"Hey Boss! Stop Being An A#$hole and Listen..."

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I read another stupid post from one of my least favorite influencers on LinkedIn, who for some reason, idiots read to get advice on I guess how to be a clueless boss. I can't avoid reading his posts because they show up in Pulse all the time. The majority of his posts point to flaws with employees and never with management.  Which for me, means this person has no idea what the word "introspection" means.  If you're always blaming your employees or even potential employees, than to put it bluntly, you're an a#$hole.  However a#$holes can change and become just buttheads, and I'd rather work for a butthead than an a#$hole.  Wouldn't you?

If you are a CEO, VP, Senior VP, middle manager, or new manager and it seems like your team is not pulling together or they just don't seem motivated to work hard, you might actually be the problem.  I know that's hard, especially for new managers because you've just been promoted to the position and you think you're awesome.  Guess what?  You're not.  You're as green as green eggs and ham, and you are definitely not a Sam I Am.  

So what's the first thing you can do to improve your team?  Start listening to your employees.  I understand this is difficult for a great number of people who have egos, because it insinuates that you don't know what you're doing in the role as a manager.  But here is the reality, you don't know what you're doing...yet.  A quick way to ramp up into the position is to LISTEN to feedback from your employees.  Here are 5 simple steps to improve your listening skills, garner respect from your employees, and apply what you hear to help improve yourself and your team.

Pay Attention: When I first became a manager, I was always "multi-tasking" when my employees were trying to talk to me, and naturally I missed a lot of good information.  They would have to repeat themselves or they would get frustrated and just walk out of my office.  All of them thought I was a nice guy and I was trying hard, but they didn't have respect for me, because it didn't seem like I had any respect for them.  Why? Because I never stopped what I was doing long enough to pay attention.  Until finally, one of them shouted while I was on the computer, "Can you stop being an asshole and listen to what I'm saying to you?" That got my attention! After that incident, I made sure to stop what I was doing whenever people came into my office to discuss an issue or concern.

Value Employee Feedback - Some of the best advice I ever received as a manager was from my own employees.  Nobody knows better about what is going on in a group, division, region, or corporation than its own employees.  A year ago during a seminar, one of our team leaders told me that she was losing part of the audience during a certain portion of her presentation.  I had written that particular part of the presentation and so I was offended with her criticism.  Initially, I was tempted to tell her that I was the boss and I knew better than her how to run a seminar. However, after reading through the presentation again, I realized she was right.  A few minor changes and the audience was sitting up in their seats and not lying down.

Apply What You Learn- The worst thing you can do is get a bunch of great ideas from your employees and do nothing.  What type of message does that send to them?  "Yeah we value your opinions but not enough to do anything about it." Speaking from experience, I can emphatically state that when I applied what I learnt from my employees, things improved exponentially.  It wasn't a slow process either.  Changes came quickly and the results were astounding. 

Invest Personally - Many bosses have a tendency to care more about what their employees produce, than the employee themselves.  The problem with that way of thinking, is that you won't get the most out of each other.  When your employee comes to you with an issue or concern drop everything and be attentive.  I can remember an old friend was going through a horrible bout with cancer, she had shared the concerns with her boss, and when her boss asked why she was taking so much time off, my friend had to remind the boss that she had cancer!  Her bosses response, "Oh I guess I just forgot."  WTF? She left the company shortly thereafter, and went to work for the competitor.

Life Is Not About You - Despite what you think and what you've been taught since childhood, the world does not revolve around you. We share the world, the office, and even the bathroom.  You may be in charge, but that does not make you all powerful. There are so many start ups with newly crowned CEO's who have little to no social skills and who are running and ruining people's lives. Don't be that type of boss.  If you want to be successful, make the journey about everyone and bring them along.  It will be that much more rewarding for all involved.

Listen and learn.

SFTD

News Flash People: Recruiters Don't Really Care About You...

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I received an email today from an old job website and it was promoting a post from a medical recruiter. I began reading the post which was written by a recruiter offering "advice" to job seekers, and referring to one specific line that recruiters never want to hear from candidates. The post wasn't really an advice column, more like an article criticizing job seekers.

The line she mentioned that job seekers always say was..."Just get me front of the hiring manager".

I almost laughed because I've said that more than a few times to recruiters and they reacted the same way she did.  They didn't want to hear it.

I think many job seekers are under the presumption that recruiters are well meaning individuals who are working hard to help find you a job.  Well, I'm here to tell you that's a pipe dream. Recruiters do not care about you! Some of them may say they care about you, but let's be honest, they can be polite and they can be nice, but many of them don't give a damn about you.  I wrote "many" because there are some recruiters who do care, and those are probably the most successful ones that I know.

If you're working with a recruiter and they don't answer calls, emails, or don't seem interested in your well being, don't get offended, just understand that it's their job to place people, not to like them. I've listed below a few things that I have come to understand about the recruiting business:

Recruiters Don't Work For You - Years ago, I was under the impression that a recruiter was working for me.  Wrong!  They're hired by companies to place people.  Therefore, they are looking to place you with the company for whom they are recruiting and that's it.  They're not looking for jobs for you, they're working for companies to place people.   That's what they do! Again, don't get offended, merely understand that's how the system works. You are a product they a trying to place.  They're not your aunt or uncle trying to find you a good job for a good company.

They Have Specific Guidelines - Recruiters don't set the guidelines so again don't get pissed off if they tell you that you're not qualified.  A lot of companies set very specific parameters for hiring and they won't deviate.  Some companies even have developed hiring algorithms. Years ago, I had a recruiter contact me about a management position in medical devices, because he thought I was a git. And even though I had 5 years experience as a sales manager, my experience wasn't in the medical sales field, so they wouldn't interview me. Not even a phone interview, despite the fact that I was the top rep at my company, out of a field of 300, and had been to President's Club 2 years in a row. I guess I didn't fit the company algorithm.

Recruiters Are Sales People - Whether you like the job they are pushing or not, they're going to try and sell you on the position.  That is their job.  It might not even be a job you want, but the best recruiters are great sales people.  They will try to get you into the position because it's how they make their money! And they can push very hard to place you in a job you might not even want. Recently my wife had a recruiter calling her all the time to place her in a position with less pay at a more prestigious company.  My wife told her that she was very happy in the position she was in and that she didn't want to take a pay cut.
The recruiter told her, "You're making a big mistake.  Your company is going to go under or sell to this company and then where will you be?"
My wife's response, "I guess working for that company anyway? But for more pay?" Ouch!

Recruiters Have Bills To Pay - I was working with one of the top recruiters in the medical field years ago, and he was pushing for me to sign this stupid employment agreement before the end of the month.  I was still working for a company and was getting irritated with the fact that he kept emailing and calling me.  This guy had written books on recruiting, had offices in NYC and Los Angeles and was one of the top guys in his field, so why was he bothering with me?
I asked him, "Why are you calling me?  I'm just a measly medical rep, and you're a big time recruiter."
He answered, "Even I've got bills to pay. And if I treated everyone as a measly medical rep, I wouldn't be a recruiter for too much longer. Everyone's important...to me."
Good answer.

Recruiters Won't Get Attached - Recruiters have to remain objective.  They can't like one candidate more than another because they have to be unbiased.  Thus, if they seem cold and heartless to you, it's because they probably are cold and heartless.  They sell people and they may have their favorites, but they can't show this to companies, or candidates. People come in and out of their lives daily, and they don't have time to get all cozy with you on the couch and snuggle.  Recruiters have to find the best candidate period, and many of them don't have time for feelings. So again don't be put off if they seem distant.

Finding a job is hard, very personal, and stressful.  Rejection is difficult to overcome, especially when it almost seems that a company or recruiter is rejecting YOU. However understand that recruiters are a tool you can use to find employment. And just like a tool, many of them can be hard and cold.  Try to get to know them, understand them, comprehend how the system works, and in the long run, both of you will be successful.

Good day and good luck with your job search!