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Every leader can tell you about the hard working, tireless group of employees that helped them start their business. The leader realizes they would not have experienced success without the contributions of these loyal workers. Unfortunately as the business matures and changes, the people with whom they started their business are not necessarily those with whom they grow their business.  The skills required to launch a start-up are different from those needed to grow.  Even after the business has passed them by, most leaders are reluctant to displace the loyal group they started with. A leader owes it to the organization and their loyal but underperforming employees to move along without them.  This doesn't mean their departure shouldn't be treated more favorably than others, but they do need to be moved on. Probably the best example of this was when Bill Gates realized Microsoft had outgrown him and he replaced himself as CEO with Steve Ballmer in 2000. Empowered leaders challenge their loyalties and are more successful leaders. #themetissgroup

What is more important? Making 20 sales calls or closing $500,000 in new sales? Conducting weekly cycle inventories or .5% inventory shrink? Publishing regular newsletters or 97% customer retention? Creating weekly collections reports or receivables less than 30 days? Attending safety classes or zero days lost to workplace injury? All too often leaders and direct reports are so focused on the activities they lose sight of the ultimate objective.  Leaders should make sure their direct reports understand their objective, have the resources available to achieve that objective, and then get out of the way. Does it really matter that the sales associate made only 7 sales calls but still achieved the $500,000 sales objective?  Leaders have a tendency to micro-manage the day-to-day activities because they are the easiest to affect.  Instead, clearly define the expectation - objective, time frame, resources, and restraints - and hold their direct reports accountable for the results without getting immersed in the details. Leaders who focus on goals and empower their direct reports with the resources to achieve them experience more success. #themetissgroup

“Would you hire this person again?” is probably the most common and most useless question asked in reference checks.  Almost every time the question is answered in the affirmative and provides little insight into the candidate’s work history. Most hiring managers have made their decision to hire a candidate before reference checks and, if they do references at all, do them casually. In fact, references are an important step in the selection process and should be conducted with as much concern as interviews.  Hiring managers should allot 20 to 30 minutes for the reference check call and at least that much time preparing.  The questions asked of the reference should be behavior based and tied to some concerns uncovered about the candidate. No candidate is perfect; the job of the hiring manager is to find the candidate’s weaknesses and determine whether or not they can accept them.  What better way to understand this than by asking someone close to the candidate about their observations?  For example, if the hiring manager is concerned about a candidate’s ability to handle conflict, one of the questions they should ask is: “Joe has made it very far in out selection process and we want to make sure we position him for success.  Like all of us I’m sure Joe does some things better than others.  We’d like to get your observation of some situations in which you observed Joe could use support and those times when it’s best to stay out of his way. Can you describe a situation in which Joe had conflicting opinions with a co-worker?  How did he react?  How did the situation turn out?” Hiring managers must not be afraid to push for specifics and ask for other situations. References want their associate to succeed and often freely recount situations that will help managers position the candidate for success. These same recollections often help to decide whether to hire the candidate or not. Empowered hiring managers use well constructed reference checks to make successful hires. #themetissgroup

The one personal skill that continues to differentiate success from mediocrity is personal accountability.  Personal accountability is defined as the ability to be responsible for the consequences of one’s actions and decisions.  Personal accountability is a personal skill that can be observed and developed. A person who has a strong sense of personal accountability has an internal responsibility to be accountable; a willingness to “own up” that will be exhibited in the person’s actions.  Someone who has personal accountability will perform well even when expectations are not clear, resources are hard to find, or competition is tough. How do leaders know if the people they are looking to hire or their direct reports have personal accountability?  Ask these questions: Tell me about a time when it was necessary to admit to others that you had made a mistake.  How did you handle it? Give an example of a situation where others had made an error or mistake and you had to take the blame for their actions.  How did you react? What is the worst business decision you ever made?  What made it the worst? Would knowing what you do now have helped you to avoid making that decision? Give me an example of a lesson you have learned from making a mistake.  What did you do differently going forward? Leaders who understand the personal accountability capacity of each direct report will be empowered and empower others for greater success. #themetissgroup.com

One sign of a controlling leader is they become ineffective when they or their cohorts are not around to use external controls.  It’s not uncommon to hear a leader say, "I can't go on a two week vacation, the place will fall apart if I'm gone that long." Going away for two weeks is a perfect way to test for empowerment; however, leaders cannot just dump and run.  Here are some actions leaders can take to ensure they and their direct reports feel confident while they are gone: Document the critical aspects of the leader’s position; Identify direct reports who are capable of these aspects (they need not all be carried out by the same person); Train and/or cross-train; Have a direct report do the aspect of the work as a trial run before leaving; Finally, enjoy the time away. By empowering direct reports to perform aspects of the leader’s job while they're gone and entrusting them to make decisions in their absence, direct reports will successfully increase trust, confidence, engagement, and productivity.  Leaders may even find that allowing the direct report to continue that work upon their return opens new options up for them. #themetissgroup #leadershipdevelopment

Struggling to convert prospects into clients despite a well-trained, experienced sales team and solid marketing strategies? The issue often isn't the process but how salespeople connect with prospects. Our SalesAdvantage Process addresses this by focusing on the foundation of effective sales interactions. This interactive, two-part workshop begins with self-assessment, helping participants understand their communication style and its perception by others. It emphasizes adapting to the customer's style for more successful engagements. Practical exercises, including observing and adapting to different behavioral styles in everyday situations, are integral. By viewing challenges through the lens of behavioral adaptation, even the toughest prospects become approachable, reigniting the sales team's enthusiasm and effectiveness. Ready to empower your team with this game-changing strategy? Empowering leaders provide the resources necessary to allow sales people to thrive! #themetissgroup

Successful people are outstanding performers. Outstanding performers stay on top of their game.  They are lifelong learners, committed to learning everything they can about their profession, their business, their company, their company's competitors, and life in general.  As the Chinese proverb says, “if you quit learning, you are not standing still, you are losing ground.” Supporting direct reports as they learn and grow is the leader’s job; learning and growing is the direct reports’ job.  When encouraging direct reports to learn, set goals.  Instead of "learning PowerPoint," how about "learn PowerPoint and prepare a staff presentation on September 1st?"  Or, "increase industry knowledge by reading the Wall Street Journal health section each day and report back at the end of the quarter those things learned." Personal development is important and leaders who empower direct reports to set goals make the success real. #themetissgroup

Most leaders admit to being poor interviewers.  Interviewing is a learned skill and is something hiring managers seldom do and typically have had little or no training. Those leaders who conduct their own interviews often miss much of the candidate’s response (verbal and non-verbal) as they prepare for their next question or process the answer to a prior question.  Also hiring managers tend to spend too much time talking and not enough listening.  Hiring managers can use an experienced interviewer to conduct interviews while they observe the candidate being interviewed. The hiring manager learns much more watching and listening to the candidate when they are not leading the interview because they have the opportunity to use the critical thinking skills they’ve honed while processing the answers from candidates.  The leader may contribute occasionally but someone else should do the majority of the interviewing.  It’s surprising how much more hiring managers are able to evaluate a candidate when all they have to do is observe them. Empowered hiring managers have an experienced interviewer lead their interviews and make more successful hires. #themettisgroup

Sometimes leaders are disappointed with the performance of a direct report who was expected to be a superstar but didn’t pan out that way.  Sometimes a mediocre hire can slip through the cracks when shooting for a great hire; but other times the reason for a new hire not reaching their potential is best found looking in the mirror.  Even the hires with the greatest capabilities need some quality time with their leader to reach their full promise. If leaders have an expensive hard asset like a large copier or other piece of equipment, they’re likely to invest in on-going maintenance to avoid unforeseen mishaps or negative surprises; interestingly enough, they’re willing to make these investments despite the fact that those assets will only depreciate over time.  When you think about a human asset that should appreciate over time, why wouldn’t leaders invest in similar performance maintenance to ensure the highest level of performance? When it comes to accelerating the performance of direct reports leaders should invest in weekly one-on-one time, provide on-going and timely course corrections and positive feedback, deliver quarterly performance reviews, discuss goal alignment, and encourage personal development.  Leaders who have fallen out of the habit of those activities should start them back up.  If they’ve never tried them, try it for a month and watch the investment grow. Leaders who empower their direct reports by investing some quality time with them then watch the ROI grow on their original hiring investment.

Succession begins with documenting key aspects of HOW critical components of a position are done.  However many leaders feel guilty asking a direct report to do this for fear it sounds like "I'm getting ready to fire you, so I need to know what you do and how you do it." A direct report may jump to this conclusion, but it can be framed differently.  The truth is, not only does each job in the organization need critical functions well documented in case of emergency, but this must be done so direct reports can be prepared for growth and guilt free vacations. The job they may someday leave must be documented so someone else can be cross-trained to perform the accountabilities well.  The job the promoted direct report moves into must be documented so they may be cross-trained and developed to be prepared for success. Minimally, if key aspects are documented, the direct report can return from vacation prepared to keep the ball rolling, not having to dig through a backlog. Leaders who empower their direct reports to participate in succession by documenting critical components of a position prepare them for growth. #themetissgroup #successionplanning

Many, if not most organizations, promote their employees as being their “greatest asset.”  Unfortunately, most employees indicate they hardly feel like an asset, much less among the greatest assets of the company. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average employee stays at a company for 3.5 years and makes about $40,000 per year.  Therefore the average “employee asset” costs organizations just in wages $140,000. Leaders should invest in their employee assets as they would in other $140,000 assets?  Think about how much time is spent buying and maintaining computer systems – how does that compare to the time spent hiring and accelerating the performance of direct reports?  Leaders should ask themselves these questions: Do I give my “greatest assets” daily, customized feedback? Do I invest 30 minutes of uninterrupted one-on-one time weekly with my “greatest assets” talking about their issues? Do I review my “greatest assets'” accomplishments, personal development, core value adherence, and future objectives at least quarterly? Do my “greatest assets” have clear job accountabilities specifying key activities, time percentages, priorities, and success factors? Do my “greatest assets” know what the organization’s goals are and do they have goals that are aligned to the organization’s goals? Do my “greatest assets” continually work at developing to be a better person – physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually? Do I have a succession plan for my “greatest assets” so they don’t feel trapped in their role? Remember, unlike most assets on the balance sheet, these assets should appreciate over time so the investment made in them should continue to net great returns.  Invest in greatest assets regularly and empower them so they’ll be successful. #TheMetissGroup #LeadershipDevelopment

President: “We need to invest more in developing our employees.” Controller: “We can’t invest in them, what if they leave?” President: “What if we don’t invest in them and they stay?” The largest expense line item on most company’s income statement is their payroll.  Studies and corporate bottom lines show that companies reap many benefits from investing in training for employees.  Why is it then that leaders are reluctant to invest in developing their talent? Based on the training investments of 575 companies during a three-year period, researchers found that firms investing the most in training and development (measured by total investment per employee and percentage of total gross payroll) yielded a 36.9 percent total shareholder return as compared with a 25.5 percent weighted return for the S&P 500 index for the same period. That's a return 45 percent higher than the market average. These same firms also enjoyed higher profit margins, higher income per employee, and higher price-to-book ratios. Firms that invest $1,500 per employee in training compared with those that spend $125 experience an average of 24 percent higher gross profit margins and 218 percent higher revenue per employee (source: Laurie J. Bassi et al., "Profiting From Learning: Do Firms' Investments in Education and Training Pay Off?" American Society for Training and Development, 2000). For example, The Cheesecake Factory, one of the most successful restaurant chains in the nation, spends about $2,000 per employee for training each year and reaps sales of $1,000 per square foot—more than twice the industry average. Empowered leaders invest in talent development and experience more success than their competition.