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Talent Development Question: Setbacks & Resiliency- "What good can we make of this?" - A Mother's Thoughtful, Loving, and Change-Empowering Query

Posted March 13, 2013

Talent Development Question: Setbacks & Resiliency- "What good can we make of this?" - A Mother's Thoughtful, Loving, and Change-Empowering Query

Note From Jim:

Talent development coach Wally Bock comments that growth, understanding, and change are powered by STRUGGLE and that when it comes to talent development, we must better prepare ourselves and our people for growing from ADVERSITY.

In the spirit of my post of yesterday sharing insights spoken by Scott Sonnon (Flip Challenges Into Assets), i...

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Sources of Confidence - Men Vs. Woman

Posted April 23, 2013

NOTE FROM JIM

Related to my post of yesterday regarding our blind spots, one of my favorite cerebral thinkers, David Brooks of the New York Times, raises interesting questions about gender based attitudes connected with CONFIDENCE.

Does our source of confidence differ by gender? How so? And if so, can our organizations achieve higher levels of performance, decision making, and behavior by optimizing sources of confidence throughout an organization?

To tickle your curiosity:

Access the 3 mi...

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"The Talent Paradox" - Deloitte's Top 10 Challanges For P&C

Posted June 13, 2013

NOTE FROM JIM:

It should come as no surprise that “Deloitte’s 2013 P&C Insurance Outlook” cites staffing as one of the industry's top 10 challenges.

Forward thinkers may be eager to learn that Jacobs Executive Advisors has mastery, experience, and a record of success in executing the recommendations made by Deloitte. We welcome inquiries about the results we've provided to others and about solutions we can deliver for you and your colleagues.

To tickle your interest in Deloitte’...

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Hiring Tips From Big Data Devotee, Google

Posted June 24, 2013

NOTE FROM JIM

New York Times columnist Adam Bryant recently interviewed Google’s SVP of People Operations, Lazlo Bock, and discovered some of Google’s wisdom about hiring.  Key takeaways reported by Adam were as follows:

Very few people are good at hiring, even at Google. GPA and test score have no correlation to job performance. Behavioral interviewing works best. In choosing leaders look for consistency, fairness, human judgment, intellectual curiosity, inspiration, and creat...

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Freedom - Vote For And Choose The Habit Of Happiness

Posted July 7, 2013

NOTE FROM JIM

You've likely seen other of my previous posts that point to the wisdom and enthusiasm of Lionel Ketchian, the inspiration behind The Happiness Club.

Within the past 10 years or so, leaders, practitioners, and academics in the field of psychology have been studying the concept of optimizing human flourishing.  Research and practice indicate that "Happiness", "Optimism", and "Flow" (Flow – the state of being swept into an endeavor to the point of enjoying it so much that there is no notice of the ela...

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10 Point Guide To Mananging Conflict

Posted July 18, 2013

NOTE FROM JIM

Most of us don’t respond well to conflict.  On the subject of managing conflict well, leadership guru John Maxwell provides us with his typical extraordinary wisdom. To tickle your curiosities take a peak at the excerpts below.  Better yet, master the material by accessing the full article.

EXCERPTS

Leadership Wired Blog

The Ten Commandments of Handling Conflict

By John C. Maxwell.

Conflict is an inevitable part of life. .. approach conflict in...

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"The Only Real Misfortune,The Only Real Tragedy, Comes When We Suffer Without Learning The Lesson."

Posted August 11, 2013

NOTE FROM JIM

John Maxwell, a prolific writer and trainer on leadership, will be releasing a new book, “"Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn".

In a recent blog post from John introducing his new book, he discusses the power of learning from our losses.   Quoting Emmett Fox, a spiritual leader of years past, John emphasizes the point that, “The only real misfortune, the only real tragedy, comes when we suffer without learning the lesson.”

In this post, John furnishes a roadmap for learning from los...

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Commit to What You Are Prepared To Leave Behind

Posted August 11, 2013

NOTE FROM JIM:

In his thought provoking piece in the HBR, “To Move Ahead You Have to Know What to Leave Behind”,  Nick Talser proposes that to decide, to make a choice,  means to also know and commit to what it is that one must leave behind.

Access the post here:  http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/08/to_move_ahead_you_have_to_know_what_to_leave_behind.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HBR.org%29&cm_ite=DailyAlert-080813+%281%29&cm_lm=sp%3Ajjacobs%40j...

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How Cultivated Positivity Leads to Better Work And More Success

Posted August 20, 2013

Note from Jim

Humerous and powerful, do watch the 12 minute TED video below.  Shawn Achor spent 12 years of research at Harvard exploring the subject of human happiness.  He shares with us that each of us can raise our positivity.  What Shawn and colleagues have discovered is that positivity increases productivity, happiness, and success.

Shawn makes the following points:

Raising positivity in the present affords each of us the “Happiness Advantage”. The Happiness Advantage is such that positivity rai...

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How Regular Exercise Helps You Balance Work and Family

Posted January 6, 2014

NOTE FROM JIM

Writing for the Harvard Business Review, Assistant Professor Russell Clayton suggests that regular physical exercise, particularly for those with busy schedules, facilitates increased self-efficacy and counterintuitively, a mitigation of conflict between work and home roles.

To tickle your curiosity, see excerpts of Professor Clayton’s article below.  Better still, access his article: http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/01/how-regular-exercise-helps-you-balance-work-and-family/

EXCERPTS

…adherence ...

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13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do

Posted January 8, 2014

NOTE FROM JIM:

Amy Morin, a college professor, published author, and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker shares a list of thirteen things mentally strong people DON’T allow themselves to do.  Have you mastered the art and discipline of being strong mentally?

To tickle your curiosities glean the excerpted listing below.  Better still, access Amy’s recent blog post to obtain a full appreciation of this important topic and other great lessons too. This article is  a “must read”. http://www.amymorinlcsw...

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What Is Your Mission and Who Or What Inspired It?

Posted January 9, 2014

NOTE FROM JIM

In a recent post, Yoshito Hori, President of venture capital and private equity firm GLOBIS, prompts an intriguing question as headlined above. 

To tickle your curiosities, see the excerpt below.  Better still access Yishito’s Linked-In post:

https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140109012608-225119-does-family-background-determine-our-career-choices

EXCERPTS

Your mission is:

1. Something you can do better than other people.

2. S...

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10 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Incredibly Happy

Posted January 14, 2014

NOTE FROM JIM:

Yes, it’s true… Research offers at least 10 ways towards improving one’s level of happiness. We are individually responsible for our own happiness.

To motivate your curiosity, see the excerpts below.  Better still, access this important article.  The details are crucially important: 

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/10-scientifically-proven-ways-to-be-incredibly-happy-wed.html?fb_action_ids=10152182419671942#/jeff-haden/10-scientifically-proven-ways-to-be...

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Motivation

Posted January 17, 2014

NOTE FROM JIM:

 

Need a little boost to get you going today?  In just 6 minutes and 12 seconds, Kalib Singh will fuel your passion:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUsHePihYO4&feature=youtu.be

 

EXCERPTS

 

-          Only you can create the perfect time, the perfect opportunity, the perfect situation.

-          Avoid spiritual suicide by not fulfilling your goals … by get...

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50 Most Common Interview Questions

Posted January 22, 2014

50 Most Common Interview Questions

NOTE FROM JIM

Are you well prepared to either conduct or be the recipient of an interview?  Glassdoor.com recently published what it concluded were the 50 most common job interview questions.  Which of these would you ask if you were an interviewer?  Which of these are you prepared to answer if you were the interviewee?

Access the list here: http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/common-interview-questions/

 

 

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Shaking Off a Shy Reputation To Get Ahead

Posted January 30, 2014

NOTE FROM JIM

In a recent WSJ article, writer Sue Shellenbarger shares lessons for introverts eager to be recognized for their strengths, abilities, and contributions.

To incent your curiosity, see the excerpts below.  Better still, read the full article to gain maximum benefit:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304049704579320683598535824?mod=dist_smartbrief

EXCERPTS AND TIPS

Wall Street Journal - Sue Shellenbarger

- Ask 20 colleagues and frie...

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Why Good Managers Are So Rare - HBR Blog Network

Posted March 18, 2014

NOTE FROM JIM:

What are the top traits of great managers, managers who drive organizational performance?  Gallop identified the five top characteristics and determined that only ten percent of people have them. 

To tickle your curiosity, see an HBR article that discusses the Gallop data and HBR’s recommendations for using  this knowledge to develop and hold competitive  advantage. 

****

Why Good Managers Are So Rare - HBR Blog Network

by Randall Beck and James Harter 

...

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Posted April 1, 2014

NOTE FROM JIM

New York Times Op Ed writer David Brooks recently wrote about the “Employer’s Creed”.  The piece resonated deeply with me.  See if you agree.  To tickle your curiosities see the excerpts below.  To capture the wisdom and power of David’s thoughts, access the full article.


EXCERPTS
If you follow these principles in your hiring practices, you’ll be sending a signal about what sort of person gets ahead. You may correct some of the perversities at the upper reaches ...

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Clumsy Feedback Is a Poorly Wrapped Gift - HBR

Posted April 17, 2014

NOTE FROM JIM

In a recent blog post on HBR, organizational psychologist Roger Schwartz  provides exceptional advice on embracing negative  feedback in ways that ultimately  enhance   one’s own performance.

He writes, “When you accept a person’s gift [of feedback] – no matter how poorly wrapped – by responding with curiosity and compassion, you are giving a gift in return. You are creating the trust needed to talk about things that really matter and that will lead to better results....

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How to Make Friends and Connections at Your Next Conference

Posted April 22, 2014


How to Make Friends and Connections at Your Next Conference

NOTE FROM JIM

Ever feel awkward when attending a conference with no one else you know?  Take comfort knowing that you are not alone.  Follow the tops below.

To tickle your curiosities, see the excerpts below. To gain optimum value from this wisdom, access the full article.

EXCERPTS:

The Muse.com
By Anna Medaris Miller

But you’d probably rather stand out in a good way at the next conference you attend—and that can...

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13 Habits of Exceptionally Likeable People

Posted January 29, 2015

Note From Jim

SMILE!!!! Likeability is an essential skill for attaining high levels of emotional intelligence, a goal for us all in every sphere of our lives.

Did you know that the traits of likability are trainable?

Travis Bradberry, a Ph.D in clinical and industrial organizational psychology, shares 13 of these learnable traits in a recent Forbes Article. Excerpts of these enumerated traits include the following:

Ask Questions

Put Away Your Phone

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You’re Not Alone - Leaders Have Similar Feelings of Insecurity and Fear

Posted March 19, 2015

Note From Jim:

Feeling a little insecure at some point?  You’re not alone. Research by Roger Jones, a consultant who assists organizations in enhancing performance, suggests that leaders possess common human performance-related fears. Roger's survey work and subsequent one-on-one interviews identified five common fears in ranked order:


1 - Being found to be incompetent
2 - Underachieving
3 - Appearing too vulnerable
4 - Being politically attacked by colleagues
5 - Appearing foolish

Roger's a...

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The Happiness Zone Newsletter – 7 Questions Of Enlightenment - Have you questioned your unhappiness?

Posted April 1, 2015

Note From Jim:

You may recall from previous posts that I’m a Lionel Ketchian fan. I recommend that you subscribe to Lionel’s free monthly newsletter (Link below). I predict that by doing so, you'll enhance your experience of happiness.

In praise of Lionel’s powerful ongoing advice, I encourage a read of his most recent post which inspires us all to thrive. I trust that Lionel will welcome my nudge to have you follow his insights and those of his colleagues.

*****

By Lionel Ketchian

I have been ...

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Board Directors Should Demand Separate Indemnification Agreements

Posted May 28, 2015

Note From Jim:

Today Board Directors for even the best of organizations would be wise to recognize the significant reputational risk, financial liability, and the psychological stress that could confront them at some time in the future. As an antidote, separate director indemnification agreements can provide the peace-of-mind that comes with maximum protection legally possible.

In a compelling article published in the National Law Review this month, authors Heidi A. Lawson and David Barres of the law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Gl...

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