PARAGON STRATEGIES

Last Minute Deal : Managing Up: The Art of Manaing Your Boss class tomorrow in SF

Have space available for tomorrow's Managing Up: The art of managing your boss. If you come for $97.  Just send me an e-mail to jerry@paragonstrategies.com.

Date: Sept 1

Time : 9-1

Regular Cost $297.  Last minute deal $97

E-mail me to come: jerry@paragonstrategies.com

Jerry

http://paragonstrategies.com/

When Your Good Mentor Goes Bad

According to a study at Sun Microsystems, mentees were promoted five times more often than those without a mentor. Eighty-eight percent of respondents to a Center for Creative Leadership survey believe that having a mentor is useful for career development. We've all heard the stats. It never hurts to have a few good mentors behind you. But what happens when a good mentor goes bad? 

Enter, stage right, Alan — our star protégé. Alan, whom we've coached, is a vice-president at a private equity firm and on track to become a managing director. Unfortunately, his longtime mentor, Roger, has become a potential derailer in the process. You see, Roger rubs many of the other MDs the wrong way and is considered somewhat of a rogue partner. Regrettably for Alan, the partners worry that he has become a Roger "mini-me." And, who wants two rogue partners running around the firm?

While you may not be in Alan's exact situation, perhaps you realize that your mentoring relationship is not what it used to be. Is your mentor relationship in need of an overhaul? Here are three ways to help kick-start the situation:

1. Spread your Wings. It's time to expand beyond the comfort of your mentoring nest. Go forth and build a stronger internal, informal network. Look inside and outside of your function. Who are the critical stakeholders? Reach out to them. Find out how you can be of help. Offer your support. Give folks an opportunity to get to know you outside of your mentor's sphere. You'll be surprised how quickly the law of reciprocity and goodwill kicks in.

2. Stand on Your Own. Show others that you are your own person and not solely defined by your mentor. To change this perception, start generating critical results. If a key metric is sales, close a few sales — on your own. If ideas can gain you some traction, present new ones to the organization — on your own. You get the drift. When you start actively letting your results speak on your behalf (and not just your mentor), it will help others experience you as a leader in your own right.

3. Speak the Truth. It's time for a no-holds-barred conversation with your mentor. Exercise your managing-up skills. In their quintessential HBR article "Managing Your Boss," Jack Gabarro and John Kotter highlight that effective professionals seek the help they need instead of waiting for their bosses to provide it. Same goes for the mentor-mentee relationship. Frame the conversation carefully; tell your mentor, "What would be most helpful is if you would let me work on this deal on my own..." While you'll need to be direct with your request, remember that your mentor is a person too. Be appreciative and clear that you are not abandoning him, but simply asking for his help in supporting your leadership development. In the long run, you both stand to benefit from this conversation.

What thoughts do you have on managing mentoring relationships? What suggestions do you have for turning around a mentor relationship gone bad?

Amy Jen Su and Muriel Maignan Wilkins are co-founders and managing partners of Isis Associates, a boutique executive coaching and leadership development firm.

Check Out Paragon Strategies Managing Up the Art of Managing Your Boss

Marketing Director Position Available - Job Posting

This is a job posting from one of my best clients.  If you're interested or know someone who is, please send the resume directly saying you reviewed the posting on Jerry Ervin of Paragon Strategies blog.

ForeclosureRadar is an indispensable resource for real estate agents, brokers, investors, government agencies and other real estate professionals seeking accurate up-to-date information on foreclosures in the Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington real estate markets.

ForeclosureRadar is seeking a Director or VP level marketing manager to create and drive marketing programs and strategy; to identify and convert new customers; to engage and retain existing users; and to build general brand awareness. While this will be the senior marketing position in the company, it is a hands-on, technical, individual contributor role, best suited for an “army-of-one”.

Key Responsibilities:

• Online Marketing

-   Search engine optimization

-   Social media marketing

-   Email marketing

-   Search engine marketing

-   Partner (affiliate) marketing

• Product Marketing
• Media Relations

-   Maintain and build media relationships

-   Publish monthly foreclosure reports

-   Fulfill custom foreclosure data requests

-   Event Marketing

• Marketing Analytics

Qualifications:

-   5+ years of marketing experience

-   Knowledge of online marketing best practices, concepts, statistics, trends, tools, blogs and publications

-   Experience with web development languages, tools and platforms including HTML, CSS, Drupal, Wordpress

-   Experience querying databases analyze data and build reports

-   Expertise in web analytics packages including Google Analytics

-   Ability to write and edit copy

-   MS Office proficiency

-   Demonstrated critical thinking and problem solving abilities

-   Solid verbal and written communication and presentation skills

-   A track record of success and increasing responsibility

-   A self-starter with a strong drive for results and creating value

Please send your resume and cover letter to resumes@foreclosureradar.com

Empowering Your Employees to Empower Themselves

As a manager or leader, do you let your people assume more responsibility when they are able? Do you know when that is, or do you keep telling yourself that they aren't ready yet?

In my travels from organization to organization, I talk with thousands of people every year who want to be treated as "partners" rather than as employees. They want information to flow up as well as down. But, oftentimes, leaders do not want to give up control.

I knew a CEO who was the leader of one of the world's largest global organizations. He received feedback that he was too stubborn and opinionated. He learned that he needed to do a better job of letting others to make decisions and to focus less on being right himself. He practiced this simple technique for one year: before speaking, he would take a breath and ask himself, "Is it worth it?" He learned that 50% of the time his comments may have been right on, but they weren't worth it. He quickly began focusing more on empowering others and letting them take ownership and commitment for decisions, and less on his own need to add value.

Your employees understand their jobs. They know their tasks, roles, and functions within the organization, and it's time for you to let them do what they need to do to get the job done. But there is a critical point that is often missed: It isn't possible for a leader to "empower" someone to be accountable and make good decisions. People have to empower themselves. Your role is to encourage and support the decision-making environment, and to give employees the tools and knowledge they need to make and act upon their own decisions. By doing this, you help your employees reach an empowered state.

The process does take longer — employees will only believe they are empowered when they are left alone to accomplish results over a period of time — but it's effective and worth the time. If a company has a history of shutting down or letting go of initiators, for instance, the leader can't just tell employees, "You are empowered to make decisions."

Part of building an empowering environment is dependent on the leader's ability to run interference on behalf of the team. The leader needs to make sure people are safe doing their jobs. To make sure this happens, an ongoing discussion of the needs, opportunities, tasks, obstacles, projects, what is working and what is not working is absolutely critical to the development and maintenance of a "safe" working environment. You are likely to spend a lot of time in dialogue with other leaders, employees, team members, and peers.

Following are a few things leaders can do to build an environment that empowers people.

1. Give power to those who have demonstrated the capacity to handle the responsibility.


2. Create a favorable environment in which people are encouraged to grow their skills.


3. Don't second-guess others' decisions and ideas unless it's absolutely necessary. This only undermines their confidence and keeps them from sharing future ideas with you.


4. Give people discretion and autonomy over their tasks and resources.

Successful leaders and managers today are willing to exercise their leadership in such a way that their people are empowered to make decisions, share information, and try new things. Most employees (future leaders) see the value in finding empowerment and are willing to take on the responsibilities that come with it. If future leaders have the wisdom to learn from the experience of present leaders, and if present leaders have the wisdom to build an environment that empowers people, both will share in the benefits.

There are many more things that leaders can do to build and environment that empowers people. Please send any ideas you have. I would love to hear them!

Stop Bringing Down Your Team

Chances are you've worked with someone who drains all the intelligence and capability out of a team. Sometimes, despite your intentions, that person may be you. Here are three things you can do to get out of your team's way and let it shine: Don't be a hero. You don't always need to have an answer. Give your people the opportunity to think things through themselves. Don't make abrupt decisions. Quick decisions can short-circuit a team. Let your people in on your decision-making process and whenever possible, cultivate debate about an issue before coming to a conclusion. Don't talk too much. You may think your excitement is infectious when in reality it is stifling. Try keeping your mouth shut and leave room for your employees to share their ideas.