![]() By Kara Anderson In the hustle and bustle of professional life, it's easy to lose sight of our needs amidst the demands of our careers. However, true success stems from a foundation of well-being and continuous self-improvement. Just as important, it's essential to prioritize self-care strategies that rejuvenate and empower us in our professional world. In this blog post, we'll delve into key tactics every professional should periodically undertake to refresh, enhance, and nurture a positive self-image. Revitalize Your Resume
About the Author Kara Anderson is a partner at the Thomas Watson Group (TWG). Founded in 2013, TWG provides executive search, executive coaching, and consulting services. With offices in Connecticut, New York/New Jersey, and Florida, the firm's partners have more than 60 years of combined experience providing talent solutions to clients in four industry verticals - healthcare, insurance, financial services, and business services. To learn more about TWG's services and offerings, please visit thomaswatsongroup.com
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Win the Job Offer Waiting Game![]() By Kara Anderson You’ve completed all the interviews, sent the thank-you notes, and you want the job, but the offer hasn’t come. The wait can be agonizing. What can you do? We’ve listed a few unique ways to take action, set yourself apart from the competition, and win the job offer. Demonstrate your initiative. If you were offered the position, what would you do in your first 30/60/90 days? Consider delivering a succinct presentation of 3 – 5 slides or a one-page outline of your plan from the start date through these critical milestones. Be concise and illustrate knowledge you’ve gained about company goals, short and long-term. Finishing touches like utilizing the company colors, logo, and brand themes create a polished presentation. An action plan demonstrates continued interest and initiative, conveys your ability to hit the ground running, and reinforces your unique value. Gather a reference or two. Reach out to former colleagues or supervisors and request a letter of endorsement. Decision-makers will likely be positively influenced by a solid reference. References are most powerful when written specifically for the job opportunity and include specific examples of past performance. Pro tip: Help your references quickly craft their message by giving them a bullet point list detailing achievements and accomplishments specific to the role you’re being considered for. Show them what you can do. Share a relevant example of your past work or create a sample of the work you’d be doing in your new role if offered the position. For example, an analyst might deliver a business intelligence tool or study they’ve performed; a marketer might develop a media plan to increase brand awareness to a target audience; a finance professional might present a proforma reflecting current and forecast performance based on initiatives discovered through the interview process. Be creative using what you’ve discovered through due diligence and the interview process if you share a work sample that you anticipate performing in the position, and be sure to maintain confidentiality if using work samples from previous employers. Consider which initiative will deliver the most significant impact. You’ll want to choose one of these things, not all, or you risk coming on too strong. The objective is to open the door to follow-up and regain control. Use this outreach to emphasize your interest, offer your availability for any additional steps left in the consideration process, and inquire about the decision-making timeline. The goal is after leveraging one of these tactics, you’ll win the waiting game and get the job offer. About the Author Kara Anderson is a partner at the Thomas Watson Group (TWG). Founded in 2013, TWG provides executive search, executive coaching, and consulting services. With offices in Connecticut, New York/New Jersey, and Florida, the firm’s partners have more than 60 years of combined experience providing talent solutions to clients in four industry verticals - healthcare, insurance, financial services, and business services. To learn more about TWG’s services and offerings, please visit thomaswatsongroup.com I get asked some pretty basic questions about executive coaching by leaders at all levels. Some who inquire have known an executive who had a coach and have some familiarity. Others have no idea what coaching is or can do for them.
Often I sense a hesitancy to ask about executive coaching. Rather than take the risk that some will not ask, and miss out on the benefits of hiring a coach, I decided to provide an outline of executive coaching – and what to expect. What is an Executive Coach? An Executive Coach is an unbiased, objective thought partner. They focus on professional and work-related matters. Follow-up questions and answers:
Can I Benefit from Hiring an Executive Coach? That depends. While everyone has the potential to benefit from hiring an executive coach, you have to be “coachable.” A disciplined executive coach will gracefully decline to accept a new client that is not really ready for coaching.To determine if you are coachable ask yourself the following six questions:
If you can honestly say “yes” to all six questions, then you are coachable. You should absolutely expect to benefit from coaching. Skilled executive coaches have helped thousands of professionals at all levels, not just executives. Consider what sports coaches have done to help star athletes excel and perform at a level that never would have been possible on their own. Executive coaches can provide that same advantage. What Happens During an Executive Coach Meeting? And, How Long Do Clients Normally Work With a Coach? There is a pretty standard process that certified coaches use, however, there are differences depending on the training program the coach went through. Moreover, some coaches have chosen to adopt their own approach, despite how they were trained; and other coaches were never professionally trained. Most executive coaching meetings are scheduled for one hour. What is covered in any particular session has a lot to do with the topic(s), the communication style of both the client and coach, and the stage in the coaching process. The length of time a client engages a coach varies, but three to six months is fairly common. However, some leaders seek a coach for a single meeting, while others retain a coach perpetually, requesting time sporadically, as needed. There are three main phases in a coaching engagement that spans three to six months (or longer) that you can expect a well-trained coach to follow.
What Kind of Topics Can I Bring to an Executive Coach? You can bring any kind of topic that you want to an executive coach. Some coaches specialize in certain areas and may make a referral to another coach if your topic is outside their area of expertise or comfort zone. Below are just a few common coaching topics.
If you have a tough strategic decision to make an executive coach, who is unbiased, can be extremely helpful in working through the options and trade-offs. Determining when to add a new product line, how to allocate finite resources, or whether to make a strategic acquisition are all great topics to cover with a coach. Often founders and small business owners without a board or with limited leadership teams engage a coach to get help with strategy. Career Advancement Almost every senior leader I have met who hired an executive coach later in their career has expressed the same sentiment – that they should have sought out a coach earlier in their career. Seasoned executive coaches can provide pivotal advice and dramatically change the trajectory of a high potential leader’s career. Many highly capable leaders early in their career look at the most successful executives in their company and wonder how they got into the C-suite. Hiring an accomplished executive coach can be a game-changing move. A coach can help you create a career plan, chart a course, avoid pitfalls, and provide the necessary encouragement to ascend to roles that might not otherwise have been possible. Discovering Your Blind Spots – Before They Derail Your Career Skilled executive coaches can recommend the most effective assessments that will provide invaluable insights into your (negative) tendencies that you might not have otherwise recognized. The fact is, being aware and mindful of blind spots can enable you to escape the fate of derailing your career. Assessing Your Core Values and What Truly Motivates You A coach can help ascertain what your core values are, how they may have evolved over time and whether or not they are consistent with what you do day-to-day. Realizing that you are in a job that clashes with your core values can have a monumental impact on your satisfaction and joy at work. Many people just move through life not taking the time to think about what motivates them and could be more fulfilling. What do Executive Coaches Charge? The fees for executive coaching vary greatly. One of the most acclaimed executive coaches is Marshall Goldsmith, his fees for an engagement are in the six-figure range. On the other end of the spectrum, it is possible to find rates as low as $100 per meeting. Like most things, you get what you pay for, so consider the credentials, background, and experience of a coach before you dive in. Executive coaching is an investment in you. Take some time to explore the options and find the right fit just as you would do with any other meaningful investment. You should be able to find a highly qualified coach with fees that average out to between $250 - $1,000 per meeting as of this writing. A couple of other tips: 1) most coaches offer a free initial consultation, and there is no shame in taking full advantage of the opportunity to get to know them and understand their coaching process before engaging for an extended period, and 2) many companies will pay for the cost of executive coaching, so depending on the sensitivity of your topic you may want to inquire and evaluate that possibility. One final point, looking back X number of years from today, will you regret not having made the relatively small investment of time and money in an executive coach? Isn’t the potential to improve your professional career, your success, and your lifetime income too significant to pass up engaging an executive coach? PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 10, 2023 Contact: Steven Black 203-212-8208 steven@beyonddigitalmarketing.com Thomas Watson Group joins forces with The Predictive Index as An Ambassador Executive search and coaching firm expands assessment solutions Glastonbury, CONN. – Thomas Watson Group (TWG) is excited to announce an ambassador partnership with The Predictive Index (PI). PI offers an incredibly valuable set of assessment tools to help evaluate candidates during the search process, pre-hire. PI tools evaluate behavior traits and cognitive abilities of candidates, which are strong predictors of future success. Over the last decade TWG has helped our clients find, develop, and retain top talent. Our partnership with PI comes from our interest in offering clients access to scientifically validated, data-driven assessment tools that enable organizations to better determine candidate fit. The Predictive Index provides a platform that empowers entire organizations to align their people strategy with their business strategy for optimal business results. With 10,000+ clients, 142+ countries, and 150+ partners, The Predictive Index is the leader in talent optimization. Reach out directly to learn more about how we can assist you in transforming your hiring process with this new partnership. About Thomas Watson Group Founded in 2013, Thomas Watson Group (TWG) provides executive search, executive coaching, and consulting services. Based in central Connecticut, the firms’ partners have more than 60 years of combined experience providing talent solutions to clients in four industry verticals - healthcare, insurance, financial services, and business services. To learn more about Thomas Watson Group’s services and offerings, please visit thomaswatsongroup.com/ Executive presence (EP) is a term that is often cited, but poorly defined – even by those who reference it in talent decisions. In a recent study, the majority of HR leaders struggled when pressed to describe it, defaulting to “I know it when I see it.” In another study, of 400 CEOs and other leaders with hiring and promotional decision-making authority, 78% stated that limited presence holds people back.
I was unsatisfied with the notion that something so important to the career success of those I work with on executive searches and coach could not be adequately described, understood, and potentially developed. So, I spent several months doing primary and secondary research, and in this month’s blog I share a synopsis of my findings. Let’s dispel some misconceptions upfront. Executive presence is not just charisma, nor gravitas. It is also not the mere physical presence of a leader, even those with an imposing stature. Executive presence is an amalgam of qualities, and no single individual possesses every characteristic at maximum levels. Two of the most comprehensive studies of executive presence were done by: 1) Gavin Dagley and Cadeyrn Gaskin and 2) Suzanne Bates and her team of researchers. Both groups conducted extensive research and empirically defined executive presence. Their work illuminates the term by describing the characteristics of leaders with EP. Below I weave together those key characteristics from the respective studies, as well as other sources, and provide insights about how to project executive presence. Reputation. Individuals with EP have had significant achievements in their career, which generates an aura and a mystic. I would highlight that a successful track record is the cornerstone on which EP is built. Past success provides a level of credibility that is foundational. Confidence. Those projecting great confidence display a special calmness and composure. Communication. These leaders articulate messages in succinct, clear, and convincing ways. They share a view of the future which inspires others. Their messages are thoughtfully tailored to their audience. They’ve learned how to make themselves heard, using voice modulation when appropriate. Self-awareness. The leaders with EP have high EI/EQ. They are attuned to their impact on others and show concern and empathy. Appearance. They bring a level of energy and are seen to be on top of their game. These leaders are eager to engage, friendly, and charming. They are mindful and considerate of culture, and dress and groom appropriate to the setting. Their use of nonverbal body language, such as eye contact, style of walk, and posture is deliberate. Integrity. These leaders display high standards of morality, adhere to their espoused personal values, and are found to reliable and trustworthy over time. There are other characteristics, and a few are admittedly innate. However, most of those DNA-based characteristics (like physical stature) have been found to be of less relative significance. The conclusion, executive presence can be developed. Now What? You can start to develop your EP right away. While it is not advisable to try to be someone you are not, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek to represent yourself more favorably and increase your odds of career success and earning power. A great first step is to get some objective data to determine where to focus. The Bates team took their work further and created a statistically validated assessment tool called the Bates ExPI. It is an anonymous, multi-rater assessment tool that provides insight into why people have, and what circumstances led them to have, the perception they do about your level of EP. As you reflect and consider your own executive presence, there is one other significant point I want to add - EP is about balance. When one virtuous characteristic overpowers another, it can detract from how you are perceived. What is all too common is those leaders most passionate about climbing the corporate ladder discover (some don’t) that their bias for action that served them so well mid-career is now causing them to be overlooked for that coveted C-suite role. The feedback from the interviews is: “as an independent contributor he got things done, but he is too aggressive. I don’t think he’s learned how to get work done through others.” And, “he doesn’t have the interpersonal skills needed, nor the emotional intelligence to build commitment and sustain a team’s momentum.” It can be hard to self-diagnose and determine what has been holding you back. Often the candid feedback you need is not given, or perhaps not accepted. Find an astute, accomplished executive coach, and get to work on developing / refining your executive presence. All great CEOs want a CFO who will help them drive results. They are looking for what I call an “operating” CFO, that is, someone who will get involved in the business and positively influence outcomes.
Some CFO mistakenly view their role too narrowly. They think their job is just to accurately report results. That is important, and a core part of the job, but insufficient. To become a more effective and valuable CFO you’ve got to broaden your focus. When I conduct a CFO search for our clients, I am looking for someone who sees their role as being responsible (alongside the CEO) for delivering outperformance. I want to hear multiple, concrete examples in the interview of how the CFO candidate identified an issue or opportunity early, took action, and drove a superior outcome. I’m listening for what the CFO did specifically and probing to assess if he or she was just along for the ride or was actually in the forefront steering the initiative and persevered. In particular, I’m looking for six things … and so are the CEOs and board members who will ultimately be speaking with those candidates that make it past my screening. If you’re not doing these things today, make a shift and take your game up a notch.
Keep in mind, all six are necessary, miss one and you’re missing the mark.
Give Tom a call at 614.743.6467
Free initial consultation Almost nothing is as exciting and invigorating as being part of a high growth company. People are upbeat, opportunities abound, and the financial rewards can be significant. However, a number of companies that start to grow find they can’t scale, and the growth and euphoria is short-lived.
Planning for Growth Before it Hits Ideally you have anticipated and planned for exponential growth. You’ve thought through whether the growth will come from a few jumbo accounts or a large number of discrete customers. The right scaling solution varies greatly depending on the source of new business growth and the duration. It’s also important to evaluate whether your business is prepared to handle more than a single wave of growth. Is your business robust, and can you manage sustained high growth? Do You have the Cash Required? If you’ve brought in investors who expect the business to scale to get the return required, make sure you’ve gained agreement upfront about the investment required (and the timing of those investments). Do your financial backers support investing ahead of the growth? Will cash be readily available when needed? There may be a delay between when revenue is earned and recognized on the books, and when it is turned into cash. A/R doesn’t pay bills, cash does. It is possible to grow too fast. When High Growth Surprises You One of the things that often happens when a business unexpectedly starts to grow extremely rapidly is issues emerge in one area of the organization and then move to another. The analogy of a rat being eaten by a snake is often used (and, while that may be a bit disgusting to think about, it provides a pretty good image of how problems move from one area of the organization to the next). What makes this so difficult for the management team that is unprepared is that just as they finish getting things back in shape in one part of the business, another, different set of issues pops up elsewhere. This can be exhausting and overwhelming. Gaining Control & the Questions to Ask One way to regain control if growth surprises you is to reset customer expectations. Quickly assess if there is a way to sequence installing sold business so customers needs are met, but you don’t compound your problems by turning on more than you can properly support. Consider what happened. Was it sheer volume that caused a concern or issue, or did you accept too much non-standard business? Do you have appropriate approval processes in place for sales commitments, especially product or service exceptions (i.e., special requests)? Other Considerations If you find you need to react immediately and scale there are a number of other considerations. Staff & key person dependencies – is there just a single person or a limited number of people who are the only ones that know how to do certain critical functions or tasks? Do you have the ability to hire rapidly, or are there areas where you’ll need more people who are in tight supply or uniquely skilled? Do you have the physical space to house all the resources that are needed? Can you outsource, and what will be the impact on service and quality? Training - can you ramp up new hires quickly enough? Are your core processes standardized (repeatable, trainable)? How long does training normally take, and where and how can instructions be communicated and delivered? Will those potentially large new groups of resources know how to get things done and who to consult if old processes break down? Leadership - can you afford to appoint one of your executives full time to oversee the scaling effort if needed? Do you truly have someone who is capable of executing such an effort? Do you have the management team in place to operate a large, inevitability more complex organization? Issues management - is there a streamlined process for handling issues? How will issues to resolve get divvied-up? Is there a predetermined way of prioritizing issues? And, if a lot of the issues will fall to the technology organization, for instance, will they know how to deal with the competing demands for their finite time? Is there a discipline in place to ensure the most forceful personalities in the organization don’t secure precious resources for less critical problems? Processes - has authority and decision rights been delegated to the right places in the organization? Is it clear who should be consulted and simply informed versus who has the authority to make the decisions (based on the relative impact of the topic or item under consideration)? Are your workflows optimized? Consider bottlenecks. Specifically, evaluate connection points between departments / processes. Are there places where things will get jammed-up, especially those that are hard to fix quickly. Technology - arguably one of the most important areas to scaling a business is leveraging technology. There is so much involved and unique to this aspect of scaling that I’ll limit the points of consideration to three areas: 1) Do your systems have contention points, where they can’t handle certain volumes on an hourly, weekly … absolute basis? Have you assessed every area across your technology infrastructure, not just some? 2) Have you already built up technical debt, and how will that impact your ability to scale? And, 3) Don’t short-change testing in your race to put new technical solutions in place. One watch-out: be careful what you assume will be capitalizable, if that expense gets reclassified to operating expense under a year-end review / audit, it could severely impact EBITDA. Crisis Management Finally, force the time to figure out what to do if your inability to scale becomes a crisis causing clients to leave. What damage control steps will you take? What will you sacrifice to mitigate the situation?
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Tom Watson, Founder & CEO Thomas Watson GroupArchives
September 2023
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