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Almost all business leaders agree the most important component of their cultural fabric is their core values. Executive teams and strategic coaches have spent countless hours developing and refining these crucial organizational identifiers. Good hiring managers screen for the organization's core values early on in the screening process to gauge core values fit - before the hiring manager has fallen in love with the candidate. A core values email screen should be conducted after a candidate has successfully passed the first phone screen. In the email screen, the candidate is asked to reply in an email how they have lived each of the organization's core values. This not only gives the hiring manager a feel for how the candidate internalizes the core values, but also provides a great sample of their writing and email skills. Here is a sample email screen: Below are the core values for the ABC Company. Please take a few moments to provide an example of how you have demonstrated each of these core values in your professional life. We are looking for specific examples; if you do not have one, you may leave it blank, but we are not looking for hypothetical situations. We don’t expect a novel, but sometimes being too brief loses the meaning or the context. Please respond as though you were responding to an email request from the individual to whom you report. Results Driven: Be accountable for getting the right things done right and on time. Team Focus: Place team goals ahead of personal goals. Do the Right Thing: Even when no one is looking or will ever find out. Empowered hiring managers use a core values email screening to increase their odds of making a successful hire.

When clients include multiple stakeholders in the Role Definition foundational stage of the selection process, the feedback is inevitable astonishment and satisfaction around the clarity, consensus, and buy-in achieved in such a short period of time. Sure, anyone could write a job description and force it into the format of a Job Scorecard, asking others to comment on the relatively finished product, but that just accomplishes an illusion of inclusion. Including the stakeholders of a position within your firm allows everyone to contribute to what success will really look and feel like if the activities are executed at a level of excellence; this includes both objective and subjective measurables. Who would be included as a stakeholder? Those who understand what it might take to do the job well, or those who would be impacted if the job were done poorly or well. As an example, if you were defining a sales leadership role, certainly you’d include the leader of the position you are defining, those who would report to this role (sales or account representatives), operations (they need to deliver what is sold), finance/accounting (they always want a say if sales is earning their keep), customer service ( needs to follow up on the difference between what was promised and what was delivered), etc. Now imagine the odds of success when a new person comes into the role! All these stakeholders are looking forward to person doing the work they helped define and on which they rely. The stakeholders are excited to help the person get up to speed so they can contribute more fully and shorten the learning curve. In general, the support the new hire will receive is far greater than the typical wait-and-see attitude team members typically experience when they’ve been kept in the dark about the expectations and impact of a new team member. Empowering leaders include others to help define a role (new or existing) to ensure the success of all team members.

Everyone has heard the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. If hiring managers believe the way they’ve hired in the past gives them as much confidence as rolling dice, why wouldn’t they do something different in hopes of increasing their odds? Many leaders have a process to yield excellent results and prevent weak, or worse, disastrous hires. It is important to tweak the process from time to time to accommodate various needs. That may include using a search firm to source candidates who are then run through the process, adding an additional round of interviews, moving assessments up in the process, or doing a much longer phone interview before flying a candidate into town. The bottom line is, there needs to be an evolving process – not just a particular kind of interview, or use of an assessment. A process that yields certain results and allows for adjustments when necessary. Hiring managers shouldn’t throw out an entire process, but objectively examine what seems to be working well and where it could be improved. Empowered hiring managers make successful hiring decisions by having a process that works.

A single page job accountability document succinctly identifies job expectations and identifies success factors. Leaders and their direct reports should be reviewing and updating this document at least quarterly. A well-crafted job accountability report can be used for other purposes as well. When recruiting, send each candidate a copy of the job accountabilities. It’s surprising how many candidates, after seeing how accountable they are expected to be, deselect themselves saving interview time. Job accountabilities can also be shared among direct reports. When everyone knows what is expected of their co-workers, there will be much more appreciation for each other's priorities and a greater focus on success factors. Leaders who incorporate job accountabilities into their leadership practices will not only empower their direct reports to succeed, but the hiring team’s effectiveness improves as well.

It’s an established fact that people who have healthy personal relationships have greater trust and are more willing to extend themselves for each other than those who have lesser relationships. It then makes sense that leaders who want extra effort from their direct reports should have stronger personal relationships. How well do leaders know their direct reports? They should be able to answer these four questions about each of their direct reports: 1. What is the name of their spouse or significant other? 2. What are their hobbies or interests? 3. What are the names and ages of their children or grandchildren? 4. What is the breed and name of their pet? Leaders don’t need to be overly personal with their direct reports, but they should know a little about them. A personal relationship can come from casual water cooler type conversations. Regularly scheduled weekly one-on-one meetings are a great way to develop this relationship. In our experience, there is no more important leadership technique than one-on-one meetings. Empowered leaders develop deeper personal relationships with their direct reports that lead to more success.

So many times leaders can feel overwhelmed by requests for urgent issues and tasks. Unfortunately, urgent does not always mean important, but the urgent often trumps the important if leaders aren't prepared to respond to the request at the moment it is asked. By having corporate goals prioritized, and cascaded throughout the organization to individual goals, leaders take a giant leap toward ensuring energy is focused on the truly important. A great aspect of prioritizing goals is that direct reports, when faced with an urgent request, can weigh it against the importance of corporate goals. A simple explanation to a co-worker: "I'm sorry - I'd love to help you, but I'm working on this project which ties directly to our #1 corporate priority. I'll be happy to help once I complete this," can say "no" without pain on either giving or receiving end. Additionally, at the end of the day, direct reports feel like they accomplished something, not just spinning wheels reacting to everyone else's priorities. Warning: Leaders shouldn’t be surprised if direct reports use the same approach to their requests! Leaders can empower direct reports to great success, by allowing them to say "no" to urgent, not important priorities.

Most leaders have exceptional problem solving skills - that's generally what got them to their leadership position; however, when providing course correction feedback to direct reports, skip the problem solving and ask the direct report to come up with a solution. Course correction feedback should focus on the direct report's behavior AND their responsibility to change it. The leader's job is point out the correction, offer encouragement, and solicit a behavior change. The natural tendency will be for the leader to offer solutions - don't do it. Let the direct report provide the solution; there will be a greater chance getting the wanted behavior change. Some examples: "Tim, we really appreciate you attending the management meetings, but when you raise your voice and sneer at Joe, the team respects you less. What can you do next time?" "Sue, I like all your hard work, but when you show up late for work, we all think you don't care about the team. What can you do to be at work on time each day?" "Joe, great sales call yesterday, but when you order a martini for lunch, our clients might question our professionalism. How might you handle the next client lunch?" Leaders who empower their direct reports to offer course correction solutions will experience future successes.

According to a study conducted by Management Research Group evaluating the leadership practices and effectiveness of over 60,000 managers and executives, a strategic approach to leadership was 10 times more important to the perception of effectiveness than other leadership behaviors. This strategic focus was twice as important as communication and almost 50 times more important than hands-on tactical behaviors. Strategic leaders take a broad, long-range approach to problem solving and decision-making that involves objective analysis, thinking ahead, and planning. They think in multiple time frames, identifying what needs to be accomplished over time and what has to happen now, in six months, in a year, and in three years. It means thinking systemically, and identifying the impact of their decisions on various segments of the organization. Here are some ways leaders can help their direct reports think strategically: Encourage them to set aside regular time for strategic planning; Provide information on the market, the industry, customers, competitors and new technologies that influence your business, exposing relevant and broad business information to help direct reports elevate their thinking beyond the day-to-day; Keep them informed on what is happening internally by sharing information across boundaries, allowing them to see the organization from a global perspective; Connect them with a mentor known for keeping people focused on strategic objectives and the impact of actions on the broader organizational strategy; Communicate a well-articulated philosophy, mission and goal statement throughout the organization, allowing them to understand the broader organizational strategy in order to stay focused and incorporate it into their own plans and strategies; Reward direct reports for evidence of creating a culture in which problems are anticipated and avoided to discourage crisis management. Leaders who empower their direct reports to think strategically experience more success.

Confirmation bias is the tendency to favor information that confirms our beliefs and dismiss information that does not support our views. We all have confirmation biases that cloud our reasoning. The extent to which we can become aware of our biases and minimize them will allow us to make better decisions. As one unaware leader said, “My mind is already made up, don’t confuse me with the facts." Hiring managers deal with confirmation bias frequently when evaluating candidates and rely on assessments to improve their objectivity. If candidates are going to be assessed, the assessment should be administered early enough in the selection process before an opinion has been developed on a candidate. Once the hiring manager decides on a candidate, the assessment may do little to change their mind. In this case, by the time hiring managers administer assessments, the results are used to confirm their bias and dismiss information that does not support their beliefs about a candidate. Candidates should be assessed after the first interview, but before reference checks and follow-up or group interviews. This allows hiring managers to objectively analyze the assessment results and minimize their confirmation bias. Empowered hiring managers assess candidates early in the process and experience more successful hires.

Almost every company has some sort of annual goals. But, according to the Staples Small Business Survey, more than 80% of small business owners admit they don’t give enough attention to achieving them. Leaders should place more attention on aligning these targets throughout the organization. According to business thought leader James Fischer, companies that regularly allow staff to author, contribute and monitor the business goals have 60% less employee turnover than those that plan and strategize from the top down. An organization’s goals should be communicated to everyone within the organization - everyone. Department goals should be aligned with the organization goals and individual goals aligned with department goals. Everyone should have objectives that are linked to the priorities of the organization. Example: organization goal - increase sales by $500,000 by December 31; IT department goal - implement new CRM system by June 30; IT Manager goal - choose CRM system by February 1. Once the leader shares organization and department goals, direct reports should determine their own objectives with the leader’s coaching. Leaders who empower their team to achieve individual goals benefit from employee engagement, collaboration, and corporate stewardship success.

Parents who have sat through one of their child’s graduation ceremonies, know the mixed feelings they experienced; a mix of joy, sadness, and pride. Pride for the accomplishment of the graduate and pride for the contributions they've made to the graduate's success. Leaders should feel the same pride for their direct report's achievements. If they continuously challenged their direct report to develop while providing resources and removing obstacles for their success, they should feel deep pleasure and satisfaction. In fact, the resumes of leaders today will often include the development and accomplishments of their direct reports, as well as their own accomplishments. When interviewing for leaders hiring managers should probe for how the leader has developed their direct reports. Empower direct reports to succeed and revel in their accomplishments.

Whether a leader defines jobs using a traditional job description or an Accountability Matrix, they’ll want to get input from people who interact with the individual in the job when outlining the key requirements. The leader and/or HR are generally responsible for defining the requirements for a job. Soliciting input from those closest to the job provides two important advantages. First, the people working closely with the job know whether it’s being done correctly or not — often because it impacts their work. Gaining input from these stakeholders helps further define the success factors of the job. Secondly, consulting the stakeholders creates a commitment from them to the individual in the job to succeed since they had a hand in defining it. Just imagine the support felt by the person in the role. Empowered leaders ask for input from many people when defining jobs and that creates more success for their direct reports.