The Assist

The world cup is just finished. There were 172 goals scored at the 2022 World Cup, a new all-time competition record, surpassing the 171 scored in both 1998 and 2014.  Lionel Messi has been directly involved in 21 goals at the World Cup for Argentina (13 goals, eight assists), the outright most of any player for any nation at the finals on record (since 1966). For the source of these numbers, go here.

From the above sentence, "Involved in" means assisted indirectly in the scoring of the goal. Here's what it looks like on the football field. 

The art of assisting does not get its sufficient credit in football. Now though, with video tech and analytics, fans are beginning to identify how vital these second-last passes can be and the skill it takes to thread a ball by breaking defensive lines.  

Similarly, in our regular lives, we sometimes tend to forget that we got to where we are because of the assists of particular people.  I'm not just talking about the cheerleaders, but also the ones who challenged us rudely, rejected our views and ideas or just created roadblocks for us where none were expected.  These negative assists really made us UP our game, and have also played a key role in bringing us where we are by getting us to use our strengths knowingly, as well as differently.

So as  2022, draws to a close, I thought it important to thank all those who assisted me, both positively and negatively in my journey.  You may wish to do the same.

Have a great 2023.

Merry Christmas 2022

 

Participant Feedback - The Selection Discussion (A Behavioural Event Interviewing Workshop)

Thrilled to share participant feedback and learning for one of my key workshops, "The Selection Discussion", which was conducted for an IT organization.

This program was conducted on Zoom for about 35 very enthusiastic and curious participants from HR Recruiters to Function Heads, who made the workshop more interesting by the participation and interesting questions. My workshop designs always focus on learning and application, not just learning or smiley sheets, and this was no exception. So, since recruitment is a sales role, we spent most of Day one identifying and articulating the selling points of the organization, and how to showcase them to prospective candidates. Day Two was spent in designing BEI questions, assessing responses, role plays,  

I used Zoom breakout rooms, Jamboard, and Mentimeter to increase the participant's engagement, and they really worked well, as you will see from the participants learning.

Please reach out to me on +919820155778 or ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com if you want to run a similar workshop for your organization.

The 10 Most Creative Resumes that helped people land their dream jobs

 Great examples of creative resumes prepared by different candidates who really showed off their skills.

Since one of my services is Strengths-based Resume Writing, I must say that I was intrigued and impressed with the resumes shown here.  I know that I would have definitely interviewed them in person.

My word of caution (1) - such resumes are best handed over in person or by email directly to the person instead of the ATS.

My word of encouragement (2) - make sure that in showcasing your creativity, you also showcase your strengths.

Read the article here.

Top Behavioural Skills for the Leader / Employee of Today / the Future

Pic Credit - Ryan Barretto Oct 2011

I'd like to talk about a topic that comes out nearly every year around this time, in the media.  The topic is 'Skills for the year _____".  After going through them over the past 4/5 years, I noticed that the skills that get mentioned there are pretty much the same (when you think about it), and are simply renamed and given a different ranking by whoever generates the list.

Based on my experience (it's a fair amount - go see my LinkedIn profile to know details) in HR and now as a Strengths-based Career Coach, HR Consultant, Trainer, and Facilitator, I decided to come up with my own list of Behavioural skills for the future, though with some detail so that readers are clear about what the skill means in life and at work.  Behavioural skills are what help ensure that candidates are selected / rejected, but let's be clear - poor demonstration of Functional capabilities (skills related to your function i.e. Finance, Marketing, Sales, IT, HR and so on), will definitely ensure that you get rejected or won't be able to stay in the organization very long.

There is no particular order, because in my view, you better go about developing them as best as you can, and as a lifelong habit.  This list also doesn't include functional skills because they will be different for every job.  As a candidate, you should be on top of your game in this area, in order to stand a chance.

Now, as an individual employee, you might think - I'm a seasoned professional, so this may be suitable for a fresher or a junior person. Let's be clear - These are skills which if used throughout your personal and professional life, will earn you rich dividends.  

Then, if you happen to be a recruiter for an organization, you may not think this to be relevant. I can say with confidence that your organization will become more successful and effective by incorporating these skills into the Employee Development Plan.  As proof, notice that successful people around you (especially those you know well and without prejudice) will also have these same skills, no matter what their age, background or industry is.

Another thought to consider : To execute these skills, you have to develop a subset of related skills.  For example, to be able to Communicate with Clarity, you must possess / develop Listening Skills, develop the ability to appropriately Apply a vast Vocabulary, Clear Diction, the ability to State your point Concisely and Precisely, a level of Analytical skills to be able to provide a detailed response when required, applying the appropriate emotion and tone to your words, and as with any communication, the skill of timing your response.

As you can see, the skills are layered with other skills, and some will even be interconnected with the ones I have mentioned. You are going to have to go deep.

So, here are the skills for the future (whatever the timeline may be):

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Digital capability skills are non-negotiable today i.e. being familiar with a computer, applications like MS Office is a base requirement no matter where in the organization you are joining. If you have learnt some statistical tools and are keen on analytical roles, make sure they're upto date. 

Pexels Photo by Anna Shvets

Analytical skills are becoming more relevant, along with the ability to think first and then act.  If you are into specialist analytical roles, then some statistical tools are going to be required tool.

Pexels Photo by Pixabay

Constant learning, followed by reflection (introspection) and application - why? knowledge is growing by leaps and bounds daily, and we must be relevant to the times and our work / careers, or get left behind because of redundancy.  This also means being open to viewpoints that are vastly different from the beliefs you hold.  

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Communicate with clarity - because if you cannot communicate your knowledge (jargon free), experience and perspective clearly enough to be understood by others, then why should you be hired or promoted?  In fact, why should anyone pay attention to what you say?

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Influencing others - this is what I term as advanced level of communicating with clarity.  Simply put, you are able to get other people to agree and work with your point of view.

Pexels Photo by Pixabay

Emotional Intelligence - to understand  yourself, your emotions and the emotions of others without getting carried away & making ineffective decisions.  

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Flexibility in approach - this allows you to sense and act based on external environment situations that shift quickly. If you are stuck to your ideas & brilliance too much, you may not be able to provide quality work, listen and work well with others and be effective in your role. As the song goes - "The Future's uncertain and the end is always near".  So how adaptable can you be?

Pexels Photo by Hilmi Işılak

Working well with others - a.k.a. Collaborate.  This is a very critical skill because today, no single person is 100% talented in all areas of life and work, nor does one person, at any level have the all the answers.  I will include the ability to respect others here, because it is very hard to collaborate with someone you don't respect.

Photo by Ryan Barretto Oct 2013

Resilience - The ability to bounce back from failure to failure with a positive, can-do mindset, until you reach success.

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Consistently delivering value - It is the skill of applying all of the aforementioned skills with thought to provide service which the world finds value in.  Your ability to do this effectively will define how successful you become.

So there you have it.  Working on these areas, particularly with a strengths coach will definitely find success. You may find it difficult to build and excel in all these skills because your strengths aren't going to be aligned with each of them, so a basic level of competence would be required for all these skills.  This is also where the ability to collaborate is critical, so that you can contribute your strengths to enable a colleague to play around their weaknesses, and they will do the same for you.

Recruiters (including managers and leaders) - don't forget to assess these skills when you are interviewing candidates.  Your organization's long term growth depends on it.

Want to know more on how to develop these skills for you and your team / organization? Contact me at +919820155778 or ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com

Participant Feedback - Holistic Decision Making

 It was a wonderful experience to design and deliver this critical workshop for the participants of a manufacturing organization.  It was a two-day workshop and was attended by junior, middle and senior level participants.  They enthusiastically participated with questions and points of view and made the entire workshop an experience to remember.

I used a blend of facilitator led discussions, facilitation processes, Decision-making tools and Group discussions that enabled participants to articulate their understanding of the topic, as well as their action plans.

I'm grateful to Skalent India for the opportunity to do this workshop.

Here are a few pictures of the action and their learnings from this (life-skill) topic.  Do click on the images to see details of their learnings.

My Latest Coaching Certificate

 

Thanks to all those who supported me on my journey.

Are you searching the Right Talent Pool?

An absorbing, data-filled article about the current #hiring scenario, given the #greatresignation . There's data about India too. From the article - "the voluntary #quit rate is 25 percent higher than prepandemic levels." "There is less of a stigma attached to job hopping or gaps in a résumé, and joining companies in other geographies without relocating has become easier than ever, making it possible for people to jump from one employer to another. "

Read the article here.

#talentmanagement #employeeengagement #employeevalueproposition #employeeexperience #strengthsdecoder #attrition #flexibility

How to Banish a Toxic Blame Culture

Super article on negating a #blame #culture and #toxicculture 

From the article: "If the idea doesn’t work out, or a mistake’s made, they know that while they must learn from it, they’ll be supported. Across an organisation, this enables the kind of measured risk-taking that drives creativity and innovation."

My view - A culture of #responsibility starts with hiring the appropriate #mindset, as well as based on leveraging #strengths  of the employees at all levels. 

Read the entire article here.

#culturematters #culturebuilding #strengthsdecoder 

Change the Way You Listen: Why Leaders Should Stop Hearing and Start Listening

A really practical article that can help you improve your #listeningskills , even if you aren't designated as a #leader 

From this interesting article - "Most speakers average 150-175 words per minute while most listeners can consume 400-500 words per minute. Distracted leaders allow their excess brain capacity to dialogue internally about the conversation and miss meaning by relying only on the words spoken (which account for only seven percent of #communication)."

Click here to read the entire article.

#leadershipskills #managerialskills #interpersonalcommunication #interpersonalskills #relationshipmanagement #strengthsdecoder 

Is Elon Musk right about Returning to Office?

Elon Musk or any other well known businessman's views notwithstanding, we definitely need to understand remote working at a deeper level before forming an opinion.  This opinion will be coloured by the personal and professional roles that you are currently playing.

Here's a superb article that talks about the challenges of #hybridworking or #remoteworking - a hot topic among recruiters and candidates, many of whom are specifying that they're only interested in WFH jobs.

From the article: "When puzzle pieces are scattered it can be challenging for employees to see how the individual pieces fit together – how each individual contributes to the whole of the organization’s purpose. It becomes harder to see oneself as part of a broader ecosystem"

Read the entire article here.

Feedback - Understanding Microaggression at the Workplace

Happy to share the feedback from a recent online session on Microaggression for 60+ employees of a tech company that I designed and delivered as part of the Facweek (Facilitation Week 2022) celebrations.

The expected outcomes were to enable participants to understand what microaggression is, it's impact on the organization and employees and how to go about creating a safe place to work. I'm happy to say that the feedback was quite positive and participants have taken rich learning and action points from the session.

Here's how they plan to deal with Microaggression and create a safe place to work.

Thanks to IAF (International Association of Facilitators) for giving me the opportunity to do this session.

Here are the things they will put into action immediately.

 

Happy Diwali 2022

 

Leadership Authenticity Starts With Knowing Yourself

Here's a must read article if you want to develop yourself as an "Authentic Leader".

From the article - "Authentic leaders are always investing in strengths -- their own strengths as well as those of their followers." 

When you think about it, you realize that trying to fix weaknesses wastes time, causes unhappiness, dissatisfaction and disengagement, and building on strengths can accelerate growth while having a positive energy experience.

Read the rest of the article here

The importance of Coaching people within the organization

If as a leader / learning / HR professional, you are thinking about making #coaching and #mentoring available for more people instead of only leaders, this article will help you work out the benefits of this approach.

From the article - "With employee demand increasing for more customized learning and development experiences, coaching can help boost learning, especially in digital or hybrid environments."

Read the article here.

#learninganddevelopment #developingpeople #developingleaders #coachingculture #strengthsdecoder

How to Fix Someone

 Trainers, consultants, facilitators and coaches are often called in by organizations to make things right. This generally involves'fixing' some process or someone.

Sometimes, they forget that people can't really be fixed, or that a lot of other things, including themselves, will also have to #change.

Interestingly, changing oneself first is the only and best option towards changing others.

What the research says about cultural alignment in hiring

We've heard the phrase "checking the cultural fit of a candidate" when hiring a candidate.  This is where all interviewers including HR professionals make errors in hiring at least once in their careers.

This fascinating article covers this in detail.

From the article: Research suggests it’s a lot easier to recruit and select for cultural alignment rather than socializing employees to match the values. That’s why including cultural alignment measurements in the hiring process can produce significant benefits.

Read the full article here

Meritocracy and Performance Management Ratings

https://www.iedp.com/articles/the-road-to-meritocracy-at-work/

If you ever wondered why performance ratings don't mean what they are supposed to mean, and make everyone unhappy, read this super article.

From the article "different managers can have significantly different views of what is meant by merit—based on their individual evaluation experiences when they were employees, and this can in turn influence how they perceive #merit  in their employees."

Read the article here.

 

Where Talent can take you...

It's strange how some talented people feel they can get away with any sort of behaviour, just because they contribute a lot.

They seem oblivious to the fact that #talent can take you far, but your behaviour can take you a little more ahead.

Create a Growth Culture, Not a Performance Based One.

Superb article on the need for a #growth #culture instead of a #performancebased culture.

From the article- 'A performance culture asks, “How much energy can we mobilize?” and the answer is only a finite amount. A growth culture asks, “How much energy can we liberate?” and the answer is infinite.'

Read the entire article here.

Manager's role in DEI & Retention

Interesting read on the connection between #DEI and #retention

From the article: "many organizations are implementing a range of DEI practices, but few are “assessing the extent to which these practices were driving workplace outcomes.”

Read the rest here.

Little Ways the world works

This is an outstanding article about finding ways to excel in your field, that is more relevant to the world we live in, than the field we are in.

From the article - "John Muir once said, “When we try to pick out anything by itself we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” Fields are studied individually, but there are so many common denominators across topics. The more fields a lesson applies to, and the more disparate those fields are, the more powerful and important the lesson becomes."

Read on here! 

Building a culture of Accountability.

 https://situational.com/blog/building-a-culture-of-accountability/

Here's a super article on how to bring in a #culture of #accountability within your organization / #team.

What I particularly liked from here is the lucid articulation of the distinction between accountability and #responsibility