My Week Ahead - July 27, 2014

I've known for a while that I need to start regular postings but haven't figured out until now something I could keep up with on a weekly basis (at a minimum!). I was reading High Five for Friday on Pursuit of Pink and got an idea. She recaps her week every Friday and I love the idea, but of course, that's her thing!! Instead, on Sunday night or Monday morning I often think about the week in front of me. Mondays typically are no fun for most people, but these days they don't seem to bother me so much, so I'm hoping these will be fun and exciting posts, not "woah is me" Monday posts.

1.  Play Dates and Friends: We're starting off the week with a play date with my little one's boyfriend (he's a whole 2 months older!! the scandal....). I've started to realize that now that my daughter is getting much more interactive, she needs kids her own age to play with. That, and it's a great excuse to stay connected to my friends. 

2. Performances: I have two days a week off (I work part-time) and on one of those days this week, I may be heading to see a children's performance with my sister-in-law and her three kids, and her sister and nephew! My daughter's only 6 months old, so I may not get to stay the whole time, and chances are she won't be that interested/entertained, but it'll be fun nonetheless! Check out their website if you have kids.

3. Travel: My team at work travels to OH this week. While I love traveling with them, I'm sitting this one out so I can stay home with my little one a bit more...plus, then I don't have to rearrange childcare again! The biggest disappointment in skipping the trip? Missing out on seeing my good friend Sean (right)...

...and missing out on Dublin Pub's famous Pub Fries (below)! Imagine a white wine cheese sauce, spring onions, bacon, cheese.....

4. Work: Another team member is joining the project I'm leading. This project has allowed me to manage a team of 2 individuals, and now we're at 3! Small wins. And on Monday I take on another leadership coaching client! I'm loving helping people in terms of leadership development on such a personal level.

5. Farmers Market: Now that we're nearing the end of the summer, I finally made it to the farmers market around the corner from my house 2 weeks ago. I fully intend to go back and get myself some BBQ (food truck), fresh veggies, and one of the fancy popsicles (flavors like hibiscus raspberry). If I don't make it, I'll be kicking myself come fall when the farmers markets all start to fizzle away. Last time I went I bought their fresh picked lobster, flown in the night before from Maine by Lobster Maine-ia! I turned it into our own lobster rolls with fresh corn and a tomato-cucumber salad all from the farmers market. Delish!

What does your week have in store for you?

Job Search: 8 Questions to Ask an Interviewer

Have you ever been stumped on what to ask an interviewer at the end of your interview? You know that awkward time when they ask if you have any questions and you say something to the effect of, "Actually, I think you answered all my questions."

That's not going to cut it if you're interviewing with an experienced interviewer (or if they read my post about Listening as an Interviewer). I touched on this topic before in How to Prep for a Virtual Interview, but thought I should expand on the topic.

I'm guessing you read the title and thought, "Great! She's going to give me a list of questions I should ask when I go for my next job interview!" Well, you're half right. I will, but I also wanted to get you thinking about what those questions mean, and what you can get out of that time with an interviewer.

  What to Think About  


Your questions of the interviewer shouldn't be "when to I start" or "how much does the job pay" or other information gathering questions. Those are fine to ask at some point, but use your time wisely to use the question portion of your interview to continue to sell yourself!

Your questions should be make the interviewer think, demonstrate understanding of the industry/market or your functional expertise, or uncover more about the job for which you're interviewing.

  7 Examples  

Thanks to everyone who contributed ideas for questions to ask interviewers. You'll see that I tagged their companies below.

1. If your interviewer will be your manager: 

Question: Describe a past manager/employee relationship that worked successfully for you.

What it Does: This question gets the interviewer to truly disclose the type of manager they are! No manager in their right mind would ever say "I micromanage my staff" but many do just that. By asking the question in this way, you get a peek into the way the prefer to operate.

2.  If the organization seems to need a change, is going through a change, or seems just hectic overall:

Question: If you could stop doing your job for 60 days and focus on one effort, what would it be and why?

What it Does: This questions serves two purposes. First, it gets the interviewer to share what they want to change or improve which shows you a window into what the team/organization is really like. Second, it gets the interviewer to think and gives them an outlet, which are both good for the impression you'll leave on them! 

3. If there is something going on in the news right now that is relevant to the industry or the functional area of the job:

Question: I've been reading about [describe the topic] in the news recently and was thinking [state your opinion]. I was hoping to get your perspective on what's going on. (or, what effect is that having on your company?)

What it Does: Three things: (a) it shows you're up on the news that's relevant to the organization, (b) it demonstrates your knowledge about that news, and (c) it gets a perspective from someone who lives and breaths that news every day (i.e., it flatters them, and shows you what they think about the situation).

4. To see what the future holds:

Question: What are you most excited about over the next 6-12 months? (submitted by Jen Dalton of Brand Mirror)

What it Does: This question will first demonstrate the interviewers passion and engagement in their job. Then it will demonstrate what is on the horizon for the organization or industry that you may not have known to ask about. As a side note, this is also a great question to ask colleagues if you feel you're getting in a rut at work. 

5. To see what challenges the company will face:

Question: What is the next big challenge you will face over the next 3-6 months? (submitted by Gail Legaspi-Gaull of Hat Trick 3C)

What it Does: It allows the interviewer to go a multitude of directions! If there is something big happening in the industry, they'll launch into something more in depth than you would have known to ask about. If something is about to occur in the company, they may share more information than if you asked a company-specific question. And finally, you may learn something more personal about the interviewer, as they may interpret the question about their career or professional growth. Essentially, the interviewer will hear that question with whatever filter is on their mind.

6. To learn what will be expected of you:

Question: If I get this job, what 3 things would you want me to have accomplished by this time next year? (submitted by Jennifer Olsen Mathissen of Catapult Marketing)

What it Does: This question is one that the interviewer has likely thought about (at least somewhat). The answer should allow you to clarify your expectations about the role.

7. If you want uncover something about the company that you wouldn't know to ask:

Question: What is the biggest difference between what you now know about your firm today, and how you perceived this firm when you were sitting in my seat interviewing for a position? (submitted by John Forsythe from Deloitte)

What it Does: This question gets the interviewer to reflect on their own past and also puts the interviewer back in the interviewee's shoes which could work in your favor (empathy). Lastly, it helps you get a glimpse into the company "behind the scenes." Hopefully, the interviewer will share something that will shed light in a way you wouldn't know otherwise.

8. To get the interviewer to level with you:

Question: What is one limiting factor in my candidacy for this position? 

What it Does: This question gives the interviewer free reign to actually mention something like "we really need someone with xx experience" or "you don't have the certification required". They may not say anything specific, but if they do, you'll walk away knowing that if you don't get the job, it may just not be the right fit for you, rather than wondering what you did wrong.

I Want to Hear From You  

What questions has someone asked you? Or what question did you get a good response from when you interviewed?

Leadership: Whole Person Leadership

How many times have you noticed that someone acts differently in "real life" than they do at work. What is it that let's us feel free to be who we are at home and with friends, but we feel we have to put up a front, or play the game, or just act differently when we are at work?

I was trying to seek answers, and read a recent article on "whole person leadership" by Jack Keogh, and he pointed out that it's about "finding mutual balance among family, community, work and our private selves."1  While I agree with that point, I also feel that there are sometimes people who feel balance in those areas, and yet still act differently at work than they do at home.

An experiment recently struck me while I was in my Leadership Coaching course at George Mason University (run by Philosophy IB). What if you were to think of everything as a stimulus-response scenario. Then you look at stimuli and your response to them in your home life, and then again in your work life.

For example:

• If you're faced with a stressful situation in both, do you react similarly?
• If someone challenges you in both locations, how do you handle it?
• Are you highly task oriented at work and more creative and playful with your kids at home?
• When you think about teaching your children something, is that different than how you try to interact with colleagues at work?

Maybe next time you seem to be struggling with a situation or decision at work, take a moment to step back and put on your filter of how you act at home. Maybe there's an answer there that you aren't thinking of.

Granted, all of this requires a high level of self-awareness in the first place, and that's an entirely separate topic. Maybe one for a future post...

If this interests you, also check out my post about what it takes to be a leader.


Endnotes:
1. http://www.drivingstraight.com/Articles/Whole%20person%20leadership.pdf

Leadership Development: What Makes a Good Leader

First, there's a debate over what distinguishes the competencies of management vs. leadership. I view management as tactical (e.g., managing staff hours, administrative activities, etc.) where as leadership is more strategic or visionary (e.g., inspiring people to perform to their potential, growing a team, etc.).

I also believe managers are position-based where as anyone can exhibit the qualities of a leader. That said, as you move up in an organization, you need to learn what activities or competencies you need to gain and which ones you need to get your staff to start taking over.

My favorite book on this topic is by Scott Eblin, entitled The Next Level. He also has a 360 Leadership Assessment (in which I'm certified), that aligns to the book. Essentially, his premise is that there are qualities you much "let go" and others you must "pick up" as you move into a managerial / leadership position.

While my list is influenced by Scott Eblin, it's my own version of what I've observed and learned throughout my career to date. Here are my top three:

1. When you're a leader, you need to influence behaviors and have a sense of political savvy. Some would say that you have to know how to "play the game" but I think it's more than that. It's not just about playing the game, because then it seems disingenuous. As a leader, you need to think about how to motivate others to agreement and/or action by understanding how THEY want to be communicated with, not how you want to communicate to them. Just because you have a message to get across, doesn't mean it's phrased in a way that the other folks want to hear. Find out what appeals to them, what's important to them, and work from there.
2. Delegation is key, but not the way you think. As you move up in an organization, you can no longer be the "do-er," but rather you need to learn to manage what needs to be done so that the mission is achieved. As a manager you serve as a task master, but as a leader, you serve the role of guiding the team around you and mentoring them as needed. Teach the team to fish rather than giving them the fish. And don't send them out to learn to fish on their own if you can help lead them down the right path.
3. Start to use powerful questions. Before I get to the "why", first I want to answer "what is a powerful question?" Powerful questions get people to think deeper and expand your final end game for the whole team. They are open ended, and come from a place of curiosity rather than information gathering. Often times managers ask, "When will this be done?" or, "Where are we on this?" A powerful question would be, "What are we not thinking about?" or, "How can we make this product better?" The powerful question takes you out of that task master, manager role, and into a leadership, guiding others role. The basic rule for powerful questions is to avoid a question that has a single, short answer. Also avoid "why" so that you don't subconsiously appear to assign blame for something ("Why did it go wrong?" turns into, "How could we do this better?" or, "What did we miss?").

What are some powerful questions that you think you should be asking?