
In one of his classes, Deepak Chopra, the founder of the Chopra Foundation, talks about what he calls “the soul of leadership” and says “that leaders appear when awareness meets need.” He goes on to suggest that there is a hierarchy of needs that contributes to what roles a leader has to address once that person steps into this void. Even though this premise feels reasonable and pragmatically comforting I am not at all convinced in the practicality of this theory in real terms. Are leaders really made not born? In the midst of chaos and stress can someone who knows what a group needs really prioritize and fill the Leadership Vacuum?

Whoever came up with the term “tough love” clearly met my father.
I never had any doubt that my dad loved me. He would always plan family vacations and would give my sister and me anything we ever wanted. There was a saying in my house that the Davis children weren’t spoiled, just well taken care of.
And sometimes being well taken care of meant going to live theater. I was completely taken with the magic of theater and the arts but, as my father found out as I got older and started to think of a career, cultivating my love of the arts had some undesired consequences.

When trusted employees are promoted into management, generally what is their first task? Replace themselves. How do they interview candidates for their replacement? Go to HR and ask for a list of acceptable questions to ask. If they are lucky, HR has a list of “approved questions.” Are the questions targeting the skills required to be successful in the position? Generally not, they are simply acceptable interview questions.

2.8 million Americans now consider their home offices to be their primary workplace and 27 million Americans have flexible schedules. Between 2005 and 2009, telecommuting grew 61 percent and is expected to grow another 69 percent by 2016. Despite the rapid growth of remote work and flexible jobs, they continue to be discussed by many employers as though they are a scarce, and perhaps even scary, way of working.
January 23, 2012 | Posted in
Human Resources |
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The “Stealth Fighter” Model offers a compelling, symbolic way to understand the predictive relationships that exist between critical human capital/succession management processes (the 4 D’s), critical “leading indicators” (capability, commitment and alignment—more on these later), intermediate outcomes and ultimate outcomes. The 4 D’s essentially act as the 4 turbo-charged engines that propel the “Stealth Fighter” towards its target—defined as an organization’s “Future Desired State” and the required leadership competencies to execute both the current and future business strategy.
January 18, 2012 | Posted in
Retention |
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The competition for top talent will continue to increase as the job market improves. Most hiring authorities have been in the driver’s seat for the past two years and have not had to sell their opportunity or company. This is not reflective of today’s reality. It is important for you to attract, interview and present the best talent available. Part of your job is to excite the job seeker about your company and opportunity. It is also important that you begin to prep your hiring authorities.
January 17, 2012 | Posted in
Human Resources |
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Many months ago, I was interviewing candidates for a recruiting position. The position had been open for months, and I felt like I was never going to find a candidate who had the unique experience I wanted. That was until I found the perfect resume.

How does confidence relate to sourcing? I am referring to the entire process of sourcing for any position you work on. How many times do the following questions hit your mind before starting to source candidates for a requisition? How will I fill this requisition, what are my sources, what are the channels I can get help from, will my job postings bring great results with candidate applications – and if not, then what kind of impression will it deliver to my recruiters, am I choosing the right source in the beginning, and many more.

It amazes me how many conferences, current technologies and new technologies are available for recruiting. I have been recruiting for over 15 years and it makes my head spin, and I can only image what an entry level person must think. In the past week alone here are some of the things that I have seen.

As I chat with companies regarding a potential recruitment contract, it has become apparent that many companies follow the same process as candidates. They post jobs on the Internet and pray they will receive the best replies from candidates. You see evidence of this on Yahoo Groups and occasionally in various LinkedIn groups when recruiters ask where they may post for different types of candidate.