DDI’s Talent Management Intelligence

Wielding Power over a King

By Bradford Thomas

Months in advance my wife had circled the calendar for the date that “The King’s Speech” opened in theaters—I mean “theatres” since this is an English film. I could say it’s her desire to feel high-brow or to add culture to our lives, but in reality it is because of her infatuation with Colin Firth.

I have to say that this is an inspiring movie which should land Mr. Firth an Academy Award for his portrayal of Queen Elizabeth’s father, King George VI. What made it inspiring to me is the dynamic between the two main characters—King George VI and Lionel Logue, a speech therapist deftly played by Geoffrey Rush.

You see, the King has a debilitating stammer and has turned to Logue for help. Logue’s challenge is to convince a very prideful and assertive King to do some very unconventional and less than royal things—such as wobbling his cheeks back and forth and firing off a series of four-letter words. Logue is effective because he is able tailor his approach with the King. He cuts through the “King and His Subject” relationship by refusing to call him “His Majesty.” Instead, Logue calls the King by his childhood nickname “Bertie.”

In a pivotal scene, Logue casually sits on the ancestral throne at Westminster Abbey as a way to goad Bertie into speaking with a loud and angry voice. What Logue demonstrates with these tactics is a mastery of gaining commitment.

The key to gaining commitment is using interpersonal skills and persuasion to involve and convince others to take action. This is a very difficult behavior for new leaders in particular to master. In fact, DDI found that 52% of frontline leaders aren't as strong at gaining the committment of others as they need to be.

Think about how effective you are at influencing others in your personal and private lives—whether it is your friends or family, your direct reports or manager. Here are a few tips that can go a long way towards gaining commitment:

• Sell them the WIIFM (What’s in it for ME). Help them see how they would personally benefit from your idea.
• Tailor your approach. Everyone has different motivations, perspectives and hot buttons—you need to figure out what these are and adapt your interactions accordingly.
• It’s easier to row with everyone in the boat. People tend to feel ownership of decisions when they feel that they’ve been heard. If you involve everyone in the discussion from the beginning, they will be more likely to be receptive—and even an advocate for your ideas.

If an Australian speech therapist can wield the power of persuasion over a King, just imagine what you could do.

Bradford Thomas is a Product Manager at Development Dimensions International, Inc. (DDI)

HR: There’s an App for That

By Bradford Thomas

Greetings from the 13th Annual HR Technology conference in Chicago.

What a difference a few years makes. Three years ago I was walking through McCormick Place searching for cell coverage.  This year I'm on the floor of the conference trying to use the tiny keyboard on my Droid to write this blog.

What I'm seeing at the conference this year is the beginning of a technology shift within HR—one that will definitely make the life of HR practitioners much easier. Social media and smart phone applications are driving this shift . . .

Read the entire post on Brad's guest blog on SmartBlog on Workforce.

Bradford Thomas is a manager at Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Reflections from the HR Tech Show

By Bradford Thomas

I spent last week at the HR Tech Conference in Chicago and had some interesting conversations with HR professionals preparing to ramp-up their talent initiatives as the economy improves and hiring is on the horizon. But the biggest a-ha of the week was that while it is imperative for companies to begin laying the foundation for growth through IT infrastructure (we were at a tech conference, after all), they also need to address employee satisfaction and potential turnover risks. Talent issues can’t be solved merely through software.

Read more of what I heard and saw this week on SmartBlog on Workforce.

Bradford Thomas is a Manager at Development Dimensions International.

Monday through Friday Morning Quarterbacks

By Bradford Thomas

On the way into work the other day I was listening to ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike in the Morning Show. The two Mikes were discussing whether it is Tony Romo’s fault that the Dallas Cowboys have not taken it to the next level. This led to an engaging discussion on whether NFL teams could really succeed without their quarterback being the leader. John Elway. Dan Marino. Brett Favre. Leaders.

What about Bradshaw? Was he the leader with all of the vocal members of the Steel Curtain? 

This got me to thinking about office chit-chat. How many times have you heard someone say, “Mary is the quarterback of my sales team” or “Bill really quarterbacks those monthly accounting meetings”?

Most people would replace the word quarterback in both of these sentences with leader or manager without missing a beat. That’s because most of these comments refer to front-line leaders—those managers or supervisors who go into the huddle with their teams each day and run the X’s and O’s of the business.

The words manager and leader may be first-cousins, but they’re not perfect synonyms. Army recruits, marketing associates or defensive linemen may display leadership qualities—think of Ray Lewis pumping up the fans and his teammates before a goal-line stand—but not possess the decision-making skills of the sergeant, marketing manager, or quarterback. On the flip side, an IT manager may be great at planning and organizing, a key managerial competency, but poor at inspiring others, a key leader competency. 

The fact is that most organizations want their current and emerging managers to have leadership potential—an ability to develop good leadership skills in the near future—but they desperately need them to be able to manage on day one. A rookie quarterback, like Mark Sanchez with the Jets, is expected to manage his team’s offense, but he earns the right over time to be the leader.

Let me turn it over to you: Do you feel there is a difference between managing and leading?  Which one takes precedence when your organization is assessing readiness to step into a supervisor role?

Bradford Thomas is a Manager at Development Dimensions International.

Social Networkers Anonymous

By Bradford Thomas

Is there such a thing as being too plugged into the world?

On a typical work day I receive about 90 e-mails.  It’s my own fault because I have become addicted to signing up for breaking news alerts, RSS feeds, and—my particular weakness—LinkedIn user groups.  I monitor every topic under the sun from recruiting to sales talent management to the business environment in China.

Based upon the multitude of e-newsletters and Linked-In discussions around Social Networking in HR, I suspect I am not alone.  Witness this sampling of headlines from the past few weeks:

• “Social Networking: The Future of your Recruitment Strategy”
• “Tweeting Job Posts”
• “Using LinkedIn to Maximize Recruiting Efforts: A Step-by-Step Guide”

It doesn’t just stop with the media pushing us to catch up with the rest of the HR world.  We do it to ourselves. 

I can’t tell you the number of postings like this from recruiters in my LinkedIn Group discussion threads:  “Hello, I’m an open networker with close to 10k first level connections and I am looking to expand my network. Please send me an invite and I will accept it!”  Talk about using LinkedIn as your own personal Applicant Tracking System.

Am I the only one to read these postings and feel inadequate about only having 117 connections—even if those connections link me directly to over 1,960,400 professionals?

But is there any real value for recruiters to collect connections—other than bragging about the size of your network at parties?

Is social networking for recruiting working to your advantage? Read more on the topic and let me know what you think.

Bradford Thomas is a Manager at Development Dimensions International.