Most of us are lucky enough to be born with the ability to hear, but learning to listen is a skill that we develop with varying degrees of success. I know that at different times during my career, particularly when things have been stressful or overwhelming, I’ve had to remind myself to shut up and listen. I think it’s easy to pay lip service to the idea that communication is a two-way street. But it’s not unusual to default to talking and forget about the listening component of communication. Time, and time again, I’ve found that listening to my peers and employees is my fastest, best point of connection. When I’m attentive to what they are saying and how they’re saying it, I know it shows that I value them individually and that I value their contribution to the workplace. Ii fact, when I am showed the same courtesy, I know it makes me feel valued. It makes sense that listening helps to build trust, culture, and optimal performance. However, it may simultaneously be the single easiest change to talk about in leadership style, yet the single hardest change to genuinely implement. For some people listening is a challenge because it doesn’t come naturally. It’s a skill that needs to be developed. For others listening is only an occasional challenge. As I mentioned above, I sometimes revert to talking more and listening less. I know I do this because it helps me gather information more quickly. But when I make the choice to stop listening, it erodes relationships and limits opportunities. The less you listen, the less chance you have of hearing an innovative idea from a colleague or a concern from a customer that can be satisfied immediately instead of being left to fester. Others have a hard time listening because the day-to-day details of being a manager get in the way. There’s always another report to read or meeting to attend. And, frankly, listening doesn’t always look like work. If that’s the case in your organization, then it may be time for a culture shift. I’ve visited workplaces where leaders have listening on their radar but really only hear their team but do not listen. Remember, your actions will clearly convey to your team if you’re truly listening. Let your actions and words illustrate that you heard them. If you decide to go in another direction, explain why and people will feel comfortable to continue coming to you with ideas, because they know you listened and took the time to provide them insight to your actions.. Mike set an excellent example of the importance of listening as captain of Benfold. He didn’t just listen; he listened aggressively to his crewmembers. Mike found a way to formalize his listening through individual crew interviews. He spoke with every crewmember, a few at a time, to learn more about their hopes, dreams, skills, complaints, and innovative ideas. The crew interviews were highly effective and became the building blocks for many of Mike’s later leadership decisions. However, when the interviews were done, Mike didn’t stop listening. He made himself a visible presence on board Benfold and visited daily with crewmembers. He made himself accessible to the crew so their good ideas and complaints and concerns could make their way to him. And he showed he was listening by addressing these good ideas, complaints, and concerns. More importantly, he created a culture in which crewmembers could trust him and the other members of his leadership team to listen without fear of repercussion. Listening may not always directly benefit the bottom line of a company, but Mike proved over and over again that listening makes for a happier, more productive workforce.

I think a lot about leadership. I suppose it’s one of the hazards of consulting for a leadership firm. I walk the world with my eyes wide open to different leadership styles. Our client engagements expose me to leaders of every stripe and reinforce my basic belief that the best leaders are those that are most self-aware. I am impressed by leaders that make a deliberate choice about how they want to interact with the world based on what they know about their strengths and weaknesses as leaders. I always think leaders that aren’t self-aware are clumsy in their approach to leadership. They treat some employees indifferently. They don’t know what they are trying to achieve. And they certainly don’t know how to harness the resources at their command. I have had the opportunity to meet and work with many great leaders at different points along their leadership journeys. During these meetings, the discussion inevitably turns to the question of what is the first step in becoming a truly effective leader. In response, I usually ask leaders to reflect on a different question: Are you the type of leader that people will follow - even if they have other options? This leads to the question of whether they are willing to make a personal commitment to excellence. Being self-aware is so critical to leadership, but it is only a first step. There are a few key components to being self-aware. Although some leaders may be self-aware, they may not have the "desire" to change because they do not see a reason to change or like the way they lead, regardless, as they say, of the unintended but unavoidable consequences of their actions. Some leaders have the desire, but lack the "discipline" to remain self-aware, and they let their preferences, tendencies, biases and/or blind spots lead them astray. Only leaders who have the desire and discipline to act on their self-awareness can have the greatest impact on their teams and organizations. In his books and speeches, Mike Abrashoff talks about leaving a leadership legacy. What I like best about his idea of a leadership legacy is that it’s not about reaching some pinnacle of success. Of course great leaders often reach successful heights, but Mike’s idea of a leadership legacy is about leaving a workplace and its employees better off than when a leader first arrives. Ultimately, I believe that even though different leaders seek different outcomes, successful leadership journeys are built upon on the level of self-awareness a leader can attain.

So often leaders look in all the wrong places for suggestions that could help them become better leaders. The latest books, workshops and white papers are always enticing to a leader looking for cutting edge techniques to improve. Yet the answers a leader may be looking for may be right in front of them - literally. The people around you probably know you best and see you in many types of situations. They are aware of your strengths and your challenges. Yet how often do you consult with your peers, direct reports or other people within your our own organization? And I’m talking about much more than just getting "feedback" at designated times. Do you, as a leader, create an environment where you make it comfortable for people to present you with bad news, in addition to good news? Do you make it comfortable for them to challenge your positions or your ideas? Do you state your position on a topic in a way that "chills" everyone else from presenting a contrary position? Do you make it comfortable for them to disagree with you? If not, do you really think you are getting the whole or correct picture? Do you believe you have the respect or loyalty of your people? If you are unsure about these questions, it’s not too late. Leadership begins with self-awareness. Start simply in your normal business day and interactions - by being a better listener and by asking better questions. Allow people to take contrary positions as long as they support their positions clearly. Whether you agree with them or not, always let your people know "why." By creating an environment for people to respectfully challenge you and the organization’s decisions, your organization will become "breakthrough" focused and you, as a leader, will continue to grow.

GLS Worldwide’s assessment profile is the future of screening and development tools, and unique from other assessments in many ways. Our Thinking Style assessment asks the respondents not to tell how they think. Instead it asks them to actually think. To make minute decisions by rank-ordering several items, which tracks the actual pattern of their thinking. This unique format is different from other assessments. Our Thinking Style assessment is not a psychological, intelligence or aptitude test. It is not a self-report instrument. The assessment does not ask respondents to describe themselves. It is impossible to bias one’s answers in the Thinking Style assessment the way it is with other instruments. The Thinking Style assessment measures how people actually think by having the respondent perform a thinking task, and then, using complex mathematics, produces a detailed picture of the person’s preferred thinking process. It provides objective information regarding such variables as one’s strategic thinking ability, attention to concrete detail, intuitive insight, persistence, consistency, systems orientation, sensitivity to others, confidence, optimism, self-regard, emotional control and drive level. In addition to its validity and reliability, the instrument has been tested according to EEOC criteria and found to be nondiscriminatory toward race, sex, or gender. The advantages of the Thinking Style assessment include the following: • Administration takes about 15-20 minutes, • It is objective and cannot be biased • It is simple in that it consists of the rank ordering of 18 items and 18 statements • It is non-obtrusive in that respondents are not asked to describe themselves or their experience • It is available in multiple languages including pictograph • It is supported by research, and its users report very high face validity • It has been very successfully used for talent screening, professional development, teambuilding and succession planning

If you look at what is called "career well-being," recent Gallup data shows that only 20% of people in the world can say that they are happy with what they do every day. In fact, one of the most astonishing statistics, at least in the Western world and in the United States, is that more people die on Monday morning at 9:00, because they hate their jobs. Other data shows that if your immediate supervisor or someone who you work with ignores you, then your rate of disengagement is about 40%. On the other hand, if somebody you work with doesn’t ignore you but criticizes you, then your rate of disengagement falls to about 20%, because as human beings we would rather be criticized than ignored. When we are ignored, it is almost a tacit understanding between people that we don’t exist. So, being criticized is actually a healthier state of mind than being ignored. But if the person you work with notices your strength and acknowledges what you are good at, then your rate of disengagement falls to less than 1%. In America, 15% of the workforce is actively disengaged, which means people are not only unhappy with what they do, but they make it a point of making other people unhappy as well. And this 15% of actively disengaged people actually cost the United States about $380 billion in its economy. So there is direct link between our engagement, our passion and the economy. Whether it is passive disengagement, which means just counting time, or active disengagement, it has huge implications. On Benfold, I quickly decided that I wouldn’t worry about what I couldn’t control. But one of the things I could control was the influence I could have on the attitude and mindset of my crew. I took a genuine interest in identifying their many talents and helping them understand the meaningful difference their actions had on our overall success. The results speak for themselves. I truly believe and am honored to have been with a crew that was engaged and part of a winning culture. However, it’s a fine line between being engaged and disengaged. Do what you can to allocate as much of your time to coaching, developing and getting to know your team. It is one of the best investments you’ll make.

Risk is a part of living…it is also the precursor to reward. Like turtles and giraffes, we can’t get anywhere without sticking our necks out. But as I learned during my Navy career, the inevitability of risk doesn’t sanction recklessness. Learning to take the right risks in the right way is paramount to survival and success. I have had the good fortune of working with over a 1,000 companies over the last 10 years. Each engagement provides me with a living laboratory to observe and learn why some companies succeed and why some fail. In good times or bad, the primary driver of a company’s success depends upon having the right people willing to take the right risks. The worse the economy, the better the people must be, especially at the top. In tough economic times, organizations and individuals tend to become more risk-averse. There are many things to be concerned about; for organizations, it is primarily the uncertainty caused by global economic markets, and for individuals, it is their ability to remain gainfully employed. Both of these concerns feed a mindset of caution and status quo. Yet, it is exactly this mindset that may perpetuate the downward spiral. Tough times require nerves of steel and a vision to see beyond the current valley. It is the time when winners start climbing the next mountain of success. Good leaders always calculate the odds and minimize the risk by having backups in place. Above all, they never take a risk that doesn’t offer a worthwhile reward. How do you calculate your odds of succeeding in down times? By gaining a thorough understanding of the risk you’re running and an equally thorough understanding of what you’ll do if something goes wrong. Arguably, the biggest risk of all may be decisions by your leaders that create a climate in which your people are afraid to take any risks. That happened in the military in the early 1990s, when a budget-balancing plan started by the first President Bush and carried out by President Clinton reduced the armed forces from 2.1 million men and women to just 1.2 million on active duty. Shrinking the services was painful. There were selection boards to figure out who had to be retired early and how not to let people re-enlist. In practice, it meant that any officer who had even one small blemish on his record was chosen for early retirement. That led to a risk-averse atmosphere. People didn’t want to rock the boat and risk ending their careers. Rather than take any initiatives, they would lie low in the weeds and let other people get black marks. It was a terrible signal to send. We stopped trying new things, and as a result, we lost our cutting edge in preparing for future threats. We paid for that, I’m convinced, on 9/11, and then we had to play catch-up. I see this happening again in many organizations. I know with such uncertainty out there, it’s easier to focus on cutting costs. But the truly great organizations and leaders not only find opportunities, they do so in tough times. Be that kind of leader.

I had just finished my first year of law school and was interning with a law firm in Chicago. I had such high hopes for that summer. I thought I’d create new laws, work with clients and have face time with attorneys. Instead, I was relegated to 60 hours a week in the law library researching mundane areas of way too many laws that we have on the books. I started wondering if I really wanted to be a lawyer after all. I was fortunate that the attorney I was reporting to turned out to be a great mentor. I was about 2 weeks into my internship when I was transferred to work on Bob Scott’s team. Little did I know at the time what a fortunate turn of events that was for me. I remember walking into his office the first time thinking I was going to be exiled to the law library again. Instead Bob spent over 2 hours with me, talking about what I hoped to accomplish that summer, my aspirations and what he could do to help me get clarity regarding my career goals. Not only was Bob a great mentor, he was an amazing role model and leader. And early on I wanted to be like Bob. I would see him often sharing his valuable time to support other interns, colleagues and clients. He always seemed to be available and he was the best listener. Over time, I came to call his leadership style "authentic and approachable." You could tell he genuinely cared about you, and you knew that his door was always open. Over the years, I find myself often reflecting back on the impact this mentor had on my personal and business life. He helped me get clarity in how to integrate my legal education with my passion - starting and turning around business. He provided an early example of what a true leader is - it’s not about titles, it’s about developing trust and unity with your colleagues and team members, and then together, partnering to accomplish something great. And he showed me that people are "genuine-ness detectors." You can never fake it - you really have to care about them or they’ll know. I’ve been fortunate to come across many individuals whose experience and character have helped me grow on my leadership journey. Mentors have helped me accelerate my growth and been lifelong confidants. Early on in my leadership journey, the question of whether I was the type of person that others would want to follow was top of mind. Key people, at key times, were able to point out the roadblocks and provide a roadmap for me to follow and become the type of leader others would want to follow. Think of a mentor that helped you on your leadership journey. Think of the insights and input that helped to make you a better person and leader. Now "pay it forward", be that mentor for someone else. Experience is a great teacher - so too, a Mentor.

Most leadership rules are flexible and contingent. Like our rights under the Constitution, they can all be trumped by other rules, depending upon the circumstances. But there’s one principle that I have found as constant as the Pole Star, good in all weather and never to be broken. In a Machiavellian world it sounds naïve and almost childish, but genuine leaders know it and live by it: Do the right thing. There are times when there is no right thing to do and you have to choose the least bad alternative. But in most cases, it’s clear which course will be the moral, ethical, honorable choice. That’s what you should do, and you do it. Poor leadership is, unfortunately, not in short supply in organizations. There’s ample proof of that in today’s headlines about money squandered, opportunity lost, contracts bungled, risks mismanaged, and employees losing their jobs. But there are still plenty of leaders who are striving every day to do the right thing and to inspire their own people to emulate their winning ways. My hope is that you will be one of these leaders and turn your organization into a leadership engine.

Never underestimate the impact you can have on an individual’s leadership journey. Being Greek and growing up in Chicago in the 70’s, there’s a good chance your family was in the restaurant business - and ours was. From the age of 12 it was the breeding ground of many of my initial leadership lessons. For those of you in the business, you know that the holidays are the busiest days - and for us, the mother of all holidays, was Mother’s Day. I was 16 when the day that I’d like to forget occurred. The restaurant was packed and the next people to be seated were one of our best customers. At the time, this gentleman was a US Congressman, and he was with his whole family, and I must admit, I had ulterior motives. The Congressman was blessed with two beautiful daughters, whom I wanted to impress. Providing them a great experience was at the top of my mind. In order to seat the entire family we had to pull 2 tables together. As they were sitting down, there were some extra chairs leftover from combining the tables so I decided I would help to remove them. As I pick the first chair up to lift it over and away from the table, it gets caught in the chandelier fixture above the table. Before I could react, the glass fixture comes crashing down on the table, and with it, any hopes of me ever dating one of the daughters. In addition to the initial embarrassment, I was convinced my dad was going to fire me on the spot. However, contrary to my initial thoughts, my dad went about his day as if nothing had happened. On the way home that night in the car, I was sensing my impending dismissal. But my dad surprised me with his comments. He glanced over and said we all make mistakes and they’re never as big as we think at the time. He also suggested that I use this opportunity to learn from these moments, and if I do, they usually won’t happen again. In that moment I had one of my first true leadership lessons. Prior to my dad speaking to me, I was feeling down and not very valuable. With just a few words, not only had my dad raised my confidence, but had made me even more loyal to him. Going forward, I wanted to justify his trust in me with everything I did. Think about the people you lead and manage. Do you help to build them up in tough situations and use those moments as teaching opportunities, or do you compound the situation by coming down on them even harder? Most people are tough enough on themselves already, help them with their confidence and esteem and it will come back to you many times over. Most people want to become better at whatever they’re doing; all they need is a little guidance. Be that mentor and coach and truly impact their performance at work, and in their lives.

Never delegate hiring to those managers who may see job candidates less in terms of your needs than of their own egos. The danger is what Netscape cofounder Marc Andreessen calls "the law of crappy people. ‘A’ people hire ‘A’ people, but ‘B’ people hire ‘C’ people. The minute you let a weak manager in the door, they will hire individuals working for them who are even weaker…before you know it, your company degenerates." According to Lawrence A. Bossidy, former CEO of AlliedSignal, the best way to check on candidates’ performances is to ask their customers first and their supervisors only later. Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, says that his employees have already been so conditioned to identify with customers that his company relies on employee judgments. "During our hiring meetings," he once wrote in the company’s annual report, "we ask people to consider three questions before making a decision: 1.  Do you admire this person? For myself, I’ve always tried hard to work only with people I admire, and I encourage folks here to be just as demanding. Life is definitely too short to do otherwise. 2.  Will this person raise the average level of effectiveness of the group their entering? We want to fight entropy. The bar has to continuously go up. I ask people to visualize the company five years from now. At that point, each of us should look around and say, "The standards are so high now - boy, I’m glad I got in when I did!" 3.  Along what dimension might this person be a superstar?  Many people have unique skills, interests, and perspectives that enrich the work environment for all of us. It’s often something that’s not even related to their jobs. One person here is a National Spelling Bee champion. I suspect it doesn’t help her in her everyday work, but it does make working here more fun if you can occasionally snag her in the hall with a quick challenge: onomatopoeia!!

People often associate interviews with the hiring process - big mistake. Interviews have so many other applications and can be a valuable instrument in your leadership toolkit. It’s easy as a leader to give directions, focus on what you’d like to get done and lead from the front. But listening is often a lost art these days. There are two applications of interviews that I have found extremely valuable and foster better listening skills. The first is when doing any sort of turnaround. It may be organization-wide or just a team that needs to elevate their game. I used to do many turnarounds and I learned early on that the more questions I asked, and the more I listened in the early stages of a turnaround, the quicker I was able get things moving in the right direction. It initially appears somewhat contrarian to listen first, since time is of the essence and getting results is critical, but learning from the people on the ground first can provide incredible insights. I often found that they already had the solutions to some of the key problems being experienced - just nobody listened in the past. As a result, I came to spend the first 30 days just interviewing people. Really learning from employees - and there was a twofold benefit. They’d usually help me solve problems faster than I could have on my own and the interviews set the tone about the type of culture I was trying to set up - open, transparent and mutual respect. Everyone needs to know that we’re all on the same team. The second application of interviews is what we like to call "stay interviews." So often we’re only focused on interviewing people when they leave our organization. We’re interested in finding out why and learning how to avoid any mistakes we might be making going forward. Although exit interviews are important, an even better practice is to interview your team while they’re still with you. What you’ll learn can be amazing - not only about your organization, but more importantly, about you. It’s a matter of time before the economy turns around and holding on to your top talent will be a bit more difficult. Do you know your team - really know them? What they like about their job, what they’d like to change? Their aspirations? Their challenges? How you can help them grow? The sooner you can move them to wanting to stay, the sooner you can tap into their potential and create a two-way road of benefits. As a leader, make interviews a key part of your week. There’s little to lose, and much to gain.

Like ships, leaders leave a wake behind them as they pass through an organization. All eyes are on them; everything they do, no matter how insignificant, is taken as a signal, and their people follow their example, for good or ill. Whatever they intend, and no matter what they write in memos or say in speeches, the true quality of their leadership is measured by the example they set. A leader’s main function is to set the right example; what you do is far more important and instructive than what you say. Your true colors shine through in your actions. And if your signals don’t match your words, you will not win the trust of your crew. You will certainly be leading your people by example, but you’ll be leading them in the wrong direction So if you want your crew to pick up trash, bend over and pick up trash yourself whenever you see it on the ground. If you want people to speak the truth, talk to them truthfully. If a CEO tells his people that it’s time to cut costs, he’ll lose their trust and encourage their own duplicity if he then redecorates his office. After all he’s sending a very clear signal, and you can bet it won’t be lost on the people who follow his every word and deed. So a leader must be on his toes to make sure he is sending the right signals to his crew. Even an inadvertent slipup can confuse employees and possibly disenchant them about the quality of your leadership. But if you strive to maintain an honest relationship and good rapport with your staff, mistakes can be rectified and confidence regained. At the end of the day, it is the strength of your example that will allow you to lead with success and create new leaders in your own image.

This is the time to ask a very hard question. If the economy picks up and your employees truly have a choice to stay or go, will they stay? Turnover within many organizations has been low the past few years. It would be a mistake to think the reason for this is that you are doing everything great. In a down economy employees are a bit more hesitant to move and more lucrative jobs are more difficult to find. Numerous surveys have concluded that the top reason employees’ leave their job is because of their manager. If employees don’t get along with their managers, don’t like them or don’t respect them, they will leave a company despite a high salary or great benefits. A bad manager is a big factor in employee performance. A good manager, no matter the salary, will inspire loyalty. The corollary to this, which further substantiates the point made above, is that the top 4 reasons employees stay with an organization are (1) exciting and challenging work; (2) career growth, learning and development; (3) working with great people and (4) fair pay. The obvious surprise is always where pay is ranked…not #1, but #4. The lesson is clear and should be heeded. As a manager and leader there are many factors you control, other than salary, that will significantly affect whether your team will stay or go. Are you creating meaningful work for your team? Are you recruiting the type of people that strengthen your team and develop the right chemistry? Does your team feel that you truly care about them and that you are helping to develop their talents? Are you sure you really know each of your employees well? Do you know what drives and motivates them? What causes them to get up and get to work each day? If you can’t answer most of these questions in the affirmative, then ask yourself what type of culture are you creating. The consequences…you may never inspire your team to show true ownership and when the opportunity arises, they just might be giving you notice of their departure. It’s not too late…take advantage of the non-pay items you can control, and engage your team to greatness. The loyalty and results you’ll create will elevate engagement and foster a productive culture.

Let’s face it, in our new, unsettled world, getting the most out of your people needs to be a priority for every single one of your leaders and managers. These types of leaders are not born, they are cultivated over time. During any economic condition, employees turn first to their immediate supervisors for advice, support, direction and help with problem solving. Give your leaders and managers the tools, strategies and approaches they need to drive the engagement, retention and ultimately, the productivity of their people. With our future uncertain, teach your managers how to build a safe environment that encourages open dialogue, promotes the growth of the team and its individuals, nurtures strong productive relationships, and cultivates a climate where their people can flourish. There’s one caveat though. Your managers and leaders are scared too. They need reassurance that you have their best interest in mind and that together, you can weather this storm. Remind them frequently that they are vital to you and future of your company. Praise their hard work and coach them in areas where they have the opportunity to improve. Only when they feel safe can they create the same environment for others. To get started, ask yourself: If your managers could gain just one skill that would help them manage in these uncertain times, what would it be?

A careless leader can wreak havoc on an organization, destroying unity and disgusting employees to the point where they start hiding from the turmoil, biding their time till they can escape to another job. Soon people bicker, sabotage begins, and the workplace is totally dysfunctional. Making collaboration a reality is the vital antidote needed. The day after I took command, I called the department heads to a meeting. I gave them a very simple message: Collaboration was to be a top priority, and when it came to rank them, one of my criteria would be how well they supported the other departments. Anyone who refused to cooperate would be ranked at the bottom. But I also made them a promise: "Look, you guys know that I have to rank you and not all of you are going to be considered for command." If they weren’t ranked at the top but had done a good job, I guaranteed that I would do whatever I could when they left the ship to help them get whatever jobs they wanted in whatever place. "And if you’re planning on leaving the Navy," I said, "I’ll get you a job that helps you prepare for that transition." After that, the department heads saw that it was in their interest to cooperate. And in hindsight, if I could point to one thing that made Benfold excel, it was the departments working together as a team. I would see the heads of the five departments in the officers’ mess, working out issues among themselves because they didn’t want to have to come to me to resolve a problem. Once the team concept became embedded and people stopped thinking only of perfecting and protecting their little niches, it became easier to see what else needed doing. Better yet, people came to realize that when the whole ship - or the whole Navy - is performing well, it works to everyone’s advantage.

Even with unemployment as high as it is, I still hear that finding top talent is one of the top concerns that keep CEOs up at night. It’s crucial to remember—even in this tough economic climate, talented people always have choices. The talent is out there (maybe right there on your team!), but you must be clear about what you’re looking for, and have a detailed plan to find the right person. As an HR professional specializing in recruiting, I have worked with leaders whose departments had high turnover. I’ve also partnered with leaders with low turnover. One key element that is universal across low-turnover leaders is that they not only knew how to take care of their people, they also clearly understood that it took planning and the right tools to find the right person to complement their team.  These leaders knew that people that thrived in one company might not always succeed in theirs. Fit isn’t just about what’s on a person’s resume. Yes, it’s about finding a person with the skills required to do the job, but they must also fit in with their team and organization’s culture. Finding the right person-for the right role—at the right time—requires having the right tools and processes in place if want to create a winning team. So, what is the formula for success? Step One - The Talent You May Need May Be Right INSIDE Your Door You most likely have some amazing people within your organization that just need a chance to shine. Take a minute and ask yourself; What is the makeup of my current team? What’s the unique talent that each person brings? Is there someone internally that fits our needs? What are their strengths? Where are their gaps? What kind of person will be a valuable addition, as well as provide the right balance to the team? Step Two - Look Beyond The Job Description The next step is to take the time to look beyond a job description by having a conversation with your team and HR to get their input. Have a discussion about the skills, qualities and compatibility the candidates must have to be a fit for the role, the culture and your team. Step Three - Use What’s In Your Arsenal Lastly, look at the your hiring tools (interview process, interview guides, assessments etc.). Do you have the right tools to find the right person?  Are you using these tools or are you making a "gut" decision? Do you work as a team to find the right person and are you willing to keep a role on your team vacant to make sure you find the right fit? Your talent is your lifeblood, be sure to allocate the time and energy required to keep your pipeline strong. Recruiters are tasked with finding the top talent in the marketplace, but it is up to you the leader to make the final decision about who will be joining your team. The wrong choice has many unfortunate consequences. Not only do you risk "turning over" the new hire, you also risk disrupting the current talent on your team that you do not want to lose.

In this new, unsettled world, getting the most out of your people by unleashing their existing and potential talent needs to be a priority for every leader. A talent-focused leader knows that one of the most important factors in their success is their ability to challenge, develop and engage their people. Would your team say you’re a "talent-focused leader?" As we head into a new year and you start thinking about key focus areas for 2013, never underestimate the integral role your people can play in helping you deliver results. 2013 can be the year to truly unleash the power of your people. It starts by creating an environment that encourages open dialogue, promotes the growth of your team and its individuals, and nurtures strong productive relationships. Talent-focused leaders need to be crystal clear about the forces impacting their efforts to drive results, the capabilities their people need to navigate the rough waters ahead and how to capitalize on the existing and potential talent on their team. They must: Know their business climate Know their business priorities Know how to leverage their talent Talent-focused leaders understand the varied and complex challenges associated with today’s diverse workforce such as managing a younger population of workers with unique attitudes and values about work, rewards and recognition, and a growing population of older workers heading toward retirement with different sets of attitudes and values. Money and benefits may attract people to the front door, but something else has to keep them from going out the back. People do stay for more than pay and you, if you’re a talent-focused leader, have more influence than you can imagine. Everyone on your team has a unique set of skills, interests and capabilities that when unleashed produce amazing results. Talent-focused leaders know that it is essential to uncover these talents, and then link them to the overall goals of their team and organization. You know you’ve arrived when you create "Signature Moments" in your organization. This is a time when the relationship with your team has evolved to the point where they trust you enough to produce results in areas and ways never contemplated in the past. What was once on your list, is now accomplished by your team. Breakthroughs that may have taken a long time to accomplish now happen under your team’s direction. When this transformation is experienced, everyone on the team knows it and feels proud to be a part of it. It’s an exciting, yet evolutionary time. Your hard work to become a talent-focused leader has paid off. Your people have taken ownership and are working at a much higher level.

I’m sure many of us have been fortunate to have worked with some amazing people. People that you not only trust, but would go out on a limb for. Not only did they engage you to work at you best, but they did the same for other members of your team. Unfortunately there is the other side of the coin. Leaders that have an innate ability to break down trust and negatively impact teams and organizations. It’s why most people leave their bosses and not their organization. In a study of 30,000 managers, employees cited a number of flaws. Two of the flaws at the top of the list included failing to walk the talk and an inability to collaborate and be a team player. It’s why we say a talent-focused leader knows that their people are their secret weapon in today’s competitive workplace. They know that in order to drive the results they need they must tap into the only flexible resource at their disposal - the power and talent of their people. They drive ownership and accountability and hold themselves to this same standard. Check out this link for additional interesting facts about the impact of bad bosses: http://www.inc.com/maeghan-ouimet/real-cost-bad-bosses.html

It’s a New Year, and guess what, we bet you’re just as busy and over-worked as you were in 2012. Don’t let the hopes and ambitions of a New Year get pushed aside by the realities of timelines, team management and budgets. We see it everyday. What’s supposed to be a new start is a continuation of old practices. The innovation you may have dreamed about as you closed the books on 2012 has become a distant memory, and it’s only January. We’re here to rescue you from this never-ending cycle and ensure that innovation remains at the forefront of your 2013 initiatives. Step one: Realize that your team is the key to innovation, and make sure they understand the role they play in moving your organization forward. Step two: Watch this clip from one of Mike Abrashoff’s keynotes, where he details the importance of communicating with your team. Step three: Contact us. We’ll make sure you stay on track in 2013.

Love and respect are like self-esteem: hollow if they’re not earned. On Benfold, I tried in large part to unify the crew by insisting on high performance and continual learning. The Navy has a special program, the Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist Program (ESWS), designed to train sailors to go beyond their specialties and learn how the entire ship works. This training makes it easier to learn to backstop others, and it strengthens the ship’s performance, especially in a crisis. But the program is so difficult that only the most experienced sailors usually sign up for it. And since hardly anyone had passes ESWS in my predecessor’s time, the crew was convinced that it wasn’t feasible. So I streamlined the program, cutting out all the parts that didn’t apply to Benfold - perhaps 15% of the total. Then I told the crew that learning ESWS would train them to show visitors around the ship, a duty that was becoming enormously popular. In that light, the program didn’t look so hard, and nearly every sailor aboard signed up. In short order, we qualified nearly 200 of our 310 crew members. One of the qualifiers was Sarah Garner, who was shocked to learn that disgruntled crew members on my predecessor’s watch hid themselves away to avoid duty. Sarah became a great success, eventually getting selected for chief petty officer in eight years instead of the usual fourteen, and she was always one of the first to take on new jobs and learn entire new systems. At the beginning, the ESWS program looked impossible, she once told me, "but it ended up being fun. What it did was, it got you out talking to everyone. You got a chance to interact with other people on the ship whose jobs were so dissimilar from yours that you might not have a lot of interaction with them otherwise." One day, on a missile training exercise with two other ships, Sarah found herself at a watch station on the combat systems coordinator’s office, where she realized that, on the other ships, the corresponding stations were being manned by a lieutenant and a master chief. At that point, she was still a second-class petty officer. Both of us were proud of what she had achieved. Even now in civilian life, Sarah says she still applies the lessons she learned on Benfold - in particular, that an organization is far more effective if its people understand each other’s jobs and why things are done the way they are.

GLS Worldwide’s Mike Abrashoff is a beacon of knowledge, so it’s not surprising that Investor’s Business Daily turned to him for advised on an article about becoming the CEO of your own destiny. Throughout the article, Mike Abrashoff’s advice was quoted. We especially enjoyed this quote as it speaks to the core principle of an individual taking responsibility for their success. "What I tried to get the crew to understand is we need to be in control of our own destiny," Abrashoff stated. " That was my overriding philosophy on the ship, not to become distracted by things we can’t have an impact on anyway, but let’s focus on the things that we can." This great piece of advice is central to what we believe at GLS. Take responsibility and focus on the things you can change. Read the full article or learn more about our leadership development philosophies.

Michael Abrashoff’s book, "It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy," recently celebrated its 10th anniversary release. The management style and leadership book was re-released this year, and UTSanDiego.com interviewed Abrashoff to talk about what’s changed and what’s stayed the same over the course of the past 10 years. The Q&A interview addresses Abrashoff’s thoughts on our country’s recession, how to survive the economic downturn and how the Navy screens and selects its current command staff. Abrashoff recalls personal stories of the past decade to recognize that there is room for improvement, and that one can wade through life’s economic ups and downs through learning and growing. He spoke of his own 62-year-old sister who reinvented herself at work to avoid a layoff. In volunteering in another department she not only learned a new skill, but she won the mentor of the year award for her company last year. As for the Navy, Abrashoff says that its selection process is extraordinary, despite record firings in 2012. He speaks of having tougher screening processes and assessments that he uses to help companies test the motivational, thinking and behavioral styles of candidates to help reduce risk in the hiring process. "I think the Navy needs to add these assessments as just one more piece of data for the selection boards to consider when selecting new commanding officers."

The Wall Street Journal has published its Best Seller List for the week ending Feb. 17, and Mike Abrashoff’s "It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy" has made the list again! Coming in at No. 8 on the hardcover business list, "It’s Your Ship" recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with a re-release of the book including a new chapter. "It’s Your Ship" chronicles the story of Captain D. Michael Abrashoff’s command of USS Benfold. When he took command, the ship was one of the lowest performing ships in the pacific fleet. Under Captain Abrashoff’, the ship’s performance dramatically improved in battle-readiness and earned the Spokane Trophy awarded to the top ship in the Pacific fleet. Abrashoff first focused on elevating his own leadership skills. Then, through innovative practices, connected with his crew to create  inspired problem-solvers, confident to contribute ideas and eager to take initiative and responsibility for their actions. The turnaround and results became legendary. GLS Worldwide was founded on the success story of USS Benfold. The Wall Street Journal’s Best Seller lists are derived from Nielsen BookScan point-of-sale book data from more than 16,000 locations across the United States, representing about 85% of the nation’s book sales. Print book data providers include all major booksellers, web retailers and food stores. We are grateful that Captain Abrashoff’s book continues to inspire leaders globally.

Each period in history provides its own challenges. Over the past few years, economic uncertainty has impacted business leaders in many ways. What we’ve discovered is, regardless of the circumstances, savvy leaders don’t waste time wondering or asking why we got here or how tough it is … they, as the Marines say (sorry Mike), improvise, adapt and overcome. Economist and workforce experts anticipate unemployment rates to lower, but that may not happen for a number of reasons. The challenging economy forced leaders to learn how to do even more with less. With emerging technologies, productivity continues to reach new levels. What was done with a larger workforce is done with less these days. And this may be the new normal. As a result, every member of your team becomes more critical and must perform at a high level. Do you have what it takes to "select" the right candidate to join your team? Do you have what it takes to "develop" your current people to the next level? These are not "nice to have" options anymore. They are "must have" components of your leadership toolkit. The next winnowing of great vs. average leaders is happening now. Do you have the tools to elevate yourself and your team to new heights? Everything moves faster now… what are you doing to stay ahead of the curve? Not only performance, but survival is at stake … for you as a leader and for your organization.