Author Archives: Larry Janis

The Soul and Courage of a Leader

By Miriam Linderman

 

It is a painful truth that too many people today speak about the toxic environment of their workplaces where they experience their spirits, imagination, self-expression, self-authority and vision for a better world continuously squelched by the system. Politics, domination, competitiveness, bullying and other similar situations drain inspiration. People long for supportive and caring workplaces where they can make creative, meaningful and fulfilling contributions that resonate with who they are and that maximize their gifts.

Hearing these stories hurt my heart, and may hurt yours too. (more…)

What is top talent and how is that identified?

 

As a part of our talent acquisition engagements, we ask our clients how they define “top talent” and how they would assess those traits in the interview process.  Reflecting on the insightful comments we hear every day, we thought there would be great value in a new blog in which senior executives/thought leaders share their “Take on Talent.”

This is the third in a series of blogs/interviews with senior executives who are thought leaders in the areas of Talent Acquisition, Career Development and Leadership who will share their perspectives on this ever present question.

 

Andy W. Mattes was named president and chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Diebold, Incorporated in June 2013. He is responsible for driving the company’s global strategies and performance in the integrated self-service, security and services business.

With more than 25-years of experience in corporate management, executive oversight, mergers and acquisitions, growth strategies and equity management, Mattes has a strong record of driving growth and improving profitability in large, global businesses in the information technology and telecommunications industries – primarily with Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) and Siemens AG. Mattes most recently served as senior vice president, global strategic partnerships at Violin Memory, a manufacturer of flash memory computer storage systems. (more…)

Senior Program Manager, BPO

The Senior Program Manager, will lead multi-disciplined teams managed by IT and Business Operations Projects Managers driving a large complex program of work.  The jobholder will be responsible for financial/budgetary controls, program-wide resource requirements and program status reporting. Working closely with the client and commercial management teams on one of key client accounts.  The jobholder will provide exemplary people management, monitoring and maintenance of governance standards and enforcing corrective action where required with consistent delivery of timely, concise, accurate and relevant communications to stakeholders from Board level to front line, internally and to client. (more…)

Functional Architect

 

Unique opportunity to become a founding member of a new innovation team.

 

Want to stop talking about what we’re going to do and actually be given the freedom to create rapid prototypes? Are you a developer/hacker/maker in your free time always exploring new technologies as they come out? We want people who are great at coding to try out new things, then hand off the top solutions to a team to industrialize the assets. Come build with us in the Breakthrough Ideas and Tech Garage, a techy startup-like team that is exploring new technologies to amp up our offerings. We are interested in people who can work in an agile fashion and help us quickly assess new technologies to determine their fit for BPO. We will be creating rapid prototypes and MVPs that allow us to get immediate client feedback to see if an idea has legs and should be invested in further. Work in a fast-paced agile environment to try out the newest and coolest tech and bring it to BPO clients. (more…)

Thinking Like a Leader: Three Big Shifts

Eric McNultyBy Eric J. McNulty

Leadership development often focuses on doing — the mastering and use of certain desirable skills and behaviors that concretely show someone to be leading. Competency-based models can provide lists of such skills, as well as attributes of their practice. But where leadership effectiveness really starts is with thinking — adopting a mental model that makes it possible to acquire those skills and demonstrate those behaviors in the first place. Mastering leadership thinking can be challenging, but it is absolutely essential. I may adopt the exact stance and handgrip of Jordan Spieth, but I’m unlikely to win the Masters — while there may be a (wide) gap in our athletic abilities, there is an even larger one in our mental capacity for the game of golf.

Leadership thinking can be learned but is difficult to teach. It is a matter of asking questions and presenting challenges that help someone discover the mental model that enables their “best leader” to emerge. It requires not just competency, but demonstrated proficiency. And proficiency only comes with practice, feedback, and analysis. Journaling and other reflective exercises are good for processing and absorbing both successes and failures. As Peter Drucker said, “Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” (more…)