks where you change your profile picture using inopportune Snapchats and Instagrams, it seems that social and corporate virtual image has never been so important.
A story in HRJob.ca 10 years ago comes back to my mind and this sentence in particular: “At one time or another everyone is a job applicant at least once in their life. This is always too easy to forget when you’re... too busy to work.”
“You’re too modest,” the CEO exclaimed to his employees one fine morning. “Be ambitious and keep your head high!” This shock phrase resonated deeply with the employees. Each leader has his own style and this one was not lacking in audacity.
Diversity is a matter in fashion. It has even become an issue in our organizations who are appointing “Diversity Managers” within Human Resources departments. Their role is often to ensure that gender equality is respected by promoting the emergence of women leaders while encouraging cultural and ethnic diversity and of sexual orientation. Some companies are therefore declaring themselves “pro-woman” or “pro-gay” or “pro-ethnic”. Of course we applaud and want more. But beyond good intentions, what is the actual strategy of diversification in viewpoints and perspectives? After all, shouldn’t all diversity mainly serve this?
They’re called Sarah, Bill or Mike, and they are your regulars and the biggest consumers of human resources. You know them off by heart and their stories as well. Incompetent candidates, employees with bad attitudes, the younger generations are lazy, baby boomers are beyond it - to hear them say it, without them the department would collapse. Until one day ... Bill has a skiing accident which leaves him in bed flat on his back for 8 weeks (this is a true story but any resemblance to people in your organization is purely coincidental and will be denied by the author).
We are not in a Steven Spielberg film but indeed in buildings in downtown Toronto and Montreal. These are “out of the ordinary” scenes of some professional “headhunters” in the executive recruitment firm for which I work. Today, there are thirty young students, in their final year of a Bachelor’s degree in administration, marketing or engineering, who are competing for access to the CEO for a Day program. This is a program to recruit a student to be “matched” with a CEO who will spend a full day with him or her.
We often speak of giving meaning to work, but what really is the value that it provides? Although in North America “hard work” is highly valued(1), it’s not the same in other countries and cultures.
Roger and Martine are a pair of expatriates. Expatriates generally go in pairs. Solos are rarer since the experience of emigrating goes better with two. The profile of an expatriate is generally an executive with high potential or a senior leader of the organization. It’s the type of career that requires so much personal investment that it‘s difficult to get there on your own.
If all roads lead to Rome, the same can’t be said for career changes. When you know the final destination everything is simple; at worst it will take a bit longer, with stops in Tokyo or San Diego. The hitch comes when you have absolutely no idea. Career changes look like that...
“True Story: How to Combine Story and Action to Transform Your Business” is the title of a recently published book on the power of doing what you say. The author, Ty Montagne, is the former president of one of the largest advertizing agencies in the United States. It can be assumed that he knows what he is talking about regarding the Art of Storytelling and of transforming an ugly duckling into a graceful swan or selling the idea that Brand X laundry detergent washes “whiter than white”....
A recent article published by Borys Groysberg and Deborah Bell of Harvard University was titled “Talent Management: Boards Give Their Companies an ‘F’”. The dunces are found in the sectors of industry and energy. Those who fared best are telecoms, IT and the health sector.