![]() We have had several discussions in our teams about how we continue to attract, develop and keep good talent so that our organization can thrive. People are the ingredient X that will either propel your team or sink the ship. When you have been able to identify motivated individuals who bring new perspectives into your company the first thing you should ask as a leadership team is how to we find more of these caliber of people? In our setting, our work experience is primarily in the construction / property restoration industry which involves manual labor, skilled services and the ability to adapt to new situations with care. Like most sectors, the common practice is to attempt to find employees who have existing skills and incorporate them into the organization. We have often found that hiring those who have been trained by others can be as much of a project, if not more, than training someone from the ground up. In many ways it is easier as well as more beneficial in the long run to train someone who has little specific work experience but who will be a blank slate for your culture and develop their good habits over time than it is to try to break an individual of their bad habits. The time spent in training can yield great and lasting results in employees who are eager to make a difference with the disciplines and values that matter to your organization. It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them. - Benjamin Franklin If you aren't familiar with property restoration which includes water and fire related damages to structures, our industry is a dynamic blend of manual labor that is service based which requires technical knowledge, industrial skills and people intelligence. Our technicians have to learn have to deal with messy situations with a smile while relaying data in several forms about the work they perform. When we sat down to attempt to analyze where our best performers were coming from we had trouble nailing down specific traits as so many have come from diverse backgrounds. We have hired people with no prior experience who have transitioned from fast food service, baking, auto service, cleaning, agriculture and milling, each has some transitional skills but not directly related to the work we do. As noted, the blank slates of those with no direct experience but also none of the industry related bad habits or short cuts have been some of the best additions to our team. Fresh perspectives and inquisitive minds are valuable. People who ask, "Why do you do it that way," are in the right frame of mind, the question is will they receive the information when you have a sound reason as well as be willing to be a responsible party to change if something needs to be fixed? For our team one thing that seems to be a common trait is a bit of a chip on the shoulder, the idea that individuals have great potential and are just looking for the right opportunity that others may not have given them. To be clear, we are not looking for individuals who are angry at the world, the chip we are looking for is those who have that innate sense that they want to make a difference, they express this in different ways but it is noticeable if you are looking for it. Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws. - Plato We feel that we can teach anyone the skills of our trade, but there are three things that we tell every potential hire that walks through the door that we need from them. There are three traits that we cannot train or provide an individual, we need you to be honest, hard working and willing to learn. Those things sound simple enough, but if a potential hire is missing any one of those elements they will not be a long term contributor to the culture that we have built nor will they be a value to our clients. These are also three traits that a person either brings to the table or they don't, they cannot be given to someone. We will elaborate on these three foundational character traits in upcoming articles. Where have you found some of your best hires? What do you look for when interviewing a potential addition to your team? Connect. Collaborate. Conquer.
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![]() In order for something to be a priority, that thing by definition must be of elevated importance. If everything is a priority then nothing is a priority and life slowly begins to lose meaning. So, maybe life doesn’t lose meaning when we fail to prioritize but life certainly struggles to find any sense of order and we struggle throughout the day to gain traction towards our goals. If you are in the habit of planning out your day, prioritizing your tasks and being productive with you time than you know the struggle that often occurs when there are too many fires too put out. If the village (your plan) is burning, there is only one hose and a limited water supply – where do you start? The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. - Stephen Covey Those who prioritize live in reality. Success starts with planning, without a plan there is no target. There is an ever widening expanse between the plans we make and the completion of those goals, if we do not make changes to get ahold of the void it will grow daily. That gray area in between reaching our destiny and falling into the expanse requires adaptation through prioritization. The plan is the intentional process that flows from our vision and through execution we move towards our intended outcome. Project management must always allow for flexibility as emergencies arise, components do not always function perfectly and elements outside of our control impact our trajectory. Prioritization is an essential mechanism that keeps our efforts on course and prevents adaptation from spiraling out of control. There is more than one way to find yourself trapped in the void of failure. As all entrepreneurs know, you live and die by your ability to prioritize. You must focus on the most important, mission-critical tasks each day and night, and then share, delegate, delay or skip the rest. - Jessica Jackley Create a daily plan – be intentional about how you are going to move towards your goals Execute your plan – allow for flexibility and be prepared to adapt to the obstacles life throws at you Prioritize your plan – keep yourself on vision and hitting your targets by governing yourself If you are not in the habit of creating a daily plan for yourself, you are running in a hamster wheel that you will never get out of. If you are in the habit of making a plan but you do not allow for flexibility, you are headed for a heart attack. If you are in the habit of planning and adapting but you do not prioritize, you have a better hamster wheel than most but the hamster wheel is running you. If you have a vision, make a plan and are intentional about hitting your target then prioritization is the methodology that will enable you to make your time effective. If after planning, adaptation and prioritization you still cannot get ahead then you will need to make changes to how you approach your tasks, for example get help or say no to projects, or else your hamster wheel will soon detach and you will plunge into the abyss. For an example of how this is put into practice with project management, see how one team does so by making their schedule visible (HERE - includes Video). What have been some of the key lessons you have learned about prioritization? Connect. Collaborate. Conquer. In the world of business we constantly hear about return on investment as we like to discuss whether the strategies we are employing are effective at reaching the goals we have set out. What if there were a minimal cost measure that consistently yielded high returns, would you incorporate that item into your organizational systems? Before we dive into the subject matter, take two minutes out of your day to view this video from KollektivetTV2 which may help set the state for how your team members and possibly even yourself feel about how you are valued in your organization: If you didn't find the video, apologies for wasting your time. Yet, can you empathize with the sentiment even as silly as it may be? How often do we as individuals, as team members, as managers, as leaders and even at home fail to provide sincere compliments for those around us? When was the last time that you received a sincere compliment?
Compliments are low cost and high yield investments in your most valuable assets as a leader, a coach, a parent and/or as a peer. A compliment requires no monetary exchange and yet it can brighten an individuals day, it can motivate them to carry out their work with pride and it can produce positively charged remunerative results throughout an organization. For years we have set aside time at the end of practice for our youth sports teams to have coaches and players compliment something positive that they saw a teammate doing, only recently did we attempt to incorporate this same practice within our work teams. For some reason as adults this can be awkward, but as individuals begin to think their week through to find something to compliment another team member it brightens the room. Compliments need to be sincere, they need to be specific and to get good at them it may take a little time as many of us are out of practice. Organizations are always discussing effective methods for rewarding employees and these are positive conversations that should be considered in depth, but before the process gets too complicated, don't forget to invest in the simple things - from the top down and from the bottom up, lead by example and let loose with some sincere compliments. Read more on this topic HERE. Tell us what you have tried and experienced with regards to this topic HERE. ![]() More money equals more problems? But everyone thinks money solves everything, and no one believes The Notorious BIG is a prophet. Yet, the only power money has is to solve money problems of which money is often the culprit. If you have bad spending habits adding more money to the equation can be like adding fuel to a fire, you just keep burning through those dollars until the fire is out of control. Sports Illustrated confirmed in March 2009 article that 78% of NFL players and 60% of NBA players go bankrupt within five years of retirement (Torre, 2009). We want money because we think it solves problems but poor money management is a black hole that can consume exorbitant amounts of cash. If we didn't have money problems would money be as important as it is? "Who covets more is evermore a slave." - Robert Herrick The love of money is the root of all evil. Is it an argument of chicken or the egg when you parse the difference between the love of money and money being the root of all evil? Money itself is neutral, yet even the richest people and the wealthiest countries still have major issues and would tell you they are concerned about money. If there is a money pit, money itself is not the answer to fill the hole as there are other issues that have to be resolved before those voids will heal. We love money because we long for acceptance through status, we crave power and yet we don't want to build either through the long road of influence - or it seems that the world doesn't honor the honorable path. To the victor goes the spoils and so we spoil in the proceeds. "Money often costs too much." - Ralph Waldo Emerson Money itself is an exchange system that replaced hard value in trade items such as food or cattle with objects such as gold, paper currency and now plastic. Being content with what you have, building value through positive impact and building influence through relationships. It all sounds so ideal. Yet, whether your goal is to lose weight or to pay off debt, there is no miracle cure - it's one pound at a time, one dollar of debt at a time through change of perspective, change of heart and change of disciplines. Train yourself to think differently, begin to act differently and bring yourself around people who will positively encourage as well as hold you accountable. "Don't let making a living prevent you from making a life." - John Wooden Referrence: Torre, P.S. (2009, March 23) How (and why) athletes go broke. Sports Illustrated. Retreived from https://www.si.com/vault/2009/03/23/105789480/how-and-why-athletes-go-broke |
AuthorThoughts on personal and professional development. Jon Isaacson, The Intentional Restorer, is a contractor, author, and host of The DYOJO Podcast. The goal of The DYOJO is to help growth-minded restoration professionals shorten their DANG learning curve for personal and professional development. You can watch The DYOJO Podcast on YouTube on Thursdays or listen on your favorite podcast platform.
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