Abandoned But Still Relevant

Posted on March 22, 2013 by John G. Self

I just had a senior moment. Not the kind associated with old age with an ever so slight hint at forgetfulness or, worse, the earliest stages of dementia, but a real honest to goodness meet up with the inescapable fact that I am now a “gentleman of a certain age.”

It happened as I was thumbing through the Brooks Brothers spring catalog that arrived in the mail. The cover notwithstanding, at page two I dropped the magazine in shock — none of the models looked like me. They were thin with a hint of European ancestry, one with a rangy beard and flowing locks could have been a Russian Oligarch. He was pictured with an exotic looking woman. None were wearing clothes that remotely resemble the Brooks Brothers fashion I have worn for years. Gone were the familiar older models, people like me, displaying an elegant sport coat or pinstripe suit. No, this catalog was filled mostly with hip, extra slim fashions that, in years past, would have drawn disapproving stares in the elite so-called white shoe, very conservative law firms, banks or search firms of New York where Brooks Brothers earned its reputation as the clothier to the business elite.

Over the last five years I have noticed that the inventory at my Brooks Brothers store in Dallas was changing, featuring more and more of the stylish slim cut shirts, and sleek trim slacks, sans pleats, all at the expense of the more traditional fitting attire that men of my age require. I was being forced to buy more and more on-line instead of seeing my old friends at the store. And now this spring catalog! I feel as though the abandonment is now complete.

My senior moment led me to realize that not only is Brooks Brothers changing but so are all the rules of career and personal brand management, providing mature executives across America with their own senior moments as I learned at the annual American College of Healthcare Executives Congress last week.

More than a few senior executives privately say they are facing doubts about their own relevance in a rapidly changing environment – shaped by the Affordable Care Act, the future negative impact of deficit reduction, a constant onslaught of new technology and cutting edge connectivity tools, and the approaching tidal wave of bright, well-educated executives eager to move to the C-suite. Many have hinted, or expressed specific concerns, that the speed of change is causing them to question whether they can keep up the pace.

OK, so I am no longer an exclusive Brooks Brothers customer. It is not the end of the world. The tailors at the Neiman Marcus flagship store in Dallas, many who look like me, seem to understand my angst and they have assured me that all is really OK.

Amid the flurry of senior moments, I would encourage current and future senior executives to keep these points in mind:

Be Kind, Be Gracious – There is nothing more attractive than a successful executive who takes the high ground, one of the best, most rewarding places to be. Talented, competent leaders with a solid track record who are also nice and gracious leaders are absolutely golden. They are the type of leaders that recruiters covet.
Don’t Feel or Act Threatened – The only leaders who should feel threatened by technology, their age, level of energy or the competition for the best jobs, are those who have not embraced change. For those who think they can coast into retirement, a bad surprise is probably right around the corner. In my own case, I have learned more in the last five years than the previous 15. I am fascinated and excited by the technology and the possibilities created by our ever-increasing connectivity. I have a social media consultant and I have embraced the various social networking platforms. Meanwhile, I have come to admire many of today’s popular musicians even if I cannot wear the slim fit suits and straight legged jeans of their younger fans. Many of my contemporaries roll their eyes in wonder, amazement or skepticism when they ask about the music mix I am listening to, but it works for me and it helps me keep connected with a new generation of clients. (I recently had my first search with a panel comprised of under-35 candidates and I was reminded, repeatedly, that texting is the new voicemail).
Embrace Change and Technology, If Not Jay Z – Unless you are in the most secure of positions, with an attractive guaranteed severance plan that will allow you to flow into retirement without skipping a financial beat, brand and career management remain a strategic imperative. Technology and the connectivity offered by the social networking platforms as well as YouTube, provide competent executives with exciting and empowering tools to manage their brand and overcome the traditional market filters of web-based employment portals, job boards and, yes, search firms. Smart companies hire people who can deliver results – value. Most avoid candidates – regardless of age – who by their appearance, presence and resume appear out of date and out of sync.

Moral of the story: Your age should not be an issue unless you allow it to become one. I am having more fun, with greater intellectual reward than at any time in my career.

The younger guys will have to run a little faster if they want to catch me, but that might be kind of difficult in those body-clinging new suits.

OK, I apologize. That was not so gracious.

Who Gets Hired

Posted on February 6, 2013 by John G. Self

The most qualified candidates get the job only about 35 percent of the time.

That statement, based on research from more than 18 years of conducting executive retained searches, always surprises aspiring candidates. So who is getting the jobs, if not the best qualified?

The answer is simple: Qualified people who do a better job of interviewing.

A significant number of candidates shoot themselves in the foot – both feet, actually – because of poor interview performance. Aside from the resume, which IS the first interview, more candidates fall from grace because they have not educated themselves about the issues facing the client. Their answers reflect an attitude that winging it is good enough, and then they are surprised, disappointed and go out and make the same mistakes again.

Competitive interviewing is not a skill set that most executives think about or attempt to perfect.

If you look at the questions posed in 50 different searches you will find that at least 40-45 percent are the same or similar in theme or subject matter. There are numerous books on this specialized subject of interview questions and no shortage of coaches and career brand management experts who have written on this subject.

If an executive is spot-on qualified for a job, but doesn’t get a call for even a screening interview, they should go back to their resume and make changes because clearly there is a problem.

Executives who make it to the face-to-face interview with the client but are the perennial bridesmaid should also pause, take a deep breath and ask themselves why they keep doing the same thing over and over, hoping for a better outcome.

If you have made it to the finals more than three times and you were not selected, it is time to admit you have a problem and you need help.

It is true that there are a lot of factors in a search that shape the outcome. The candidate’s performance in the face-to-face interviews is the biggest and most critical.

Too Many Chiefs Will Bog Things Down

Posted on November 28, 2012 by John G. Self

A popular phrase used to illustrated a wide variety of immutable truths is, “ Too many chiefs, and not enough Indians.”

My father, a superb retail baker in the southern style, often said, especially when his business partner/wife tried to control his schedule, “Too many cooks in the kitchen is a a losing proposition.”

Now, think about the organizational structures in many hospitals in the U.S.:

Chief Executive
Chief Operating Officer
Chief Nursing Officer
Chief Medical Officer
Chief Financial Officer
Chief Human Resource Officer
Chief Customer Service Officer/Chief Customer Experience Officer
Chief Strategy Officer
Chief Information Officer
Chief Medical Informatics Officer
Chief Compliance Officer
Chief Risk Management Officer
Chief Quality Officer
Chief Talent Officer
Chief Innovation Officer

There are others, some surprisingly ludicrous, but you get the picture…

In healthcare, we have a reputation – a reputation for trailing other industries in terms of leadership, performance, cost control systems, innovation and then, overkill when we catch on and catch up. Let’s take the abundance of “officer” titles.

In the “old days,” these titles actually meant something. Their use/award in building an organizational structure was limited to certain key executives who were actually corporate officers with wide ranging responsibilities and authority. However, based on some of the executive “chiefs” I have interviewed over the last two years, I have come to believe that “title overkill” is reaching epidemic proportions. When a COO is reporting to an executive vice president and not all operating divisions or departments report to that position, you obviously title abuse.

In one small health system I visited this year, 12 of these 15 titles were assigned to executives. The organization was struggling financially and operationally (quality of care, safety issues, and an escalating turnover rate) because all the Chiefs were spending entirely too much time protecting turf, trying to grab power to enhance their own fiefdom, and building reinforced concrete silos around their their own scope of responsibility territory as if to prove how valuable they were to the enterprise.

I understand that there are career/brand management implications here; executives believe the title will lead them to a better job at a higher rate of pay, but having the title is not the same thing has having the necessary experience.

I hope they are not paying some of those executives based solely on their chief of this or that title.

What is my title? President only because state law covering corporations requires it. In reality I am but a mere Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.