Caring, Consideration and Competence

I’m a fan of alliteration, particularly when it is my own. These three traits – Caring, Consideration and Competence – strike me as central to long-term success in business. They form the base for a sustainable workforce. Add in some Creativity and Competition and you win!

Improve, not Fix

I coach senior managers and executives. Often I am asked if and how I “fix” them. The answer of course is that I do not, at least do not often, fix them. I improve them through the coaching process.

I am in the fortunate position of being able to work with talented and successful people. I do not regularly work with people who are early in their career. So my clients have already achieved much, and in many cases a great deal in their careers. They come to me to get better. To improve. To build on the strong business skills, activity and behaviour that got them where they are.

They want to continue the process of applying themselves to their work. They need to adapt; to new business challenges, to new people, and to new responsibilities. True success is the ability to keep it going. To improve as needed, not fix.

Ego and Insecurity

If you are successful in business, you have both – Ego and Insecurity – probably in substantial amounts. I am not postulating here, merely observing. I coach leaders of organizations. They all have healthy egos. They also all have significant insecurities.

Another way this is manifest is in the very human NEED to achieve, and the equally human FEAR of failure.

It is easy to confuse one with the other because they both provide motivation. But the former – let me call it “Achievement Ego” – is more likely to lead to action. for this reason, most of us in the business world would say that Achievement Ego is better than “Insecurity Fear”. Action is better than inaction, right? You can’t win if you don’t try, right? Generally, but not always.

If you take action with a high degree of competence, you are more likely to succeed. If you don’t know what you are doing – or if others simply do it much better – you are less likely to succeed. Your Insecurity Fear may be the thing to tell you when to hold off, even when your Achievement Ego is saying, “Go, go, go!”

By aware of – and use – both. Listen to your ego, and respect your insecurity.

When the Boss Says Good-bye

I do outplacement for senior managers and executives. Outplacement is the euphemism often used for the process of assisting a terminated employee in a job search. I am usually paid by the former employer – my services forming part of a negotiated severance package.

This type of situation is full of both good news and bad news. The good news: opportunity, freedom, time. Most senior people embrace the positive and get on with finding a job in an orderly way.

The bad news: rejection, uncertainty, urgency. These things can slow down and even paralyze strong capable people. My job is to understand the pressure of these negative things and help overcome them. All the activity – networking, job search, interviewing – depends upon this.

The Gift of Time

I do not get upset when people cancel or postpone meetings with me. OK, I get a little upset, but then I realize: I have been given the gift of time. When I have set aside some time for someone else, and then I don’t have to meet them, I have time to do something else. So I use it.

I know this is a bit of an illusion, but it works for me. I choose to use this “gift” to do something else that I would not have been able to do until later, or perhaps not at all. To me, that is a gift.