3 Ways to Retool Your Hiring Process to Attract High-Quality Job Seekers

In a job seeker's market, businesses are finding it hard to hire and retain new employees. Here's how to revamp your hiring process to attract the best talent. To read the full article, visit: Entrepreneur.

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At the end of 2018, the number of open jobs in the U.S. reached 7.3 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s the highest number of job openings on record since the Department of Labor started measuring them in 2000. Available jobs have outpaced hiring for more than a year, indicating that companies are having a difficult time filling their vacant positions.

In other words, it’s a job seeker’s market. Candidates are feeling so secure, in fact, that USA Today reports some of them are now “ghosting” employers -- that is, simply not showing up for scheduled interviews (or even their first day on the job) without canceling.

The cost of hiring a new employee is already prohibitive. Replacing someone can cost the average company $4,000, according to Bersin by Deloitte, and having to start the process all over again after a bad hire or a ghosting will only hurt your finances more.

The good news is that a great hire can boost your business’s productivity and profits. The challenge is finding those great hires. With a smaller pool of talent, it’s imperative that your company stands out. Here are three strategies you should use to better appeal to the top candidates in a limited hiring pool:

1. Be nimble, be quick.

For years, job seekers were taught to expect they’d have to follow up with companies multiple times in order to get a response. Today, that expectation will no longer fly. The need to constantly follow up with your hiring manager can turn candidates off a job, even if you do eventually respond. Worse than that, they’ll share their experienceon review sites like Glassdoor, turning future applicants away, too. To avoid leaving a bad impression, get back to potential hires quickly, and communicate your hiring process clearly so they aren’t left waiting in the dark.

But how quickly is “quickly”? According to speaker, author and CEO coach Krister Ungerboeck, employers should waste no time in calling candidates back if the employer wants a speedy response in return. He notes, “If a top-quality candidate applies, pass the information along to your C-suite so someone can call him or her back within the hour.” Because you’re responding immediately, and at the highest level, you should get a response back sooner than if you weren’t. You don’t even have to message or email -- new updates with LinkedIn allow employers to leave candidates a voice message through the platform.

2. Ask not what the candidate can do for you; ask what you can do for the candidate.

A basic job description needs to include the job title, responsibilities of the role and your required qualifications and skills. But to take your job post to the next level, you need more than a list of duties. In fact, lists of requirements and responsibilities can work against you by alienating qualified candidates, according to an experiment conducted by researchers from the University of Vermont’s School of Business Administration, the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Calgary.

The researchers rewrote 56 job advertisements using two different approaches: one emphasizing what a company can do for the job seeker and one emphasizing what the company wants from the candidate. Candidates who responded to the first type of ad were rated more highly than those who applied to the second. Adjust your job descriptions to stop focusing so much on your list of desires -- instead, think about what the candidate wants and how you can provide it. Do you offer flexible work schedules, career development opportunities, more autonomy? Concentrate on how you help employees do well in their roles.

3. Turn your attention to the interview.

Leadership IQ found that problems with new employees might actually occur due to a flawed interview process. In fact, according to a study by the organization, 82 percent of the surveyed managers agreed that interviewers are distracted by other issues, pressed for time or lacking confidence in their ability to conduct interviews. If you fall into this category, it could be that your interviewers are so wrapped up in finding new hires who are technically competent that they ignore other key factors -- such as emotional intelligence, motivation or attitude. Shift the focus of your hiring process back to the interview, and hold behavioral interviews rather than asking only run-of-the-mill questions like “What is your biggest weakness?”

After setting the candidate at ease with some small talk, ask the person questions that help you identify past instances when he or she exhibited specific behaviors. If you do it right, the candidate won’t even realize the behaviors you’re trying to pinpoint in his or her answers. Behavorial interviewers ask questions such as “Tell me about a time when you obtained a new customer through networking activities” or “Please tell me how you went about maintaining a long-term customer relationship.” By allowing the candidate to show rather than tell you that she possesses certain traits, you’ll have a clearer picture of whether the individual is a good fit for the role.

In a job seeker’s market, you can’t afford to stick to the same process you used in the past. It’s time to switch things up so you can stand out among your competition and gain the kinds of new employees who will help your business grow.

3 Ways to Make Hiring Easier for C-Suite Executives

Hiring the perfect employees for a company is not HR’s job. That job belongs to your C-level executives. To read the full article, visit: HR.com.

Hiring the perfect employees for a company is not HR’s job. That job belongs to your C-level executives.
If you consider all the articles touting that culture comes from the top, then it only makes sense to keep the ultimate hiring decision up to your bosses. Hiring the wrong person could turn your comfortable, open environment into a toxic space that will only encourage other employees to leave.

Companies like JotForm and even Google have made it a point to keep their C-suite executives involved in hiring decisions. JotForm CEO Aytekin Tank wants to ensure new employees work well in the existing company culture without creating conflict. And he finds the role of hiring essential to keeping the company efficient — especially considering that hiring the wrong person can cost as much as $240,000, according to Link Humans CEO Jörgen Sundberg.

As leaders in HR, you’re on the front lines, and it’s up to you to bring in candidates, not employees. Here are three things you can do to better support your C-level executives in the hiring process:

1. Write job advertisements, not descriptions.
Companies that win the war for talent sell their open jobs; they don’t just describe roles. Next time you have a job opening, consider the unique selling points of the position and incorporate them into your listing. Then, learn what eligible candidates are searching for and tailor your language to match so they can easily find the role online.

From there, read a book about copywriting. I’m paraphrasing David Ogilvy when I write, “The goal of the first sentence is to get them to read the second sentence.” Every sentence of your job description should appeal to a job seeker. Your job advertisement should be so good that it’s the one job a passive yet talented candidate will look at and say, “This job looks so awesome that it might be the only job I apply for this year.”

2. Call top-quality candidates back within an hour.
If a top-quality candidate applies, pass the information along to your C-suite so someone can call him or her back within the hour. While Bullhorn found that the morning is a good time to contact candidates back, you should get a response as long as it’s within the hour. Plus, a new update from LinkedIn gives recruiters the ability to call candidates rather than emailing or messaging them via the platform.

Think of the impression you want to make on candidates. When I lived in Germany, candidates would apply to German companies and expect to not hear a response for almost three weeks. We differentiated ourselves by calling back good candidates almost immediately. This is not as impossible as it seems. Fewer than 1 in 100 job applicants are superstar caliber and justify a callback within an hour. But those people can make a huge difference within a company.

3. Don’t pass along bad candidates.
If you get 100 job applicants and all 100 applications belong in the trash can, don't hesitate to toss them! I recently spent an entire day with five other board members interviewing "top" candidates who were flown in from out of town at great expense. Two of them were not even strong enough for a phone interview, yet we took up six senior executives’ time — and the candidates’ time — interviewing them so we had a “point of comparison.”

Jobvite found that the average time-to-hire is 38 days. That’s a long time, especially considering how much of that time is wasted on interviewing the wrong candidates. Giving people points of comparison makes subpar candidates look better, not because they are right for the job but because they look good next to someone who wasn’t qualified. Ask your executives whether they would prefer to see only qualified candidates or whether they want to see the top few, even if some don't meet the minimum criteria.

Working in human resources and recruiting comes with many responsibilities, but while it is your job to find the right candidates, you shouldn't be making the final hiring decision. That's up to your company's executives. Use these three tactics to make your job easier and to help them find the next employee faster so that you can move on to filling the next role.

Krister Ungerböck is the global expert on the Language of Leadership. Krister is a captivating keynote speaker, a coach to high-performance CEOs, and former CEO of one of the largest family-owned software companies in the world. Based upon his experience observing business leaders in more than 40 countries, building businesses in six and living in three, he shares insight into leadership that bridges between business, relationships, and family.

The Other Side of Potential Podcast Episode 36: The Language of Leadership with Krister Ungerboeck

Krister Ungerboeck works with high-potential leaders to help them learn the practical language of leadership because he knows, from his own experience as a CEO, that language has the power to transform their lives. This podcast originally appeared on the Other Side of Potential Podcast Episode 36 with Sharon Spano. To listen to the full interview, visit the Other Side of Potential.

As the award-winning CEO of a 3,000% growth tech company, Krister created The Language of Leadership to help leaders master the high-stakes conversations that can either make or break their careers.

During his time leading Ungerboeck Software, Krister did business in 40 countries, built businesses in six, and lived in three. He also learned to speak French and German as an adult, which gives him a unique perspective on communication.

On stage, Krister is a keynote speaker, but when he works one-on-one with CEOs and their highest potential executives, he’s more like a speech writer. His upcoming book, The Language of Leadership: Words to Transform How We Lead, Live, and Love, provides a practical, fill-in-the-blanks approach to learning a powerful new language of leadership, one that is is guaranteed to help leaders speak in a more impactful, emotionally intelligent way. This level of expertise will help them maximize employee engagement, productivity, and employee retention.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• How Krister joined the business world through his family’s small business and what lessons he learned during his time there

• How Krister learned the “language of emotional intelligence” and springboarded into a new career path

• Why changing your language style is an effective way of changing yourself from the outside in

• How the “language of management” and the “language of leadership” differ, and why the difference matters

• Why one of the most difficult parts of being a CEO is the business outgrowing leaders

• How to use “empathy guesses” and a fill-in-the-blanks approach to emotional intelligence

• Why Krister’s self-awareness of language has been transformative in all of his relationships

• How the feeling of being trapped in an executive role can lead to extreme stress and even PTSD

• Why Krister works to help business leaders grow their leadership, and how the skills he teaches can help in all aspects of your life

• How your company culture can help encourage happy people to stay and unhappy people to leave

How to contact Krister Ungerboeck:

• Website: www.krister.com

• Website: www.krister.com/otherside/

Krister Ungerboeck joins LeaderTHRIVE with Dr. Jason Brooks Podcast Episode 66

Emotional intelligence is key in leadership. And today's guest brings powerful experiences and principles to help us all lead well by connecting authentically. This podcast originally appeared on LeaderTHRIVE with Dr. Jason Brooks Podcast Episode 66. To listen to the full interview, visit LeaderTHRIVE with Dr. Jason Brooks.

Krister Ungerboeck, The Leadership Archaeologist, joins LeaderTHRIVE podcast with Dr. Jason Brooks to share about the Language of Leadership and the power that comes when living this every day.

Krister Ungerboeck shares with high-potential leaders a practical Language of Leadership to transform leaders’ lives, and the lives of those who follow them. The Language of Leadership was created while he learned business French and German as the leader of one of largest family  owned software companies in the world.

On stage, Krister is a keynote speaker, but when he works one on-one with CEOs and their highest potential executives, he’s more like a speech writer. Krister helps great leaders craft the words they use in high-stakes conversations, the million-dollar conversations that can make their year or their career, as well as the countless ten-thousand-dollar conversations those leaders have every day.

His upcoming book, The Language of Leadership: Words to Transform How We Lead, Live and Love, provides leaders a practical, fill-in-the-blanks approach to learning a powerful new language of leadership that helps leaders speak in a more impactful, emotionally intelligent way and maximize employee engagement, productivity and employee retention.

Connect with Krister at

​www.Krister.com

​www.Krister.com/leaderthrive

Culture Eats Strategy Podcast Episode 019

THE LEADERSHIP ARCHAEOLOGIST Being in a position of leadership can often make you feel like you’ve hit rock bottom, but it’s always possible to dig deeper. This podcast originally appeared on the Raise Your Game Podcast with Christine Wong. To listen to the full interview, visit Raise Your Game.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Culture Eats Strategy Podcast Episode 019: The Language of Leadership Leading the Way Through Language

Language transforms. It has the power to change the way organizations think and act. Today, award-winning CEO Krister Ungerböck discusses the language of leadership and how to wield it beginning with the 10-day talking diet. This podcast originally appeared on Culture Eats Strategy Podcast Episode 019 with Jaime Jay. To listen to the full interview, visit Culture Eats Strategy.

“By changing our words, we can change our thoughts. And if we change our thoughts, then we can change our hearts from the outside in.” – Krister Ungerböck

Leading the Way Through Language

Krister has worked with CEOs and executives in over 40 countries. He is a corporate keynote speaker, coach, and global expert in the language for leaders.

He loves sharing the secrets of how his team succeeded. To wit, they have achieved 99.3% of employee engagement. His upcoming book The Language of Leadership: Words to Transform How We Lead, Live and Love is coming this spring.

Breaking the Barrier

Krister once led a large family-owned software company. During his term as CEO, he conducted a three-day workshop in France educating people how to use their product. There was one challenge — language.

“My heart was at the right place but my words were not.” – Krister Ungerbock on the language barrier

His French was terrible. Their second customer, the host of the Cannes Film Festival, said they couldn’t work with him because of it. So, he immediately went to train with a business French teacher.

A Language That Transforms 

How do you learn a new language? According to Krister, it requires thinking through the words first and then saying it. The same applies when learning to communicate as a leader.

“You can’t think your way into a new way of acting, but you can act your way into a new way of thinking.” – Habitat for Humanity Founder

Leaders first become aware of the words they want to use and then translate it. The easiest way to achieving change through words is by speaking differently. This realization gave birth to the language of leadership.

Download and listen to The Language of Leadership to learn more. Remember to let Krister know you heard about him on Culture Eats Strategy with Jaime Jay!

Which Employees Should You Invest in? 3 Strategies on How to Make That Choice.

With unemployment low, you need to enrich and empower your company's existing leaders so they'll stick around. Here's how. To read the full article, visit Entrepreneur.

Unemployment is at its lowest point since 1969, thanks to the job gains we’ve seen during the past eight years, as described in this article in the New York Times. Now, however, it’s up to companies to compete over the best talent. Employees can be more selective than ever, resulting in a race to provide the best perks. But instead of pushing more and more money into benefits, perhaps it's time that businesses consider a different strategy: investing in leaders.

Companies will invest in a $250,000 machine and set aside thousands of dollars each year to ensure it can be updated and serviced. But when it comes to management, we expect our executives to be fully equipped with anything they need. Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen.

Leadership training, on the other hand, has been shown to improve leaders’ confidence, abilities and emotional intelligence. Investing in your leadership team’s development will also help you reduce turnover, enrich your company culture and create a better foundation for your business. Plus, investing at the top will allow skills to cascade down the organization to other employees.

And if those benefits aren’t enough, a Gallup report found that the way leaders manage workers has a significant effect on employee engagement levels, which affect organizations’ bottom lines. Better to increase engagement and revenue through better leadership, right?

Whose development should you invest in, anyway?

I ran an international company with 250 employees, and, looking back, my biggest regret is that we didn’t invest more in our leaders. We eventually had to hire new ones outside the company because we outgrew our team and didn’t train those who were already working for us.

Hiring external leaders can cost a pretty penny, though. Between recruiter fees, compensation for a brand new employee and the potential to lose key people who haven't been promoted, hundreds of thousands of dollars can fly out the door. That's what happened at my company: At one point, we had to hire three people to replace one IT specialist because his knowledge of our company had been so vast -- and those three still didn't cover everything he could. It would have been a lot cheaper to invest $10,000 or $15,000 to train that IT specialist for a senior leadership position.

The lesson learned? You can’t afford to spend what we spent on three people just because you didn’t know whom to invest in and to promote internally.

So, whom, exactly, should you empower with more opportunities? Here are three strategies for figuring that out:

1. Advance people who are already volunteering.

It’s crucial to manage promotions correctly because companies whose stock returns exceed the market average typically see lower turnover and consistently outperform competitors when it comes to innovation, productivity and growth, according research from Great Place to Work executives published in the Harvard Business Review. But not everyone believes promotions are managed correctly, even at top companies.

To to manage your promotions successfully, start by choosing people who volunteer. 

Rather than trying to identify interested employees yourself, give your company's leaders a chance to volunteer for new projects or promotions. You can't force participation or improvement on employees who aren't dedicated to it.

The lesson learned is that when an employee doesn't volunteer for more educational or professional opportunities, that should tell you how well suited he or she is for a management role.

2. Encourage employees to use some of their own funds.

Ask your employees to cover 20 to 25 percent of their education. Match every dollar they invest for this purpose with $3 to $4 more. In other words, let them know that you’ll happily give them a promotion and a higher salary if they’re personally willing to cover some of their educational opportunities. 

People invest their own money into getting MBAs all the time because they know they’ll have more opportunities as a result. The Harvard Business Review recently reported that one-third of the most successful CEOs in the world have MBAs.

The lesson here is that the time and financial commitment for an MBA is much higher than the investment for continuous education when that education is being matched by company funds.

3. Invest in people who invest in themselves outside of work.

Seek employees who are already leading on their own or taking advantage of education opportunities when they aren’t in the office. To do this, set the expectation that you can't invest in everyone. Inform your team that you can provide opportunities for only the top 10 or 20 percent of team members who have differentiated themselves. 

For example, Satya Nadella’s first few years at Microsoft were spent commuting from Redmond, Wash., to the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business to finish his MBA. Nadella set himself apart from his co-workers by making it a point to learn as much as he could, which eventually led him to his current role as Microsoft CEO.

The lesson here is that not everyone can commute 2,000 miles to get an education, of course, but you should pay close attention to those employees who do go the extra mile to learn something beneficial for their jobs.

Still unsure about the benefits of investing in your leaders? Machinery company Barry-Wehmiller launched an internal leadership training program, Barry-Wehmiller University, to help find the leaders within its own company. The program wound up being so successful that the company launched the Barry-Wehmiller Leadership Institute for other companies to use.

While you might not have the resources to do the same, it’s important to find time to develop your own employees into the leaders you know they can be. If you don’t, you might miss out on higher productivity, a great company culture and -- most importantly -- some wonderful people.

The Business Power Hour Podcast: Real Life Stories & Techniques to Power-Up Your Business

Krister Ungerböck is a keynote speaker, CEO Coach, and global expert in "The Language of Leadership. This podcast originally appeared on The Business Power Hour Podcast with Deb Krier. To listen to the full interview, visit The Business Power Hour.

Prior to retiring at age 42, Krister was the award-winning CEO of one of the largest family-owned software companies in the world. His expertise in the Language of Leadership is based upon his unique experience as a global CEO leading teams in three languages while observing and doing business with executives in over 40 countries, building businesses in six and living in three. As a corporate keynote speaker, Krister is passionate about sharing the employee engagement secrets that he and his Executive team used to win 5 consecutive Top Workplace awards and achieve remarkable employee engagement levels of 99.3%. His upcoming book, The Language of Leadership: Words to Transform How We Live, Live and Lead, will be published in the Spring of 2019. The book provides leaders a practical, fill-in-the-blanks approach to learning a powerful new language of leadership.

5 Entrepreneurs Share How They've Handled Client Disasters

Client disasters don’t have to be catastrophic. To read the full article, visit Forbes.

When customers go from being satisfied buyers to brand haters, companies should take the opportunity to learn what inspired the change and prevent it from happening in the future — or even turn it around in the moment.

Sometimes, though, clients are bound to stay unhappy. If the company stops offering an unprofitable service that a small group of clients needs, the former buyers will be upset no matter what. Rather than bumble through changes hoping for the best, businesses facing client-related mishaps must learn to anticipate potential strife and recognize when compromise is (or isn’t) possible.

Keeping Client Disasters to a Minimum

It’s imperative to anticipate certain customer issues and train your staff to handle those issues. The more you prepare your team for what it might encounter, the better it will do when faced with a customer service issue. During my time working in the consumer products and retail business, I’ve also learned that, as an owner and manager, I can defuse most customer service situations.

If you elevate a problem to a senior person, people tend to feel more confident that you are taking them seriously and care about their problem. In addition, even if the situation calls for you stepping in, it’s crucial to empower your team to handle customer complaints and to support them in their decisions.

Keeping customers happy isn’t just nice for the company’s reputation — it has a direct effect on the bottom line. Companies that provide great experiences enjoy higher rates of retention, customer satisfaction, and opportunities to upsell. Where price used to be the biggest differentiator between companies, the customer experience has taken the throne. More than four out of five buyers are willing to pay more for exceptional experiences.

No matter how much companies prepare, however, a few client disasters will always slip through the cracks. Someone’s unreasonable expectation will go unfulfilled, an employee will make an unforgivable blunder, or the forces of the universe will simply decide that the relationship needs some strife. When that happens, companies need to know how to handle the situation without losing face — and without letting one customer’s bad day lead to widespread displeasure.

After all, as much as companies love good clients, unhappy customers can do far more damage than happy clients can do good. One study by Dimensional Research found that 95 percent of people who experience bad customer service tell someone else about it, with 54 percent expressing their displeasure to at least five others — compared to just 33 percent who share a good experience.

Faced with these stats, I asked five entrepreneurs and business leaders to share with me what they’ve done in the face of client disasters:

1. Matt Clervi, CEO of Fresh Ideas Management

Growth is great, but it can make longtime customers feel like afterthoughts when personal service becomes less attentive. Matt Clervi knows this all too well. “We were growing fast, and one of our first clients said that our growth had robbed them of our attention,” he said. “They weren’t feeling the love anymore. They threatened to take their business elsewhere.”

Clervi believes that deep listening and hard questions are the key to salvaging damaged relationships. After that client complained, he challenged everyone within his company to slow down. They took time to listen to the challenges of their client and put timelines around a solution. Clervi said it taught his team members to be grateful for growth, but not to allow the rate of growth to lessen the experience they’re able to provide clients.

“When you appreciate the people who helped you grow and consistently listen to them, you put yourself in a position to consistently succeed,” he explained. He added that his company reviewed its culture and hiring practices and implemented techniques to better identify when a candidate is self-aware and able to slow down and ask hard questions.

2. Erik Huberman, CEO of Hawke Media

When small blunders carry massive costs, deciding who foots the bill can be a treacherous prospect. Erik Huberman shared a time when his company had a glitch occur with a client’s email system, which meant a discount email offer intended for a small subset of his client’s customers was sent to a much wider audience. When he recommended that the company retract the discount, the client declined — then decided not to pay its several outstanding bills for Huberman’s company’s services.

“They had asked me to just keep working and the bills would get handled,” he said. “They basically lied and took advantage.” After hearing that they would not be paying, Huberman said he told the company that he could get a lawyer to collect his money. The client’s founder began texting him slurs and threatening to drag his name through the mud.

That’s when Huberman said he made another mistake: “I jabbed back, threatened, sank to the same level. Then I said, ‘Good luck with marketing,’ and not to call me again. Then the other partner in the company called me apologizing and begging us to keep working together.” Huberman said his company ended up making some money back, but it was the beginning of the end for that client relationship. If Huberman could do it again, he said he wouldn’t let emotions guide the way he handled the situation. Customers can afford to get heated, but business leaders cannot.

3. Caroline Santiago, Founder and CEO of Utopia Life Consulting Inc.

Clients will be hesitant to work with a person whom someone else has selected, a phenomenon Caroline Santiago experienced firsthand. When the chief operating officer at one client company hired Santiago to work with the chief technology officer, the CTO felt saddled with an unasked-for partner and wanted nothing to do with her. Santiago arranged a daily 9 a.m. check-in meeting with the CTO, whom she described as an independent thinker and leader, but when she showed up on the first day to meet him, he didn’t show. He then ignored her attempts to meet with him the next several days.

Eager to get started on work the firm was paying her to do, Santiago met with the CTO’s technology department leadership team over the course of three days. After those three days of meetings, the CTO showed up to the scheduled daily check-in meeting with Santiago, but his reaction wasn’t what she was expecting. “The CTO proceeded to yell and scream at me, stating he didn’t want me here and asking what authority I had to schedule meetings and work with his leadership team,” she recalled.

“I told him he should interview me right now for this position, and if he did not think I was a good candidate for the role, I would not show up to work tomorrow.” The CTO’s shock at her proposal showed in his face. That on-the-spot interview went well, and Santiago received the buy-in she needed from the CTO to keep the relationship going. Santiago said that, through this experience, she learned to make sure she is able to speak with all key client stakeholders before signing a client agreement. Clients don’t always want the world. Usually, they just want to feel like they have a choice in the matter.

4. Josh Hudgins, Managing Partner and Director of US Sales at Global Ecom Partners

Every company makes mistakes. But the best ones take responsibility for them, especially when those mishaps occur early in the client relationship. Josh Hudgins learned this lesson when his company onboarded a new client but failed to walk that client through the onboarding process. That omission led to a lag in shipping time to the end customer, which was soon caught and corrected. Unfortunately, Hudgins’ company also failed to realize it had overlooked the part of the onboarding process in which the client’s in-house marketing is moved to its platform. That oversight resulted in zero marketing for all of the client’s products for a month.

“The most significant dilemma was maintaining our client’s confidence in our ability to execute what we had promised and not leave us after such a short honeymoon period,” he said. “Luckily, we had set the expectation that there would be bumps in the transition process but let them know we were committed to resolving any issues quickly.”

Hudgins reminds anyone in his situation that deals are not over at closing. They are a series of commitments, each of which requires appropriate fulfillment — a lesson he learned through this client mishap. The poor onboarding experience and transition led his company to create a new onboarding checklist. “This checklist allows complete transparency and accountability to everyone involved in the new client process, which has resulted in a better client experience,” he said.

5. Krister Ungerboeck, Strategic Planning and Leadership Consulting Expert

Krister Ungerboeck relies on what he calls “the language of license,” meaning that clients need to know when they’re getting in the way of a successful partnership. With this in mind, when one of his clients kept pushing their agreement to the bottom of the list and making his team run behind schedule on a project, Ungerboeck took action.

He and the client’s CEO engineered an agreement to give each other’s teams permission to raise red flags. That way, if a project is running behind schedule, each team feels comfortable enforcing the schedule. Ungerboeck said: “This discussion gave our teams authority to hold one another accountable. I call this move ‘the permission play,’ and it’s imperative to my leadership playbook.”

Businesses should not wait for clients to reach the brink of disaster before getting firm. Clients would much rather have a tough conversation early than missed revenue later. Ungerboeck added: “Be sure to give your team permission as a group rather than individually. Communicating this to the group will have a more powerful impact.”

Not every client relationship can be salvaged, but every business needs to know how to handle things when something goes wrong. By remaining flexible and keeping the lines of communication open, businesses can minimize client disasters and ensure every customer experience is as great as it can be.

People Who Love Their Jobs Work for This Kind of Boss

Want to be a leader who's revered, not reviled? Do three of the most important things that empathetic bosses do every day. To read the full article, visit Inc.

Money alone doesn't make talented, motivated, career-minded people get out of bed. What does is a sense of purpose, a feeling they're making a direct impact. Regrettably, many leaders still haven't gotten this memo.

As a consequence, is it any wonder that we envision Michael Scott of NBC's The Office when we picture the quintessential bad boss? Troublesome, emotionally confusing managers abound, often prompting high employee turnover, low office morale, and constant client churn with their management style. Unless you're interested in becoming a memorable boss for all the wrong reasons, you'll want to learn how to make your employees feel valued, not undermined.

Go from being a downer to a defender

Far too many leaders remain stuck on the notion that they have to manage by force. In some cases, this comes from the belief that barking orders will cause their people to "get $#!+ done." However, heavy-handed approaches to managing talented teams will quickly devolve into disengagement.

To be sure, switching gears from gruff, demanding manager to supportive mentor and coach isn't simple. Nor does it happen happen overnight. It takes a willingness to learn the power of empathy, something that's lacking in 60 percent of leaders.

I discovered how effective it can be to praise and recognize others publicly as well as empathize proactively. I took steps to increase my emotional quotient when I learned about the chasm between the way employees view empathetic and non-empathetic bosses. Workers tend to love their jobs when their managers show empathy; conversely, they merely clock in when leaders have a dictatorial management style.

If you aren't bettering yourself in the areas of humility and team empowerment, I recommend you try doing what the best bosses do.

1. Look for opportunities to build trust each day.

Trust between a boss and an employee doesn't occur after one positive encounter. It unfolds over time as the worker comes to realize that the leader isn't going to throw sudden curveballs or fly into a rage. Look for ways to show your employees you believe in their judgment. After all, that's why you hired them.

Put the brakes on micromanagement. Give workers the freedom to make choices, then allow them to proceed unfettered. Will they always succeed? No. When they make mistakes, show empathy rather than immediately withdrawing your trust. Come from a position of understanding and walk them through their decisions. Treat them not as failures but rather as talented individuals who misjudged a situation, an outcomes, the data, etc. The next time you give them a task, encourage them to use their past experiences as a guide to map out better solutions.

2. Silence your inner know-it-all.

As a manager who has tripped on his gift of gab more than once, I couldn't be more aligned with the advice from leadership consultant Krister Ungerboeck. "How many times do we march into a conference room with a list of things to say?" he asks. "Yet it's far more prudent, productive, and profitable to shift from having all the answers to asking all the questions."

I've been guilty of this, and I bet you have, too. Speaking over everyone and having all the answers just leads to disengagement among team members, as Ungerboeck points out. In time, employees with exciting ideas may start to doubt themselves, assuming that only you can run the show. Instead of losing fantastic, innovative ideas from your team, take a backseat role more often than not in group settings. Oh, and banish "We tried that before, and it didn't work" from your phrasebook.

3. Walk out of the bathroom with toilet paper attached to your shoe.

OK, so you don't literally have to do this, but do be humble. Show employees you are a real human and not some kind of would-be superhero. Rather than puff out your chest at how amenable a tough client became thanks to your risky strategy, reveal how you wondered whether your gamble would pay off. Talk about your actions not in terms of self-satisfaction but self-awareness.

When you express humility, you change the way employees see you. A research project published in Organization Science showed links between retention and humble bosses due to the resulting job satisfaction and employee engagement. How does this translate into everyday life on the job? Two words: Be real.

You don't have to be a flawless boss to master leadership traits that will keep your employees eager to tackle projects on behalf of your brand. In fact, it's better if you're not! You just have to make changes to your approach to others, starting with the empathy you feel and show.

PUBLISHED ON: DEC 20, 2018

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

Manager Mojo Podcast: Your Words Can Create a Highly Engaged Team

Your Words Can Create a Highly Engaged Team. The words you choose are having a significant impact on the people you lead. This podcast originally appeared on the Manager Mojo podcast with Steve Caldwell. To listen to the full interview, visit Manager Mojo.

Are you choosing words that will inspire others to follow you? Struggling leaders should examine their words, assess where they come from and how they may be putting a damper on the people who follow them. Just like everyone else, leaders default to the words of those who influenced them from a young age. The words we speak to others are often an echo of the words we are speaking to ourselves, and those words were initiated by our original leaders. When we grow up hearing negative words, we often speak negative words ourselves. Examine your words, determine where they come from and how you can select words that will inspire those around you. Become the leader whose words transform others to want to follow you.

 Learn more about Krister Ungerboeck and his newest book, The Language of Leadership: Words to Transform How you Lead, Live and Love, to be out in Spring 2019, by clicking here.

Leadership Happy Hour Podcast Episode 98: Digging Deeper With The Leadership Archaeologist, Krister Ungerboeck

Growing up, I loved the Indiana Jones movies. Yes, they were packed with action and a great story line but what really intrigued me was that Mr. Jones was an archaeologist. This podcast originally appeared on the Leadership Happy Hour Podcast Episode 98 with Chip Lutz. To listen to the full interview, listen at Leadership Happy Hour.

He did it all in the name of science...well, ok, maybe that is a stretch (but I still loved the movies). My guest this week is the world's only Leadership Archaeologist, Krister Ungerboeck.  He's originally a mid-western boy (like me) but has been all over the world and, in this episode, he shares the insights he's found through his travels (and experience) on leadership.

I know you'll like this episode.  Krister is very smart, very insightful and he gave me tons to think about (and I know he will you too).  ENJOY!

More on Krister...

Krister Ungerboeck is the world’s first Leadership Archaeologist™.  He travels the world to unearth the most powerful – and often surprising – models, ideas, and secrets of leadership.

Previously, Krister was the award-winning CEO of a 3,000% growth tech company. During his time leading Ungerboeck Software, he did business in 40 countries, built businesses in six, and lived in three. He also learned to speak French and German as an adult, which gives him a unique perspective on communication. Then, over the past few years, he became a prominent CEO coach and highly desired keynote speaker… but a very different kind than one might expect. In a sea of speakers spouting clichéd success secrets, Krister stands out as a successful CEO who bravely shares breathtakingly real stories of his own setbacks, combined with concrete, immediately actionable steps for audiences to sidestep the mistakes he’s made.

For the past decade, Krister has been on a “seeking secrets” journey, mining the minds of some of the greatest thinkers around the world and across disciplines, digging in dark places where others don’t… all to unearth unseen insights into the question of why growth companies tend to outgrow their leaders so quickly.

In addition to exploring the globe for new leadership insights and ideas, Krister is a top-rated leadership keynote speaker, CEO coach and consultant, and author of the highly acclaimed book, SEEKING CEO SECRETS: The Leadership Archaeologist's 12 Tools to Unearth Unseen Potential.

How to Help Your Team More by Talking Less

I wanted a way to become more positive in my communications to help staff feel more empowered and committed, so I confronted my assumptions through a diet of sorts. To read the full article visit Startups.

As leaders, many of us regularly fall into a revolving-door trap when it comes to telling versus asking. And it’s most evident in meetings.

How many times do we march into a conference room with a list of things to say? Yet it’s far more prudent, productive, and profitable to shift from having all the answers to asking all the questions.

In fact, it’s so important that it might just be the core differentiator between a company’s culture and that of its competitors.

Stuck in an Always-Telling Rut

Why do we so quickly fall into the routine of telling instead of asking? Honestly, the reaction has roots in science.

Put simply, having all the ideas is a rush. Providing a quick solution that gets a group from point A to point B rapidly leads to feelings of importance. The body releases the feel-good chemical dopamine during creative spurts, which explains why some of us can’t let go of having all the answers. To be sure, we’re offering short-term value by being the go-to people in our companies. But long-term success won’t follow as those organizations scale.

My own epiphany surrounding talking versus listening happened when I recognized I needed to meet my employees where they were. As long as they were past the initial learning phases and into the “doing” stages, they needed less direction. Truly, those who already had solutions would have become disengaged after being micromanaged. Instead of risking the loss of their confidence, I wanted to empower them while maintaining an “I’m here if you need advice” status.

Out of my searching for the right way to move forward, the 10-Day Talking Diet was born.

A New Perspective on Mental Fuel

The day after Thanksgiving in 2017, I started a five-day fast as an experiment. Consuming only water, tea, and coffee, I embarked upon a silent retreat. I quickly realized that all my assumptions about food and communication were wrong.

After the experience, I wondered what else I was mistaken about. Was I in error about what it meant to be an ethical leader who concentrated on helping workers find satisfaction and meaning in their jobs? Was there a way for me to become more positive in my communications to help staff feel more empowered and committed?

I figured the only way to know was to test some hypotheses — and my discoveries became a 10-day test. If you’re prepared to confront your own assumptions, take the first steps toward a 10-Day Talking Diet. Here’s a taste of the first three days:

1. On day one, play Meeting Monopoly.

Seventy-one percent of senior managers in one Harvard Business Review-reported survey thought most meetings weren’t worthwhile. Could the problem be a lack of balance in participants’ verbal contributions? Use this experiment to find out.

Choose a day with a meeting lasting no less than 30 minutes. How much of the conversation do you expect to monopolize? Jot down a percentage. Then record the meeting and send the file to a transcription service. When it comes back, use Word or Google Docs to calculate the proportion of how many words you said versus the total spoken by all attendees.

Here comes the really fun part: Compare your prediction to reality. Did you speak roughly as much as everyone else? Or did you dominate the conversation? Write down your results, as well as goals to change your percentage in future meetings.

2. On day two, take on the Magic Management 8-Ball Challenge.

As a kid, you might have picked up one of those Magic 8-Ball toys. When you asked it a question, you got one of several answers like “the future is hazy” or “most likely.” While not exactly specific, they made contemplating problems fun. Use this same concept to make a meeting more enjoyable and streamlined.

For instance, say you have a meeting with several key people. Don’t make an agenda outlining what you’ll say. Write down all the questions you need to ask. It’ll take up a fraction of everyone’s time and get you closer to solutions.

What questions might you choose? How about, “What would the ideal outcome be?” “What’s standing in the way?” or “What support will you need to be successful?” Oh, and try “Tell me more …” to dig deeper. Here’s the kicker, though: Say nothing else. Just ask questions.

After your meeting, ask for feedback. Did participants feel the exchange worked? Were they excited? Would they like to see this change applied to all meetings? You might be shocked at how motivated attendees can be by this new way of talking about problems and opportunities.

3. On day three, give “should” the heave-ho.

If you’re like me, you’ll benefit from a “should” fast. What’s wrong with the word? It introduces a sense of guilt in the other person when you tell them they “should” do or have done something. Their defenses perk up, shutting down receptiveness to new thoughts.

Try replacing “should” in all your conversations by either dropping it from a sentence completely or changing to “I suggest,” “could,” or “would.”

Because this is an ongoing experiment, be sure to write down the results. Note how people react to your different verbiage choices. Then, make a pact with yourself to kick “should” to the curb.

After you get through three days of the 10-Day Talking Diet, you’ll have a wealth of leadership knowledge. If you’re motivated to keep going, do. You’ll be astonished at the changes you could make in fewer than two weeks.

About the Author

Krister Ungerboeck

Krister Ungerboeck is a leadership keynote speaker and CEO coach who helps leaders unearth unseen potential in their organizations, their teams, and themselves. Before becoming the world’s first leadership archaeologist, Krister was the award-winning CEO of a global tech company. He has done business in more than 40 countries, built businesses in five, and has lived in three.

Want to Assemble a Dream Team? Look for EI, Not Just Expertise

Leading a team of skilled superstars? You won't get far without a heaping helping of EI. To read the full article visit Inc.

Leave it to Google to use its own analytical data to support the need for stronger empathy in business leaders. To be sure, most people have long suspected that emotional intelligence (EI) plays a role in team building, productivity, and retention. But Google's Project Oxygen backed hunches with pure, in-your-face facts.

Fortunately, Google shared its findings with the world, opening the door for companies large and small to rethink the way they evaluate manager effectiveness. But to what end? Isn't EI something innate and unchangeable? If so, less emotionally intelligent supervisors wouldn't have a chance at redemption.

As it turns out, though, EI isn't a locked-in trait. It's a skill set that, when improved, can become a company's secret weapon.

Understanding the nuances and advantages of EI

What is EI, exactly? As TalentSmart points out, EI has nothing to do with personality or IQ, both of which are defined from childhood. Instead, EI is a malleable, learned ability to effectively recognize and manage one's own emotions while simultaneously understanding those same feelings in others. And those who master EI tend to see plenty of benefits.

For instance, TalentSmart research found that for every EI point a leader gains, he or she can expect to see a $1,300 annual salary bump. Is it any wonder, then, that 90 percent of top performers score high in emotional intelligence? Obviously, they've tapped into a way to move up the corporate ladder through constant self-improvement.

With such a clear advantage, why don't more business leaders dive into developing their EI? Krister Ungerboeck, a "leadership archaeologist" who tries to find unconventional solutions to management concerns, feels it's a lack of understanding about the process.

"Many executives want quick fixes that provide immediate results," he explains. "EI can mean the difference between inspiring teams to succeed or instigating an employee exodus -- but it's not something you can manufacture overnight." Hence, those seeking instant outcomes may be reluctant to accept the long-term commitment involved in truly increasing EI. On the other hand, those who are prepared to give EI a shot may one day leapfrog over genius-level managers who can't seem to relate to their crews.

Becoming a team of EI gurus

Interested in seizing EI-related opportunities for you and your team members? Start with some of these changes.

1. Commit to improving your EI.

The best way to impact a group is to lead by example, so begin by getting a clearer understanding of your own EI. One assessment is the EQ-i, which measures your emotional quotient (EQ) from the answers you provide. Yet it's only one tool; another is asking your employees to fill out a 360-degree evaluation of your strengths and areas for improvement.

After collecting this information, you'll be able to see your EI gaps more clearly. Slowly begin to close them by concentrating on weak points over the coming months and regularly requesting more feedback from colleagues.

2. Share your dedication to EI improvement with your team.

As the person in charge, be open with employees around and under you about the importance of EI. You may even want them to test their own EQs using this test from Psychology Today. Encourage them to reflect on their results and brainstorm ways to sharpen their emotional skills.

For example, you may recommend that they read Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence to get a basic grasp of the concept. From there, begin to change group norms by fostering an environment of respect. Simply making conscious expressions of gratitude the expectation can change office dynamics in a hurry. Other ways of bolstering team members' EI is by practicing empathy, talking openly about stressors, and letting off steam with work-related field trips.

3. Work together on a social responsibility project.

Finding it tough to adapt to an EI mindset? You can increase your corporate team's awareness by working on a project that helps an underserved community. Not only will you improve life for others, but you'll develop your ability to empathize with people and situations that may be out of your frame of reference.

A nice side effect to tackling volunteer work with colleagues is the bridges it builds. You'll have a common sense of accomplishment, which creates stronger bonds that can make dealing with problems easier in the future.

4. Establish norms for communication.

Maybe you've received correspondence that started something like "Not sure if you saw my last email ..." Did it make you crazy? Frustrate you? You're not alone. Adobe discovered that it was one of the most hated email phrases, probably because it's passive-aggressive and not at all rooted in EI.

Look for other communication areas in which you can apply the Golden Rule. There are plenty of ways to ask for information or voice opinions without resorting to low-level sniping or caustic replies.

Cultures built around consideration and value for others tend to produce less worry and a higher quality of work. Even if you're sure your team has a collective EI rating that's through the roof, do yourself and your employees a favor and test your theory. You may be surprised to find lots of holes that, when filled in, can smooth your path to success.

Aerospace Executive Podcast: Leadership, Attracting Experts, and High Employee Engagement with Krister Ungerboeck

Good leaders teach others how to become leaders themselves.This podcast originally appeared on Aerospace Executive Podcast with Craig Picken. To listen to the full interview, visit Aerospace Executive Podcast.

As we grow our team, why is it important to stop giving answers and start helping others find solutions on their own? How can we attract experts to our company? Why should we strive to become better communicators?

In this episode, Krister Ungerboeck talks about the most common leadership mistakes and what we can do to lead others to success. "Managers can be managed, but executives can only be led." -Krister Ungerboeck

Takeaways + Tactics:

- There’s a big difference between how leaders of small teams and leaders of large teams should lead. When it comes to smaller teams, leaders usually come up with all the answers to questions employees have.
- In a bigger team setting, the leader should be skilled at teaching others to ask themselves the right questions and then help them come with solutions on their own.
- The biggest enemy of entrepreneurs is ego. Many leaders find it hard to let other people come with their own solutions. We must accept that there are people who are more proficient than we are in certain areas. At the beginning of the episode, we talked about how small teams are managed differently than big teams. Next, we talked about why it’s important to accept the fact that there are people who are better than us and more qualified to hold certain positions in our company.

We also covered:

- Why a big monetary compensation isn’t enough and what else we can offer to high achievers
- Why being a lone wolf in the world of entrepreneurship can cost you a lot of learning opportunities
- How we can learn to communicate better with our team and the role empathy plays in doing so

We can’t become better leaders and grow our business if we don’t learn to communicate more effectively. A crucial element in emotional intelligence is having empathy— the ability to put ourselves in somebody else's shoes even when we have nothing in common. Setting aside time for empathy exercises is crucial for leaders like us, as we have to connect, communicate and lead people on a daily basis.

Guest Bio:

Krister Ungerboeck, The Leadership Archeologist, is a global leadership expert, award-winning CEO, coach, speaker and author. As the world’s first Leadership Archaeologist, Krister is a seeker of secrets. He’s a perspective-changing explorer who ventures beyond the edge of the comfort zone of most leaders and brings back tales of what he’s learned. He experiments with unique, sometimes outlandish approaches to building leadership skills in order to save leaders the time, money, and (possibly) embarrassment of experimenting on themselves.

Go to https://krister.com/aerospace for a free Leadership Assessment and much more!

Business Creators Radio Show: Why Companies Outgrow Leaders, With Krister Ungerboeck

In these times of unprecedented change, the leadership needs of companies evolve just as the needs and wants of consumers do. This podcast originally appeared on the Business Creators Radio Show with Adam Hommey. To listen to the full interview, visit the Business Creators Radio Show.

The ideal leader for one leg of the journey may be ill equipped to tackle the next chapter. In hyper-growth organizations, how do we ensure our companies don’t outgrow our leaders?

In this revealing and moving episode, Krister Ungerboeck, the world’s first Leadership Archeologist, joins Adam to reveal the risks organizations face when running yesterday’s playbook for today’s challenges. Through extensive research and real-world CEO experience, Krister shares the best approach to elevate leaders with potential, and level up when previously successful leaders can no longer win at the highest levels.

Discover:

• Why companies outgrow leaders (and what to do about it);

• How logical leaders can learn emotional intelligence;

• If forgiveness belongs in business;

• What makes a perfect leadership team;

• And much more!

If you want to take your business from vulnerability to profitability and ensure the strength of your leadership, don’t miss this episode.

Do You Struggle With EI? Three Hacks Will Help You Boost Your EQ

Emotional intelligence has been in the leadership spotlight for decades, but that doesn’t mean today’s leaders are any better at identifying, evaluating, controlling, or perceiving emotions in themselves or others. To read the full article, visit CEO World.

Despite a TalentSmart study that linked high emotional intelligence with strong workplace performance (and Google’s statistical findings that depict EI as more important than technical skills), executives continue to lag behind in the empathy department.

What’s behind the C-suite’s struggle to understand colleagues’ feelings, needs, and expectations? As one Harvard Business Review article explained, the higher up in the corporate ranks someone is, the higher his or her tendency toward inflated ego and self-interest. Not surprisingly, this leads to a disconnect between managers and employees, which can directly affect engagement by up to 70 percent, according to Gallup.

While I’ve always had a strong logical understanding of EI, I assumed it simply involved me telling others how I was feeling. I was mistaken. What I’ve come to understand is that EI isn’t based on being transparent with your initial emotions but on diving beneath the surface to find out what’s motivating those emotions. It can be difficult to stop from lashing out automatically, as leadership involves wielding power and making immediate choices. But when emotions are involved, executives must learn to hold back.

The ABCs of building better EI

Wherever you are on the journey toward true emotional intelligence, you can enhance your progress with these three strategies:

1. Recognize anger as an alarm bell.

The next time you find yourself disappointed in your employees, pause and take a moment to assess your emotional state. Which emotions are you actually experiencing? Fear? Frustration? Confusion? You need to flesh out the true cause of your primary reaction. Think of anger like an alarm bell; it isn’t a primary emotion, after all.

It can be hard to admit when you’re terrified that a client will jump ship because a project wasn’t finished on time. Sure, you may be mad, but you’re more worried than anything. It’s more constructive to communicate that worry than to simply lash out without addressing the root cause of your ire.

Anger disconnects people, whereas primary emotions like fear or shame connect people. Most people don’t want their boss to be afraid or embarrassed, but being honest about those feelings make you more human and relatable. Your workers will appreciate your candor.

1. Beef up your emotional vocabulary.

There is research that part of improved emotional intelligence is simply having a deeper vocabulary to describe our emotions. For example, frustration and disappointment are variations of anger. An important element of EI is knowing the nuances.

We all understand basic emotions — happiness, anger, sadness, and so on. What separates those with high EI scores from people who struggle to empathize is the ability to identify secondary and tertiary emotions such as sentimentality, fascination, and skepticism. After all, how can you truly feel an emotion if you don’t have the words to describe it?

Being able to pinpoint precise emotional reactions in yourself helps you clarify your own feelings, but it also enables you to recognize them in others. If you aren’t able to acknowledge situations that make you feel hurt, then you’re more likely to say hurtful things to others and not understand the consequences of those actions.

1. Practice sensing how others feel.

If you aren’t an innately intuitive person, you might have trouble predicting others’ emotions. Therefore, you need to use trial and error to educate yourself in this arena. Need some help? Read “Nonviolent Communication,” a book written 50 years ago by a peace activist who created a communication technique to help defuse race riots. One of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s first orders of business upon taking the helm was to recommend the book to his leaders so they could practice spotting and validating others’ emotions.

The language of nonviolent communication looks like this: “You are feeling _______ because you are needing _______.” By filling in the blanks here, we can experiment with identifying others’ emotions. People are more likely to correct us and tell us the actual emotion they are experiencing when we use this language.

Over time, you’ll get more accustomed to stifling knee-jerk emotions and controlling potentially negative impulses. Taking a moment to understand others lessens the likelihood that you’ll unconsciously say something that could potentially ruin a good relationship forever. Something you say in a split second of frustration can stick with a person for years; it’s not worth the risk.

The fundamental definition of “empathy” is the ability to understand another person’s emotions, and that’s the key to emotional intelligence. Fortunately, you don’t have to be born empathetic to develop the EI skill set. You simply need to recognize your need for improvement, actively pursue emotional knowledge, and pay attention to the reactions of yourself and others. In time, you’ll unravel the mystery of EI success.

Are Your Company's Rising Stars Ready for the Big Promotion? Here's How to Make Sure They Are.

With strong organizational support, your hard-working employees have a fighting chance to become your next great executives. To read the full article, visit Entrepreneur.

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Companies love to think that that outside hire they've just scored is the silver bullet that will solve their problems. But without constant, focused development and serious planning, that person could actually turn the organization into a bull's-eye.

Consider GM's journey with outsider Johan de Nysschen: Thinking Nysschen would serve as the shot in the arm its Cadillac brand needed to compete in the luxury car industry, GM installed him as president of the brand with high hopes. But over the subsequent few years he then served in the position, Cadillac's sales declined 11 percent.

In April, GM's top brass replaced de Nysschen with someone who had been with the organization for decades -- someone who already knew the ins and outs of how the company worked. Whether the decision to hire externally to fill the role of president was a fatal one isn't yet clear, but this story serves as a cautionary tale.

According to some schools of thought, hiring from outside your organization results in higher-quality leaders than does promoting from your rank and file. In some situations, that might be true, but as GM's experience shows, it's not always the case. Instead, executives looking to fill management positions should focus on offering continual leadership development with the intent to promote from within.

The risks of hiring externally

What's the risk of bringing in outsiders? It all comes down to squandered resources, the largest of which is money. Recruiting costs are hefty. Plus, if you have a superstar at your company who makes $100,000 but isn't ready to be promoted from within, you won't be able to hire someone at $110,000 instead. You'll probably need to hire someone at $150,000 or $200,000 to ensure this new leader can command respect from your current employee.

In my experience, a $200,000 external hire can cost anywhere between $300,000 and $1 million over a five-year period. And the largest portion of that cost occurs because of the people who have jumped ship because they weren't promoted.

If your $100,000 superstar sees someone just "5 percent better" get hired, he or she will likely wonder about the lack of help needed to make that 5 percent improvement himself (or herself). Whether that person then leaves alone or leaves and takes teammates, the resulting walkout vsn creates gaps and friction.

Investing in your people

As reported by the Harvard Business Review, about half of those executives who are hired from outside an organization reach the point of failure before the 18-month mark. It's clear, then, that an external hire likely won't be the silver bullet to solve all of your company's problems. Instead, you should focus on investing in your own people.

To do that, ensure that your current employees are ready when an opportunity for promotion comes around, by building an internal leadership development plan. Creating a framework for training your employees to take on different stages of leadership might sound daunting, but if you begin with the following steps, you'll be on track to help your workers attain their career goals and improve your chances of making successful promotions.

1. View leadership development as an investment portfolio.

You’re investing in your people, so pick a small number of individuals and put a significant amount of training money into each. Sign retention agreements for your fiscal protection. Begin those talented workers' leadership development with assessments in an array of fields, from problem-solving to cognitive skill, to determine a quantitative basis for improvement.

After assessing these future leaders, determine the objective growth potential for each. Johnson & Johnson does this, as Cornell University researchers explained in an article on the conglomerate's training processes. The company puts people who want to rise through its ranks into the Johnson & Johnson Standards of Leadership program. By creating a protocol, the organization ensures all executives will meet basic skills and abilities before moving up the corporate ladder.

2. Choose short-term ways to invest your money.

After you've determined which potential leaders you want to invest in, determine the ways in which you'll do that investing. Limit your choices to short-term activities. For instance, try sending an employee to a conference and then following up after a month or two to see how he or she has implemented the knowledge gained through that experience.

Be careful about sending employees through degree programs, as those are long-term investments that often cost five to 10 times more than individual training courses or conferences. Plus, some employees will use a degree program as a résumé builder or opportunity to find other employment. 

Your particular investments should be low-cost and incremental so you can evaluate your ROI every quarter. David Blake, CEO at e-learning company Degreed, agrees, based on his company's research, that smaller, more regular development opportunities are the most effective.

3. Ask potential leaders to match your dollar investment with a time investment.

Although it makes sense for you to provide your leaders with the right tools, the entire improvement process can't be up to you. The people you're investing in need to take time outside of their work lives to improve their executive leadership talents. Whether they read books, watch podcasts or take courses, their time match must be consistent and tangible.

Engage your prospective or current executives in regular one-on-one and group coaching sessions to ensure they're following through. They’ll have the chance to report on what they’ve done, what actionable goals they’ve achieved and what they plan to do next.

If the coaching session is led by a current or former CEO, your executive can get feedback and advice from someone who's been in his or her shoes. As a bonus, you’ll be at the forefront of your industry if you make strides now. According to a Deloitte report, 56 percent of participating companies surveyed said they hadn't prepped for future leaders, and only 7 percent had millennial-based leadership programming.

At the end of the day, the crux of your company's decision doesn't need to have an external-versus-internal focus. If you commit to improving your most talented, engaged employees through a well-structured leadership development program, the answer to that question should be a no-brainer. With strong organizational support, your hard-working employees have a fighting chance to become your next great executives.

Study Shows Men Are Just As Stressed As Women In Achieving Work-Life Balance

The startling results of an American Psychological Association study, indicating males are as conflicted as females, contradicts a commonly held belief that men don’t stress over work-life balance. This article originally appeared on Glassdoor. To read the full article, visit Glassdoor.

However, Krister Ungerboeck, a consultant for business leaders, isn’t taken aback by the fact that, despite public perception, both men and women have nearly identical levels of conflict in work-balance.

Ungerboeck says “men are dealing with the double whammy of feeling guilty for missing their kids’ lives and at the same time ashamed for not seeming cutthroat enough at work.” The former CEO of a struggling software company, which he expanded 3000%, Ungerboeck experienced at first hand the personal costs of stereotypical masculinity. That in-the-trenches experience enabled Ungerboeck to found CEO Growth, a coaching firm exclusively for the C-suite.

Despite common expectations, Ungerboeck says that the lessons he learned in his own career about giving consideration to the family are just as important as any bottom-line wisdom.

“As important as it is to help CEOs and owners push business to the next level,” says the father of two, “it is equally important to help them gain perspective on the value of a personal life.”

Glassdoor: Do you see men struggling with the expectation that they must live up to a stereotype of masculinity which the report indicates is outdated and toxic?

Krister Ungerboeck: Yes. There’s more of an expectation that men who are in the workforce, are going to put their job ahead of their kids, and their family. They’re going to be the ones who work late. But the truth is a lot of us struggle with that. Men often feel they aren’t “supposed” to take a personal day when their kid is sick, so they don’t.

I think there is an element of cultural norms, where maybe it’s expected for a man to be able to stay late. When I was a CEO, I was probably unconsciously more flexible when a woman, even a woman executive, if she needed to do some things… to go do things for the kids. There was an assumption about male and female roles.

I think that that maybe puts a little more pressure on male executives, or men in the workforce, who don’t get that flexibility. Add to that, if I were to look at the number of times that male executives came to me and asked for time off for their kids, it was significantly lower.

Many executives had wives who worked, and I think that’s there’s also some cultural expectation that in a two-income family (even if they are equal earners) that matters of the family would fall more frequently onto the female.

Glassdoor: How do we change the idea of masculinity in the workplace? If these are untruths, how do we knock them down?

Krister Ungerboeck: The change really needs to start from the top-down. Bosses need to make it clear that they prioritize their own children and their own family responsibilities, and let their employees see that it is okay to leave work early sometimes if your child is ill or has a ball game. They also need to encourage employees to use their vacation days and to take regular breaks.

Glassdoor: But a lot of employees feel unsafe to take family time. How do you allay those fears, changing the office culture?

Krister Ungerboeck: It’s the boss whose actions get amplified, right? So, if your employees hear you say, ‘Hey, I’m going to my son’s baseball game. I’m leaving the office at 4:30 today’ they know it’s safe for them to attend to their families too.
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Being clear with people, letting people know, and then setting an example that it’s okay to leave at 5 o’clock is powerful.

Glassdoor: One of the biggest hurdles we all face is time. How do you handle all that time at work away from family?

Krister Ungerboeck: I have been guilty in the past of spending too much time working. I used to tell people that my longest day was 42 hours. We now know – we have research that shows us – that we don’t function well in that kind of situation. You can’t get good work done.

Someone told me once that it’s actually the people who really should be respected are the people who are able to get the job done and achieve the business results in 40-50 hours, not the people who have to take 80 hours to do the same level of results.

Glassdoor: Knowing from data that too many hours aren’t productive, have you changed your use of time?

Krister Ungerboeck: Yes. I don’t think that I’ve consistently spent more than 45 hours in the office in ten years. With emailing and phoning time (from home) it’s maybe 50 hours. It gets done and I have a better balance. I don’t have all the stress and anger that built up when almost my whole life was work.

Glassdoor: By managing your hours, but not lessening your productivity it sets an example, too?

Krister Ungerboeck: Yes, that’s setting an example.

It’s how you treat your employees’ time that also sends a message. When I would call my executives on the weekend or in the evening I have told them to let the call go to voicemail. That way I can let them know if they need to return the call right away, or if it can wait until Monday. If it’s an urgent matter they know to call. I don’t think that, probably for the last 10 years, I can think of a time that I would regularly call any executives outside of business hours unless it was urgent. And if you have urgent matters more than a handful of times per year, then you probably have a different problem in your business.

Glassdoor: This study makes the point that fathers want to be more involved with family than in past generations. Is that true from your experience?

Krister Ungerboeck: I think definitely, that compared to the baby boomer parents, my generation (in his early 40s) wants more involvement in our kids’ lives. A lot of the CEOs I coach want, of course, to improve professionally, but they want help with their personal relationships too.

Glassdoor: You refer to yourself as a “Recovering Asshole CEO.” Why did you change that toxic part of your life?

Krister Ungerboeck: It was a combination of a couple things. Part of the change came about after one of those anonymous 360 surveys. It was part of a leadership program that I was participating in. I had been told that the more toxic the boss, the more data is needed. If 30 people are saying all the same things about you, it’s hard to ignore. I knew I had to change.

In my case, the 360 survey crossed from business to personal. Before this survey, I thought, ‘I’m a different person at work than I am personally.’ But the data showed I was having the same problems at home.

When you have toxic leaders, they’re probably carrying that over to how they’re raising their kids, or carrying over to how they’re communicating with their spouse. Probably better to catch that earlier, before you get divorced, or you find out you have adult children you’re not connected with.

Glassdoor: You’re saying that working style can follow you home? That work and home are intertwined and not in a good way sometimes?

Krister Ungerboeck: Yes. You may be saying to yourself, ‘Hey, that’s what’s gotten me successful as a CEO or a boss’, but if you don’t change that behavior then you’re going to be passing these traits on to your kids. If you’ve got a lot of stress at work, you may be taking that home, to your spouse and kids There’s a fair amount of data that that stress and anger and frustration is contagious. By taking that frustration and anger home, it spreads to their family.

Glassdoor: How do you remedy that cycle of stress which has so much to do with a skewed idea of masculinity?

Krister Ungerboeck: This goes back to getting rid of that stereotype of masculinity. Probably one of the most impactful experiences I had with my executive team was when we actually went through a vulnerability exercise, where each of the executive team members shared. Half the people were crying because they were talking about things that were very powerful, from their childhood mostly. That brought the team together at a whole new level than we had before.

Glassdoor: How do you show vulnerability and honesty to your employees? What was their reaction?

Krister Ungerboeck: I’ve gotten teared up in front of my employees. The first time I got choked up was probably about 10 years ago. I will admit that there were certainly some individuals who came to me and gave me feedback, that they actually felt that was inappropriate that I was emotional in front of employees. But just as many employees gave me positive feedback that they felt more connected.

Glassdoor: Was it men or women that made those negative comments?

Krister Ungerboeck: It was men. Frankly, I think the individuals who did that probably were just not comfortable with being vulnerable themselves. So, I took it with a grain of salt. Certainly, there are people out there who still subscribe to the CEO must not show weakness, but I think it’s better to be authentic in the long run.
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It’s hard to keep up that façade forever as a business becomes increasingly complex. It adds to the stress which bleeds into your home life.

Getting rid of toxic masculinity starts from the top. The leader’s actions give a clear indication of what’s valued in the working culture. If you appreciate your family and personal time, show it. That makes it all right for everyone and changes the culture.

From Founder to CEO Podcast Episode 185: What 3000% Growth Taught This CEO About Encouraging Others

You can’t ignore it. Your style as a Founder & CEO can help or hinder the growth of your company. Krister knows this first hand. This podcast originally appeared on From Founder to CEO. Listen to the podcast here, From Founder to CEO.

At age 42, Krister retired as CEO of a 3,000% growth company and founded Courageous Growth as a platform to mentor CEOs and give back to the community. It was during his tenure as CEO that he was confronted with feedback that was new and disconcerting to him. And it led him on an entirely new journey of self-discovery and helping others that you will definitely want to listen to in this very candid episode.

CLICK TO TWEET Your CEO style matters! Just ask @kristeru, CEO of a 3,000% growth company who discovered his style wasn't working https://fromfoundertoceo.com/?p=2970

 Name: Krister Ungerboeck, Founder & CEO

Company: Courageous Growth

Headquartered In: St. Louis, Missouri

Powerful Promise of Value: Courageous Growth works exclusively with owners, CEOs, future CEOs or 2ICs (2nd in Command) to accelerate their business and personal growth. The company typically works with technology and growth businesses with 50 – 500 employees seeking to double in size within the next 3-5 years. In addition to technology companies, Krister and his team also work with family businesses of all sizes seeking to accelerate the development of family leaders, future CEOs or 2IC (2nd in Command).