by Beth | Sep 4, 2024 | Selecting Good Candidates
I have been conducting this impromptu, unofficial survey of how people like their margaritas. The answers have been so vast and have sparked some interesting debates! For example: 1) alcohol or non-alcohol 2) salt or no salt 3) lime or no lime 4) lime or strawberry (Is strawberry even a margarita?? one purist questioned) 5) frozen, on -the-rocks 6) mix or coin style.
If that isn’t enough, what are your tequila choices? White, gold, reposado, or anejo. What are your mix choices? Pre-mix? Just lime juice? How about orange flavor? Triple sec? Gran Gala? Grand Marnier? Any other secret ingredients? Quite literally, the combinations are endless.
As the consumer, you CAN leave the choices to someone else, and just order the house margarita… you may like it, or you may not. Or you can spend time, energy and money trying to figure out what you like and create your own special recipe.
Just. Like. Hiring.
You can take any ole resume that comes along with very mixed results. Or, you can spend the time, energy and effort to figure out what you want before you hire someone. This exercise is called the Ideal List, and it is the first step in the A-list Interviews Hiring Process. What type of person are you searching for? What attributes do you want? What values must this person have in order to fit in with your company culture? What skill sets will make them successful?
If you are okay with taking big chances, pull a resume out of the pile and hire them. But if you are like most business-people I know, you need to find the right person the first time. That means, you have to do the work before you hire someone. You deserve an employee that is unique to you and your business.
And for your information, I am not a huge margarita fan. I like Anejo tequila with no lime, no salt, at room temperature. Ole!
POWER THOUGHT: Don’t take big risks with your hires. Or your margaritas.
by Beth | Aug 21, 2024 | Lifestyle
For the first 2 weeks of August, I went on vacation on the beautiful Anna Maria Island in Florida. As an entrepreneur, it is always a struggle to take a real vacation. I worry that I am going to miss out on a big deal. I worry that my current clients will be upset. I worry that my colleagues won’t support my being away. I am certain that I am not alone in my worries.
But the benefits of vacation are now proven by science. According to this article, vacations are good for your heart. People who vacationed every year were 30% less likely to die of heart disease. https://www.goodrx.com/health-topic/mental-health/benefits-of-travel-vacation-good-health We sleep more and move more. Remember when we used to prioritize not sleeping and how harmful that was? Well, now vacation is getting the same bad rap, when in essence it is vital for our health.
So, this year, I decided to take a REAL vacation. I made it my mission to totally unplug and work on my tan. The first week, I didn’t do so hot. I had some meetings scheduled on that first Monday. Due to Hurricane Debby, I didn’t have internet and had to re-schedule them to Wednesday. I didn’t really relax those days, because I was still in work mode. But after that Wednesday, I closed my laptop and didn’t open it again until the Sunday night before work on Monday. Not bad!
How did I do it you ask? Here are some tips:
1) Insert a disclaimer: Eight weeks before my vacation, I put a disclaimer on my email signature line. In case I forgot to tell someone or if I was nervous to tell someone, it was on my signature.
2) Email coverage: I had my assistant cover my email. To be fully transparent, I also kept an eye on it on my phone, but I relied on others to alert me to things that needed my attention… which happened exactly ZERO times.
3) Adjust your mindset: Get it in my head that people can go 2 weeks without talking to me. Seriously. I am important, but not THAT important.
4) Set a vacation goal: Mine was to get the killer-est tan of all. And did I succeed? You bet your sweet sunscreen I did!
POWER THOUGHT: Take a vacation. It’s good for your heart, mind and soul…. And you get a killer tan!
by Beth | Aug 7, 2024 | Leadership
As many of you know, I owned a restaurant back in the day, and I had the largest ground floor outdoor patio in Boulder. I drove up to the building on a random 70 degree day in January where the sky was blue and the clouds were puffy and white. I also encountered a line out the door and around the building for people wanting to bask in the sun and drink margaritas.
I was woefully unprepared! I didn’t have enough staff, or enough pre-made margaritas! I called some people in to help, then I went back in the kitchen to make our house margaritas by the big buckets.
What is wrong with this picture, you might ask?
While my staff was thrilled to have me help them get our customers served as quickly as possible, it was a short-term fix to a much larger issue. When we would get hit with a rush of people, as the owner of the company, my time was NOT best served by helping out my staff in the moment… my time was best served by getting more staff on the floor in order to help the customers get their orders. In other words, I needed to focus on the bigger picture… why we were short staffed at all in that moment.
I see this all the time with my clients, and this article does a great job of explaining when leaders need to delegate tasks, and when they don’t. https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/mentoring-matters/2024/07/ask-marcia-duties-leader.html?utm_source=st&utm_medium=en&utm_campaign=nch&ana=e_n_bizwomen_tease
You as the leader of your business, or the leader of your department, need to make sure that you stay focused on the business/department as a whole. Instead of making the margaritas, I needed to make sure that the margaritas got made. Then, everyone was much happier, and the shifts ran more smoothly.
POWER THOUGHT: Instead of making the margaritas, make sure that the margaritas are made and made right.
by Beth | Jul 24, 2024 | Employee Retention
I have a killer tan. I really do. It comes from several long days at the pool this summer and some very strategic lunch hours in the sun. But my goal is to have the “killer-est” tan of them all, and I am going to get that on my upcoming 2-week vacation in Florida.
I am going to be a complete slug in the sun. Lay there, and do nothing but wiggle my toes in the sand. When I am tired of that, I am going to swing through the kitchen to grab a snack, then head to the pool for more slug time. I. Can’t. WAIT!
What I am not going to do is work while I am on vacation like 40% of Americans are doing this summer. There is even a term for it: quiet vacationing. Read here for more: https://www.newsweek.com/millennials-quiet-vacationing-work-1903454
What is an alarming trend among all generations is the fear of asking for time off. This must change.
What we know to be true is that inspiration does not come from being behind a desk. What we know to be true is that people are more energetic when they come back to work after a vacation. And what we also know to be true is that people are tired and burnt out.
So what can you do as a hiring manager? Here are some tips:
- Set the tone. Take your own vacation and don’t work while you are gone.
- Tell your employees that they must take time off and not work on their vacation.
- Make sure that the employees’ work is covered while they are gone.
- Ask your employee how you can support them being able to un-plug on vacation, and then do it.
If you don’t support vacation time, people will take it anyway and not be rested and rejuvenated. And you need that.
You also need the killer-est of tans.
POWER THOUGHT: Make a vacation goal to not work. And remember to wear your sunscreen!
by Beth | Jul 10, 2024 | Uncategorized
I go to the gym 6 days a week, otherwise, the stress monger will eat up my insides. I ride a stationary bike that I have named Mike.
I have a love/hate relationship with Mike. There are days when I walk into the gym feeling great, and I have a horrible ride with Mike! There are days that I feel like crap when I walk into the gym, I walk out feeling like I won the Tour de France. I keep track of food, sleep, water intake, step count, supplements, stretching, and I literally can’t predict how it is going to go with Mike.
Welcome to the world of interviewing.
There are days when you interview several candidates, and you end up with no one to move forward. There are days when you end up with numerous people moving forward, but you can’t tell which kind of day you are going to get. You can keep track of applicants, ads, postings, certifications, and resumes, and you can’t tell what kind of applicant will show up to the interview.
So, what is a person to do?
Here’s the bottom line: what really counts is showing up. Get on the bike and start pedaling. Schedule interviews and conduct them. Have a set time to have interviews every week and keep that time slot on your calendar, just like you keep your gym appointment. Work through your applicant pool one by one, and eventually, your candidate will show up- usually when you least expect it.
And, Mike and I will continue to love/hate each other.
POWER THOUGHT: Mike the Bike has taught me how to manage my expectations…especially on the days that I hate him.
