The Secret to Building High Performance Organization Starts with a Certain Mindset

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Today I read an article about the elementary school I attended as a lad and was amazed to learn about how it has evolved into a unique and wonderful learning environment.

The key here is the involvement of the parents in the functioning of the school and special activities that gets the kids participating in different types of events such as theatrical productions.

This model can also be used in all aspect of society, including businesses to solve the problems we face. The more opportunity and encouragement people are given to participate in decisions and be active in the solutions, the more we will build a responsible population that can collaborate together to solve problems and create new opportunities, rather than bickering and creating conflicts that lead downhill.

Nurturing talented kids is how Gardenview grows

By MIKE BOONE, The Gazette May 6, 2009

Grease is the word at Gardenview – with a few of the musical’s words rendered age-appropriate.

When students from the St. Laurent elementary school stage Grease at Westmount High School this week, the pre-ados won’t be belting out, “You better shape up, ’cause I need a man.”

“Grease is not elementary school material,” understated Carmy Zolla, a parent volunteer who’s been overseeing the production. “We’ve modified the script. We’ll stress the music, not the words.”

Tucked away on a quiet side street in St. Laurent, Gardenview is a two-storey red-brick building that’s bursting at the seams with 800 students, the largest elementary school enrolment in the English Montreal School Board. The population of St. Laurent is growing, swelled by numerous young families with school-age children – as evidenced by the school’s seven kindergarten classes.

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Advice on teamwork from an 8 year old

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This morning I read about a local Atom A hockey team, the Lasalle Lions,  that went unbeaten all year in 51 games and won their regional championship. The star player, Nathaniel Larivée, had the most points in the league although a few other kids on the team also were in the top level. Actually a line-mate of Nathaniel had more goals than he did but the star had more assists than goals. We are talking about 8 year old here.

I remember when my son played hockey at that age and passing was kind of rare. It was mostly a free for all and the best puck carrier usually hogged the disc.

What was interesting is that they interviewed the star player and asked him what he liked most about his season. Was it scoring goals and racking up the points? Surprisingly he answered none of that but simply what he enjoyed most was the team spirit.

This is interesting coming from an eight year old who had not been trained in teamwork and has probably not yet been sufficiently brainwashed to work towards the NHL and a star’s salary. What is still most important at that age is enjoying himself with his buddies on the team and that in his mind equates to team spirit. I am sure he enjoys winning but that is not what he expressed as the most important.

This is what we need to rekindle in our organizations as we move towards fixing our economy and solving the big problems like war, the environment, poverty, etc.  Without rediscovering true team spirit we have little chance of survival as a species because the causes of those big problems need to be solved through the participation and contribution of each person.

Stephen

Good advice from a banker

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Attitude and self-assurance dictates the risk we are willing to take to act on our ideas for business development and has so much to do with success in business and relationships.

I liked the message I read in this article http://tinyurl.com/cqlhvf from Jean-René Houde, the CEO of the Business Development Bank of Canada from an address he made to entrepreneurs.

I know that the biggest ingredient of success for entrepreneurs is a combination of self-confidence, self-esteem and the ability to influence people to listen to you and act on your ideas.

At the core of this is an understanding of yourself and others because how can you be effective with people if you don’t understand them?

The key element that holds each one of us back from fully using our natural qualities and strengths is fear. When we can identify what drives fear in us and what negative tendencies it causes, we can find ways to resolve those causes and free ourselves to realize our goals.

In an economic crisis our fears become even more heightened and we need to really build our inner resources to protect ourselves from becoming stuck with inaction, which can only worsen things.

On the bright size retail sales in Canada were up in January by 1.9% http://tinyurl.com/dzzv82. I observed this first hand when I went shopping for a gift at the mall on Monday at lunch time and could not believe the shopping activity there.

So think big, positive and take action.

Stephen

Now is the time to strengthen your team

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Last week I was speaking with a business owner who told me that one of his short term projects is to hire new talent to replace people who have not lived up to his expectations. He said that the current economic crisis that has caused large employers to reduce their workforce has created opportunities for him to build a better team.

He said that when the job market was hot he could not replace people because he could not find and afford people that would do a better job. Now that more people are out of jobs and ready to work for less than the large employers were paying, he now sees himself in the position to make the moves he wanted to for some time.

Those that are looking to hire to either replace staff or to act on new opportunities must go through a hiring process that will end with a decision of who is the best candidate to choose. This is a process than can be very tricky and is not always easy and never foolproof. And if you are not careful you can make the same hiring mistakes as in the past and end up with no improvement.

Imagine going though the whole hiring process, which can be quite costly and time consuming and then finding out six months later that the new person is no better than the person you replaced. Or your new project opportunity is not getting on track and it is draining your resources because the new hire is not getting up to speed fast enough.

Let’s take a quick moment and review the hiring process to make sure you maximize the opportunities to hire that star performer.

  • Aggressively market the position in the right places and with great sales copy that rises above the ordinary. Instead of saying what the job requires, sell the job as a career position that can fulfill someone’s idea of a dream job for their specific talent.
  • Have the candidate write you a letter stating why they would be the ideal candidate for the job and how their employment will benefit your firm. Those who really want the job will take the time to do this well and will save you time in qualifying each resume.
  • Form a team to conduct interviews and make the hiring decision. That way you have different perspectives and you force yourself to be more objective. Studies show that most hiring decisions are made in the first 5 minutes of an interview but diverse opinions can counter this tendency.
  • Take your time but don’t take too long either to make a decision. Invest a good amount of time getting to know the person, not just an hour. You will be spending a lot of time working together so take the time before you commit to know what you’re getting.
  • Test and assess your candidates for both technical job skills and for job fit. A technical test could be to ask the person to prepare a balance sheet if the person is applying for a financial role. Be prepared with a test task that is typical for your department or new project.

Assessing the person for total job fit is comprised of matching knowledge and skills, along with attitude and value and as well, thinking style, personality and interests. This can only be determined with any accuracy using assessments.

The The Profile XT from Profiles International measures thinking style, personality in terms of behavioural traits and six occupational interests. It also matches the person’s scores against a customized job profile for the position. This is the most powerful kind of assessment because you are matching someone to the requirements of the job.

On Thursday March 12th at 1:00 PM EST I will be hosting a webinar to present how to hire star performers and make the best hiring decisions using the best resources available today.

Please register for the webinar as space is limited by sending an email to info@optimusperformance.ca. You will receive the log in information. By email.

This webinar is essential if you want to make better hiring decisions and build a high performance team for the future.

Stephen Goldberg
Be Free to Work Less, Earn More, Enjoy Life