Right Attitudes » Ideas for Impact
» by Nagesh Belludi

In response to my previous article on why résumés should not list references, blog reader Ana Maria inquired, “I’ve been asked to provide references before an interview. What should I do?”

Short answer: decline politely. Say, “I prefer to give you a list of references after my interview.” Here is why.

References are relevant only during the later part of the recruiting process, i.e. after a prospective employer has interviewed you and desires to check others’ impressions of you prior to extending you an offer.

As a candidate, you should choose to describe yourself first to the prospective employer in an interview. Your references should represent your credentials only after you and the employer have established a mutual interest. This is the established protocol.

Besides, providing references after an interview is respectful of your references. You would not want to bother your references too often or make public their contact information.

The above guideline holds even if you are interviewing through a contracting firm or recruitment agency. Such intermediaries routinely complete reference checks before they present worthy candidates to their clients/recruiters. For that reason, the recruiting agency may contact your references after an initial interview with a representative of the agency. Subsequently, the agency may forward your references’ opinions to a prospective employer, but should not pass your references’ contact information.

Recommended Reading

• The ‘STAR’ technique to answer behavioral interview questions
• Résumé references not necessary
• The hurry-burry résumé

***See other articles related to interviewing, job search, resume tips, hiring, recruiting, job interviews

Against stupidity, the Gods themselves contend in vain.
* Johann Friedrich Von Schiller

A witty saying proves nothing.
* Voltaire

Basically, I no longer work for anything
but the sensation I have while working.
* Albert Giacometti

Dirt is matter out of place.
Weed is a plant out of place.
Nuisance is action out of place.
Even those things, acts or words which are normally good
and useful become bad, useless and even harmful when
they are out of place, time and circumstance.
A knowledge of this fact is an essential part of wisdom.
* Krishnananda

Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.
* Isaac Newton

To be wronged is nothing,
unless you continue to remember it.
* Confucius

In the end we’ll remember
not the words of our enemies,
but the silence of our friends.
* Martin Luther King, Jr.

Learn that the present hour alone is man’s.
* Samuel Johnson

In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts:
they come back to us with certain alienated majesty.
* Ralph Waldo Emerson

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living
and your belief will help create the fact.
* William James

Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations

• Instructions for Life. 43 quotes of wisdom and flashes of insight. My personal favorites: (1) When you say, “I’m sorry,” look the person in the eye. (2) Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before. (3) Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
• Ten Fatal Flaws that Derail Leaders. Often, leaders do not realize their mistakes or try to hide them rather than owning up to them. Effective leaders have the capability to spot their own mistakes, reflect on them and recognize how to correct them. Here is a list of ten obvious leadership lapses. Use this “to-avoid” list to assess your own performance and reflect on what you may need to do differently.
• Finding Patience at Work. “Our lives at work are filled with difficulty. Patience requires that we fully and directly face our difficulties, that we embrace and learn from situations and from our feelings about them. Owning and transforming our pain and disappointment can be a tremendous challenge, as well as a tremendous gift.” Quote from “Z.B.A.: Zen of Business Administration,” Marc Lesser. Source: The Daily Dharma from Tricycle magazine
• Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale. An easy and effective test to measure how recent life events could lead to stress and illness.
• What Do You Tell Your Boss and When? Fortune magazine columnist Stanley Bing offers this quiz to help assess your communication style with your boss. My blog has previously discussed the importance of keeping your boss in line and suiting his preferred style of communication.
• Compilation of the Funniest Résumé Mistakes. Amusing examples of vagaries, mistakes and overstretched qualifications on résumés of job applicants.

***See other articles related to patience, resume tips, managing your boss, stress, well-being, effective leadership

There are forces in life working for you and against you.
One must distinguish the beneficial forces from the
malevolent ones and choose correctly between them.
* A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

No virtue is more universally accepted as
a test of good character than trustworthiness.
* Harry Emerson Fosdick

The responsibility of the executive is (1) to create and maintain
a sense of purpose and moral code for the organization;
(2) to establish systems of formal and informal communication;
and (3) to ensure the willingness of people to cooperate.
* Chester Barnard

In a mad world only the mad are sane.
* Akira Kurosawa

Speak little, do much.
* Benjamin Franklin

A powerful agent is the right word.
Whenever we come upon one of those intensely right words
in a book or newspaper the resulting effect is
physical as well as spiritual, and electrically prompt.
* Mark Twain

Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world,
and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar.
* Percy Bysshe Shelley

Wherever you go, go with all your heart.
* Confucius

The honorary duty of a human being is to love.
* Maya Angelou

One who has control over the mind is tranquil in heat and cold, in
pleasure and pain,and in honor and dishonor; and is ever steadfast
with the Supreme Self.
* Bhagavadgita

Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations

A.G. Lafley on the Unique Work of CEOs

In this article (PDF of full article) in the May 2009 issue of the Harvard Business Review, Proctor & Gamble’s Chairman and outgoing CEO, A.G. Lafley reflects on the unique responsibilities of CEOs. What makes this article engaging is that A.G. Lafley uses the context of his commendable achievements at the helm of Proctor & Gamble to elaborate on the teachings of management guru Peter Drucker.

“The CEO is the link between the inside and outside. He alone experiences the meaningful outside at an enterprise level and is responsible for understanding it, interpreting it, advocating for it, and presenting it so that the company can respond in a way that enables sustainable sales, profit and total shareholder return (TSR) growth.”

Drawing from Peter Drucker’s teachings, A.G. Lafley identifies the four fundamental tasks of a CEO. Here is a summary:

1. Defining and interpreting the meaningful ‘outside.’ Identifying which external stakeholders matter the most. Recognizing where results are most meaningful. Clarifying and communicating the priority of external stakeholders.
2. Identifying and focusing on the competitive spaces where the organization can win. Inquiring, “What is our business? What should it be? What is not our business? And what should it not be?”
3. Balancing the present and the future. Determining the optimum balance between yield from present activities and investment in a highly uncertain future. This involves, (1) defining realistic growth goals, (2) creating a flexible budgeting process, and (3) allocating human resources in a way that identifies and develops good people for today and tomorrow.
4. Shaping the values and standards of the organization. Winning with those who matter most and against the very best.

Think like a CEO, Focus on Organizational Performance

I believe that everybody is a CEO. Whatever your span of responsibilities — supervisory, managerial or leadership — you are accountable to the external stakeholders. These stakeholders measure you purely by your ability to identify opportunities and get things done through the resources you have. Here are five essential initiatives to help you think and act like a CEO.

1. Understand the context of your organization or project. Change your perception away from the minutiae of your organization and seek to understand what your organization means in the broader context and how it fits into the external world. Draw from this external perspective to establish the right directions and align the work of your entire organization with these organizational goals. Differentiate between short-term and long-term opportunities.
2. Identify the primary external customers — these could be higher-level managers, other groups within your company or a consumer who uses your products. Use this customer standpoint to make every strategic decision and choose the right actions. Connect each initiative to its beneficial results to your customers.
3. Communicate your direction and priorities to your organization. Help your employees determine where to focus their own efforts and how they eventually fit in the broader context of the external world.
4. Focus on execution and achieving results. Introduce a culture of accountability. Ensure that each employee actually does live up to the values and goals of the organization.
5. Coach your employees and develop them. Understand and align their personal values and aspirations to those of the organization, to the extent possible. Per Peter Drucker, “make sure that the performing people are allocated to opportunities rather than only to ‘problems.’ … Make sure that people are placed where their strengths can become effective.” Plan for succession.

Recommended Reading

• Procter and Gamble: One of the world’s best breeding grounds for managers
• How to broaden your thinking and grow on your job
• Jack Welch’s four types of managers
• Jack Welch on acting quickly

***See other articles related to Peter Drucker, Proctor & Gamble, organizational leadership, executives, CEO, leadership skills

Continual cheerfulness is a sign of wisdom.
* Irish Proverb

The best answer to anger is silence.
* German proverb

Hard work and light food, this is the readily available medicine for
any disease. If you do these daily, you shall not be afraid of any ailment.
* Subhashita

Good management isn’t about doing everything faster,
it’s about not doing things you don’t need to do.
* Unknown

Heat cannot be separated from fire,
or beauty from The Eternal.
* Alighieri Dante

You cannot break through a wall with your forehead.
* Russian Proverb

The great thing in this world is not so much where we stand,
as in what direction we are moving.
* Oliver Wendell Holmes

A man’s greatness is measured by his kindness.
* Anonymous

Love is a force that connects us to every strand of the universe, an
unconditional state that characterizes human nature, a form of knowledge
that is always there for us if only we can open ourselves to it.
* Emily H. Sell

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.
* Confucius

Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations

Brad Feld on Work-Life Balance

Here is an excellent podcast (summary here) where Venture Capitalist Brad Feld discusses his thoughts on the concept of work-life balance. He also shares the changes he implemented to achieve more balance in his life. Also, see a previous article by Brad on this very topic. Here are key takeaways:

• The sense of busyness is not the same as the sense of achievement.
• Balance is an important issue to consider at all ages, as many make the mistake in believing they will “get the balance on the back half of life” and find it shorter than they hoped (”you don’t know when the lights are going to go out (when you are going to die.)”)
• Work-life balance is an important issue to everyone, yet each person’s approach will be different. There is no one-size fits all approach.

Work-Life Balance is an Individual Choice

Balancing the various demands on our time is by no means easy. It is unrealistic to establish a ratio between ‘work’ and ‘play’ time to pursue the sense of balance.

Balance is an individual choice you have to make based on your personal and professional values and associate relative priorities between these values. Here are five essential guidelines to make such choices.

• Don’t become a slave to your work. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Work is a means of living, it is not life itself.”
• Slow down your life and develop mindfulness. Simplify your life and inculcate discipline. Focus on the simple things. Control your wants and meet your core needs.
• Talk to your family and friends and explore ways to introduce more fun into your daily routine.
• Sleep more. Help around the home. Go on more vacations. Cultivate a hobby or two. Volunteer for a good cause. Do something meaningful with your spare time.
• Learn to control how you react to other people and their demands on your time, money, or both. Consider the cost on your own resources and become skilled at how to refuse unimportant demands.

Realizing the balance in your life is your prerogative.

Recommended Reading

• My three-step process for better time management: time logging, time analysis and time budgeting.
• Fighting Procrastination: ‘Ten-Minute Dash’ technique
• Working exercise into a busy day

***See other articles related to happiness, time management, managing priorities, effectiveness, personal organization, getting things done, execution, work-life balance

This life is a hard fact; work your way through it boldly,
though it may be adamantine; no matter, the soul is stronger.
* Swami Vivekananda

Next to knowing when to seize an opportunity,
the most important thing in life is
to know when to forego an advantage.
* Benjamin Disraeli

To be loved is fortunate but to be hated is to achieve distinction.
* Minna Antrim

We have a ’strategic’ plan.
It’s called doing things.
* Herb Kelleher

It ain’t what you don’t know that hurts you. It’s what you know that ain’t so.
* Anonymous

A scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.
* Lao-Tzu

Peace can be reached through meditation
on the knowledge which dreams give.
Peace can also be reached through concentration
upon that which is dearest to the heart.
* Patanjali

The most successful people are those who are good at plan B.
* James Yorke

The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.
* Richard Bach

One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential.
Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We
can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.
* Maya Angelou

Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations