3 Leadership Lessons from Mike Duke
Mike Duke was the fourth CEO of Walmart, serving from 2009 to 2013. When you lead a company of such a massive scope, it’s extremely important that you understand how to be an effective leader. Mr. Duke regularly speaks with other business owners about leadership tactics, and given his standing in the business world, his advice is very relevant for anyone who manages a business.
In order of increasing importance, Mr. Duke said that leadership is all about the following:
- Being an agent of change. Sam Walton was not afraid of change – it’s how he revolutionized the retail industry. Walton’s early stores were failures, but he learned through these failures to understand what new methods of building a retail empire would work. This allowed him to create the Supercenter.
- The people. As CEO, David Glass told Lee Scott that although he was doing a great job leading Logistics, he couldn’t be promoted without a successor. Scott invested in recruitment and development, which led to the hiring of Mr. Duke. 90 days later, Glass called and asked Mr. Duke to lead Logistics. This shows the importance of not only hiring good people, but mentoring them and invest in growing them as people and employees.
- Trust. Mr. Duke was impacted by a visit from a Walmart driver during which a driver criticized a manager for having no integrity and mentioned in incident of disrespect on the manager’s part. That incident had occurred two years previously. To Duke, this showed how a single misstep without an apology and a willingness to accept the consequences of one’s actions can truly damage employee trust.
These three facets of leadership helped Mr. Duke successfully manage one of the world’s largest companies, and they’re applicable for any size business.
Don’t Be the Star of Your Own Movie
In August, we began looking at some great points made by Tim Hoch in his article, “10 Ways You’re Making Your Life Harder Than It Has To Be.” The second point Hoch makes: that being the “star of your own movie” can lead to more trouble than good.
It’s incredibly easy for us to fall into the trap of thinking the world revolves around us, our needs, our problems and we’re the star of our own movie. It’s almost surreal that every single person we encounter every day, the thousands of people you see driving during rush hour, at the grocery store etc., all have their own script, cares and problems.
You’ve scripted your life’s movie out for yourself and know how you want it to go but not everyone else has that script. Other people aren’t playing bit parts in the movie of your life—they’re starring in their own. You may have scripted them to give you a promotion or help you achieve greatness, but unfortunately, life doesn’t revolve around you. Instead of constantly asserting yourself as the star of your movie, forget your script and let others star every now and then be a supporting cast.
The Importance of Your Company’s Culture
Several weeks back we began looking at some of the best points from the book “Impending Crisis” by Robert Herman. Today we’re going to continue on and look at Mr. Herman’s next point: the importance of your company’s culture.
While there are some people who would say that the culture of a company is something that’s subjective and hard to define. The fact is that job candidates often refer to the culture of an organization as being one of the major factors in their decision to seek employment elsewhere. This means that for organizations looking to bring in the best possible employers to their team, the creation of a positive, affirming company culture should be among its top priorities.
What exactly are candidates looking for when it comes to organizational culture? Some examples include:
- A company that has high values and a good moral compass
- A company that has high standards of quality and customer service
- A company with traditions, and a rich organizational history
- A company that people simply enjoy working for
- A company where team members seem to get along and work well aside each other
If you’re interested in reading more about company culture and its importance to prospective candidates, I highly suggest reading “Impending Crisis”.
How Does the Job Market Look for the Next Six Months?
I often get asked about the state of the job market. Despite the economic downturn from a few years ago, the job market is actually very healthy. According to a new article by Mark Anderson of Execunet, it appears that there is certainly cause for confidence in the job market right now, and for the next six months as well.
Here are some of the US Bureau of Labor statistics reported by Anderson in the article:
- Average jobs added per month in the US economy are up by 20 percent from 2013
- Recruiter confidence levels are above 50 percent for the first time since 2011, and only nine percent of recruiters believe that the job market will not improve in the next six months
- One in four companies will add new executive-level positions in the next six months, up from one in eight in 2011, the third month in a row that executive recruiters have indicated these expectations
- The amount of companies searching for top executive candidates is up by 25 percent over 2013
All of this is definitely good news for people who are either looking to make a change in the career or who are currently unemployed. Keep in mind that recruiter confidence does not necessarily translate to more jobs, but the fact that recruiters are increasingly confident in the market is certainly cause for positivity.
For more information, read the full article linked above and check with the US Bureau of Labor for constantly updated statistics about the US economy and job market.
Do You Ascribe Intent?
Do you ever ask yourself, “what is the secret to a happy life?” Do you ever find yourself getting wound up about really trivial matters, things that never should have even come close to getting you frustrated? As Tim Hoch says in his article “10 Ways You’re Making Your Life Harder Than It Has To Be,” this is what we can call “ascribing intent,” and it has the power to ruin your day in the blink of an eye.
Here are the examples that Hoch lays out in his article:
Another driver cut you off. Your friend never texted you back. Your co-worker went to lunch without you. Everyone can find a reason to be offended on a steady basis. So what caused you to be offended? You assigned bad intent to these otherwise innocuous actions. You took it as a personal affront, a slap in the face.This tendency to take these tiny actions so personally is not a prominent characteristic of happy people. And yet, there are so many people who ascribe intent in these situations every single day.
The only way that you can get past this common hang-up is to realize that not every action has intent behind it, or at least the intent that you have ascribed to it. Another driver cut you off? Maybe he or she didn’t see you. Your friend never texted you back? Maybe they were busy at the time, and simply forgot.
Nobody knows the single secret to a happy life, but I know this much: you won’t find happiness in taking offense to these tiny situations that pop up in your life. Fight the urge to ascribe intent, and you’ll be a much happier person.
Position Your Company to be Attractive to the People You Want!
Today I’m going to begin a series of posts about how companies can differentiate themselves to attract the talent you want! Robert Herman makes some great points in his book, “Impending Crisis”. One of the first topics he discusses is the idea that while candidates themselves are obviously different from each other, their aspirations tend to be surprisingly similar. I’d agree with this; in fact, almost every candidate I speak with wants similar things out of their next position.
The following is some of the most common ingredients that job candidates search for in their employer:
- A great company. Candidates want to work for a company with a solid reputation and forward momentum where they feel like they can truly make a difference.
- A good culture. Simply put, employees want to work in a place where they enjoy working with their other coworkers. They don’t want it to be a struggle to get out of bed every morning to go to their job. Companies with a good culture are also likely to have strong leadership and truly care for their employees and customers.
- Opportunity for growth. Nobody wants to jump aboard a sinking ship. Candidates want to feel as though they have a chance to grow in their roles and do meaningful work.
- Good compensation and benefits. Naturally, people want to be given fair and competitive compensation for their work. Unique benefits can set you apart…for instance, allow your employees one day off a year to give back to their favorite charity.
It is important to note that each candidate prioritizes these factors differently in their job hunt, but most candidates want each of the elements above in varying degrees when evaluating potential opportunities.
As a leader in your company, consider what steps you can take to ensure that your company is attractive to potential candidates in all of these areas. If you need help retaining your top talent, please contact me. As one of sixty Certified Employment Retention Specialists in the United States, I consult with many companies to help to not only attract top talent, but to keep them engaged.
Think of Your Resume as a Brochure
Make sure your resume lines up with your career goals and objectives
Your resume is the best way to show potential employers exactly who you are and what you are capable of as an employee. Rather than letting it be just a boring list of accomplishments and qualifications, try thinking about it as an advertising brochure, a method of selling yourself to prospective employers.
There have been so many times where I’ve spoken to potential candidates for jobs who know where they want to go in their career, but they put too much emphasis on positions in their resumes that either don’t apply to the position they’re applying for, or skills from a different industry that are not relevant to their potential new job. You shouldn’t feel like you need to take these positions off your resume. Instead, take those skills and experiences that do apply to your potential new job and make sure that you highlight them.
For example: let’s say you’re fresh out of college looking for your first job in the “real world,”, but the only experiences you have are old student jobs that are unrelated the field in which you are applying. While you should keep your work experience on the resume, what you should really highlight is the relevant skills you learned at those student jobs that will translate to your new position. You can still find relevant skills to highlight, even if the jobs themselves aren’t relevant to your application.
If you know what your goals and objectives are for your career, it’s easier to pick out these relevant skills to highlight. I recommend sitting down, taking some time to reflect about where you’re going in your career, and then taking the time to analyze your resume to better figure out how your resume can line up for the position you’re interested in.
Why HR Leaders Will Be As Important as CFOs
Your Human Resource leader needs to have a seat at the “C” Level table
In the book The War for Talent by Ed Michaels, there is an intriguing excerpt titled “Why HR Leaders Will Be As Important as CFOs.” It’s a fascinating read, and I highly recommend the entire book. In that excerpt, Michaels makes the following statement:
Attracting, developing and retaining talented people is the stuff of competitive advantage, more so than financing strategies, tax tactics, budgeting and even some acquisitions. Hence, the HR leader has a much more strategic role to play in the years ahead, perhaps one equal to that of the CFO.
Michaels goes on to argue that today’s leaders should have much higher expectations for their HR managers, and that divisions and major locations should have a “superb HR generalist who is strategic, impact-oriented, direct, tough-minded and effective at influencing peers and senior managers.” He says that HR leaders could assume a number of new roles, including:
- Helping to forge the link between business strategy and talent
- Serving as the thought leader in understanding what it takes to attract great talent
- Facilitating the talent review and action plans
- Becoming the architect of the development strategy for the top 50 to 100 managers
This is a fantastic way for companies to approach the HR position going forward. There are few things more frustrating for companies than to bring in some excellent talent, only to watch them leave for something better a few years later. Having HR leaders taking on these types of new roles is a great way to ensure that companies will be able to attract, develop and keep their top talent in-house.
In fact, this issue is one of the biggest reasons I pursued my CERS designation last year. I work hard to make sure that my clients are able to hold on to their best talent, and a big part of accomplishing that is looking at the way HR leaders and management lead. If you show people you care about keeping them around, and if you develop strategies to prove that, then you’ll find that the amount of people leaving your company for something else will decrease.
Millennials in the Workplace
Much has been made about how Millennials are at the forefront of digital innovation and social networking. However, the individuality characteristic of the generation has even broader reaches.
According to research done by the National Association of Personnel Services, Millennials have fewer attachments to traditional institutions than any previous generation, and have extremely little faith in the current Social Security system. Additional research by Pew Research Center suggests that fewer Millennials are marrying in their 20s than Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, and even more interestingly, that 50% of Millennials consider themselves to be political independents (although they lean heavily democratic on social issues such as same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization).
What’s clear from all of this research is that the Millennials are a generation filled with individuals who are not concerned with going against the grain and bucking trends that have lasted for decades. This is exactly why today’s companies need to closely examine their hiring practices to determine ways that they can provide greater opportunities for Millennials to join their team and thrive.
Millennials have proven themselves to be extremely capable of thinking critically at a young age. Their refusal to blindly trust institutions and others and their avoidance of labels and tradition for tradition’s sake indicates that they are not afraid to pursue their own goals and beliefs. Can you think of a better type of employee to have on staff, one that won’t simply settle for doing a job a certain way because “that’s how it’s always been done?” One who will critically approach any problem that arises within a given project and not resort to old, standard methods?
The tendency for companies hiring employees is to not take younger applicants seriously, but all research suggests that Millennials are very much worth your time, and could be extremely valuable employees.
Career Longevity
The days of an employee working with the same company for 20 years – or even throughout their full career – are gone.
Members of the Millennial generation currently entering the workforce are expected to change jobs every three to four years, meaning they will have worked for many more companies throughout their career than the Baby Boomers currently exiting the workforce.
Individuals born from 1957 to 1964 (referred to as part of the Baby Boomer generation) held an average of 11.3 jobs from ages 18 to 46 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the US Department of Labor. The projections are that the Millennial generation will have between 12 and 15 career changes.
The bottom line is that keeping your talented people will become more and more challenging as the more loyal Baby Boomers start leaving the workforce and the more transient Millennial generation takes their place.
Now is the time to start getting your processes in place to retain your talented employees and keep them engaged.
Jim Mikula, Executive Recruiter
Jim Mikula, Executive Recruiter | Talent Blog 