Paul Duxbury

Let Your Inner Leader Out – Leadership Isn’t Complicated

When we talk about Leaders and Leadership we tend to focus on the big names, the giants of business and politics don’t we? If I asked you to name leaders who come instantly to mind I would imagine that the names you will think of would generally be household names. We tend to think of leaders in terms of those who have achieved great things and often on a national or indeed global scale.

But for me there are many more leaders operating all around us than we might believe. People who are going about their daily lives, they are doing things that they are passionate about, involving others in their work and activities and delivering results. But these unsung or unlikely leaders may not even recognise it for themselves because all too often “Leadership” is elevated to the level of a mysterious set of skills and characteristics. Leadership and what it is has become an incredibly complex subject. You only have to look at the multitude of books on the art of leadership to recognise that it is a subject which many people have devoted tens of thousands of pages to.

Leadership isn’t or shouldn’t be a complex subject. It is happening all around us, people are demonstrating their leadership skills in so many different roles and in so many different ways. You don’t even have to have a team in order to be a Leader as I explain in a post here.

Those who have read other posts on this blog and anyone who knows me will be aware that I am a great believer in not over-complicating things. Which is why a few years ago I was so drawn to Steve Radcliffe’s book Leadership – Plain and Simple. As I mentioned in the post I had reason to re-read the book recently. Having done so I thought it was time to write a review. I cannot recommend this book highly enough because whether you are leading a team, job seeking or just want to approach your work from a different perspective this book has something to offer.

One of the things that you are going to appreciate about Steve Radcliffe’s book, Leadership: Plain and Simple, is that it really does delivers on what he promises in the title. The bottom line is that if you read, consider and then implement the strategies he outlines, you will find it relatively easy to start using them and then see positive results. The approach Steve outlines do not contain any elaborate or complicated formulas that frustrate or confuse readers who are looking for practical answers. The book provides you with real world examples in simple language and the tools needed to develop your leadership skills regardless of the current role that you hold.

The reason that Leadership: Plain and Simple is so engaging with readers is because Steve Radcliffe uses a unique FED approach to getting his message across. Within the 170 pages of this book, he clearly lays out his Future, Engage, and Deliver approach. Steve breaks down leadership into three clear stages:

Future – The Leader needs to have a clear vision that they can articulate about where the organisation is going. Or to put it another way they are “up to something” that they really care passionately about.
Engage – The Leader needs to be able to engage others, bring them onboard and get them moving towards that future vision.
Deliver – The Leader needs to be able to make things happen.

The approach he lays out in Leadership: Plain and Simple can be implemented as soon as the book has been completed. Through a very precise set of questioning, Steve will help you to understand exactly what your strengths already are, and where you need improvement in your leadership skills. Once you identify the areas that you are weak, the book is designed to help you to improve those areas through different scenarios that make you think about why you are lacking in those areas. The first chapters of the book go into specific detail in each of the three components of leadership, Future, Engage, and Deliver. There is one chapter dedicated to each of these practices, giving you the ability to create a strong foundation on which you build upon as you continue reading later chapters.

Once you begin reading these chapters, you will soon realize how important it is to understand what you care about and why is it so important for you to lead. Then you will learn about developing the skills needed for connecting and impacting those around you. Then once you learn to develop leadership skills, you will see how delivering through others will give you the ability to both deliver more today and in the future.

I am sure that as you read will quickly start to realise, like me, that a misconception that has been circulating for decades. There is no reason for leadership to be complicated, regardless of a persons IQ level or their job title, the natural human activity of leadership is within us all just waiting to be let out and developed. If you can create a compelling enough future, you have the ability to become an effective and powerful leader. This book will show you that if your future is compelling and you can get emotionally connected to it, you have the greatest chances of becoming a very strong leader.

As I said earlier, this is probably the best book on Leadership that I have ever read and I have read a few over the years! It’s Leadership – Plain and Simple and it’s an opportunity that’s waiting for you to grasp it.

You can buy Steve Radcliffe’s book here:

In the UK: Leadership – Plain and Simple
In the US: Leadership – Plain and Simple

Are You A FED-Up Job Seeker?

Are you fed up of Job Search? Yes it can be frustrating when you are trying to find a new job and you just want it to come to an end and for someone to offer you are a job can’t it! Well I want you to be really FED up! But not in the way you might think and not that I am wishing you more weeks and months of job search. But I want to suggest that you look at your job search in perhaps a different way.

This morning I had a telephone conversation with Steve Radcliffe which came about purely by chance. For those of you who may not recognise the name he is the author of Leadership Plain and Simple which for me is probably the best book I have ever read on Leadership.

I had a job interview around lunchtime today with an organisation that has taken on board Steve Radcliffe’s Leadership model. I had therefore taken the opportunity to re-read his book to refresh my memory on some aspects of the approach. Having done so I dropped Steve a line thanking him for re-inspiring me about something I am passionate about as a Learning and Development Professional which is keeping things simple!

I was pleasantly surprised to get a message from him asking if I would like a discussion about his Leadership Model before my interview. Of course I was delighted to accept and we had a really excellent discussion. So what’s all this got to do with job search and being truly FED up?

Well, if you are not familiar with Steve’s Leadership Model it is Future, Engage, Deliver (FED) and is a model which can be applied to so many people at every level of an organisation but equally to individuals who are not “leading” anyone.

In summary the model is based around the idea that effective leaders need to do three things:

Future – The Leader needs to have a clear vision that they can articulate about where the organisation is going. Or to put it another way they are “up to something” that they really care passionately about.
Engage – The Leader needs to be able to engage others, bring them onboard and get them moving towards that future vision.
Deliver – The Leader needs to be able to make things happen.

I love the simplicity of the model but equally the depth of insight it offers into the role of Leaders. If you want to explore it in a little more detail then I highly recommend getting yourself a copy of Leadership – Plain and Simple and like me you might find your views on leadership changing. Because as Steve shows leadership isn’t that complex!

During our conversation this morning Steve asked me how I was applying FED (Future, Engage, Deliver) right now. I didn’t really need to think about it because having been re-engaged with the concepts through reading the book again it is something I have been thinking about. As a Job Seeker I am “up to something” that I care passionately about. I have a clear understanding of the type of role I want to be doing and the type of organisation I want to work with. I am Engaging people through networking in many different ways, doing work on making relevant people aware of my personal brand and continuing to interact with people across social media. Then we come to “Deliver” and that of course is about ensuring that I am taking the actions required and getting others to take action for and with me to ensure that I can create the “Future” that I want.

I appreciate that at times it can seem a lonely, heartless task searching for a new job. However, if we think about it in terms of the leadership skills we can and are demonstrating it can make it a much more focused activity. Equally next time you are at an interview and you are asked when did you last demonstrate real leadership skills you can talk about your job search and you can also demonstrate your awareness of Future, Engage Deliver which makes leadership simple, understandable and effective.

As I said earlier I would highly recommend you getting hold of a copy of Leadership – Plain and Simple (UK) and if you are reading this in the US then you can get it here.

Do You Need To Lighten Up?

No this isn’t a call to suddenly become full of the joys of spring whilst you are searching for a new job. However, the results are in and it would appear that I definitely need to Lighten Up and you may well do too.

Let me explain. Various people of late have been talking about a website where you can upload your profile photograph(s) and get feedback from others on your picture against three criteria:

Competence – do you look like a competent individual?
Likeability – do you looking friendly?
Influential – do you give off an air of authority?

The prevailing wisdom, supported by some research, is that we are more likely to feel drawn to people who are likeable rather than those we necessarily see as competent or influential. So what does this mean for the job seeker? Given that our online profiles, whether they are on LinkedIn, Twitter or anywhere else that we open to the general public, are now seen as a key part of the complete job search campaign, then I think we need to be very aware of it. The research shows that when people are skimming through lists of people who are returned as matching their keyword searches (think recruiters searching LinkedIn) they are more likely to click on those that they perceive as “Likeable.”

Personally I hadn’t given it very much thought and had always gone for a serious looking (professional?) image to use on my profiles albeit that I had long since forsaken the collar and tie look! However, I asked someone whose opinion I value to review my LinkedIn profile recently (you can see it here Paul Duxbury) from top to bottom.

Their feedback was invaluable in terms of many areas of the profile but there was one thing that they commented on above all else. You guessed it! My profile picture! Their comment was that they thought that I looked “seriously, seriously serious” and that I was bordering on looking a little intimidating! Not quite the image that I wanted to project but given that I don’t especially like pictures of me smiling I had decided to go with a serious looking one from the professional photo shoot rather than the more relaxed looking picture.

With that feedback and after a little thought I decided that I would change my profile image to one with a hint of a smile and uploaded it to LinkedIn and the various other social media sites thereby ensuring a consistent personal brand.

I then decided to upload my original profile picture and my new picture to the site I mentioned at the start of this post which is PhotoFeeler which is free to use and you gain credits to have your photo voted on by voting on others. There is also an option, which I haven’t used, to buy credits so that you can get quicker results.

I was not too surprised, given the feedback I had received, that my original image was perceived as competent and influential but didn’t score too well on the likeable scale. However, what did throw me was that my new image was not scoring much better. Now fortunately one of the options on the site when you are scoring/voting on pictures is that you can leave a comment. When it came to my new picture there were quite a few comments that it was far too dark. Easily solved! Open the picture editor and lighten the picture, which is exactly what I did.

I then uploaded the new “lightened up” image to PhotoFeeler and waited for the scores to come in. A dramatic improvement with the feedback being that I look competent, influential and likeable!

It may only seem like a small thing but given the increased use of visual marketing in so many areas getting our online profile picture right when we are looking for a job is crucial. So many decisions can be made on the basis of a cursory glance and whether we like it or not we have to deal with it. Friends and family might tell us that they love our profile image and think it really captures us. But what about people we don’t know which for the most part is the group that recruiters belong to?

Therefore given that it’s free to use, in exchange for helping a few others, what have you got to lose. Check out what people you don’t know think of your profile picture by trying out PhotoFeeler.

How to Use Social Media in Your Job Hunt

I recently asked Oasis HR to share their thoughts on how job seekers should be making use of the various Social Media sites as part of their job hunt and I am delighted that they have shared their thoughts below.

Gone are the days where agencies and internal recruiters would have a job role to fill, post an advert and wait for responses and that be it. Nearly everyone has now heard of the term social media and a large majority are using it but are they using it effectively to benefit their career?

In this day and age people need to be more proactive and think about how they market themselves as professionals. As the number of platforms people can find information about you increases, the more important it is to create a ‘personal brand’. This is especially true for people actively seeking jobs. Below are some tips on how to optimise your personal brand on different social media platforms to be appealing to recruiters and companies. If you want to position yourself as a valuable asset for a specific industry or promote your unique skills-set, then it’s up to you do to this online (even more relevant in today’s candidate driven market).

Firstly not every platform is relevant for every industry and job role, but you need to ensure you have presence on a number of platforms to expose yourself effectively to the businesses you’re targeting. Below are the platforms that we, as recruiters, may use to headhunt talent with tips on how to optimise your profile on each. Bear in mind that at Oasis HR we predominantly operate within the mid to senior HR market, however these tips are mostly relevant no matter what job you’re looking to secure.

LinkedIn

Join groups and network with relevant industry bodies and thought-leadership communities
If you’re actively searching for a job, update you headline to state this and put a contact number. For example ‘seeking new opportunities, please contact on 077********’
Make your headline different to your job title so that you come up in more search results
Make sure profile is set to public
Get people to endorse you for relevant skills
Comment on relevant articles in your field to increase your exposure to recruiters (this also helps you position yourself as an industry expert)
Incorporate a blog into your profile
Connect to as many relevant recruiters as possible
Research prospective employers’ company pages and connect with relevant contacts when possible
Have a look at another blog we wrote on 13 tips to optimise your LinkedIn profile

Blogging

Blogging can be great tool for increasing your exposure and helping you to be seen as an industry expert. It is important to blog relevant industry articles but also communicate it in your own style to give the reader an idea of your personality. A blog can also be something you present in interviews showing your passion and knowledge of the area you are applying for.

Facebook

Follow corporate pages and comment on discussions. Also follow the careers page of companies you want to work for to gain information on the company and receive real time updates of new requisitions

Make sure your profile looks professional to the outside eye. Facebook is a tool we all use to engage more informally with our personal networks, so be conscious of your privacy settings and think twice about the type of posts and pictures you’re sharing if you don’t restrict your content to ‘friends only’

Twitter

Another tool to market yourself. If you follow the right people this will give you content to post much quicker than searching for it yourself
Re-tweet industry experts / news and tweet any of your own content to ensure you are seen as knowledgeable in your industry
Follow and engage with companies
Many companies post jobs via Twitter and also use hashtags to add a degree of ‘searchability’ to their hiring opportunities. Play around with your searches to uncover roles relevant to you

Google+

This social media platform offers a real opportunity for candidates and recruiters. Although it is not as well used as other social media sites, many recruiters are beginning to capitalise on the platform from a headhunting perspective, so again it can provide you with a further opportunity to reveal yourself to recruiters

Make sure your profile represents your personal brand and your areas of speciality
Have your contact details present
Use circles and communities to network and read around your industry

If you don’t have time for all of the above, we would highly recommend you focus on a couple of social media platforms and ensure these really represent you. The more people you follow that are relevant to your industry, the more information and insights are at your disposal to post on your own pages. But most importantly you are dramatically increasing your chances of crossing paths with a recruiter who might just have your dream job at their finger tips!

Oasis HR

A lot of businesses will tell you that they’re on an exciting journey with great projections for the future. We really are. Following our ‘back-bedroom’ origins in 2004, we’ve come a long way; globally recognised awards, international operations and an established APAC networking group.

We certainly don’t intend on slowing down any time soon. Through a blend of ambition, dedication and commitment to our industry sector, HR, Oasis HR will become the…Number one Global HR Recruitment partner of choice.

You can connect with us on Twitter at @theoasishr

The ART of Company Research

We all know it’s essential to research a company before an interview don’t we. But do we know why we are doing it? Well, we will be able to answer the “What do you know about us?” question of course, but I think it goes deeper than that. Essentially you need to be able to help the interviewer begin to picture you actually working in the organisation and the clearer you can paint this picture by aligning yourself to what is happening in the business, the more motivated the recruiter will be to hire you.

How do we do this? Well for starters we don’t fall for the oldest trick in the book, which was highlighted by that awful interview process they go through on The Apprentice. One candidate was asked by one of the Rottweilers “So what do you know about Amstrad?” He replied “Alan Sugar started it in 1968…” and proceeded to tell the Amstrad story. The camera panned away to another scene; came back and he was still talking about the colourful history. Panned away; came back and he was still going! Yes he’d done his research, but how useful was it?

My view is that you must be smart about your research. The interviewer really isn’t too interested in that you know the company was founded in 1906 on a market stall….They are hiring you for their future, not their past so let’s feed them the information that leaves them with the feeling that you will fit into that future. This means the information you research has to be current and if there is any indication of what their future plans are, then all the better.

Where Do I find This Information?

Company Website

Yes, have a brief look at the history for background info but click very quickly (dependant on company size) to the press releases, or investor relations tab where current and future-focused information is housed. Also do have a look at their current product or service range. What’s your opinion of it? Are you getting a sense that they are acquisitive or spreading around the globe? If you are fluent in a language where you can see that they are looking to develop into, this is gold dust which you can share at interview helping paint the picture.
Also have a look and see if they have published values. Always useful to know them to marry against your own, but also if appropriate asking how the values are lived in the business is a great question to ask at the end of an interview.

You may also find the company has their own blog site or a comprehensive careers page with interesting information relating to particular job types.

Company Research Sites

A number exist such as Hoovers.com but are mainly subscription based. Some useful information can be gained such as on Hoovers if you bring up the basic information it tells you who the company’s 3 main competitors are. Useful. Instead of these sites however I would now reference the multitude of information on social media sites – this is where insights are, rather than dry facts.

Social Media

The most useful in my view are:

LinkedIn – I’m sure we are all LinkedIn users, if not then please read the blogs on its benefits to candidates, but LinkedIn holds a wealth of information on not only the organisation but obviously the people within it. This opens another door to personal referral listed below, but use your contacts and Companies tab to see how you are able to gain first hand info on the company.
Facebook – In this world of employer branding, companies of all sizes are likely to have a Facebook page. This is a fantastic way to see how the organisation interacts with its customers and prospective employees. You get a very real sense (warts and all sometimes) about the company’s style, approach and attitude. If this suits you then again referring to this helps to paint the picture.
Twitter – As with Facebook you’ll see the company actively reaching out to its market. If you follow them the discussions may provide you with real insights as well as the possibility of job postings.
Glassdoor – A site that has gained real traction over the last few years where people post their experiences of companies onto the site. Take some with a pinch of salt, but if you see a trend appearing utilise the good and question the bad.
Brave New Talent – A site set up to share knowledge. Companies post small learning videos and through a free account you can again get an insight into the organisation’s thinking or approach to market.

Personal Referral

There is still no substitute for talking with someone who works there. Get referred to people who will hopefully share a balanced view of the business and may be able to refer you on further. Do plan for these conversations though – what would you really like to know? Without bragging, if the interviewer realises you already have a small network in the business, that picture is being painted.

Job Boards

I always think it is fascinating to see if the company is advertising for other jobs in the market. How do they phrase the content, what are they saying about the company’s future? Are there loads of jobs in sales for example – what does that mean? Where are most jobs located?

Competing Companies

Sounds odd maybe but if you do similar research on the competitors you may pick up vital market comparisons and initiatives that may be intelligence for the recruiting company. “I see that X are developing low emission products. What are your plans in this market?”

Researching a company is an art. The art is to paint the picture of you working in the future organisation, so search for relevant info that you can relate to and draw the interviewer’s attention to this. No research is wasted, so enjoy it and see it as a genuinely interesting fact finding mission – but know what facts you may find useful and add them to your palette. Brush up on the people and culture of the organisation and you’ll be ready to canvass yourself out there in the market place. (OK, OK, even I’m cringing with the puns now, sorry!). Good luck!!

Paul Deeprose

Paul Deeprose runs The Career Gym, helping you get your career into shape.

Please do tweet him @pauldeeprose if you want to give your whole career a workout, or need one-off personal support in career planning, interview practice or CV writing.