Kent Blumberg

Teasing out core values in a job interview

Two of my favorite bloggers, Phil Gerbyshak and Steve Roesler have been talking about how to discover what job candidates are passionate about. 

Phil suggests asking the candidate what she is passionate about, to see how excited she gets.  Phil's idea is that you want to hire someone who can actually get excited about something.

Steve agrees that "simply finding out if someone can 'get passionate' about a topic is telling."  He adds the step of asking the candidate, "How would you see that kind of excitement carrying over into your work."

Here's a third way to use a candidate's passion to discover a bit more about what makes her tick.

"Bonsai Organizations" - small can be beautiful

On National Public Radio Monday I happened to catch an interview with Charles Handy.  Handy writes about organizations and organizational behavior.  He told of a client of his.  That client describes his organization as a "Bonsai Organization."

Should yours become a Bonsai organization?

9 Keys to Successful Delegation

All of us delegates tasks and outcomes.  Even sole proprietors have suppliers and service providers who require direction.  Few, if any of us, can get through life without asking others for help.

But delegation can be scary.  It's tough to let go of control and trust others to get stuff done.  We might think only we can do something well.  Sometimes that's true, but most often it isn't.

If you are going to have leverage in this world, you simply must delegate.  Here are nine simple ideas to help you delegate more effectively.

Please throw out your performance review system

My opinion:  annual performance reviews are hammers looking for nails to pound, and hurting employee engagement, productivity and health in the process.  If you have any say in the matter, please throw out your performance review process.

Here's why I believe that, and some alternatives you might want to try.

Should you hire specific experience, or the ability to learn and lead?

[Updated March 2, 2008 with notes from Time Magazine's March 10th edition.  Updates are marked with "*"]

Two blog postings last week got me thinking about hiring decisions.  Eric Brown asserted that we ought to "...hire the best person you can regardless of the number of years of experience..."  On the same day, Growing Business Link carried a brief piece extolling the virtues of the generalist.

So the question is, should you hire for very specific experience, or should you hire a generalist who has proven her ability to lead and to learn?

I say the latter - usually.

Company mission - why bother?

People don't bring their hearts and souls to a business that exists solely to make money for its owners.  According to research by Amy Wrzesniewski, as reported in 12: The Elements of Great Managing (Wagner and Harter, Gallup Press, 2006), people want to work for an organization with a higher purpose - a mission that means something to them.  And those same people want to understand how what they do individually contributes to the larger organizational mission.  Fail to provide that mission, or fail to provide a connection from each employee to the mission, and you will fail to build a great company.

A book to help you focus your time

[Update:  Retitled post to accurately reflect content.]

Clients often want help sharpening their focus - getting more done on the stuff that counts while reducing stress and working fewer hours.  Back in 2000, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Les Hewitt published The Power of Focus: What the Worlds Greatest Achievers Know about The Secret of Financial Freedom and Success.  That book is chock full of strategies to help you focus.

Four ways to grow your business

How do you grow your business? 

Let's assume you own a house cleaning company in a growing community.  You have 20 employees serving 100 customers.  You want to grow "organically" - that is, without acquiring other companies.  What are your options?

I think about growth options in terms of customers and offerings (the package of goods and services you provide).  Put these into a 2x2 matrix (see diagram at the end of the post) and you find four options for growth.  Let's look at each, roughly in order of ascending difficulty.

Email - the Seven Ds of Inbox Happiness

How many emails do you receive every day?  100?  200?  500?  1000?  Whatever the number, the Seven Ds of In box Happiness will help you find the bottom of the pile.